BS: Federal workers should get blue flu Fri.

Subject: BS: Federal workers should get blue flu Fri.
From: Donuel
Date: 20 Nov 08 - 10:22 AM

The Bush administration will submit several hundred presidential orders tommorrow so that they will technically be in effect 60 days before inauguration which will make them virtually impossible to overturn by the Obama administration.

However for them to be in "effect" some civil service worker would have to pricess them Friday.

The Bush presidential orders act like law without Congressional approval.

Subject: RE: BS: Federal workers should get blue flu Fri.
From: CarolC
Date: 20 Nov 08 - 10:58 AM

Bush has miscalculated. There is a law that allows Congress to review all of Bush's presidential orders after the new Congress meets in 2009.

Subject: RE: BS: Federal workers should get blue flu Fri.
From: artbrooks
Date: 20 Nov 08 - 11:11 AM

Is that the same as an Executive Order? Interesting to see if it actually happens - especially since he has only issued 25 so far this calendar year.

Subject: RE: BS: Federal workers should get blue flu Fri.
From: pdq
Date: 20 Nov 08 - 11:11 AM

And President Clinton followed in the tradition of President Carter in putting out a rash of executive orders during his last few months in office. Just on Jimmy Carter's last day in office alone, the Federal Register (a daily summation of new rules for the executive branch) was three times its normal size. The regulations drafted by President Carter and numerous lame-duck regulators earned the nickname: midnight regulations. By the time all the dust settled, it was estimated that President Carter added about 24,500 pages of last-minute regulations. President Clinton surpassed that record with over 30,000 pages of new regulations in the last 90 days.

The cost of these regulations is still being calculated. One of President Clinton's last-minute regulations concerned "ergonomic standards" for employers. These rules require that typists have wrist pads, adjustable-height chairs, and good lumbar support. Failure to comply with these regulations can result in fines and various legal action. Industry groups estimate that these regulations alone will cost $40 billion a year or more.

Another expensive last-minute action by President Clinton was the executive order that banned new roads on nearly 60 million acres of public lands. For years, environmental groups tried to designate these lands as "wilderness areas." That would require congressional approval. With the stroke of the pen, President Clinton achieved the same result and effectively locked-up vast acres of land from logging, mining, and other commercial enterprises. In the past, President Clinton also locked up valuable natural resources when he created the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument and the American Heritage Rivers Initiative. Both were the result of executive orders and will cost this country significantly in terms of unavailable resources.

The regulatory cost of executive orders is enormous. The National Center for Policy Analysis estimates that all of these executive regulations cost the economy more than $700 billion a year. That is more than the federal government spends on any budget item except Medicare, Social Security, and defense. The annual cost of federal regulations works out to about $7000 per household."

Subject: RE: BS: Federal workers should get blue flu Fri.
From: Manitas_at_home
Date: 20 Nov 08 - 11:16 AM

"These rules require that typists have wrist pads, adjustable-height chairs, and good lumbar support. Failure to comply with these regulations can result in fines and various legal action. Industry groups estimate that these regulations alone will cost $40 billion a year or more.
"


How much is saved in healthcare costs and absenteeism - never mind the pain?

Subject: RE: BS: Federal workers should get blue flu Fri.
From: Ebbie
Date: 20 Nov 08 - 11:52 AM

One thought I seldom (never?) hear expressed is that 'tied up' lands aren't going anywhere and will be available ifever and whenever the actual need arises. This applies to ANWR, federal lands, wilderness areas and whatever other designation is out there.

In the meantime, isn't it nice to know that some of these things will still be around for our children's grandchildren?

Subject: RE: BS: Federal workers should get blue flu Fri.
From: pdq
Date: 20 Nov 08 - 12:05 PM

{for the record...}

George W. Bush:

267 Total Executive orders Issued

*        2008 - E.O. 13454 - E.O. 13471 (18 Executive orders issued)

*        2007 - E.O. 13422 - E.O. 13453 (31 Executive orders issued)

*        2006 - E.O. 13395 - E.O. 13421 (27 Executive orders issued)

*        2005 - E.O. 13369 - E.O. 13394 (26 Executive orders issued)

*        2004 - E.O. 13324 - E.O. 13368 (45 Executive orders issued)

*        2003 - E.O. 13283 - E.O. 13323 (41 Executive orders issued)

*        2002 - E.O. 13252 - E.O. 13282 (31 Executive orders issued)

