Conservatives are known for arguing about the ill effects of over-regulation, reminding ushow itstifles innovation, cramps entrepreneurship, and harms small businesses.Where we’re lesseffective is connecting this reality to the more fundamental abuses itwields on human dignity in general and the poor and vulnerable in particular.

In a 45-minute talk given at Heritage Action, Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska offers a detailed critique of over-regulation in America.

Pointing first to the proper scope of regulatory policies, Sasse proceeds to note the increasing overreach of the federal government and the range of reasons to oppose it.Watch anexcerpt here:

Althougharguments about over-regulation and taxation are bound to involve in depth discussions about numbers and econometrics, Sasse reminds us that ourfocus must remain on the preservation of freedom and human dignity.

Ultimately, opposing overregulationisn’t about numbersor lofty predictions abouteconomic growth.It’s about treating people with the dignity they deserve, and offeringthe freedom to flourish, in turn:

Who does overregulation hurt? It hurts the poor. It hurts the least fortunate among us. As the regulatory sea rises and rises and rises, the rich and the well-connected, most of you in this room, you will be fine. It’ll put a little bit of sand in the gears, but most of you will be fine. The people who can afford to hire their lobbyists, they’ll be fine. But the poor, those who most need economic opportunity, they’re the ones who suffer. And we, conservatives, do a really poor job of telling this story effectively.

Because the reason that I’m a conservative, doesn’t have a whole heck of a lot to do with marginal tax rates. I care a lot about the effects of a growing economy, and marginal tax rates matter.But the reason I’m a conservative is because ports with the dignity of people as they were created. And I believe that we need to understand America anew, and we need to be able to tell the story to the next generation of why this constitutional system, this first amendment creed of America, is such a glorious inheritance.

For more, see the full video.