Ted Cruz loves small government, less regulation — and this mandate on carmakers | Opinion

Conservatives used to pride themselves on getting government out of your way.

Somehow, that has morphed into using government to save you from even the slightest of life’s inconveniences.

The latest example comes from Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and several of his congressional colleagues. They want a federal requirement that new cars be sold with AM radios — with no additional cost to car buyers. Some manufacturers have planned to drop it from the increasingly sophisticated entertainment systems in cars, particularly electric vehicles, arguing that there is too much interference with the radio signal.

The idea violates all sorts of conservative principles: letting the market sort out customers’ needs and desires, minimizing costly regulations for businesses and allowing for variety rather than top-down conformity.

On a different context, artificial intelligence, Cruz recently said something wise: Lawmakers should proceed cautiously because “to be honest, Congress doesn’t know what the hell it’s doing in this area.” Media is similarly changing rapidly, and it’s on broadcasters, message purveyors and even consumers to adapt. Many already have, adopting satellite radio, YouTube videos and even podcasts, a medium Cruz has eagerly taken to himself with his popular “Verdict with Ted Cruz” show.

The best argument that Cruz and his Senate collaborator, Democratic Sen. Edward Markey of Massachusetts, muster for their legislation is that many Americans’ most reliable access to emergency broadcast alerts is AM radio. But that specific need is better met by spreading broadband internet access, which would also improve education and remote-work opportunities.

This regulation would only help people in their cars. What about at home? Should government give everyone in the boonies a radio? Or mandate that TV manufacturers include an AM receiver in their products?

It’s fair to note that automobiles are already heavily regulated, so, what’s one more? Regulation should be limited to consumer protection, and this is a case where the customer will have the last word anyway. If one really wants or needs AM radio in a new car, he or she can shop for it. It could even be a point of competition: A rural Ford dealer could seek an advantage over the Chevrolet seller down the block by throwing in an AM package.

Others will get the stations they want from their smartphones. Radio purveyors of all kinds have figured out that they can expand their reach by offering podcasts, too. And if all that doesn’t do it, an aftermarket could bloom for plug-in AM radios.

Cruz and Markey, who is as far to the left as the Texan is to the right, are touting the bipartisan support for their bill. In this case, bipartisan isn’t a synonym for good or smart but rather for a point where conservatives and progressives can agree on flexing government power — and the political benefits of doing so.

Cruz is up for a tough re-election campaign next year, though probably nowhere near as close as his 2018 battle with Beto O’Rourke. He’ll need another strong turnout of rural voters, so throwing them a bone here is politically smart, if ideologically inconsistent.

He’s playing to another important audience, too: conservative talk radio and its purveyors. It’s still a powerful medium, and radio appearances will be a key outreach point for Cruz to activate conservative diehards. He surely does not want anything to hurt the companies that run such stations and shows.

To boost that conservative vote, Cruz will undoubtedly blast his Democratic opponent, be it Dallas congressman Colin Allred or state Sen. Roland Gutierrez of San Antonio, as a big-government liberal. And he’ll be right.

But legislation reaching deep into car radios makes Cruz look like a big-government conservative — whatever that is.