NY Times: Bush signs order giving him more power over federal agencies

[rawstory]

We got this advanced -- hasn't moved at NYT.com yet.

NY Times: Bush signs landmark executive order increasing power over federal agencies

President George W. Bush has given his administration a boost in how the government regulates key issues such as civil rights and the environment, The New York Times will report on its Tuesday front page, RAW STORY has learned. The story has not yet moved on the front page of the site.

The President "signed a directive that gives the White House much greater control over the rules that the federal government develops to regulate public health, safety," privacy and other issues, writes Robert Pear for the Times.

Pear reports that "in an executive order published last week in the Federal Register, Bush said that each federal agency must have a regulatory policy office run by a political appointee" who will monitor the creation of process and procedures and the associated documentation.

"The White House will thus have a gatekeeper in each agency," Pear writes, "to analyze the costs and benefits of new rules and to make sure they carry out the president's priorities."

Excerpts from the Times article follow...

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2007/NY_Times_Bush_gives_White_House_0129.html

[joemurphy]

1. What better person to handle process and procedure

than a Bush-appointee?

[msongs]

2. commisars and cadres or whatever the stalinists used to call them nt

[Canuckistanian]

75. Isn't this the system Saddam Hussein used?

Spies in every government department, police station, large company and public institution?

And not a single shot fired.

[MUAD_DIB]

94. Right. Political officers. I was thinking the same thing.

[MadMaddie]

3. They are getting backed into a corner..

This is another way to screw the Average American and help Big businesses...They want to do away with EEOC and other laws guaranteeing equality in the workplace. They intend to take this country back to the early 50's.

They must be stopped.

[NEOBuckeye]

63. Dubya the Dictator

What an ass.

[Jawja]

72. No. They intend to take this

country back to before the American Revolution.

[donheld]

74. So when does the Queen take control?

:shrug:

[Canuckistanian]

77. Dammit, I KNEW we shouldn't have surrendered the WH back in 1812

You colonials have gone too far. Now you've appointed your own King George.

[Jawja]

99. I meant

pre Constitution. They aren't trying to take us back to the 50's. They are trying to take us back before the Constitution.

[zonkers]

87. To think the South, who started a war over Federalism, less than 150 years ago, gave him the WH --

it's mind boggling.

[Hotler]

110. You mean the 1850's right???

Think Chicago late 1800's and the early days of the labor unions.

[rubberducky]

4. If we do not impeach soon, we may never get him out of office.

k&r Everybody NEEDS to see this.

[Kablooie]

24. Yep. You've got that right. But I don't see impeachment coming anytime soon.

[Independent_Liberal]

55. It HAS to happen! If not, I don't think there will be a country in 2008.

[Kablooie]

88. Bush is going to get the Iran war going any day now.

Notice how we hear Bush threatening Iran more every day.

When he does, impeachment proceedings will start but the pressure
of the new *serious* war will prevent it from completing.

We will have a country in 2008, it will just be a different one.

[superconnected]

60. Exactly, napoleon will declare himself emperor.

[Megahurtz]

104. I Agree. n/t

[bdrube]

5. Haven't we beleaguered government employees suffered enough?

My God, it's been a LONG six years!    :banghead: 

[Divernan]

8. As a govt. employee, you know what worthless POSs those political appointees are!

At least, the GOP ones! Clinton put some fine people in, like Witt at FEMA. And Bush has added extra layers of them over previous administrations' practises. See that way, he could slot in the otherwise unemployable 20-something kids' of his donors. W is frigging destroying this country's infrastructure. I think every federal employee who survives the Bush maladministration deserves a Congressional Medal of Honor. There ought to be one bangup ceremony at the Kennedy Center - an audience exclusively made up of federal employees, and every one of them being honored.

Hang in there bdrube - 23 months and the Federal Government is gonna rise again!

[bdrube]

13. You are SOOO Right.

My office has been decimated by TWO know-nothing Shrub
appointees (one of them Mr. "Anti-Terrorism Expert"
Clark Kent Ervin no less) after years of steady competence
under Clinton.

