Can’t Repeal Laws? Then Hollow Them Out
Posted by Michelle Moquin on May 8th, 2013
Good morning!
I don’t know if all of you read Health Info but for the ones that do, I don’t know if the post about the toxic receipts got to you, but it affected me. I am a businesswoman and I am handling receipts all of the time. This is not the first time I have heard about thermal paper being bad to touch but now it is much worse for our health! And reading this recent write has certainly inspired me to act differently. I am already so aware of the many germs that fly around on a daily basis and how to keep myself protected. I eat as healthy as possible. And now it looks like I am going to have to don some rubber gloves when I file my receipts (!) What next? And why is this being allowed in the market?
I’ll tell you what is next, and why it is happening. I found this on the Huff Po. A good write by Robert Reich. The republican party cares more about their corporate cronies and obtaining as much wealth as possible, and could care less about our safety and making sure that we have our safety laws in place and enough people to run them. Instead, when they can’t directly repeal laws they don’t like, they just hollow them out by denying funds that are needed to enforce them. - And our health & safety is just one area that is being hollowed out. Read on to discover more.
The Hollowing Out of Government
The West, Texas chemical and fertilizer plant where at least 15 were killed and more than 200 injured a few weeks ago hadn’t been fully inspected by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration since 1985. (A partial inspection in 2011 had resulted in $5,250 in fines.)
OSHA and its state partners have a total of 2,200 inspectors charged with ensuring the safety of over more than 8 million workplaces employing 130 million workers. That comes to about one inspector for every 59,000 American workers.
There’s no way it can do its job with so few resources, but OSHA has been systematically hollowed out for the years under Republican administrations and congresses that have despised the agency since its inception.
In effect, much of our nation’s worker safety laws and rules have been quietly repealed because there aren’t enough inspectors to enforce them. That’s been the Republican strategy in general: When they can’t directly repeal laws they don’t like, they repeal them indirectly by hollowing them out — denying funds to fully implement them, and reducing funds to enforce them.
Consider taxes. Republicans have been unable to round up enough votes to cut taxes on big corporations and the wealthy as much as they’d like, so what do they do? They’re hollowing out the IRS. As they cut its enforcement budget – presto! — tax collections decline.
Despite an increasing number of billionaires and multi-millionaires using every tax dodge imaginable – laundering their money through phantom corporations and tax havens (Remember Mitt’s tax returns?) — the IRS’s budget has been cut by 17 percent since 2002, adjusted for inflation.
To manage the $594.5 million in additional cuts required by the sequester, the agency has announced it will furlough each of its more than 89,000 employees for at least five days this year.
This budget stinginess doesn’t save the government money. Quite the opposite. Less IRS enforcement means less revenue. It’s been estimated that every dollar invested in the IRS’s enforcement, modernization and management system reduces the federal budget deficit by $200, and that furloughing 1,800 IRS “policemen” will cost the Treasury $4.5 billion in lost revenue.
But congressional Republicans aren’t interested in more revenue. Their goal is to cut taxes on big corporations and the wealthy.
Representative Charles Boustany, the Louisiana Republican who heads the House subcommittee overseeing the IRS, says the IRS sequester cuts should stay in force. He calls for an overhaul of the tax code instead.
In a similar manner, congressional Republicans and their patrons on Wall Street who opposed the Dodd-Frank financial reform law have been hollowing out the law by making sure agencies charged with implementing it don’t have the funds they need to do the job.
As a result, much of Dodd-Frank – including the so-called “Volcker Rule” restrictions on the kind of derivatives trading that got the Street into trouble in the first place – is still on the drawing boards.
Perhaps more than any other law, Republicans hate the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). Yet despite holding more than 33 votes to repeal it, they still haven’t succeeded.
So what do they do? Try to hollow it out. Congressional Republicans have repeatedly denied funding requests to implement Obamacare, leaving Health and Human Services (the agency charged with designing the rules under the Act and enforcing them) so shorthanded it has to delay much of it.
Even before the sequester, the agency was running on the same budget it had before Obamacare was enacted. Now it’s lost billions more.
A new insurance marketplace specifically for small business, for example, was supposed to be up and running in January. But officials now say it won’t be available until 2015 in the 33 states where the federal government will be running insurance markets known as exchanges.
