House Effort to Create Sunset, Results Commissions Meets Resistance

A House hearing on White House proposals to overhaul the federal government was marked by criticism of their "good government" justifications and impassioned arguments about separation of powers. The Sunset and Results Commissions The House Government Reform Subcommittee on Federal Workforce and Agency Organization held a hearing Sept. 27 on two bills that advance a White House proposal for fast-track reorganization authority and mandatory program sunsets.

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EPA May Be Next for Power to Waive Law

The push to establish an Imperial Presidency kicked into overdrive when Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) introduced a bill that would give the Environmental Protection Agency the power to waive or weaken the law for matters related to Hurricane Katrina.

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Government 'Reform' Threatens Public Protections, OMB Watch's Robert Shull Testifies Today

Washington -- Sep 27, 2005 -- Government reorganization cannot come at the expense of public protections, according to testimony by Robert Shull, OMB Watch's regulatory policy director, to be delivered today before the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Federal Workforce and Agency Organization.

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Testimony on H.R. 3276 and H.R. 3277, Sunset/Reorganization Bills

Testimony on the House bills implementing the White House's proposal for government shutdown powers via automatic sunsets and for reorganization authority. Download the testimony from the Sep. 27, 2005 hearing before the Subcommittee on Federal Workforce and Agency Organization of the House Committee on Government Reform.

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White House Finds in Katrina Recovery 'Opportunity' to Waive Needed Protections

Though most government agencies have worked diligently to alleviate the untold burdens on Hurricane Katrina's victims and to expedite recovery in a safe and effective manner, several agencies have taken the opportunity to waive needed protections, thus possibly putting recovery workers and others at greater risk.

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Analysts Split on Meaning of Mercury Vote

Commentators disagree whether a recent vote on a Senate measure to reject part of the Bush administration's mercury rule should be viewed as a sign of strength or weakness for progressives in environmental fights to come. The vote in question was on ">S. J. Res. 20, a joint resolution under the Congressional Review Act to reject part of the Environmental Protection Agency's mercury rule.

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Homeland Security Waives Law for Border Fence Construction

Apparently taking advantage of media focus on Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it is exercising its newly acquired power to waive apparently all law in order to expedite construction of border fencing near San Diego.

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Roberts Showed Prudence in Reg Reform Initiative

Although Supreme Court chief justice nominee John Roberts worked for an administration generally hostile to regulation, documents released by the Reagan Library from his time as White House counsel reveal that he raised considerable objections to at least one of the period’s far-reaching regulatory "reform" proposals.

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CPR Perspectives

Links to perspectives on risk and precaution from the Center for Progressive Reform CPR Perspectives: The Precautionary Principle

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Risk and Precaution Articles from Rachel's Newsletter

Links to news articles and analyses from Rachel's Environment and Health News, a newsletter from the Environmental Research Foundation. #823 -- Urban Legend: Precaution and Cholera in Peru, 04-Aug-05 #820 -- Isn't It Time We Regulated Chemicals?, 23-Jun-05 #811 -- Human Exposure and Health Hazards, Part 2, 17-Feb-05 #810 -- Human Exposure and Health Hazards, Part 1, 03-Feb-05 #801 -- The Chemical Wars, Final Part, 30-Sep-04 #800 -- The Chemical Wars, Part 3, 16-Sep-04 #799 -- The Chemical Wars, Part 2, 02-Sep-04 #798 -- The Chemical Wars, Part 1, 19-Aug-04

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