[Drum]

6. K & R

:mad: Grrrrr!!!! :mad:

[Zhade]

7. Hey freepers - has he amassed enough power to scare you yet?

If not, you're a lost cause.

[lala_rawraw]

91. no, they are more frightened of the terra

[YankeyMCC]

9. It's like Bizzaro world

Didn't the old "evil empire" USSR use Political Officers like this?

:banghead:

[northshore]

81. Yep

And I thought I got rid of Political Officers when I defected.

[Straight Shooter]

89. There are parallels between bush's actions and Putin's actions in Russia.

Putin is seizing power in a very bold manner. It's in a recent issue of the New Yorker. Putin is creating a wall of people he appoints (by his dictate he designated himself the sole power to appoint them.) This is to shield and protect him as he advances his dictatorial practices. bush is doing the very same thing.

Congress better wake up fast. They are clearly irrelevant to bush and cheney, and are held in contempt by most of America for their lethargy in responding to the threats to our Constitution and liberties, our democracy itself.

[NRaleighLiberal]

10. Ignorant, hateful, malicious, dangerous asshole...and whatever

else Roget's Thesaurus lists for all of the words above. Has there ever been such a disgusting, destructive, horrendous politican in all of history? How much more can the world take of this so-called man?

[Digit]

11. I think they have something specific in mind....

...and it ain't good.
Of course NONE of this is good, but they have a goal in mind.

[Danmack]

27. Freepers know whats comin.....

To: K-oneTexas
I have always thought that this is one of the more interesting powers the President has.

"he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper"

Congress needs to tread lightly.

23 posted on 01/29/2007 5:07:46 PM PST by Bigh4u2 (Denial is the first requirement to be a liberal)

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1775809/posts

These fuckers want all out war...in this country!!!

Mother Fuckers....

[CrazyOrangeCat]

57. yep.

and the fuckers want a king.

stupid fuckers want king george.

lead-paint-eatin, cousin-luvin mofos.

:grr:

[Megahurtz]

105. They ALWAYS have some Sinister Goal In Mind

for everything they do.:(

Otherwise, why be so sneaky? Why sneak everything past the American Public?

[Edweird]

12. Does karl rove read the onion?

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/51140
Bush Grants Self Permission To Grant More Power To Self
August 1, 2006 | Issue 42•31

Life is imitating art. It would almost be funny if it wasn't so horrifying.
Impeach.Convict.Imprison.
Repeat as required to achieve desired result.

[jannyk]

14. And these hypocrtical bastards have the temerity to

vilify Hugo Chavez for 'ruling by decree'! Oy vey!

[cal04]

15. NYT:Bush Raises His Sway at U.S. Agencies

President Bush has signed a directive that gives the White House much greater control over the rules and policy statements that the government develops to protect public health, safety, the environment, civil rights and privacy.

In an executive order published last week in the Federal Register, 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.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/30/washington/30rules.html?hp&ex=1170133200&en=f7bdc9f4cbb28c31&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[lovuian]

108. "Sway" what a lousy word for Take over NYT again

shows that its the propoganda machine

Communism failed Nazism failed and this regime will fail

because it doesn't have the PEOPLE's SUPPORT

Poland stopped Soviet Union when its Unions struck nationwide and stopped the Soviet Union

[kath]

16. Can we impeach him now?? Puh-leeeeeeze?

Before it's too late.

[Kablooie]

25. Sorry. It's too late.

[rodeodance]

51. Pelsoi stamped that one to bits!!

[Rockholm]

17. America...Had ENOUGH?

[LiberalFighter]

18. Getting rid of big government

Yeah right

[LiberalFighter]

19. Why??? Aren't his original appointees doing the job?

All agency heads were appointed by Bush.

Must be in a hurry to get it done.

[tanyev]

20. Minders.

Every dictatorship worth its salt has them.

[quiet.american]

21. HOW is this legal? n/t

[OhioChick]

22. I'd Like to Know

this, as well.

[Kablooie]

26. When did legalities ever limit the Bushies?

The answer is, IT'S NOT!.

