After many years of working in the policy world, I have concluded that politics is at most 10% about making the world better and safer. The rest is at least 45% theater and 45% catering to special interest groups. Further evidence for my assessment comes from the recent grandstanding in the U.S. Senate on rail safety.
One reason why so much of what comes out of Congress is useless, if not straight up destructive, boils down to incentives. Politicians need something they can brag about when they seek reelection or election to higher office. Meanwhile, legislators are constantly surrounded by special interests who plead for government-granted privilege such as subsidies, loan guarantees, tariffs or regulations cleverly designed to hamstring competitors. Politicians rarely hear from the victims of their policies. Few voters can trace the origin of the higher prices they pay and the lower living standards they suffer.
Enter the Rail Safety Act, a joint product of Sens. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, and Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio. This bill, introduced in early May, is touted as a legislative response to the February freight train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, that spilled toxic material, forcing people out of their homes and filling the air with toxic gas. Thankfully, no one was injured. But before anyone understood what truly caused the derailment — most likely a faulty wheel — politicians of all stripes were out promising new regulations to improve rail safety.