Yes, Comrade Political Officer
Posted on | January 30, 2007
The president having lost the tame poodle that was the 109th congress, and facing opposition from the Democratic-led 110th, he has used an Executive Order to create a barrier between legislators and the agencies they regulate (and between policy and the career civil servants who execute it):
….Mr. Bush said that each agency must have a regulatory policy office run by a political appointee, to supervise the development of rules and documents providing guidance to regulated industries. The White House will thus have a gatekeeper in each agency to analyze the costs and the benefits of new rules and to make sure the agencies carry out the president’s priorities.
This strengthens the hand of the White House in shaping rules that have, in the past, often been generated by civil servants and scientific experts. It suggests that the administration still has ways to exert its power after the takeover of Congress by the Democrats.
The White House said the executive order was not meant to rein in any one agency. But business executives and consumer advocates said the administration was particularly concerned about rules and guidance issued by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
If the Bush Administration has stood for anything, it has been the consolidation of power in the hands of the few, and the rejection of any oversight by elected representatives. All you need to know is that, in an incredible coincidence, “Business groups hailed the initiative.”
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