Bush Working On One Last Shot To Wreck Our Government

George Bush may only have eighty days and change left in the White House, but that doesn't mean he isn't hard at "work." Economists have been bashing the deregulation policies of the last twenty to thirty years as the main problem of our fiscal crisis but that won't stop the Pretzeldent from enacting more of the same failed policies. In one last trick on the American people and another treat for corporate America, a whole array of regulations that protect the environment and consumers will go out the door if Bush gets his way.

From The Washington Post:

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 says that they have the "best interests of the nation in mind," but we know he is completely full of shit. The Republican Administration is doing everything in its power to make things as difficult as they can be for the next (presumably Democratic) President. The wealthy elite are going to miss their confidante in the Oval Office so they are hoping that this one last push will help them get through until the next time they can trick the people into voting against their own interests.

Hopefully that day will never come.