Scrapping protections that work
Published December 1, 2017
by Thomas Mills, Politics NC, November 29, 2017.
While people across the country are closely following the pending GOP tax reform scheme, the sexual harassment and assault allegations and whatever the president is tweeting, they aren’t following the dismantling of the so-called administrative state. It’s the one place where Republicans of all stripes are in agreement and where they applaud the Trump administration. The executive branch is rapidly repealing or ending all kinds of regulations that protect workers and the environment while providing oversight to prevent abuses like the ones that led to the financial meltdown in 2008.
All of the regulations were put in place for a reason. While some may be outdated and need to either be amended or repealed, a lot of them fixed problems that harmed our nation. Our environment is cleaner and our workers are safer because of oversight and regulations.
Now, Donald Trump wants to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau by appointing Mick Mulvaney as director. The CFPB was created in response to the abuses by Wall Street bankers that led the Great Recession. Mulvaney called the agency a joke and has already put a moratorium on regulations from the agency. The administration will likely remove protections for consumers and rules that restrict risky banking practices.
Back in the 1960s and 70s, US cities were shrouded in smog. Today, they’re not. In 1969, the Cuyohoga River was so polluted that it caught fire. Lake Erie was essentially a dead lake. Today, both have recovered thanks to environmental regulations. The bald eagle and numerous other birds were on the verge of extinction but have recovered today because of protections put in place by Congress.
In North Carolina, as recently as the early part of this century, mountain vistas were marred by smog. Cities in the state regularly had Code Red days that warned people to stay inside because the quality of the air was unhealthy. In 2002, though, the state legislature passed the Clean Smokestacks Act. Today, those vistas are again pleasing tourists and Raleigh hasn’t a Code Red day in five years.
Twenty years ago, large fish kills were an annual event in the Neuse River. Today, they’re a rare event because of regulations that reduced the amount of oxygen-depleting nutrients released into the water. Estuaries that provide breeding grounds for fish and other marine life are recovering, helping a resurgence in crab and oyster populations.
Almost all of the regulations were passed over the objections of Republicans who claimed that they would harm the economy while not accomplishing their goals. In most cases, they were wrong. Along the coast and in the mountains the regulations helped build a more robust tourism industry at a time when we were losing manufacturing jobs to bad trade deals.
Dismantling the administrative state, as the GOP calls it, might excite big businesses and Republican ideologues, but it should sound alarm bells for the rest of us. Most regulations were put in place to address serious problems. They’ve dramatically improved our environment and protected workers and consumers. Scrapping rules willy-nilly could put our health and economy at risk.
December 3, 2017 at 6:48 pm
Norm Kelly says:
Is the CFPB really a joke? Or is it just another regulating agency on top of existing regulating agencies? Or, another choice, are they finding things to do to justify their existence?
First, it's a joke. Second, it's an agency in addition to existing agencies with some of the same guidelines, requirements.
There already was a government agency regulating banking. Did they NOT do their job(s)? If not, then why does that agency/organization/group still exist? If they didn't do their jobs, which of them was held accountable? When Demoncrats in Congress passed rules/regulations which led to the great recession, which of those demons took responsibility?
Didn't the Consumer Protection organization already exist at the federal level? Why did another agency get created to handle just the financial aspect of Consumer Protection? Cuz it's more efficient? Nope. Cuz it makes demons feel good? Yup. Cuz it gives more power to feds? Of course, it's a demon scheme, and they always implement rules to give themselves more power & control over our lives!
'closely following the pending GOP tax reform scheme'. Yup. That's right. Obummer was a saint, the savior of our nation. Everything done by that crook was actually best for the nation, helped the average person, reduced our dependence on foreigners, and healed race relations. Yet, libs continue to use the word 'scheme' when referring to ANYTHING related to a plan coming from Republicans. If something comes from media allies (demons), it's called a plan. But, let something come from the arch enemies of alt-left media types, and it's always, without question, referred to as a scheme. Funny how libs work! Not funny ha-ha, but funny sad. What a sad group of people. No ideas of their own. Simply put, demons are the party of NO, and the party of more power concentrated in Washington.
Some rules/regulations actually are good. But that doesn't mean they all are. One important sentence in this editorial says that some need to be revisited or repealed. Well, then let the work begin. Whining about doing anything is counterproductive. Is the real whine that Republicans are dismantling regulations put in place by media ally demons?
How about the state agency that was responsible for making sure coal ash ponds weren't leaking? How did that regulation work out? Did that agency do it's job? According to the non-biased, totally honest, full-story-always, Noise & Disturber of Raleigh, the agency did NOT do it's job, did NOT prevent coal ash ponds from leaking. Because of the neglect of these government agencies and employees, there was a major water-related disaster. Now it seems rate payers will pay for the cleanup, and not stock holders. How's that for double screwing citizens/taxpayers/rate payers? And some government agency will decide if Duke pays or we pay. Government allowed it to happen, knew it was happening, did nothing about it, and now may stick us with the bill! Where's the accountability?
(the N&D once let it slip that coal ash ponds were known to be leaking decades before the disaster struck. but only once because if it became common knowledge that demons were responsible for the disaster, libs would have nothing to run on against Pat. Roy made up crap about HB2, saying every time that it wasn't a single issue race. Roy let media allies beat Pay on the coal ash disaster created by Roy's associates, while Roy constantly beat the HB2 drum.)
So, how's that 'all regulations are good' scheme working out for demons?
