George Bush Pushes Midnight MalRegulations in final days

[Alyrium Denryle]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/de ... egulations

Bush sneaks through host of laws to undermine Obama
The lame-duck Republican team is rushing through radical measures, from coal waste dumping to power stations in national parks, that will take months to overturn, reports Paul Harris in New York
Comments (82)

After spending eight years at the helm of one of the most ideologically driven administrations in American history, George W. Bush is ending his presidency in characteristically aggressive fashion, with a swath of controversial measures designed to reward supporters and enrage opponents.

By the time he vacates the White House, he will have issued a record number of so-called 'midnight regulations' - so called because of the stealthy way they appear on the rule books - to undermine the administration of Barack Obama, many of which could take years to undo.

Dozens of new rules have already been introduced which critics say will diminish worker safety, pollute the environment, promote gun use and curtail abortion rights. Many rules promote the interests of large industries, such as coal mining or energy, which have energetically supported Bush during his two terms as president. More are expected this week.

America's attention is focused on the fate of the beleaguered car industry, still seeking backing in Washington for a multi-billion-dollar bail-out. But behind the scenes, the 'midnight' rules are being rushed through with little fanfare and minimal media attention. None of them would be likely to appeal to the incoming Obama team.

The regulations cover a vast policy area, ranging from healthcare to car safety to civil liberties. Many are focused on the environment and seek to ease regulations that limit pollution or restrict harmful industrial practices, such as dumping strip-mining waste.

The Bush moves have outraged many watchdog groups. 'The regulations we have seen so far have been pretty bad,' said Matt Madia, a regulatory policy analyst at OMB Watch. 'The effects of all this are going to be severe.'

Bush can pass the rules because of a loophole in US law allowing him to put last-minute regulations into the Code of Federal Regulations, rules that have the same force as law. He can carry out many of his political aims without needing to force new laws through Congress. Outgoing presidents often use the loophole in their last weeks in office, but Bush has done this far more than Bill Clinton or his father, George Bush sr. He is on track to issue more 'midnight regulations' than any other previous president.

Many of these are radical and appear to pay off big business allies of the Republican party. One rule will make it easier for coal companies to dump debris from strip mining into valleys and streams. The process is part of an environmentally damaging technique known as 'mountain-top removal mining'. It involves literally removing the top of a mountain to excavate a coal seam and pouring the debris into a valley, which is then filled up with rock. The new rule will make that dumping easier.

Another midnight regulation will allow power companies to build coal-fired power stations nearer to national parks. Yet another regulation will allow coal-fired stations to increase their emissions without installing new anti-pollution equipment.

The Environmental Defence Fund has called the moves a 'fire sale of epic size for coal'. Other environmental groups agree. 'The only motivation for some of these rules is to benefit the business interests that the Bush administration has served,' said Ed Hopkins, a director of environmental quality at the Sierra Club. A case in point would seem to be a rule that opens up millions of acres of land to oil shale extraction, which environmental groups say is highly pollutant.

There is a long list of other new regulations that have gone onto the books. One lengthens the number of hours that truck drivers can drive without rest. Another surrenders government control of rerouting the rail transport of hazardous materials around densely populated areas and gives it to the rail companies.

One more chips away at the protection of endangered species. Gun control is also weakened by allowing loaded and concealed guns to be carried in national parks. Abortion rights are hit by allowing healthcare workers to cite religious or moral grounds for opting out of carrying out certain medical procedures.

A common theme is shifting regulation of industry from government to the industries themselves, essentially promoting self-regulation. One rule transfers assessment of the impact of ocean-fishing away from federal inspectors to advisory groups linked to the fishing industry. Another allows factory farms to self-regulate disposal of pollutant run-off.

The White House denies it is sabotaging the new administration. It says many of the moves have been openly flagged for months. The spate of rules is going to be hard for Obama to quickly overcome. By issuing them early in the 'lame duck' period of office, the Bush administration has mostly dodged 30- or 60-day time limits that would have made undoing them relatively straightforward.

Obama's team will have to go through a more lengthy process of reversing them, as it is forced to open them to a period of public consulting. That means that undoing the damage could take months or even years, especially if corporations go to the courts to prevent changes.

