What Happened to Bush's Pardons? They Came in the Form of Midnight Regulations
Submitted by meg on Wed, 01/21/2009 - 3:01pm. Analysis
A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
by Meg White
However, some note Bush's preeminence in
a different type of last-minute preemptive pardon program. Federal agencies under Bush have pushed through so many last-minute rule changes that it
amounts to a large scale pardon of industry and bad regulators. Though we haven't yet seen the historians weigh in on the issue, the Bush Administration's use of so-called midnight regulations has been deemed "unprecedented."The term
"midnight regulations" was coined after agencies in the Carter Administration pushed through a huge amount of federal rule changes after Carter lost reelection but before he left office. However, the practice itself dates back further and is especially pronounced when executive power changes party hands.
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The investigative news team at ProPublica.org put together a handy (though long) list of all of Bush's midnight regulations, and their current status, on their Web site. It's worth a perusal, since the list includes so many offensive changes to the way our country functions that there's something for everyone to get upset about.
http://www.propublica.org/special/midnight-regulations..................
I'd wager that part of the reason historians haven't chimed in with a tally of where Bush stands in his zeal for changing law without Congressional input is that
the final number of permanent regulations isn't solid yet. Bush did learn from his predecessor and requested that changes be submitted early enough to take effect before the Obama Administration took over, making the changes harder to overturn. But there is still a chance that many of Bush's late-term changes won't make it to maturity.
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much more at:
http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/analysis/589