This is a potentially large blow to Obamacare’s political support. A major selling point for the legislation had been providing affordable health insurance to small businesses and their employees.
Yes, and eroding political support is exactly what congressional Republicans want. They fear that Obamacare, once fully implemented, will be too popular to dismantle. So they’re out to delay it as long as possible while keeping up a drumbeat about its flaws.
Repealing laws by hollowing them out — failing to fund their enforcement or implementation — works because the public doesn’t know it’s happening. Enactment of a law attracts attention; de-funding it doesn’t.
The strategy also seems to bolster the Republican view that government is incompetent. If government can’t do what it’s supposed to do — keep workplaces safe, ensure that the rich pay taxes they owe, protect small investors, implement Obamacare — why give it any additional responsibility?
The public doesn’t know the real reason why the government isn’t doing its job is it’s being hollowed out.
*******
Readers: It is sickening how much our health (not to mention many other things) is affected by the decisions that our government makes on our behalf. If you don’t think your voice or your vote matters you are so wrong. If we continue like this, our health is going to deteriorate in so many ways and all of us are going to be supporting the drug companies, and stuffing the pockets of the greedy, whether we want to or not.
What are your thoughts? Blog me.
Lakshmi: Of course. I am so sorry for the loss of your dear friend. I cannot imagine what you and her loved ones must be feeling. My best to you. Thank you for being here with me, reading my blog.
Danielle: Umm..that’s hard. One can’t compete with something like that. I’m happy for you that you have moved on and I HOPE you find another love that is mutual.
Arlene: Yes, I like to think the same as well. Perhaps we will meet. I forgot to say thanks for being a loyal reader for the past 4 years. My best to you too. I HOPE you enjoy your new life in Berkeley.
Peace out.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my “loyal”(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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May 8th, 2013 at 10:35 am
I can’t believe that Sanford was elected. We need to force that state to secede. Forget seceding from the Union (I would take them up on that offer as quickly as it could be done) we need to push expulsion.
You don’t like the federal government, go and don’t come back. It would be too bad. I like Atlanta, Orlando, Miami and New Orleans, but I could do without ever going there if they would just leave.
Further, we should consider expelling the former confederate states. They are nothing but a drag anyway and they can’t even figure out how to not elect good for nothing derelicts because of insane ideology. For the good of the rest of us, get rid of the “dumb” weight.
May 8th, 2013 at 10:47 am
Once again in this kidnapping rescue of three women we learn how cavalier men take the disappearance of females. We also learn how incredibly inept the police are. As Robert, Rt calls them”high school diplomas,” they only act to gain extra hours in back pay.
I want to vomit when I see them giving Gina Dejesus a police motorcade. Those girls needed half that many police to investigate their abduction. All three were kidnapped on the same street. Where were all those police then?
May 8th, 2013 at 10:49 am
Natural Ways to Feel Much Better After a Fall…
“Ever since I took that fall, I haven’t felt quite right.” This is a refrain that I hear from a surprising number of my patients. We tend to think of falls as affecting only older adults and causing primarily physical injuries. But neither is true. People of all ages fall, and the after-effects can be harmful in a variety of ways.
My theory is that unexpected falls destabilize the nervous system. Even if you aren’t badly hurt, these falls are scary. Our inner protective mechanisms become hypervigilant—our muscles become tense and we hold ourselves more rigidly. We also struggle with a lingering sense of unease and begin to mistrust our ability to safely do everyday activities.
When a patient falls, I perform a thorough exam to rule out a concussion and possibly order an X-ray to check for fractures. I also treat the patient’s nervous system. In addition to the use of ice to treat an injury for the first 48 hours, followed by heat and painkillers, if needed, I’ve found that natural medicine can help people avoid lasting problems from falls. My favorite approaches…*
• Use natural remedies. Arnica is a well-known homeopathic remedy that is used topically for physical trauma. Arnica lotion, for example, can be applied to bruises or sprains several times a day until they are healed.
Along with arnica, I recommend using homeopathic Aconite, a remedy that is excellent in treating the fright that follows sudden, violent accidents. Aconite is best taken within 48 hours of a fall.
I typically recommend one dose (two pellets of Aconite 30C) taken under the tongue. If 24 hours after taking Aconite you remain anxious or scared about your fall, repeat the same dose once a day for up to a week.
• Try nervine herbs. