The Bush Administration and the Dismantling of Public Safeguards - Bush Administration's Assault of Public Safeguards
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Special Interest Takeover: The Bush Administration and the Dismantling of Public Safeguards
The Center for American Progress and OMB Watch have released a comprehensive report prepared on behalf of the Citizens for Sensible Safeguards coalition (of which Public Citizen is a member) that details the Bush administration's record of dismantling protections for public health, food safety, auto safety, and the environment.
To view the report and accompanying brochure, as well as a list of members of the coalition, visit http://www.sensiblesafeguards.org
As documented by the report, crucial safeguards have been swept aside or watered down; enforcement efforts have been curtailed; and emerging problems are being ignored. The Administration has been able to accomplish this by placing regulatory agencies under the control of industry insiders, dismissing independent scientists from government Advisory Boards, suppressing information, distorting scientific findings that document a need for action, and using cost/benefit analysis to prioritize industry interests over the public interest.
To take one example from the report, the Bush Administration delayed a Clinton-era proposed rule on Listeria and eventually only issued the rule in a much-weakened form. While this was happening, the Department of Agriculture, led by administration officials with close ties to the meat industry, ignored a federal inspector's repeated reports of food safety violations at a Pennsylvania Wampler Foods plant. In 2002, Listeria-contaminated turkey meat from the plant killed eight, sickened more than 50, and caused miscarriages and stillbirths, prompting one of the largest meat recalls in U.S. history.
The report concludes that, "Special interests have taken over our government from top to bottom, turning back years of progress on health, safety and the environment. That this puts the public and our natural resources at significant risk seems to be of little concern to the Bush administration. Rather, the administration appears to view government as an instrument to enrich its political allies."
To view the report and accompanying brochure, as well as a list of members of the coalition, visit http://www.sensiblesafeguards.org
Please forward this message to your friends and colleagues!
If you would like more information about Public Citizen, please visit us at http://www.citizen.org
Informant: Hans Karow
Special Interest Takeover: The Bush Administration and the Dismantling of Public Safeguards
The Center for American Progress and OMB Watch have released a comprehensive report prepared on behalf of the Citizens for Sensible Safeguards coalition (of which Public Citizen is a member) that details the Bush administration's record of dismantling protections for public health, food safety, auto safety, and the environment.
To view the report and accompanying brochure, as well as a list of members of the coalition, visit http://www.sensiblesafeguards.org
As documented by the report, crucial safeguards have been swept aside or watered down; enforcement efforts have been curtailed; and emerging problems are being ignored. The Administration has been able to accomplish this by placing regulatory agencies under the control of industry insiders, dismissing independent scientists from government Advisory Boards, suppressing information, distorting scientific findings that document a need for action, and using cost/benefit analysis to prioritize industry interests over the public interest.
To take one example from the report, the Bush Administration delayed a Clinton-era proposed rule on Listeria and eventually only issued the rule in a much-weakened form. While this was happening, the Department of Agriculture, led by administration officials with close ties to the meat industry, ignored a federal inspector's repeated reports of food safety violations at a Pennsylvania Wampler Foods plant. In 2002, Listeria-contaminated turkey meat from the plant killed eight, sickened more than 50, and caused miscarriages and stillbirths, prompting one of the largest meat recalls in U.S. history.
The report concludes that, "Special interests have taken over our government from top to bottom, turning back years of progress on health, safety and the environment. That this puts the public and our natural resources at significant risk seems to be of little concern to the Bush administration. Rather, the administration appears to view government as an instrument to enrich its political allies."
To view the report and accompanying brochure, as well as a list of members of the coalition, visit http://www.sensiblesafeguards.org
Please forward this message to your friends and colleagues!
If you would like more information about Public Citizen, please visit us at http://www.citizen.org
Informant: Hans Karow
Starmail - 26. Mai, 09:45