At the same time, the Obama team will have a huge agenda on its plate as it inherits the economic crisis. Nevertheless, anti-midnight regulation groups are lobbying Obama's transition team to make sure Bush's new rules are changed as soon as possible. 'They are aware of this. The transition team has a list of things they want to undo,' said Madia.
Final reckoning

Bush's midnight regulations will:

• Make it easier for coal companies to dump waste from strip-mining into valleys and streams.

• Ease the building of coal-fired power stations nearer to national parks.

• Allow people to carry loaded and concealed weapons in national parks.

• Open up millions of acres to mining for oil shale.

• Allow healthcare workers to opt out of giving treatment for religious or moral reasons, thus weakening abortion rights.

• Hurt road safety by allowing truck drivers to stay at the wheel for 11 consecutive hours.

Oh. My. Fucking. God. You can expect a good sized rant about this shit later

[The Spartan]

Bush's midnight regulations will:

• Make it easier for coal companies to dump waste from strip-mining into valleys and streams.

• Ease the building of coal-fired power stations nearer to national parks.

I have a huge fucking problem with both of these. I like having clean drinking water and uncontaminated fruits and vegetables. I guess I'm just weird like that.

• Allow people to carry loaded and concealed weapons in national parks.

Leaving aside that some concealed carry programs are a joke insofar as training and safety are concerned, I actually don't have a problem with this assuming that it's in a state that already allows concealed carry.

• Open up millions of acres to mining for oil shale.

Big fucking mistake for the same reasons as #1 and #2.

• Allow healthcare workers to opt out of giving treatment for religious or moral reasons, thus weakening abortion rights.

It's quite simple. If you have a moral problem with the job, find another line of work to get into.

• Hurt road safety by allowing truck drivers to stay at the wheel for 11 consecutive hours.

Of all of these, this actually baffles me the most. I can understand the others being pushed through even if I think they're the height of stupidity but this is just a goddamn joke. Why the hell would anyone think it's a good idea for a driver to be on the road (oh, yeah, they choose to do so, they'll never be forced to by their company) for that long? I get distracted after four hours on the road and need to stop to stretch and what not, I can't even imagine eleven.

[Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba]

Are there laws that limit the length of time allowed on the road?

... Are they enforced?

[Tsyroc]

Are there laws that limit the length of time allowed on the road?

... Are they enforced?

I'm pretty sure there are. From what I understand they even have to keep logs of how long they are on the road and how much down time they take between 8 hour stints.

[Stark]

It's pretty funny that to many people, this kind of shit seems to just be 'business as usual' and like other culturally ingrained things 'isn't really a problem' because everyone does it. Gross misuse of power aimed squarely at damaging the government? Doesn't matter, BECAUSE HE'LL DO IT WHEN IT'S HIS TURN TOO LOL.

It's like frat-boy justice ... in the highest office in the world. Why do they hate America????

[Bounty]

Are there laws that limit the length of time allowed on the road?

... Are they enforced?

Not sure about the US, but drive/resting time regulations of road transport isn't exactly a new concept. In Europe, trucks are fitted with automated logs that keep track of how long and far a driver has travelled in any given period of time, and they are required to pull over and sleep at set intervals. Whether those requirements are always met I don't know, but they are strictly monitored.

[The Spartan]

Are there laws that limit the length of time allowed on the road?

... Are they enforced?

I'm pretty sure there are. From what I understand they even have to keep logs of how long they are on the road and how much down time they take between 8 hour stints.

Phantasee would know better than me, but, from what I remember, you can't do more than 8 hrs at a time and you must have a rest stop for sleep for at least one period of 8 consecutive hours every 24.

I enjoy the outdoors. It "resets" my mind and gives me a way to relax through communing with nature, through physical exertion, etc. And this son of a bitch is going to destroy that. Where's Teddy Roosevelt when you need him?

[CmdrWilkens]

Are there laws that limit the length of time allowed on the road?

... Are they enforced?

The correct answer is ruthlessly. If you've ever wondered why truck weigh stations exist half the reason is that the Federal Highway System virtually lives to extract fees and fines from drivers in any way possible. I worked in shipping and receiving for a couple years with my old company and got to know our regular drivers pretty well. If they were near enough to a given mark for time their company would literally send a remote shutdown signal to the truck (they all have GPS locators and interactive logs) preventing the driver from moving. So yeah ruthlessly enforced.

