Obama on regulation

He is on the Republican's side of this issue, according to his own words

WALLACE: And we are back now with Senator Barack Obama. Senator, one of the
central themes of your campaign is that you are a uniter, who will reach across
the aisle and create a new kind of politics. Some of your detractors say that
you are a paint by the numbers liberal and I'd like to explore this with
you.
Over the years, John McCain has broken with his party and risked his
career on a number of issues, campaign finance, immigration reform, banning
torture. As a president, can you name a hot button issue where you would be
willing to cross (ph) Democratic party line and say you know what, Republicans
have a better idea here.

OBAMA: Well, I think there are a whole host of areas
where Republicans in some cases may have a better idea.

WALLACE: Such
as.

OBAMA: Well, on issues of regulation, I think that back in the ‘60s and
‘70s, a lot of the way we regulated industry was top down command and control.
We're going to tell businesses exactly how to do things.
And I think that the
Republican party and people who thought about the margins (ph) came with the
notion that you know what, if you simply set some guidelines, some rules and
incentives for businesses, let them figure out how they're going to for example
reduce pollution. And a cap and trade system, for example, is a smarter way of
doing it, controlling pollution, than dictating every single rule that a company
has to abide by, which creates a lot of bureaucracy and red tape and oftentimes
is less efficient.
I think that on issues of education, I have been very
clear about the fact, and sometimes I have gotten in trouble with the teachers
union on this, that we should be experimenting with charter schools. We should
be experimenting with different ways of compensating teachers. That
--
WALLACE: You mean merit pay?
OBAMA: Well, merit pay, the way it has
been designed I think that is based on just single standardized I think is a big
mistake, because the way we measure performance may be skewed by whether or not
the kids are coming in the school already three years or four years
behind.
But I think that having assessment tools and then saying, you know
what, teachers who are on career paths to become better teachers, developing
themselves professionally, that we should pay excellence more. I think that's a
good idea. So --
WALLACE: But, Senator, if I may, I think one of the concerns
that some people have is that you talk a good game about, let's be
post-partisan, let's all come together -- just a couple of quick things, and I
don't really want you to defend each one, I just want to speak to the larger
issue.
The gang of 14, which was a group -- a bipartisan coalition to try to
resolve the nomination -- the issue of judicial nominations. Fourteen senators
came together, you weren't part of it. On some issues where Democrats have moved
to the center, partial-birth abortion, Defense of Marriage Act, you stay on the
left and you are against both.
And so people say, do you really want a
partnership with Republicans or do you really want unconditional surrender from
them?
OBAMA: No, look, I think this is fair. I would point out, though, for
example, that when I voted for a tort reform measure that was fiercely opposed
by the trial lawyers, I got attacked pretty hard from the left.
During the
Roberts --
WALLACE: John Roberts, Supreme Court.
OBAMA: John Roberts
nomination, although I voted against him, I strongly defended some of my
colleagues who had voted for him on the Daily Kos, and was fiercely attacked as
somebody who is, you know, caving in to Republicans on these fights.
In fact,
there are a lot of liberal commentators who think I'm too accommodating. So here
is my philosophy. I want to do what works for the American people. And both at
the state legislative level and at the federal legislative level, I have always
been able to work together with Republicans to find compromise and to find
common ground.