What Is It With The Republican Party And Toxicity? Why Are they So Drawn To Poisons?

As Bush prepares to disappear from public life-- utterly delusional to the bitter end-- his regime is unrelenting in causing as much harm and mayhem as they can. Earlier in the week the L.A. Times reported that the White House was pressuring the EPA to ease rules on lead emissions. Is it because Bush hates Americans-- especially children-- and wants them to wind up with learning disabilities so they are more likely to vote Republican? Or is it because he's being bribed by companies that thrive on pumping tons of toxic gases into the air?

Looking to bolster the fight against childhood lead poisoning, the Environmental Protection Agency last month approved a tough new rule aimed at clearing the nation's air of the toxic metal.

But at the last minute, federal documents show, the Bush administration quietly weakened a key provision, exempting dozens of polluters from scrutiny. A new network of monitors that is to track lead emissions from factories has been scaled back.

Critics say the change undermines a rule that otherwise has been widely hailed as a powerful step in protecting children's health.

The federal rule was prompted by compelling research showing lead is more dangerous than had been thought. Even low levels of the toxic metal in young children have been linked to learning disabilities, aggression and criminal behavior later in life. Many scientists say there is no safe level of exposure.

It's a slow news day but the NY Times piped in on yet more extremely antisocial tendencies among Republicans today as well. This time they're working into the wee hours of the night to implement a new rule to further damage American working families before Obama can stop them. Mitch McConnell's traitorous wife beard, a puppet of the Chinese government, has ordered the Labor Department to cement a rule in place that "would make it much harder for the government to regulate toxic substances and hazardous chemicals to which workers are exposed on the job." This is a proposal that was "strenuously opposed" by Senator Obama. Again, Big Business has been paying off GOP politicians to do this for them before its too late. None of the "businessmen" or the political hacks they bribe have been indicted, arrested or even investigated.

Public health officials and labor unions said the rule would delay needed protections for workers, resulting in additional deaths and illnesses.

With the economy tumbling and American troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, President Bush has promised to cooperate with Mr. Obama to make the transition “as smooth as possible.” But that has not stopped his administration from trying, in its final days, to cement in place a diverse array of new regulations.

The Labor Department proposal is one of about 20 highly contentious rules the Bush administration is planning to issue in its final weeks. The rules deal with issues as diverse as abortion, auto safety and the environment. One rule would make it easier to build power plants near national parks and wilderness areas. Another would reduce the role of federal wildlife scientists in deciding whether dams, highways and other projects pose a threat to endangered species.

Mr. Obama and his advisers have already signaled their wariness of last-minute efforts by the Bush administration to embed its policies into the Code of Federal Regulations, a collection of rules having the force of law. The advisers have also said that Mr. Obama plans to look at a number of executive orders issued by Mr. Bush.

A new president can unilaterally reverse executive orders issued by his predecessors, as Mr. Bush and President Bill Clinton did in selected cases. But it is much more difficult for a new president to revoke or alter final regulations put in place by a predecessor. A new administration must solicit public comment and supply “a reasoned analysis” for such changes, as if it were issuing a new rule, the Supreme Court has said.

Yes, it's true... Clinton did it too. As he was leaving the White House, he promulgated rules meant to remove poisonous, deadly arsenic from the drinking water. In Bush's first week he abrogated that rule. So isn't it fitting that in his last week he also work hard to do as much damage to ordinary Americans as he did when he started? After all, he was crowing today about how his values haven't changed one bit since he first stole the White House. And neither has the GOP's. These criminals haven't learned a thing, as right wing extremist Mark Sanford (R-SC) demonstrates in another one of his self-serving idiotic screeds in Politico.

The people of South Carolina made their bed, shit all over it and now have to sleep in it. Don't worry about them; most of them thrive on it-- always have too. Fortunately, the rest of us have decided to move on. "In September, Mr. Obama and four other senators introduced a bill that would prohibit the Labor Department from issuing the rule it is now rushing to complete. He also signed a letter urging the department to scrap the proposal, saying it would 'create serious obstacles to protecting workers from health hazards on the job.'”

The Labor Department rule is among many that federal agencies are poised to issue before Mr. Bush turns over the White House to Mr. Obama.

One rule would allow coal companies to dump rock and dirt from mountaintop mining operations into nearby streams and valleys. Another, issued last week by the Health and Human Services Department, gives states sweeping authority to charge higher co-payments for doctor’s visits, hospital care and prescription drugs provided to low-income people under Medicaid. The department is working on another rule to protect health care workers who refuse to perform abortions or other procedures on religious or moral grounds.