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Bush's Parting Shots To The American Public: DEREGULATION! Unless You're A "Have-More", Did You Really Expect Those Lame Duck Acts Would Benefit You!
Bush’s Parting Shots
To The
American Public:
DEREGULATION!
Unless You’re A
“Have-More”,
Did You Really
Expect Those
Lame Duck Acts
Would Benefit You!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/30/AR2008103004749.html?referrer=reddit
A Last Push To Deregulate
White House to Ease Many Rules
By R. Jeffrey Smith
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 31, 2008; A01
The White House is working to enact a wide array of federal regulations, many of which would weaken government rules aimed at protecting consumers and the environment, before President Bush leaves office in January.
The new rules would be among the most controversial deregulatory steps of the Bush era and could be difficult for his successor to undo. Some would ease or lift constraints on private industry, including power plants, mines and farms.
Those and other regulations would help clear obstacles to some commercial ocean-fishing activities, ease controls on emissions of pollutants that contribute to global warming, relax drinking-water standards and lift a key restriction on mountaintop coal mining.
Once such rules take effect, they typically can be undone only through a laborious new regulatory proceeding, including lengthy periods of public comment, drafting and mandated reanalysis.
"They want these rules to continue to have an impact long after they leave office", said Matthew Madia, a regulatory expert at OMB Watch, a nonprofit group critical of what it calls the Bush administration's penchant for deregulating in areas where industry wants more freedom. He called the coming deluge "a last-minute assault on the public . . . happening on multiple fronts".
White House spokesman Tony Fratto said, "This administration has taken extraordinary measures to avoid rushing regulations at the end of the term. And yes, we'd prefer our regulations stand for a very long time -- they're well reasoned and are being considered with the best interests of the nation in mind."
As many as 90 new regulations are in the works, and at least nine of them are considered "economically significant" because they impose costs or promote societal benefits that exceed $100 million annually. They include new rules governing employees who take family- and medical-related leaves, new standards for preventing or containing oil spills, and a simplified process for settling real estate transactions.
While it remains unclear how much the administration will be able to accomplish in the coming weeks, the last-minute rush appears to involve fewer regulations than Bush's predecessor, Bill Clinton, approved at the end of his tenure.
In some cases, Bush's regulations reflect new interpretations of language in federal laws. In other cases, such as several new counterterrorism initiatives, they reflect new executive branch decisions in areas where Congress -- now out of session and focused on the elections -- left the president considerable discretion.
The burst of activity has made this a busy period for lobbyists who fear that industry views will hold less sway after the elections. The doors at the New Executive Office Building have been whirling with corporate officials and advisers pleading for relief or, in many cases, for hastened decision making.
According to the Office of Management and Budget's regulatory calendar, the commercial scallop-fishing industry came in two weeks ago to urge that proposed catch limits be eased, nearly bumping into National Mining Association officials making the case for easing rules meant to keep coal slurry waste out of Appalachian streams. A few days earlier, lawyers for kidney dialysis and biotechnology companies registered their complaints at the OMB about new Medicare reimbursement rules. Lobbyists for customs brokers complained about proposed counterterrorism rules that require the advance reporting of shipping data.
Bush's aides are acutely aware of the political risks of completing their regulatory work too late. On the afternoon of Bush's inauguration, Jan. 20, 2001, his chief of staff issued a government-wide memo that blocked the completion or implementation of regulations drafted in the waning days of the Clinton administration that had not yet taken legal effect.
"Through the end of the Clinton administration, we were working like crazy to get as many regulations out as possible", said Donald R. Arbuckle, who retired in 2006 after 25 years as an OMB official. "Then on Sunday, the day after the inauguration, OMB Director Mitch Daniels called me in and said, 'Let's pull back as many of these as we can'. "
Clinton's appointees wound up paying a heavy price for procrastination. Bush's team was able to withdraw 254 regulations that covered such matters as drug and airline safety, immigration and indoor air pollutants. After further review, many of the proposals were modified to reflect Republican policy ideals or scrapped altogether.
Seeking to avoid falling victim to such partisan tactics, White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten in May imposed a Nov. 1 government-wide deadline to finish major new regulations, "except in extraordinary circumstances".
That gives officials just a few more weeks to meet an effective Nov. 20 deadline for the publication of economically significant rules, which take legal effect only after a 60-day congressional comment period. Less important rules take effect after a 30-day period, creating a second deadline of Dec. 20.
OMB spokeswoman Jane Lee said that Bolten's memo was meant to emphasize the importance of "due diligence" in ensuring that late-term regulations are sound. "We will continue to embrace the thorough and high standards of the regulatory review process", she said.
As the deadlines near, the administration has begun to issue regulations of great interest to industry, including, in recent days, a rule that allows natural gas pipelines to operate at higher pressures and new Homeland Security rules that shift passenger security screening responsibilities from airlines to the federal government. The OMB also approved a new limit on airborne emissions of lead this month, acting under a court-imposed deadline.
Many of the rules that could be issued over the next few weeks would ease environmental regulations, according to sources familiar with administration deliberations.