But no one will do anything about it anyway.

Impeachment is the only weapon we have left but no one has the guts to use it.

[quiet.american]

54. Never. But I'm interested to know what namby-pamby legal justification will be given. n/t

[kurth]

23. Motherfucking asshole. Worthless sack of shit

How's the impeachment coming along?

[Doctor_J]

28. Another layer of no-show political jobs

How do the freeptards feel about Smirk growing the govrnment yet again?

[shanti]

64. more sycophants to be paid

more pigs at the trough...:(

[goforit]

29. So he thinks.

[brentspeak]

30. Bush Raises His Sway at U.S. Agencies (signs Executive Order giving himself more power)

(Here's the link to the actual NYTimes article):

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/30/washington/30rules.html?hp&ex=1170133200&en=f7bdc9f4cbb28c31&ei=5094&partner=homepage

By ROBERT PEAR
Published: January 30, 2007
WASHINGTON, Jan. 29 — President Bush has signed a directive that gives the White House much greater control over the rules and policy statements that the government develops to protect public health, safety, the environment, civil rights and privacy.

In an executive order published last week in the Federal Register, 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.

[jaysunb]

31. 1st the US Attorneys

now this...kinda like Saddam, huh ?
:evilfrown:

[brer cat]

32. And once again, * lowers the bar.

He gets control, and regulations to protect us go away. Is there no end to the evil they dream up?

[brentspeak]

34. What gets me is the new requirement for "political appointees" for each department

Like Joe Stalin's political officers/commissars, assigned to watch over the scientists, generals, etc.

[Double T]

33. The king of all WH psychopaths is NOW going to micromanage......

ALL the Federal Government Agencies. I guess this is what his royal highness believes is bipartisanship. January 21,2009 can not happen fast enough. bushco's world is collapsing around HIM as HE desperately grasps to exercise HIS authority and seize more power.

[brentspeak]

38. As someone who has been against the idea of pursuing impeachment

because it would derail the new Democratic Congress, and simply hand power over to Oil Can Cheney -- more than ever, I really wish the Framers had made it possible to impeach the President and the Vice-President at the same time. x(

[Double T]

40. brentspeak, MAYBE your WISH will come true............

let's get the Congress to go for a 'twofer'.

[AndyTiedye]

44. Impeach Cheney First. Leave the office of VP Vacant. Impeach Bush

[nebenaube]

84. uh.. they did n/t

[Az_lefty]

35. this sounds like the Political Officer in the old Soviet Army...

I think they were called the "zampolit".

[Wrinkle_In_Time]

36. DING! DING! DING! We have a winner!

I hope they don't slip on their tea.

[Zenlitened]

47. My first thought, too. A 'Zampolit' for every dept. in the neocons' Militarized States of America.

After all, we're at war war war war war war war... :crazy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_commissar

[JPZenger]

83. I believe each ship in the Soviet Navy had a Political Officer

I believe each ship in the Soviet Navy had a Political Officer, whose job was to find navy personnel with questionable loyalties to the Communist Party. That situation was illustrated in the movie Hunt for Red October.

[Bob Loblaw]

95. Having seen that movie several times

that was my first thought. Of course with half (an exaggeration I hope) of the U S Navy either in the Persian Gulf or on its way there I wonder about the "appointees" shipboard.

[unblock]

37. does the political appointee have to be a member of the nazi party?

or is it the communist party?

i can't keep my repressive regimes straight....

[JohnnyLib2]

39. Was he advised by Gov. Fletcher (R) of KY?

Sounds very similar to recent history here.

[az chela]

41. How does he keep getting away with this???

The dictator will eventually face a country that will run him out of the white house.He loses more support every day.His day is coming,along with cheney and the rest of the axis of evil that they are

[Breeze54]

42. Can't we impeach him NOW??? Argh!! n/t

:grr:

[goforit]

43. Congress can strip him of his power.....and so be it.

[rodeodance]

52. so far they are only making noise (the war issue)

[rodeodance]

45. They have gone full circle--first they have industries WRITE the bills--now they want how laws will

[rodeodance]

46. Send this to ALL your congresscritters!--

[rodeodance]

49. Business groups welcomed the executive order,.......

.......In an interview on Monday, Jeffrey A. Rosen, general counsel at the White House Office of Management and Budget, said, “This is a classic good-government measure that will make federal agencies more open and accountable.”

