Our friends in the Bush administration recently amended a key executive order to tighten the executive’s grip on federal agencies that enforce health, safety, and environmental protections. Who could be surprised? The NewStandard reports:
The amended order enables the White House to oversee not only regulations, but also “guidance” documents that agencies issue to inform the public about how rules will be enforced – for example, an explanation of how a ruling in an environmental lawsuit will change the way polluters are regulated. The (White House) Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs can now scrutinize all “significant” guidance materials – defined according to criteria such as having the ability to “adversely affect” the economy in a “material way.”
But don’t stop there, Bushies! The order also now uses the concept of “market failure” as the standard for reviewing a proposed rule, i.e., whether “market forces” could correct the environmental or social problem in question, without government intervention.
Truly a marketeer’s dream. Our new prez is going to have a lot of crap to unravel when he or she assumes the mantle …
