The Lawless-loving corporatists have worked overtime to besmirch the
word “regulation” (or law and order for corporations) and edify the word
“deregulation,” to help bring about their dream state of dismantled or
weakened regulation.
Here is one little-mentioned ongoing disaster of non-regulation
costing our country. The patsy FAA, for decades after the hijacking of
planes to Castro’s Cuba, refused to require the airlines to install
toughened cockpit doors and stronger locks to prevent entry by
terrorists bent on making the aircraft a destructive weapon. Why?
Because the airlines objected to the mere $3000 cost per aircraft and,
by its very nature, the FAA acquiesced.
Then came 9/11, followed by “mad dog” George W. Bush (and Dick
Cheney, his handler) launching an all-out attack on Afghanistan, rather
than leading a multilateral force to apprehend the backers of the
attackers. Later, Bush’s criminal war devastated the country and people
of Iraq. Iraq is still convulsing violently today.
All for not regulating the airlines to protect their cockpits and
pilots. Sure, the hijackers could still have hijacked the planes, but
they could not have piloted them into the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon.
Government regulations have led to life-saving motor vehicle
standards. They have required safer pharmaceuticals, improved the safety
of mines, factories and other workplaces, and diminished the poisonous
contaminants of air, water food and soil. According to the Center for
Auto Safety, the federal programs for highway and vehicle safety have
averted 3.5 million deaths in the US since 1966.
In an industrialized economy with corporations, hospitals and other
commercial activities producing old and new hazards, regulations are
needed to foresee and forestall many human casualties and damage to the
natural world.
The role of sensible regulations has been all but ignored by Donald
J. Trump in his regime’s first 100 days of rage and rapacity. The Trump
administration continues to take away basic protections that save both
money and lives. With his cruel and monetized Republicans controlling
Congress, he has eliminated 13 safeguards issued by the Obama
administration.
Proudly, he and House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell have turned their backs on ensuring cleaner waterways,
and making coal-polluted air less toxic, enforcing workplace protections
and preserving our public lands. Disastrously for our country, Trump
has joined forces with the Republicans in Congress to immobilize our
government’s research and action regarding accelerating climate change.
Here he even is scaring big business, including the insurance industry.
The worst of Trump’s egregious attacks on regulatory protections are
coming out of his mindless Executive Orders (EO) to federal agencies.
While many are of dubious legality – they would require Congressional
legislation – his intent is clear: roll back major protections of
Americans wherever they eat, breathe, drink, work, drive and receive
healthcare.
One EO requires agencies to repeal two regulations for every one they
issue. Such an empty but dangerous gesture is mindless but emblematic
of the prevaricating, boasting, failed gambling czar. The Trump
administration’s rejection of essential roles for government is
stunning.
Trump would weaken the laws protecting your savings, investments and
retirement security from what shredded them during the 2008-2009 Wall
Street crash. No Wall Street bosses ever were jailed, so they’re prone
to keep speculating with your money and pocketing huge fees from your
accounts in the process.
Trump is even putting off a Department of Labor rule requiring your
investment advisers to put your interests ahead of their conflicting
interests – the so-called fiduciary rule. Trump – who betrayed
creditors, employees, investors and consumers alike during his business
career – readily knows what that accountability mechanism is all about.
When Trump’s formal budget is announced next May, it will starve the
already strained enforcement budgets of the health and safety regulatory
agencies such as the FDA, EPA and OSHA. Trump even wants a sharp cut of
the Centers for Disease Control’s program to head off deadly global
epidemics.
In addition, Trump has broken his campaign promises, surrounding
himself with Wall Street insiders and intensifying Obama’s belligerent
and militaristic foreign policy around the globe. He is also demanding
that Congress add fifty-two billion dollars more to the already bloated
Pentagon budget, decried by many liberals and conservatives. Fifty-two
billion dollars is far greater than all the combined federal regulatory
budgets for the agencies that provide the health, safety and economic
protections for Americans from costly corporate crimes, abuses and
frauds.