Business groups welcomed the executive order, saying it had the potential to reduce what they saw as the burden of federal regulations. This burden is of great concern to many groups, including small businesses, that have given strong political and financial backing to Mr. Bush.

Consumer, labor and environmental groups denounced the executive order, saying it gave too much control to the White House and would hinder agencies’ efforts to protect the public.

Typically, agencies issue regulations under authority granted to them in laws enacted by Congress. In many cases, the statute does not say precisely what agencies should do, giving them considerable latitude in interpreting the law and developing regulations.

[soothsayer]

48. If not repealed as it should be, this will be useful when we're back

in the WH in 2009.

[rodeodance]

50. Waxman comment below:

.......Representative Henry A. Waxman, Democrat of California and chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said: “The executive order allows the political staff at the White House to dictate decisions on health and safety issues, even if the government’s own impartial experts disagree. This is a terrible way to govern, but great news for special interests.”

Business groups hailed the initiative.

“This is the most serious attempt by any chief executive to get control over the regulatory process, which spews out thousands of regulations a year,” said William L. Kovacs, a vice president of the United States Chamber of Commerce. “Because of the executive order, regulations will be less onerous and more reasonable. Federal officials will have to pay more attention to the costs imposed on business, state and local governments, and society.”

Under the executive order, each federal agency must estimate “the combined aggregate costs and benefits of all its regulations” each year. Until now, agencies often tallied the costs and the benefits of major rules one by one, without measuring the cumulative effects.

[KoKo]

73. The US Chamber of Congress....Yep, Bush's favorite group...they've

been writing his legislation and the regulations for Congress for awhile now. Yet, most folks look on them in their hometowns as great folks. Joining them gives one a "leg up" in the local business community. :-(

[CrazyOrangeCat]

53. Thank you, rawstory.

We at DU got notification of the cheney/chimperor Big Grab . . . before almost anyone.

See ya at the gulag!

:grr:

This is f*cking unbelievable . . .

[librechik]

56. Rove is back in the game

I can smell his rotten stench in this thing, top to bottom.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

58. is Bush going to hire more horse trainers like ex FEMA Brown

[caligirl]

59. Kommisar's installed to test the new Congress, So Rovian!

[MzNov]

61. K & R

[alfredo]

62. Just like the Soviets, a party official in each workplace.

Gotta make sure political purity is observed at all times.

[humbled_opinion]

65. What happens when he signs a statement that says

Today I am implementing Marshall Law in all 50 states.... There will be no need for any members of Congress to show up to work tomorro.

[Megahurtz]

106. That's What The Fuck I've Been Thinking!

Is Martial Law next? I think "the Decider" isn't going to leave without a fight.
We need to impeach BOTH Bush and Cheney NOW!

[pacalo]

66. This may lead one to believe that they've already got the next presidential election in the bag.

Surely they wouldn't stand for a Democratic president to have that much power.

Congress better get rolling -- there's a long list of crimes to get out in the open. If these people aren't impeached, there will have been no lessons learned & this will continue.

[july302001]

67. I hope this isn't true!

This is a TERRIBLE idea. Certain agencies have been designed to be free of political influence.

As a center-leaning Democrat, I hate to think of what the extreme right or left could do to safety-related agencies like the FAA and NHTSA.

[snappyturtle]

68. He's a spoiled brat that's playing with our lives.

Whoa! Take away power from me (loss of Congress) and I'll show you. This "directive" along with boosting the strategic oil reserves---shows he's fighting mad. These temper tantrums are out of hand! He's paranoid and delusional and WE suffer for it.

[Kaotac]

69. Night Watch won't be far behind.

I just watched the third season of Babylon 5, and this just jumped out to me as "Bush has just created the Ministry of Peace"..
Can this be overturned by Congress?