A rule put forward by the National Marine Fisheries Service and now under final review by the OMB would lift a requirement that environmental impact statements be prepared for certain fisheries-management decisions and would give review authority to regional councils dominated by commercial and recreational fishing interests.
An Alaska commercial fishing source, granted anonymity so he could speak candidly about private conversations, said that senior administration officials promised to "get the rule done by the end of this month" and that the outcome would be a big improvement.
Lee Crockett of the Pew Charitable Trusts' Environment Group said the administration has received 194,000 public comments on the rule and protests from 80 members of Congress as well as 160 conservation groups. "This thing is fatally flawed" as well as "wildly unpopular", Crockett said.
Two other rules nearing completion would ease limits on pollution from power plants, a major energy industry goal for the past eight years that is strenuously opposed by Democratic lawmakers and environmental groups.
One rule, being pursued over some opposition within the Environmental Protection Agency, would allow current emissions at a power plant to match the highest levels produced by that plant, overturning a rule that more strictly limits such emission increases. According to the EPA's estimate, it would allow millions of tons of additional carbon dioxide into the atmosphere annually, worsening global warming.
A related regulation would ease limits on emissions from coal-fired power plants near national parks.
A third rule would allow increased emissions from oil refineries, chemical factories and other industrial plants with complex manufacturing operations.
These rules "will force Americans to choke on dirtier air for years to come, unless Congress or the new administration reverses these eleventh-hour abuses", said lawyer John Walke of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
But Scott H. Segal, a Washington lawyer and chief spokesman for the Electric Reliability Coordinating Council, said that, "bringing common sense to the Clean Air Act is the best way to enhance energy efficiency and pollution control". He said he is optimistic that the new rule will help keep citizens' lawsuits from obstructing new technologies.
Jonathan Shradar, an EPA spokesman, said that he could not discuss specifics but added that, "we strive to protect human health and the environment". Any rule the agency completes, he said, "is more stringent than the previous one".
http://pugetsoundblogs.com/waterways/2008/11/05/bush-seeks-environmental-changes-before-departure/
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Bush seeks environmental changes before departure
And now we come to the endgame for President George W. Bush. You can almost hear environmentalists sweating as Bush pushes for last-minute regulations that many believe would undermine gains on the environmental front.
The group OMB Watch lays out the issue:
The Clinton administration published many rules in the Federal Register in January 2001, just days before leaving office. Because those rules were not yet effective, the incoming president, George W. Bush, took a second look at those rules and suspended many of them. Although Bush’s move was of questionable legality, it was never challenged in court.
Bush was able to derail a regulation that would have precluded businesses in repeated violation of the law (including tax laws, labor laws, employment laws, environmental laws, antitrust laws, and consumer protection laws) from receiving government contracts.
Now, the Bush administration is pushing rules a future administration might find objectionable. However, by ensuring those rules are in effect by Jan. 20, Bush is preventing the next president from employing the same strategy of suspending last-minute rules.
The White House foreshadowed this November push when, in May, it instructed agencies to finalize rules by Nov. 1. In a memo, White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten wrote, “[R]egulations to be finalized in this Administration should be proposed no later than June 1, 2008.” All final rules were to be completed by Nov. 1 except in extraordinary circumstances, according to the memo.
Many upcoming rules will miss the Nov. 1 deadline. However, the administration continues to push to finish rules by mid-November — at least 60 days before Bush leaves office.
Download the Bolten memo (PDF 740 kb) for a closer look.
The article by OMB Watch lists eight environmental rules to be amended, including those dealing with mining, endangered species, national parks, water pollution, air pollution and ocean management.
The Competitive Enterprise Institute, which promotes free enterprise and limited government, has joined with conservation groups in urging the Bush administration to suspend new regulations.
“This is a matter of good regulatory policy,” said Eli Lehrer, a senior fellow at the institute said in a press release. “The Bush administration has had eight years in office and has issued more regulations than any administration in history. At this point, in the current economic climate, it would be especially harmful to push through ill-considered regulations in the final days of the administration. Unless it’s a real emergency, the administration should keep its word on this matter.”
The coalition has set up a Web site called NoMidnightRegs.org.
Here’s how various publications have described this issue:
R. Jeffrey Smith of the Los Angeles Times reported that as many as 90 new regulations are moving through the pipeline, with at least nine valued at $100 million:
A rule put forward by the National Marine Fisheries Service and now under final review by the OMB would lift a requirement that environmental impact statements be prepared for certain fisheries-management decisions and would give review authority to regional councils dominated by commercial and recreational fishing interests.
An Alaska commercial fishing industry source, granted anonymity so he could speak candidly about private conversations, said senior administration officials promised to “get the rule done by the end of this month” and that the outcome would be a big improvement over existing regulations.
Terra Daily reported that the Bush administration was defending its regulatory activity. The story quoted White House spokesman Tony Fratto as saying that Bush was not following the Clinton practice.
“The number of regulations under review has remained fairly constant,” he said. “There is no great increase in the number of regulations that we are reviewing right now. If you go back six months or 12 months or 18 months the numbers stayed pretty much steady.”
Fratto also pointed out that not all the regulations would be viewed positively by business and industry.
