Boofhead,
I will say this again. ALPA new that the 1500 hour rule would make the regionals up pay and conditions. Paying an SIC $18 an hour to crew a Dash 8 was not only stingy but dangerous. People sleeping in crew rooms after commuting from Arizona to New York (becasue they cant afford to live in domicile) is awful. Something had to be done.
Cutting the supply of 250 hour pilots who work for food stamps was the only option at the time.