[Axis Kast]

In the United States, truck drivers may drive a total of ten consecutive hours before they are required to log out and leave the road. They must then rest their eyes for several hours before returning to the job.

[Axis Kast]

Actually, according to Wikipedia, which provides a citation, the permitted range is eleven hours in fourteen, after accumulation of which, ten hours of rest are mandatory.

I got the older figure from a History Channel special on long-haul trucking (and service stations).

[Shinova]

All this is the definition of poisoning the well isn't it?

[Elfdart]

The first thing Obama needs to do when he takes office is issue an executive order that all of Bush's executive orders and regulations are null and void. One quick sentence and signature will flush more horseshit than Heracles did when he diverted two rivers through the Augean Stables.

[Ryan Thunder]

• Ease the building of coal-fired power stations nearer to national parks.

I have a huge fucking problem with both of these. I like having clean drinking water and uncontaminated fruits and vegetables. I guess I'm just weird like that.

Now, I get the first one, but how do you figure the second one would affect your drinking water? It's recycled anyways, isn't it?

• Allow people to carry loaded and concealed weapons in national parks.

Leaving aside that some concealed carry programs are a joke insofar as training and safety are concerned, I actually don't have a problem with this assuming that it's in a state that already allows concealed carry.

Yeah, well, as an unarmed tourist, I'm inclined to stay away from your parks now, too, rather than just your dark alleyways and burnt out city centres.

• Allow healthcare workers to opt out of giving treatment for religious or moral reasons, thus weakening abortion rights.

It's quite simple. If you have a moral problem with the job, find another line of work to get into.

OR don't work at an abortion clinic if you're morally opposed to the operation. In any event, I don't see this causing a problem unless a significant fraction of doctors happen to be <insert religion here> and jerks. Why would you want somebody performing a procedure they find morally unacceptable on you anyways? Wouldn't you rather somebody who doesn't give a shit about the morality of it?

[Samuel]

OR don't work at an abortion clinic if you're morally opposed to the operation. In any event, I don't see this causing a problem unless a significant fraction of doctors happen to be <insert religion here> and jerks. Why would you want somebody performing a procedure they find morally unacceptable on you anyways? Wouldn't you rather somebody who doesn't give a shit about the morality of it?

It is the precedent it sets that is disturbing- it means that you can give religious reasons not to do your job and the government has to be okay with it.

[Patrick Degan]

• Allow healthcare workers to opt out of giving treatment for religious or moral reasons, thus weakening abortion rights.

It's quite simple. If you have a moral problem with the job, find another line of work to get into.

OR don't work at an abortion clinic if you're morally opposed to the operation. In any event, I don't see this causing a problem unless a significant fraction of doctors happen to be <insert religion here> and jerks. Why would you want somebody performing a procedure they find morally unacceptable on you anyways? Wouldn't you rather somebody who doesn't give a shit about the morality of it?

Abortions aren't performed only at abortion clinics. And birth control methods are prescribed at hospitals and OB/GYN clinics, and the Christian Taliban consider contraception immoral as well. There have already been cases of pharmacists opposed to birth control refusing to sell contraceptives or morning-after pills even with a doctor's prescription on them, in violation of their pharmacists' licenses.

This little regulation opens the way to healthcare workers picking and choosing which procedures they will and won't undertake based on the imaginary objections of whatever Invisible Cloud-Being they believe in.

[Ryan Thunder]

OR don't work at an abortion clinic if you're morally opposed to the operation. In any event, I don't see this causing a problem unless a significant fraction of doctors happen to be <insert religion here> and jerks. Why would you want somebody performing a procedure they find morally unacceptable on you anyways? Wouldn't you rather somebody who doesn't give a shit about the morality of it?

It is the precedent it sets that is disturbing- it means that you can give religious reasons not to do your job and the government has to be okay with it.

I guess. I hadn't thought of it that way.

[SirNitram]

For men who don't think the abortion thing is a big deal, consider that this makes no mention of abortion.

This means it can be used by those whose 'belief system' includes rejection of a particular kind of pharmacutical(Behavioral meds are always controversial), procedures(Blood transfusions, vaccines, and in a few rare cases, anastetic.) and so forth.