[MetaTrope]

70. The sad part is, Bush and Rove are BABYLON 5 fans

And you just know they don't see any resonance with Earth's dictatorship at all...but rather see Bush as Sheridan at the helm of his ship, bravely leading his coalition of subservient alien allies who are willing to throw themselves into the path of enemy fire just to ensure he can carry out his holy mission...

[Kaotac]

71. Well that's horrible.

Hopefully the Centauri will arrive before we have to go through WWIII. Or hopefully the Vorlons will smite his arse.

[0rganism]

100. "the avalanche has started, it is too late for the pebbles to vote"

It will come as small consolation to watch those congresscritters, including certain Democratic leaders, who enabled and stooged for the wannabe-dictator's obvious power grabs whine as their abilities to regulate and oversee various operations are stripped back to the level of basic appropriations authority.

[MGKrebs]

76. Is this an anti-union thing?

Are civil servants in the Federal govt. still unionized? If so (or even if not), by passing this rule he is creating an opportunity to force all employees to comply with any whim of the policy officer or get fired. I can imagine that even includes lying and shredding.

[Irishonly]

78. It's worse than frightening

I have written my Senators and Representative.

[amb123]

79. Impeach, "El Commandante" Bush!

This order means that big-bother corporations can rewrite government regulations to their liking through the White House directly and all but destroys the power of the Congress to regulate anything. This is another attempt by "El Commandante" Bush to destroy the Constitutional balance of power and concentrate all power in his hands and rendering Congress and the Courts impotent.

TREASON! TREASON! TREASON!

IMPEACH BUSH/CHENEY NOW!

EACH DAY THEY REMAIN IN POWER, THE CONSTITUTION AND THE BILL OF RIGHTS DIES!

[bemildred]

80. Sounds like "ruling by decree" to me. nt

[oldlady]

82. to implement the president's policies, eh

Gitmoizing the federal penitentiary system perhaps?? See you all on the inside. *sheesh*

[Demeter]

85. Shades of Dolores Umbridge!

Didn't any of them read the book? Well, the movie comes out later this year....July 13 in North America.


(Some people are just born to be bad, I guess).

[Hamlette]

86. I don't see this as an issue, its exactly how it is done in the states

I write rules for my state agency (welfare and unemployment). Every rule I write is sent to the governor's office before it is published for comment. I've never had it happen but if the governor's guy doesn't like it, I'd take the issue to my boss, the person the governor appointed and let her fight it out...or pull the rule.

We also have to answer to the state legislature. If they don't like a rule we pass (they did it once, before I was writting all the rules) they threaten to "sunset" us (repeal our authorizing legislation.)

The executive branch is under the president. Think of it when we have the WH. We don't want some republican hold over passing a rule we think repugnant.

[rodeodance]

90. I have not heard this on the msm news yet. I could have missed it but

it seems to be no big deal!

[Megahurtz]

107. I think that we should all contact Lou Dobbs on CNN.

Maybe he would get this out there.

http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/lou.dobbs.tonight/

[Strathos]

92. The more they do shit like this

The easier it will be to impeach them. I say go for it. Hey Bush, declare yourself a dictator and there will be no other alternative than to impeach your stupid ass and your big old lap dog too.

[xxqqqzme]

93. full story w/o registration

here: http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/013007L.shtml

[november3rd]

96. Chavez

Not to be outdone by Hugo Chavez, who recently acquired plenipotentiary status--albeit through a vote by the Venezuelan Congress--the Decider has managed his virtual coup by the proverbial stroke of a pen on a Presidential edict.

According to dpa, covered at m & a news: http://news.monstersandcritics.com/americas/news/articl...



Washington has objected to Chavez's crackdown on free media and civil rights groups, and says democratic institutions under his rule have been marginalized. Chavez is expected to be granted powers this week to issue decrees without parliamentary approval - a move that has been criticized by Venezuelan opposition parties as a step towards totalitarianism.


