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Undercover of the Night
Author: Raine    Date: 12/17/2008 13:32:37

I know that I am far from alone in eager anticipation for our President Elect to be sworn in. I look forward to the dawn of Change in America. On the "To-Do-List": A stimulus package to help turn the economy around and create jobs; healthcare; education; environment; the list goes on and on. Before he can deliver these things, there is an awful lot of things to undo from the previous administration.

Some of these things will require new legislation from Congress, other may very well be made to go away with the sweep of a pen. None however will go away quickly. All require careful observation from a legal team. You see, it seems as tho the policies of the *ush administration go far deeper than simply political appointees. The Interior Department is just one example. The Department of Justice is another. It isn't just about changing a few laws or just reversing them -- it is first understanding the depth to which rules and regulation have been altered in the past 8 years. The Obama administration will need to overview EVERY office and see what can be changed, what needs to be changed and what can wait -- for now. There is a lot of work ahead.

The Current Administration has promised a smooth transition. That is what we have been told... But saying one thing and doing another -- the hallmark of this current administration -- is proving to be the case again. Lame Duck you say? Not so fast...
These de-facto laws are called "midnight rules" or "midnight regulations" because they happen at the end -- or midnight period -- of an administration. If the rules are published in the Federal Register by Friday, Nov. 21, they'll be very hard for President-elect Obama to reverse when he gets into office.

And that's the point. Sure, the administration had eight years to get a lot of this stuff accomplished. But according to senior research fellow at George Mason University, Veronique de Rugy, most midnight regulations "cater to special interests" and "that is why they are hurried into effect without the usual checks and balances."
So far, among those Midnight rules, worker protection has been gutted, he weakened the guest worker program; He altered federal regulations to allow uranium mining at the Grand Canyon... Almost daily we hear or read of a new midnight regulation that the administration is giving us. Sadly these things cannot simply be undone with a snap of the finger, or a wave of a pen.

While our nation is being pillaged, Crisis papers are being delivered to the President Elect.
The White House has prepared more than a dozen contingency plans to help guide President-elect Barack Obama if an international crisis erupts in the opening days of his administration, part of an elaborate operation devised to smooth the first transition of power since Sept. 11, 2001.
It makes one wonder what kind of midnight rule the administration has signed that will further hamper the work that must be done.

The news is not all bad, however. The Obama Administration is looking at reversing *ush era reproductive rights rules. This is wonderful stuff.

As I look at the damage that *ush is doing since election day, and then look behind to the past 7 years it is clear to me that to go forward, much must be undone. Before we can rebuild, there must be deconstruction, and that is a tricky act. Sadly -- we can't just do a controlled demolition, because quite simply, we don't know where all the bodies are. We don't need collateral damage on the hands of Obama.

:peace: and :heart:
Raine
 

80 comments (Latest Comment: 12/18/2008 03:28:23 by Mondobubba)
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