You're getting there....But there's still part of that statement that seems to rationalize that regionals should exist at all. Unless they go back to flying "puddle jumper" 19 seat turboprops they shouldn't exist using their current business model.

As they are now they are full sized national airlines (remember that term?) flying large jet aircraft....just like the majors. Stop thinking of them as stepping stones for the exact same job at another company.

There is absolutely nothing anywhere that suggests it's necessary for a pilot to have time flying in a smaller jet before downgrading to a larger jet as a first officer. When an experienced RJ captain takes a pay cut with a job at the same mainline who owned the RJ he is downgrading by the very definition of the word.