Life, Liberty, and... a Balanced Checkbook?

I'm sure this story doesn't exactly seem like big news to most. A lot of people may even be in favor of some of these proposed regulations. I think it's a great illustration of how skewed as a society our opinions of the role of government have become.

Red Tape Chronicles stated goal is in part to "unmask government bureaucracy." So what exactly is bureaucracy? Dictionary.com lists several definitions including "government by many bureaus, administrators, and petty officials," "excessive multiplication of, and concentration of power in, administrative bureaus or administrators," and "administration characterized by excessive red tape and routine." Surely RTC doesn't need to unmask the fact that our government is comprised of may bureaus. The goal must be, simply put, to identify areas of the government that have excessive power and red tape. Makes sense to me.

Now with that definition in mind, lets see how Red Tape Chronicles does. The recommend a few things:

1. ATMs should provide a warning screen that in the event you're going to withdraw more than your available balance you are alerted to the impending fee.
2. ATM fees should be classified not as a fee but as a loan. Loans are subject to much more scrunity and additional regulatory reporting requirements.

Now which of these items "unmasks" government beaurocracy? Neither do, obviously. They're both actually proposing increased regulation. It's an attempt to be consumer friendly, to be sure. The thing that struck me is how our perspective has changed. Because these ideas are consumer friendly we immediately equate it to being anti-big government when that couldn't be further from the truth.