Paul Ryan just hates regulations. He calls them “Big, Bad Regulations” and he wants the president held accountable, even while people are being poisoned by a Republican governor thanks to a lack of regulations in Michigan.
Ryan had not a word to say, of course, about a Republican governor poisoning his state’s residents simply because he could. Because there were no regulations to stop him from doing so. The allure of corporate wealth is so strong for Republicans that they are willing to kill to get it.
Kill Americans. Kill foreigners. It doesn’t matter. Gold is gold is gold, as they say.
So we find the Voice of Sauron, er, um, I mean Ryan, Julia Slingsby, writing Wednesday at Speaker.gov that,
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In President Obama’s last year in office, Congress is continuing to use many different tactics to combat his administration’s growth-crushing agenda. One of them is called the Congressional Review Act.
Enacted in 1996 as part of Speaker Newt Gingrich’s Contract with America, the CRA requires federal agencies who implement a major rule or regulation to submit it to Congress to review the substance and impact.
According to Slingsby, “these regulations are big. And often harmful.”
They’re the kind of rules that start out as fine print in Washington, and end up forcing small businesses to raise their costs, eliminate jobs, and ultimately close their doors.
Here we go once again with the myth that the GOP gives a fig about small businesses. They don’t. What the GOP is worried about is the impact on their owners, big corporations run by very wealthy individuals, like the Koch brothers.
She tells us “The CRA paves a direct path—albeit a difficult one—for Congress to repeal these costly, harmful regulations” and explains exactly how this works:
- During a 60-day review period, Congress has the power to vote to disapprove of the regulation, which would nullify the new rules.
- This procedure isn’t subject to the filibuster, neutralizing the easiest way for Senate Democrats to block legislation and give cover to the White House.
- It is then up to the president to sign or veto the disapproval resolution. If the bill becomes law, the agencies cannot enforce the rule or defend it in court.
And of course, the example she uses the the EPA, the agency Republicans hate more than any other:
Take the EPA’s controversial Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule. It’s a job-killing, growth-crushing regulation that upends the way water is managed in this country. It hamstrings the states, who have been the primary regulators of water. It’s a federal overreach beyond imagination, one that would insert the federal government into every stream, pond, and ditch in America – even on private property. That’s why the Congress passed a CRA resolution to disapprove of WOTUS, and put it on the president’s desk this week.
This is where you would expect to see some concern expressed for the people of Flint, Michigan, being poisoned by a lack of regulation. But here see not even a mention of how the people of the United States are now going to pay to save the people of Michigan from that Republican governor because he tried to cut some corners and save some money for his corporate handlers.
It isn’t regulation that’s costly. It is lack of regulation. Costly in terms not only of money, but of human lives, and worst sin of all for the alleged pro-life party, of unborn human lives.
What is most heinous of all, this murderous and inhuman process is called by the Speaker a “bold, pro-growth agenda.” This is true only when speaking of a growing Republican inhumanity. And that is precisely what we are speaking of here.
Photo: Speaker.gov
Hrafnkell Haraldsson, a social liberal with leanings toward centrist politics has degrees in history and philosophy. His interests include, besides history and philosophy, human rights issues, freedom of choice, religion, and the precarious dichotomy of freedom of speech and intolerance. He brings a slightly different perspective to his writing, being that he is neither a follower of an Abrahamic faith nor an atheist but a polytheist, a modern-day Heathen who follows the customs and traditions of his Norse ancestors. He maintains his own blog, A Heathen’s Day, which deals with Heathen and Pagan matters, and Mos Maiorum Foundation www.mosmaiorum.org, dedicated to ethnic religion. He has also contributed to NewsJunkiePost, GodsOwnParty and Pagan+Politics.
