Libertarian Fox Business Network host John Stossel says that though he wants a limited government, that certainly doesn’t mean he wants no government. He even thinks the EPA is necessary.
“We need some government,” Stossel explained to The Daily Caller.
“We need defense, it’s in the Constitution that they should run the courts, we need government to keep our person and property safe.”
“I would go farther and say we need an EPA in that the founders never thought about that, but there is no market incentive to behave well,” Stossel went on. “My smoke goes to your lungs, my sewage goes to your drinking water. And thank God we’ve had an EPA because when I was your age you couldn’t open a window in New York because black soot would come in. … The air and water are cleaner then they used to be.”
He did say, however, that the EPA’s best days might be behind it.
“I mean, now, let’s stick a fork in it and say it’s mostly done and they’re going too far and doing too much but we need government for those things.”
TheDC talked with Stossel while the FBN host was in Washington to promote his new book, “No, They Can’t: Why Government Fails — But Individuals Succeed.”
Speaking of presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney, Stossel suggested that he may be better than President Obama, but he didn’t come across as the “hardnose businessman” that he’s famed to be.
“I think he might be better than Barack Obama in that he might be less eager to increase spending,” Stossel said, “but he says things like ‘I’m going to reduce government by 10 percent, the work force.’ Great. ‘By attrition,’ he’s quick to add. This is supposedly the hardnose businessman? By attrition? I mean, then there’s the deadwood stay and the good people leave. A manager fires people.”
In the video interview, Stossel also discusses drug policy and his thoughts on House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, among other things. In a previous segment of the interview, Stossel commented about how he “often” gets confused with colleague Geraldo Rivera and provided a libertarian reading list.