Sound a little too close to home? Let's see what the Decider's orders for Homeland Security look like next month.

[happydreams]

113. Yer full of shit!nt

[EVDebs]

97. And they thought Carter liked to 'micro-manage' government ! nt

[Zorra]

98. I've changed my viewpoint. IMPEACH that goddamn fool wannabe dictator

now.

Right fucking now. Get him out of the WH before he succeeds in his plan to destroy the United States.

[cassiepriam]

101. We might as well do away with elections all together. :(

[MasonJar]

102. We, the people, are culpable. We must stand up in unison. It is

not only our representatives in Congress who must form a wall of no-ship. We have to do more ourselves. For example, I have no more power over Mitch (no new finance reform) McConnell and Jim (alztheimer's) Bunning than I do on W. It is, therefore, my job to call and fax and visit and harrass to the best of my ability.

[donkeyotay]

103. I thought I was pissed watching Waxman's hearing on scientists -

particularly those addressing global warming - being censored by bush's greedy, thieving, GOP cronies. Now this. King George claims he is the Unitary Executive and commander in chief, so basically, he can do anything he wants and still claim to be upholding the Constitution.

He took an oath of office, and the ONLY thing he swore to do was uphold and defend the Constitution. It is unimaginable that the writers intended for it to mean the president could do exactly as he pleases. Otherwise, why bother with the branches and checks and balances and rights, etc.

King george has not only shown contempt for the Constitution, he has shown contempt for the planet. His political hacks thwart the science that our legislators wrote into law and our taxes paid for. He actively undermines the people of the nation he is supposed to serve, while stealing our wealth and transferring it to his oily crime family. He works against our planetary welfare to the point of threatening our survival. He seeks to destroy the rule of law and the Constitution and perverts them to serve his ambition and his cronies' greed.

Even now, after all the tragedies of this administration, he does not soften or bend or reflect or pause or listen...he goes headlong into expanding his ill-gotten war because he must be victorious. Again, we cannot even stop him from more war, for he has hijacked our country. We sit in the backseat while this drunken frat boy drives our country into the ditch. What a loathsome man. Impeach him.

[RiverStone]

109. more from our

egomaniac, dictator President. figures..

Wonder how he will feel when a DEM White House has the same control that he just authorized???

[blues90]

111. I just can't believe one freak has all this power

This is complete madness living in a world so twisted out of shape . It's like opening the front door to find a giant eye peering in at you .

If bush can shread the consitution and it is shreaded than why can we not shread the parts that protect him with long impeachment hearings ?

By the time and if he is impeached he will be far into Iran and we will be in one huge mess .

[Auntie Bush]

112. Bush runs the Gov. as if KKKarl has studied every evil dictator to find

out how they maintained and controlled their people and taught bush how to do the same. He emulates an awful lot of their traits and methods. Ah yes, he's an evil dictator well on the way to success.

[AikidoSoul]

114. I feel sick in the pit of my stomach over this. It's so dangerous to think that fascists have this

much control over our lives.

The air we breathe
The water we drink
The safety of human beings
The integrity of animals and plants
The fairness of the workplace
The lawfulness of trade policies


Our lives, our environment, our futures-- are increasingly fouled by greed and power by multi-national corporations that will stop at nothing to increase their profits.

As one who is damaged by untested chemicals, who lives with a spouse who is also chronically ill from untested chemicals -- we realize that it's going to get much, much worse with these fascists in power.

People everywhere are suffering from these terrible people.

We must stop this madness!

:grr:

[54anickel]

115. Susan E. Dudley - great, I thought we were past that one

From end of the NY Times article http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/30/washington/30rules.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5094&en=9f1468dd91984d81&hp&ex=1170219600&partner=homepage

snip>

The executive order was issued as White House aides were preparing for a battle over the nomination of Susan E. Dudley to be administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the Office of Management and Budget.

President Bush first nominated Ms. Dudley last August. The nomination died in the Senate, under a barrage of criticism from environmental and consumer groups, which said she had been hostile to government regulation. Mr. Bush nominated her again on Jan. 9.

