This really frosts my balls

Back on topic...here is one of those trucking regulations that the last administration tried unsuccesfully to change twice in 03 and 05..and the courts threw it out twice.....and tried again in a "midnight" (the very end of his term), dump of hundreds of new regulations at the end of 08.

This petition seeks review of the hours-of-service regulation issued by FMCSA on November 13, 2008 and published in the Federal Register on November 19, 2008. Like the identical rule issued by FMCSA in August 2005 and nearly identical rule issued in April 2003, the 2008 rule significantly increases the permissible number of hours that drivers may drive, both per shift and on a weekly basis. Under the 2008 rule, truck drivers may drive 11 consecutive hours before taking a break -- one hour more than permitted before the 2003 rule went into effect. In addition, under the 2008 rule, drivers are permitted to drive 77 hours in seven days or 88 hours in eight days -- a more than 25 percent increase over the pre-2003 limits. The permissible number of on-duty hours during which truckers may drive has also mounted: a driver working 14-hour shifts can now work as many as 84 hours in seven days or 98 hours in eight days -- a 40 percent increase over the pre-2003 limits.

http://www.citizen.org/litigation/br...hSafety/autos/

What Merc does not understand in his fuck-filled rant (excuse me, his "patient" response) against the Democratic Congress in 2007-08, is that Congress does not write regulations...the Executive Branch does. Facts do matter.

In addition to the court case again, this one is also under review by the Obama administration, along with hundreds of other Bush regulations. It takes time to undo hundreds of bad regs, many of which loosened enforcement of existing regulatory programs.

The other means used to negate regulations over the last few years was simply not to "obligate" (spend) the funds. And again, Congress can only "authorize" and "appropriate" funds, it could not force the previous Executive Branch to spend those funds to enforce existing regulations.

Added:

More on Bush "midnight" regulations...by most measures, a new record!

In President Obama’s first hours in office, he suspended pending rules and regulations from the Bush administration so that they could be thoroughly reviewed before they take effect. These so-called “midnight regulations” have been a source of controversy through several presidencies, but critics charge that the Bush administration has taken them to new extremes....

* The Bureau of Land Management issued a rule that would allow a recent upsurge in uranium mining permits near the Grand Canyon to continue. “If these claims go ahead they will be substantial mines with noise and dust,” just miles from one of the crown jewels of our national park system, Wilkinson says. Radioactivity from one mine near the South Rim has already leaked into the aquifer and a stream feeding into Colorado. “It is not a joke having radioactivity going into the Colorado River and into Grand Canyon National Park,” Wilkinson says. Evidently, the Bush administration disagreed.

* Narrowing of the definition of “navigable waters,” which critics say is a blow to the Clean Water Act.

* My favorite: The EPA came up with a rule that will now allow confined animal feeding operations to decide for themselves whether they think they pollute enough to have to apply for discharge permits.

http://www.cejournal.net/?p=739 (a partisan perspective )

Unfortunately some like the trucking regs above were dumped just before the 60-day "midnight" deadline so they cant be suspended or overturned w/o going through a much more cumbersome process.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by Redux

What Merc does not understand in his fuck-filled rant (excuse me, his "patient" response) against the Democratic Congress in 2007-08, is that Congress does not write regulations...the Executive Branch does.

Epic Fail.

If this does not fix the problem the Demoncrats and you will take all of the blame.

I am really ok with that. As I have said repeatedly the Bills proposed do not fix the problems with healthcare in the US and in the end we will be stuck with a huge ass bill that our great-great-grandchildren will be paying for and you still will not be doing what is needed to be done.

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

Epic Fail.

If this does not fix the problem the Demoncrats and you (ME?) will take all of the blame.

I am really ok with that. As I have said repeatedly the Bills proposed do not fix the problems with healthcare in the US and in the end we will be stuck with a huge ass bill that our great-great-grandchildren will be paying for and you still will not be doing what is needed to be done.

It should come as no surprise to anyone that the Democrats will be judged on the success or failure of the stimulus, health care reform and other major issues.

I have been clear that I want them to succeed and believe these policies were the best way forward for the country facing an economic and health care crisis. However, I don't think the White House, Congress, my friends or family will give me a share of the credit for any success or assign any blame to me for a failure.

IMO, the difference between us is that I have tried not to judge the success or failure of programs in progress, recognizing that they time to have an impact, positive or negative whereas you declared the stimulus program a failure after 3-4 months, declared health reform a failure before Congress has even consolidated the various proposals into a single bill and have determined that our great great grandchildren will be left with a “huge ass bill” when even the best economists cant predict the level of future economic growth with any degree certainty....overall, an "epic failure" when we are still in the first quarter of the game.

You have it made it clear in other discussions that you want to see Obama and the Democrats fail to the point of also raising such petty issues as European trips by the Speaker that are as old as the Congress itself, your comparison of the Speaker to Hitler, an innocuous song at one elementary school fresh off the inauguration of the president, and numerous other examples of partisan bullshit backed by editorials that share your agenda and often misrepresent the facts.

I understand why you choose to take that approach but I don't think it leads to reasonable discussions of the issues, nor, IMO, do the tirades like the one above - #35 or making it personal with your "fuck you/fuck off" and "you're an asshole" directed at me as you have on other occasions (not to mention an especially ignorant attack of my family heritage).

But putting that aside, the topic here was truck safety regulations and at the very least, I think my last post provided some context for how regulations are promulgated, how that process has nothing to do with Congress and can be abused by the Executive Branch and how it can (and is, to some degree) be remedied.

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

... As I have said repeatedly the Bills proposed do not fix the problems with healthcare in the US and in the end we will be stuck with a huge ass bill that our great-great-grandchildren will be paying for and you still will not be doing what is needed to be done.

Just like the bush/repubican/conservative lead Iraq war debacle.