Word: gop
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...These GOP legislators are fighting to ensure that the middle class has access to dirty water, filthy air, cancer-causing substances and dangerous workplaces. For too long, regulatory bodies such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have barred the middle class from enjoying pollution and various health hazards...
...Republicans have prostituted themselves to big business interests who are willing to trade a clean and safe America for profits and higher stock prices. Much of the proposed legislation was not even written by the GOP "legislators"; it was penned directly by lawyers and lobbyists who represent various industries and polluters. The proverbial fox guarding the henhouse never had it so good. The Republicans are shamelessly and unapologetically promoting a pro-business agenda that makes the gluttony of the 1980s look like their party's moral pinnacle...
...GOP assault on public health and safety regulation is two-pronged. First, they want to prevent government agencies from accomplishing their goals simply by cutting their funding. Without money to hire employees, investigate health and safety risks and enforce statutes, these agencies will be toothless. For example, House legislation slashes the EPA budget by one-third, to $4.9 billion dollars. In contrast, President Clinton has proposed a modest increase in the EPA budget...
...second GOP tactic is to specifically limit rules and enforcement procedures that government regulators can use. Most of these restrictions patently serve specific industries. For example, oil and gas industries benefit from legislation that would block EPA programs designed to lower gasoline consumption, mainly by reducing automobile commuting and promoting increased fuel efficiency...
...GOP also proposes to rescind laws requiring polluters to pay for cleaning up their own toxic waste. Usually, Republican philosophy is to make the public pay for the externalities and vices of the private sector, but the current budget-cutting fever in Washington has led to even more perverse policy. Since the government's funding of toxic dump cleanups would also be severely reduced, many dumps would not be cleaned...