Even now, in a time of deregulation, the government interferes in the marketplace too much. There’s a mish-mash of independent D.C.-based agencies that lets bureaucrats force companies to make changes when they merge that Congress could never approve. The role these agencies play in overseeing mergers should be limited to protecting national security interests and ensuring the consumer welfare standard is not violated. Anything more is overreaching. Unfortunately, there’s no watchdog to watch the watchdogs. Congress seems reluctant to use its power to challenge agency determinations, even when doing so serves the interests of the economy and the American consumer. One deal currently on the table is the proposed $71.5 billion merger of the Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern railroads. The size of the deal makes it an awesome symbol of America’s industrial resurgence. The new, combined company would create as many as 900 net new union jobs over the next three years if the federal Surface Transportation Board approves it. The STB has the power to block the deal, as the International Brotherhood of Teamsters has asked it to, saying it threatens worker safety, job security, and competition. That’s a reach, considering the railroads have offered current employees a first-ever lifetime employment guarantee, “Jobs for Life,” that ensures workforce reductions would occur only through normal attrition and that there would be no layoffs. The Teamsters have rejected the “jobs for life” proposal. It’s fair to ask if that’s because management prioritized the needs of its nearly 700 million members who work in trucking, parcel delivery, freight and warehouse operations – sectors that all compete with freight rail – over the needs of those who work in rail-related occupations? This is not an insignificant question. The conflict between what's good for Teamsters who would benefit from the merger and those