It should come as no surprise, but the Washington Post is reporting today that the Bush administration is preparing a volley of deregulation and far-reaching executive changes that would be difficult and time-consuming to reverse after January:
As many as 90 new regulations are in the works, and at least nine of them are considered "economically significant" because they impose costs or promote societal benefits that exceed $100 million annually. They include new rules governing employees who take family- and medical-related leaves, new standards for preventing or containing oil spills, and a simplified process for settling real estate transactions.
We all understand the ruin that will be the Bush legacy. However, GOP control of the executive branch has not ended yet, and it's important that we do everything possible to prevent them from making matters even worse.
The environmental damage alone "will force Americans to choke on dirtier air for years to come, unless Congress or the new administration reverses these eleventh-hour abuses," according to lawyer John Walke of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
And the regulatory changes cannot simply be undone by an incoming Obama administration:
Once such rules take effect, they typically can be undone only through a laborious new regulatory proceeding, including lengthy periods of public comment, drafting and mandated reanalysis.
"They want these rules to continue to have an impact long after they leave office," said Matthew Madia, a regulatory expert at OMB Watch, a nonprofit group critical of what it calls the Bush administration's penchant for deregulating in areas where industry wants more freedom. He called the coming deluge "a last-minute assault on the public . . . happening on multiple fronts."
The Bush administration is seeking to make these changes very soon, in an effort to avoid a repeat of the Clinton-era "procrastination" that enabled the incoming Bush White House to roll back some "254 regulations that covered such matters as drug and airline safety, immigration and indoor air pollutants."
So for a GOP White House on the way out, the time is now:
That gives officials just a few more weeks to meet an effective Nov. 20 deadline for the publication of economically significant rules, which take legal effect only after a 60-day congressional comment period. Less important rules take effect after a 30-day period, creating a second deadline of Dec. 20.
We can't let this happen. Even as the election is consuming the attention of the political world, we need to sound the alarm and make sure Congress is standing ready as a firewall to block any 11th hour changes by the Bush administration.
Contact your senators and representatives today. Make it clear that a lame-duck session of Congress will be needed for more than just the economic crisis -- it will be needed to stave off the last gasps of the right-wing ideology that put us in this mess in the first place.
Have no doubt -- the rats that haven't already abandoned the Bush ship of state are going to salt the earth and torch the barn on the way out. We need to make sure Congress is ready to do everything possible to stem the damage.