Regulating regulations: Extending White House power

This is from http://michaelperelman.wordpress.com/2007/07/08/executive-order-13422-a-threat-to-health-and-safety/. This is just another example of Bush attempting to extend his power and subvert the independence of regulators.

In a little notice Executive Order 13422, Bush gave Susan Dudley’s Office of Information and Regulation Affairs extraordinary power to block virtually all new regulations, except when agencies are able to prove that the problem is a market failure. Every department must have a “Regulatory Policy Officer” — a political appointee who can subvert any regulation.

The agencies must identify “the combined aggregate costs and benefits of all … regulations planned for that calendar year to assist with the identification of priorities.” In other words, cost benefits analysis reigns supreme.

The House has voted to defund the executive order, but certainly nothing like this will be passed by Congress and signed by the Commander in Chief.

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.”