Bush and Cheney’s Last Shot

Editor’s note: For the last few years, when most of us have been keying into outrage over distraction after distraction, Dan Froomkin of the Washington Post has been keeping vigilant, detailing what goes down at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. His column, “White House Watch,” is a great political barometer. I’ve met Dan and watched him work. He’s someone we can trust.

By the way, just because we’re in the middle of an election doesn’t mean our Congressperson isn’t working. Give ’em a call. Tell them you voted for them. Then get them to do their job.–В Fe Bongolan

Did we really expect President Bush and Vice President Cheney to go quietly?

R. Jeffrey Smith writes: “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.

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 re-analysis…

The burst of activity has made this a busy period for lobbyists who fear that industry views will hold less sway after the elections. The doors at the New Executive Office Building have been whirling with corporate officials and advisers pleading for relief or, in many cases, for hastened decision making.”

You can find the rest of the articleВ here.