by Blue Stockings | In the meantime, George W. Bush is still president. But in these times of economic crisis and many little wars, where is George? Anywhere? Anywhere?
He's intentionally keeping out of sight, according to The New York Times---presumably because if he reminds voters of his existence, they'll never want to vote Republican again. After all, McCain has been fighting to create and market his own "not at all like W---even nastier!" brand.
Until recently, Mr. Bush was giving talks about the battered economy on nearly a daily basis, prompting some Republicans to grumble privately that so much presidential face time was hurting their election chances. This week, Mr. Bush stepped back, holding just four public events, none with real policy implications....
Joe Lockhart, a former Clinton press secretary, said Mr. Bush’s absence from the public stage, though brief, had consequences. “This has an impact,” Mr. Lockhart said. “The world marches on; we’re in an economic crisis. We have tensions at home and abroad, yet I think if you walk down the street and ask people, ‘Has the president already left?’ you’d have a lot of people saying, ‘Yeah, I think so.’ ”
No such luck. He's in the building and he's still got plenty of time to do even more damage.
Yes, just call him "The Midnight De-Regulator."
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.
According to The Washington Post:
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.
Apparently all administrations do this. And Bush's seems determined to clear a path for its industry friends and cronies.
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....
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.
The last bit is what is known to administration officials as "bringing some common sense to the Clean Air Act."
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Oy. Bush might say Deregulate this!
Posted by: The Heretik | November 02, 2008 at 01:23 AM