I have to agree that the Jimmy Carter era is really where the cracks began to show. Everything was a mess, industries were dying, oil producing nations were bullying the US, our fiscal outlooks were poor, Railroads were on the verge of nationalization, and Amtrak couldn't keep it's trains on the rails. But the roots of these problems went further back in time.

But the freight railroad industry is a good example of what we can do to fix our nation. Back in the early 1900's, railroads were made out to be the big bad monster, Theodore Roosevelt in particular railed against the monopolistic powers of the railroads. It's sad to read about all the good projects that were put on hold or never completed because the government set to rip apart Harriman's combined SP and UP railroads. In historical hindsight, this was a stupid move on the government's part that did more damage than good. It was also one of the first times the government claimed a right over business what should have been a legal and private right of the owners of the companies. But by the 1930's railroads were regulated almost to the level of utilities, and over the road trucks were decimating railroad's short haul markets on government subsidized highways. It should have happened much sooner, but when railroads were deregulated in the 1980's, it took them a little while to find their feet. But once the shortline spinoff model was perfected, it really opened the door to the modern railroading we know today.

I'll contend that we need re-write the endangered species act so that is not so absolute, but goes to mediation between industry and conservation groups. Environmentalists are killing this nation by claiming that the rearranged spots on some such animal represent a new "endangered" species that needs to be protected, hence using the endangered species act as a club to kill any project they desire.