The fallout of these ominous 100 days is not escaping millions of
lawyers, accountants, physicians, engineers, scientists and teachers at
all levels. And it isn’t escaping those blue collar workers who rolled
the dice and voted for Trump, despite his opposition to raising the
minimum wage and fair labor standards.
Yes, there are signs of stirrings among these citizens. But will
there be action against the Trumpsters and Trumpism in the coming weeks
and at the polls next year? Will the people continue to turn out in ever
greater numbers at marches, rallies and Congressional town meetings
(see indivisibleguide.com),
whether arranged by their Senators and Representatives or, if not, by
the citizenry summoning their 535 members of Congress to peoples’ town
meetings?
Only you, the American people, one-by-one and by joining together, can answer these questions.
https://popularresistance.org/trumps-hundred-days-of-rage-and-rapacity/
Sunday, April 30, 2017
Saturday, April 29, 2017
EPA Removes Climate Change Information From Website
(CNN) - The
EPA removed most climate change information from its website Friday,
saying in a press release that language on the website is being updated
to "reflect the approach of new leadership."
EPA
Administrator Scott Pruitt has expressed doubt about the reasons for
climate change, saying in a CNBC interview in March that he was
skeptical of the role carbon dioxide plays.
"I
think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is
something very challenging to do, and there's tremendous disagreement
about the degree of impact," Pruitt said. "So, no, I would not agree
that it's a primary contributor to the global warming that we see."
Read the entire article: http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/29/politics/epa-climate-change-website/index.html
The Trump Administration Isn’t Finished Rolling Back Environmental Regulations
The Trump administration is asking courts to delay ruling on Obama-era regulations on methane, ozone, and carbon emissions.
Friday, April 28, 2017
VOTE IS TODAY - Call or email Sen. Hutson - Say NO on SB1238 - Say NO to Wildcat Fracking
FL
State Senator Travis Hutson
Ph:
386-446-7610 Ph: 850-487-5007
Fax: 888-263-3475 Fax: 850-487-5368
Fax: 888-263-3475 Fax: 850-487-5368
No other state that regulates investor-owned utilities has
allowed electric companies to charge ratepayers for natural gas drilling and
exploration projects.
Senate
Bill 1238 is bad for Florida consumers. Florida electric companies should not
be allowed to use ratepayer dollars to invest in risky natural gas reserve
development in other states. If this is such a great investment, let the
shareholders bear the financial risk.
Here is why AARP opposes the legislation:
It would let Florida electric companies take hundreds of
millions of dollars per year from residential ratepayers and use them to
finance out-of-state natural-gas exploration projects (fracking). You, the
ratepayer, would bear 100 percent of the risk of these ventures, regardless of
the drilling outcome.
The wildcat fracking projects would be paid for with
ratepayers’ dollars as investments and utility companies would claim a return
on your investment. If the utility company simply purchased natural gas on the
open market, the utility could recover the cost of the fuel from ratepayers but
could not earn an additional “windfall.”
Thursday, April 27, 2017
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
Affordable Care Act Data by Congressional District
Number of People Enrolled in a Marketplace Plan
District FL-4 John Rutherford 38,700
District FL-6 Ron DeSantis 46,100
Time to remind our Representatives
of how many of their constituents are on the ACA.
Rutherford
FL Phone:
904-831-5205 D.C. Phone: 202-225-2501
DeSantis
FL Phone: 386-302-0471 / Fax: 386-302-0474
D.C. Phone: 202- 225-2706 / Fax: 202-226-6299
D.C. Phone: 202- 225-2706 / Fax: 202-226-6299
SOURCE: Data on uninsured rates are derived from American Community
Survey one year estimates for 2013 and 2015, Table S2701. Data on marketplace
enrollment are from Kaiser Family Foundation estimates
of Department of Health and Human Services Data.
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