With Democrats in control, the Senate appears unlikely to confirm Ms. Dudley. But under the Constitution, the president could appoint her while the Senate is in recess, allowing her to serve through next year.

Some of Ms. Dudley’s views are reflected in the executive order. In a primer on regulation written in 2005, while she was at the Mercatus Center of George Mason University in Northern Virginia, Ms. Dudley said that government regulation was generally not warranted “in the absence of a significant market failure.”



Oh yeah, she's a real gem alright. :eyes:

http://www.mercatus.org/publications/pubID.1353/pub_detail.asp
In 1986, on the heels of the deadly chemical release in Bhopal, India, Congress directed EPA to begin requiring certain industries to report on the presence and release of certain toxic chemicals on an annual basis. EPA considers this "Community Right-to-Know" program to be "among its most effective strategies for improving environmental performance," and it has expanded its scope significantly over the last sixteen years. Through regulation, EPA has increased the number of industries required to report under TRI by 30 percent, and more than doubled the number of chemicals covered. In 1999, the agency increased the required number of TRI reports for chemicals that persist and bioaccumulate in the environment and is considering expanding the required reporting further to include chemical use (tracking and reporting the amounts of chemicals moving through a facility), as well as chemical release. On January 17, 2001, EPA lowered the reporting thresholds for lead and lead compounds from 25,000 lbs to 100 lbs.

However, despite EPA's enthusiasm for Community Right-to-Know, and its claims that "TRI is widely viewed as a success story," it has not offered a thoughtful examination of the real impacts of the program. It has not provided an objective account of the validity or usefulness of the information the program collects and disseminates, and has not evaluated how well it accomplishes EPA's goals of protecting public health and the environment from chemical hazards. Perhaps more importantly, in light of recent events, EPA has not addressed the risks that making chemical risk information broadly available to potential terrorists can pose.


http://www.cato.org/pubs/regulation/regv24n1/dudley.pdf
Reversing Midnight
Regulations
By Susan E. Dudley
Mercatus Center
President bill clinton’s final months in
office were marked by a flurry of regulatory activity
that generated an unprecedented volume of new
rules and regulations for American businesses, citizens,
and state and local governments. Like Cinderella leaving
the ball, many of Clinton’s 7,000 presidential appointees
hurried to issue last-minute “midnight” regulations before they
turned back into ordinary citizens at noon on January 20th.

Clinton officials’ sharp increase in regulatory output is
not an anomaly; as Mercatus researcher Jay Cochran showed
in his recent paper “The Cinderella Constraint: Why Regulations
Increase Significantly During Post-Election Quarters,”
sudden bursts of regulatory activity at the end of a presidential
administration are systematic, significant, and cut across
party lines. But the magnitude of Clinton’s activity has set a
new record. The Clinton administration published 26,542
pages of regulations in the Federal Register this past November,
December, and January. That eclipses President Jimmy Carter’s
20-year record for most pages published in the last three
months of an administration, and represents a 51-percent
increase over Clinton’s average volume during the same period
in the previous three years.

Some of these new regulations may have been developed
carefully over many years, and only just now emerged from
the procedural pipeline. But others were hurried into effect
without the usual checks and balances, perhaps to avoid
scrutiny by the incoming Bush administration. These latter
regulations may cater more to special interests than the public
interest.



http://www.ombwatch.org/article/articleview/3558/1/455?TopicID=1
What Mercatus Doesn't Want You to Know

Some are missing from her listing, and some are gone altogether from the Mercatus website.

What doesn't Mercatus want you to know about Susan Dudley?

The Mercatus Center website has a listing of Dudley's work -- but that listing has recently been revised, and now some of Dudley's comments, testimony, and other materials are gone. Some are missing from her listing, and some are gone altogether from the Mercatus website.

Scrubbed documents include criticism of the Davis-Bacon Act, a landmark law for workers in federally-funded projects, and a commentary referring to the public's right to know about the dangers it faces from chemical plants as "terrorist right to know."

What's missing?

Quite an impressive listing of links to Susan's works.