You just lost your chance if there's only one place for something and the person there doesn't 'approve' of the science-based medicine you need.

[Alyrium Denryle]

I promised you guys a rant. You are getting a rant.

I hope this son of a bitch contracts Flesh Eating disease on his ranch in Crawford, and has to have both his legs amputated at the hip to keep horrific necrosis from spreading past his extremities.

• Make it easier for coal companies to dump waste from strip-mining into valleys and streams.

Our wetlands and watersheds are already rapidly vanishing. Here! Let's remove mountains and dump the rubble into a nice valley with its nice clean drainage system. Oh, and because that water is going to go somewhere, let it leach heavy metals and other wonderful toxins like mercury and selenium into the water table to flow into larger river system! Oh yes this sounds like a fucking great idea!

Oh and when we create the sludge ponds, we of course need to reduce the regulations that make sure they dont break open of flood, killing essentially all life for hundreds of miles down hill, drowning it in billions of gallons of poisonous sludge, and contaminating human water supplies! Surely we can trust that cute little fox to guard our hen house! After all, the leveled mountain tops being invaded by non-native plants are great habitat for game animals, the hunting tags for which will bring in great revenue for state government.

• Ease the building of coal-fired power stations nearer to national parks.

Hey! So long as we are on the subject of coal, even clean coal is anything but! All they do with clean coal is sequester the exhaust CO2 underground. The rest of the pollutants from combustion are essentially placed in open pits, and all the heavy metals can leach into the surrounding soil and water table when it rains. Have you ever seen a horse step out of its own hooves due to Selenium poisoning. It is rather grotesque, and that is in the early stages of toxicity, as the selenium replaces the sulfur in the proteins!

To say nothing of mercury, arsenic, chromium HUZZAD!

I know! Let's put these CLOSER to national parks! Is that not a wonderful idea!? He dont need to worry about the sensitive ecosystems that will be irrvocably harmed

• Open up millions of acres to mining for oil shale.

Mining shale oil is just as bad as coal mining in terms of the horrific environmental damage from processing alone, to say nothing of the strip mining that must take place to extract it.

Yet another regulation will allow coal-fired stations to increase their emissions without installing new anti-pollution equipment.

Now instead of being placed in above ground pits, the coal ash just gets expelled into the atmosphere where it can drift on the wind and get into the water table anyway! Joy of Joys! Sweet Rapture!

One more chips away at the protection of endangered species.

Yes! let us reduce the protections we give to species that are so imperilled that they are extirpated from often over 90% of their range, or exist only in isolated habitats with and have small niche breadth. No one would ever EVER think of driving entire clades to extinction for personal gain.

A common theme is shifting regulation of industry from government to the industries themselves, essentially promoting self-regulation. One rule transfers assessment of the impact of ocean-fishing away from federal inspectors to advisory groups linked to the fishing industry. Another allows factory farms to self-regulate disposal of pollutant run-off.

Certainly the fox can be trusted to guard the hen house. He would never, ever be short sighted enough to just eat all of the chickens for short term gains. Nope. Not in our country where CEOs are rewarded for short term gains and then leave with a huge bonus right before the long term consequences come! Nope. Not at all. It isnt as if they will fish the oceans clean of life after they pay their advisory groups handsomely enough to reach the conclusion they want. Nope. Our commercial fishing corporations are clean and pure paragons of virtue who would never do such a thing. The same goes for factory farmers, who we all know voluntarily treat their livestock with respect, kindness, and dignity, and would never torture them while alive and cruelly butcher them in death, then simply wash the hormone and anti-biotic laced wast products and offal down a storm drain. Nope. Never!

Fuck you Bush, you miserable fucking fascist. Fuck you for murdering hundreds of thousands of Iraqi's, squandering international good will, bankrupting our country, and systematically dismantling the separation of powers and the rule of law. And now, and extra Fuck You for raping the future of our children, and our planet as payback for your corporate friends. If there is a hell, I hope there is a special place there for you, where Ebola infected porcupines are regularly tossed at you as you spin in a dart-board for the crimes against humanity and all of known life that you have committed in your evil despotic reign.

[Broomstick]

Are there laws that limit the length of time allowed on the road?