“Some of the regulations that are coming through I think are not, maybe not, particularly welcome by members of the business community.”
An editorial in the New York Times was harsh in its view of the regulatory changes:
The administration has been especially busy weakening regulations that promote clean air and clean water and protect endangered species.
Mr. Bush, or more to the point, Vice President Dick Cheney, came to office determined to dismantle Bill Clinton’s environmental legacy, undo decades of environmental law and keep their friends in industry happy. They have had less success than we feared, but only because of the determined opposition of environmental groups, courageous members of Congress and protests from citizens. But the White House keeps trying.
The editorial expresses concerns about a rush to de-list the grey wolf under the Endangered Species Act, allow coal-fired power plants near national parks, make it easier to dump mining wastes into streams and open up pristine federal lands to oil and gas exploration.
Meanwhile, it appears that Bush himself is rushing to establish at least one clear environmental victory for his legacy by protecting two vast areas of the ocean from fishing and mineral exploration.
In this case, however, he is drawing fire within his own administration, as Vice President Dick Cheney says it would hurt the economy.
Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post said researchers and activists welcomed a Bush memo that proposes two “marine conservation management areas” be established before he leaves office. Eilperin describes the two areas:
One, in the central Pacific, would encompass an area known as the Line Islands and stretch about 2,000 miles from the Johnston Atoll to the Rose Atoll. The memo described the area as “isolated from population centers, mostly uninhabited” and supporting “endemic, depleted, migratory, endangered and threatened species of fish, giant clams, crabs, marine mammals, sea turtles, seabirds, migratory shorebirds and corals that are rapidly vanishing elsewhere in the world.”
The other area, in the western Pacific, would include the waters around two Northern Mariana Islands and the 6.8-mile-deep Mariana Trench, the deepest ocean canyon in the world.
Day-to-Day, November 12, 2008 · President Bush is pushing through numerous rules and regulations before he leaves office. Gary Bass, executive director of OMB Watch, tells Alex Cohen what these key regulations are and what challenges they will pose for president-elect Barack Obama.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96909280
Tabacco: Go to NPR (URL above), click on the “Listen Now” Link to hear interview with Gary Bass.
This is addressed to all of America, but particularly to those of you, who voted for Bush, McCain or any Republican since 1960. This is not about the differences between Bill Clinton’s 11th Hour Regulations and George W. Bush’s 11th Hour Deregulations; this is about the differences between all Republicans and all Democrats. Democrats GENERALLY act to protect the People from selfish Capitalists, while Republicans ALWAYS act to protect selfish Capitalists from the People.
It does NOT MATTER who the Republican candidate is or who the Democratic candidate is, the Republican will always favor Special Interests above the People. Sorry, but I CANNOT make the Converse statement, “Democrats will always favor the People above the Special Interests”.
However, since we already know what every Republican will do, despite mythological propaganda to the contrary, our only chance is to elect either a Democrat, Green Party candidate or other 3rd Party candidate. Be very careful of “Independent” tags and “Have-Mores”, dressed in Sheep’s Clothing! They are, in most instances, worse than Republicans.
‘TRICKLE DOWN ECONOMICS” is not just a trite pejorative; it is a concise, fair and unrelenting assessment of Republicans, whether Conservative, Neoconservative, Moderate, Liberal or whatever. Colin Powell and Dwight Eisenhower, both Republicans, are admittedly not as BAD as some; but voting for Eisenhower over Adlai Stevenson or Powell over Obama would be Frivolous Folly.
In summation, if you truly wanted “Change” in 2001, you would have done your homework and made DENNIS KUCINICH the nominee of the Democratic Party. Anyone else, and that includes Barack Obama, is a “Compromise Candidate”. Already the glitter is rubbing off the Obama mystique!
Bill Clinton has a rather positive reputation for his presidential turn. That reputation was neither earned nor deserved. Obama may leave the White House with comparable positive approval ratings, but my guess is he will be more like Clinton than FDR! Yes, that’s better than 4 or 8 years of McBush (McCain), but it’s not nearly so good as 8 years of Kucinich or any non-Republican president, who fights for the People all the time, not just on most social issues. Incidentally, Kucinich favors Gay Marriage, while Obama straddles the middle like most successful politicos. “The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those, who, in time of crisis, remain neutral”.
Perhaps America cannot deal with “Radical Change” all at once. But if you become disillusioned with Barack Obama’s presidency, for Common Sense’s sake, do NOT RETURN TO THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. Ping-Pong should be played on a court, not in Politics!
Tabacco: I consider myself both a funnel and a filter. I funnel information, not readily available on the Mass Media, which is ignored and/or suppressed. I filter out the irrelevancies and trivialities to save both the time and effort of my Readers and bring consternation to the enemies of Truth & Fairness! When you read Tabacco, if you don’t learn something NEW, I’ve wasted your time.
In 1981's 'Body Heat', Kathleen Turner said, "Knowledge is power".
T.A.B.A.C.C.O. (Truth About Business And Congressional Crimes Organization) – Think Tank For Other 95% Of World
COINS HAVE TWO SIDES!