Our miserable power-hungry President has just decreed (that's the right word; he did it by Executive Order) that all Federal agencies henceforth must have political appointees at their head. This is ostensibly to ensure that all costs have been weighed against the benefits of any regulations the agencies might enact.
Typically, agencies issue regulations under authority granted to them in laws enacted by Congress. In many cases, the statute does not say precisely what agencies should do, giving them considerable latitude in interpreting the law and developing regulations.The directive issued by Mr. Bush says that, in deciding whether to issue regulations, federal agencies must identify “the specific market failure” or problem that justifies government intervention.
Besides placing political appointees in charge of rule making, Mr. Bush said agencies must give the White House an opportunity to review “any significant guidance documents” before they are issued.
This is going to allow special interest groups like the Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of Manufacturers, the oil/gas lobbies and all manner of other business outfits to block regulations that might otherwise force them to behave in safe and environmentally sound ways.
Got any tea we can dump overboard somewhere?
Posted by Linkmeister at January 29, 2007 08:03 PM | TrackBackIs it only tea that we can toss overboard?
Posted by: Serge at January 30, 2007 01:20 AM