Obama orders review of environmental, health and safety regulations

[Cali_Democrat]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jan/18/barack-obama-review-epa-agencies

Obama orders review of environmental, health and safety regulations

US president asks for comprehensive review of agencies and rules after accusations White House is anti-business

by Suzanne Goldenberg

Barack Obama ordered a broad review of environmental, health and safety regulations today to try to pre-empt Republican charges that he is leading an anti-business administration.

In an executive order, the US president instructed government agencies to ensure all regulations are cost-effective, science-based and transparent, as well as promoting economic growth, innovation and job creation.

The move was seen on both sides of the political divide as an attempt to counter accusations from the main business lobby, the Chamber of Commerce, that Obama has unleashed a "regulatory tsunami" on business, and to head off a campaign by conservative Tea Party Republicans to strip the Environmental Protection Agency of its authority to act on climate change.

"It's a review that will help bring order to regulations that have become a patchwork of overlapping rules, the result of tinkering by administrations and legislators of both parties, and the influence of special interests in Washington," Obama wrote in today's Wall Street Journal.

Read more...http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/jan/18/barack-obama-review-epa-agencies

[Davis_X_Machina]

1. Matt Taibbi is in agreement --

From Griftopia:

Your average working American looks around and sees evidence of government power over his life everywhere. He pays high taxes and can't sell a house or buy a car without paying all sorts of fees. If he owns a business, inspectors come to his workplace once a year to gouge him for something whether he's in compliance or not. If he wants to build a shed in his backyard, he needs a permit from some local thief in the city clerk's office...

This stuff happens. It's not paranoia.... Tea Party grievances against these issues are entirely legitimate and shouldn’t be dismissed. The problem is that they think the same dynamic they see locally or in their own lives -- an overbearing, interventionist government that seeks to control, tax, and regulate everything it can get its hands on -- operates the same everywhere..

[DrDan]

2. I wish he had done this prior to Rick Scott taking the same tactic

makes it look like he (Obama) is taking the lead from scott in this review.