Bush pushes through scores of reactionary "midnight regulations"

Bush pushes through scores of reactionary "midnight regulations"

www.wsws.org

As President George Bush's term comes to an end, federal agencies are in the process of enacting last-minute pro-business regulations. The "midnight regulations," as they are called, will have drastically adverse effects on the working class and large sections of the US population.

The new rules will affect a wide range of areas, including the environment, civil rights, on-the-job safety and highway safety. More than 60 of these regulations have already been approved by the White House. Vice-President Dick Cheney and White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten have taken the lead in pushing through the rule changes over the last eight months, often over the opposition of career employees and staff scientists at federal agencies.

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Related News Links:
www.homelandsecurityus.com

That man - I believe has truly tried his hardest to take the U.S. completely down. It seems it was his intentions and he has been succeeding!

He is the most vile person - and is evil through and through.

The regulations he is getting through hurts all of us in many different ways.

A partial review of the rules being finalized by various regulatory agencies show that they will:

• Allow coal companies to dump tons of rock and dirt from mountaintop mining operations into nearby streams and valleys.

• Exempt factory farms and their huge animal waste runoff from federal air pollution laws.

• Undermine the Endangered Species Act by eliminating a long-standing provision requiring independent scientific reviews before construction or drilling is allowed in an endangered species' habitat.

• Make it more difficult for workers to use family and medical leave.

• Ease air pollution emissions standards on refineries.

• Allow doctors, hospitals and clinics to deny medical services to patients based only on a medical worker's religious prejudices.

• Make it easier for logging and mining companies to get permits in protected areas.

• Allow agencies to ignore the effect of greenhouse gas emission in their assessment of new projects.

• Permit streamlined lease sales of wilderness lands.

The spate of last-minute regulations amounts to a massive handout to corporate special interests. The rules in question are not executive orders, reversible with the advent of a new president, but federal regulations that can be delayed only if they meet certain timeline constraints. Those rules expected to cost $100 million or more a year legally go into effect 60 days after they're finalized; minor regulations go into effect in 30 days.

Besides the above last minute regulations, here are some of his pass ones from last year.

In April, Bush appointees at the Environmental Protection Agency announced they were changing the process for assessing the risks posed by toxic chemicals to involve the Office of Management and Budget. The new rules will give the OMB, an agency with little scientific knowledge, the ability to review and alter scientific findings relating to chemical exposure standards.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) quietly issued a new rule relating to toxic substances in the workplaces last July, in what is being called "stealth regulation." Bush political appointees in OSHA overrode the objections of career health and safety professionals to push through the change. The new rule increases the allowable exposure of workers to dangerous chemicals and toxins by changing the way exposure is measured. The proposal applies to OSHA and the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

New OSHA regulations that would protect workers have been stymied over the past eight years. According to one report, between 2001 and 2007 OSHA released 86 percent fewer rules and regulations termed economically significant by the OMB than during the Clinton administration. It has published only one new rule related to workers' health, and that was only because of a court order.

The Bush administration's regulatory blitz is designed to accommodate corporate lobbyists who have descended on Washington in the waning days of Bush's term, determined to protect their well-heeled clients.

Throughout the past year, the White House has intervened aggressively to distort and disrupt the efforts of various regulatory agencies charged with protecting public health and safety.

In November, the Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) ignored safety research to authorize codification of a 2004 regulation that allows 11 hours of driving for commercial truckers at a stretch and 60 hours behind the wheel in a seven-day period or 70 in eight days. Courts have twice rejected the regulation.

This person who has acted as the U.S. destruction president - has done everything in his power to weaken the country.

I ask people here - can you name or state ONE THING - that the man has done for you and me? OH - and please don't say "He has kept us safe from terrorist". As he is the terrorist of this nation and world.

There was another article that a high ranking intelligence officer explained what is behind the scenes regarding info coming out and why. below is the link:

www.homelandsecurityus.com...

The above link is the homeland security has issued warnings to Jewish centers in the U.S., saying terrorist chatter has been happening about targeting U.S. places. It goes on to include chatter about:

Anyplace where Jews gather for school, worship services or social events are being described as “desirable targets,” according to these communications. Emphasis is also being placed on body count and visible carnage, including attacks against children.

There is much more to the article. It states how the intelligence officer is happy to be getting out, due to his intelligence being twisted and shaped different from what he reported.

This official responded by stating that he has spent the last two decades serving in “an unfortunate position where intelligence and politics meet and often collide.” Now, merely days away from retirement, he stated that he is looking forward to leaving his position after conducting over 20 years of intelligence work “that has been molded and massaged to advance the agendas of a select few.”

He continued: “When an intelligence work product that has been thoroughly and properly vetted is submitted to those in Washington, and I see a completely different and entirely inaccurate product intentionally submitted and aired in the media, only to be told ‘that is the way it must be,’ then I know it’s time for me to leave.”

I also read and was trying to find it again - a thought from a govt. offical (no name) saying the things are happening fast in Israel, so Bush, before leaving office, can start his war with Iran that he has been wanting for a few years now.

To me that would be hard to do in a 2 week time period, unless something else drastically changes before the 20th.

BTW: I still see "W The President" on cars to this day - and all I can do is shake my head and know those people are absolute sheep and idiots!


www.wsws.org
(visit the link for the

[edit on 8-1-2009 by questioningall]

Here is a classic case that there is only ONE GOVERNMENT in the USA.

The messiah Obama? NOTHING!

It's so in your face, it is scary the US public en masse has not woken up to this.

wZn

good stuff,,, i believe in conservatism,,, but i absolutely hate bush


ps,,, by the way did you see the top thread today----if bush was running again, would you vote for him???

and there was a lot of yes's and apparent sheep jumping to vote for him again

the damage and havoc he wreaked will never be cleaned up or fixed

my god,,, how can you not see the evil that is george bush,,,,,or in general the whole bush clan?????

and now jeb

oh please no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Originally posted by watchZEITGEISTnow

Here is a classic case that there is only ONE GOVERNMENT in the USA.

The messiah Obama? NOTHING!

It's so in your face, it is scary the US public en masse has not woken up to this.

wZn

Of course there is only one government in the U.S. Who told you there were two or three or more?

What do you think Obama is able to do before he is even sworn in? I'm sure the Obama administration will reverse many of these midnight deregulations once he's in office, but right now he has no power to do so.

I think many people are aware of the Bush administration's numerous heinous acts. One of the things they have done in response is to vote him out of office. What do you plan to do about them?

Midnight regulations are historically not new. Outgoing presidents have always concocted some. Bill Clinton passed a lot of them before he left office. Of course, his were not so reactionary and so were not as destructive.