*        2001 - E.O. 13198 - E.O. 13251 (54 Executive orders issued)

"Worthless Willy" Clitman:         

364 Total Executive Orders Issued

*        2001 - E.O. 13186 - E.O. 13197 (12 Executive orders issued)

*        2000 - E.O. 13145 - E.O. 13185 (41 Executive orders issued)

*        1999 - E.O. 13110 - E.O. 13144 (35 Executive orders issued)

*        1998 - E.O. 13072 - E.O. 13109 (38 Executive orders issued)

*        1997 - E.O. 13034 - E.O. 13071 (38 Executive orders issued)

*        1996 - E.O. 12985 - E.O. 13033 (49 Executive orders issued)

*        1995 - E.O. 12945 - E.O. 12984 (40 Executive orders issued)

*        1994 - E.O. 12891 - E.O. 12944 (54 Executive orders issued)

*        1993 - E.O. 12834 - E.O. 12890 (57 Executive orders issued)

{note that the number of EOs does not reflect their size...30,000 pages in his last three months by Clinton boggles the mind...}

Subject: RE: BS: Federal workers should get blue flu Fri.
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 20 Nov 08 - 01:42 PM

Both were the result of executive orders and will cost this country significantly in terms of unavailable resources.

Bullshit! Just shoot a few thousand marketers to drive consumer demand back to where it should be, and those resources will never be missed. The problem isn't unavailable resources, it's overconsumption. I'd helluva lot rather see a mountain left in its natural state than to see it flattened and turned into a bunch of junk that'll wind up in a mountain-sized landfill in a few years.

Subject: RE: BS: Federal workers should get blue flu Fri.
From: pdq
Date: 20 Nov 08 - 02:13 PM

"...I'd helluva lot rather see a mountain left in its natural state than to see it flattened and turned into a bunch of junk...

60 million acres??? It would take one million people 60 years to do that if each one could dig up, level or destroy one acre per year (a lot of work, methinks). Now with only 60 full-time despoiler, it would take a million years.

Subject: RE: BS: Federal workers should get blue flu Fri.
From: CarolC
Date: 20 Nov 08 - 10:44 PM

The hundreds of things Bush is trying to finalize at the last minute are regulations, not executive orders. After regulations are finalized, it becomes very difficult for a new president to undo them. However, because of the Congressional Review Act (1996), when presidents try to finalize regulations in the last days of their terms in office, they will not be finalized until the next Congress convenes, and if the next Congress chooses to, it can reject the regulations.

Obama's team are already combing over the regulations that Bush is trying to finalize now so that they will be ready to deal with them immediately after the next Congress convenes, which means they will not be difficult to dispense with.

Subject: RE: BS: Federal workers should get blue flu Fri.
From: catspaw49
Date: 20 Nov 08 - 11:13 PM

Got to pity the people on the Obama team having to hang around and await the farts and shit coming out of that Horse's Ass!

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Federal workers should get blue flu Fri.
From: IvanB
Date: 20 Nov 08 - 11:28 PM

Yes, fortunately the administration miscalculated, thinking they only needed to publish the rules 60 days before the inauguration for them to take effect. In reality, according to a report I saw on MSNBC the other night, the effective deadline to get around the congressional oversight, etc., was May 18. Since the Congressional Review Act has been used only once, it's understandable that they'd be unaware of it.

For once there's a chance that the good guys'll win.

Subject: RE: BS: Federal workers should get blue flu Fri.
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Nov 08 - 11:34 PM

RAW Uncooked Truth, Beyond Belief is a partisan newsletter from the Sierra Club, but it discribes the situation pretty clearly.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Federal workers should get blue flu Fri.
From: Donuel
Date: 21 Nov 08 - 10:28 AM

The new regs will flash flood the system today.

Many of them are deregulatory in nature and allow for more pollution and new ways of measuring toxicity downward as a way of easing any restrictions on private Corporations, multi national corporations and organized crime syndicates.

some appear as innately benign but are nefarious at their core.

Subject: RE: BS: Federal workers should get blue flu Fri.
From: DougR
Date: 21 Nov 08 - 05:35 PM

And no other administration has taken such action, right, Donuel?

DougR

Subject: RE: BS: Federal workers should get blue flu Fri.
From: Greg F.
Date: 21 Nov 08 - 10:52 PM

Gotcha, Douggie- that makes the BuShite pollution and deregulation crap all OK.

Did you ever graduate from kindergarten?