... Are they enforced?

I'm pretty sure there are. From what I understand they even have to keep logs of how long they are on the road and how much down time they take between 8 hour stints.

Yes, there are laws and yes they are enforced... up to a point. But remember you're dealing with a group that is constantly moving as part of their job. If a trucker wants to violate the regulations it certainly can be done and the driver can get away with it for quite awhile before being caught.

It's probably harder to get away with it these days since many trucking companies use GPS to track their vehicles now. Due to the inconveniences of getting caught breaking the law, many companies will prevent their drivers from cheating. You always have unscrupulous operators, though, and independent truckers don't have a larger company watching over them.

[Broomstick]

• Allow healthcare workers to opt out of giving treatment for religious or moral reasons, thus weakening abortion rights.

It's quite simple. If you have a moral problem with the job, find another line of work to get into.

OR don't work at an abortion clinic if you're morally opposed to the operation. In any event, I don't see this causing a problem unless a significant fraction of doctors happen to be <insert religion here> and jerks. Why would you want somebody performing a procedure they find morally unacceptable on you anyways? Wouldn't you rather somebody who doesn't give a shit about the morality of it?

The problem is the US has entire states with, say, only one place the performs abortions at all It's already a problem. Then, as someone else mentioned, we have pharmacists who refuse to fill prescriptions for legal medicine because they don't like birth control. And maybe you don't think that affects you, being a man and all, but a man having to pay child support for 18 years for a kid no one wanted because his girlfriend couldn't get reliable birth control is a problem, don't you think?

Yes, a significant fraction of doctors ARE fundy Christian asshats.

[wautd]

Am I the only one who thinks Bush would make a good Captain Planet villain?

[The Spartan]

• Ease the building of coal-fired power stations nearer to national parks.

I have a huge fucking problem with both of these. I like having clean drinking water and uncontaminated fruits and vegetables. I guess I'm just weird like that.

Now, I get the first one, but how do you figure the second one would affect your drinking water? It's recycled anyways, isn't it?

First, I had intended to include a bit about liking to hike, but forgot to add that while I was typing up/editing my post. Second, around here our national (and state) parks have rivers and lakes within their boundaries, which flow down stream and provide drinking water as well as water for agriculture.

• Allow people to carry loaded and concealed weapons in national parks.

Leaving aside that some concealed carry programs are a joke insofar as training and safety are concerned, I actually don't have a problem with this assuming that it's in a state that already allows concealed carry.

Yeah, well, as an unarmed tourist, I'm inclined to stay away from your parks now, too, rather than just your dark alleyways and burnt out city centres.

Right. Because shooting you was the motivation and not fending off, say mountain lions or bears. (Or, around these parts, hogs, bobcats, snakes and supposedly the occasional gator) In fact, Aleyska posted a thread on this very subject that sums up my thinking quite well on the topic.

The others covered the medical bit so I won't rehash that.

[salm]

Yes, there are laws and yes they are enforced... up to a point. But remember you're dealing with a group that is constantly moving as part of their job. If a trucker wants to violate the regulations it certainly can be done and the driver can get away with it for quite awhile before being caught.

It's probably harder to get away with it these days since many trucking companies use GPS to track their vehicles now. Due to the inconveniences of getting caught breaking the law, many companies will prevent their drivers from cheating. You always have unscrupulous operators, though, and independent truckers don't have a larger company watching over them.

If it´s anything like here it´s not that much due to the GPS but because of the digital tachographs the trucks have to have on board. These tachographs write down everything from which driver has driven which distance in which time to the speeds the drivers have driven. It´s common that tachographs are checked in order to see if a driver has passed the speed limit and apparently it works. You hardly ever see a truck going faster than 80km/h.
Besides the drivers, the companies are also responsible for the drivers actions. So besides the police the companies themselves are a control instance as well.

I´m sure there are certain ways to manipulate these digital tachographs as well but it´s a lot harder than simply bending a needle in the old mechanical ones.

[The Yosemite Bear]

Are there laws that limit the length of time allowed on the road?

... Are they enforced?

yes. strictly in some states.

[The Yosemite Bear]

Remember I live in Yosemite national park. our winter run off provides much of the clean water used for central valley farms, and Bay Area drinking water.