Why Does this not Surprise Me?

Here's a bit from the Freakonomics website. I've bolded the key bit:

Oregon’s House recently passed the “Honest Pint Act,” which would allow drinking establishments to display state-issued stickers certifying that their pint glasses actually hold 16 ounces, as opposed to the 13- and 14-ounce glasses that some bars try to pass off as pints. The act is predicted to cost at least $20,000, not including the price of pint “measuring tools.” House Republicans, meanwhile, think full pints should be the least of Oregonians’ concerns.

So the Republicans think it is a waste of time to regulate business to make sure that when they sell you a pint it is really a pint. Similarly the Republicans didn't want to regulate the Wall Street Banks to make sure that financial instruments (derivatives, CDOs, CDSs, etc.) have the cash backing to pay off these financial instruments. Instead the banks are now picking the US taxpayer's pockets for over a trillion dollars to recover from the carnage in the financial markets.

Like Senator Everett Dirkson used to say: "A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon, you're talking real money." In this case "A dishonest pint here, a dishonest pint there, pretty soon, you're taking about a trillion dollar financial meltdown."