Market problems caused by lack of enforcement, not a regulation problem, Wicker says

Republican candidate for Congress Brooks Wicker, a certified public accountant from Louisville, said he’s running for the 3rd Congressional District for a second time because the federal government remains mired in too much debt and regulation.

Wicker finished fourth in the 2010 Republican primary for Congress. But he ran unopposed in this spring’s GOP primary for the chance to take on Democratic U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, who is running for a fourth term.

In his first interview with Pure Politics, Wicker said the government’s major error in monitoring the financial markets over the last decade wasn’t a lack of regulations it was the failure to enforce what was on the books.

“I would argue there was plenty of regulation, the regulation was just not enforcement,” he said (2:40).

“… I think the government was encouraging the bad behavior,” he added.

Wicker also talked about his support of an effort by Republicans in Congress to repeal a tax on medical devices, which is part of the Affordable Care Act. (3:55)

That led to a discussion about what reforms Wicker wants to see with the health care system. (6:50)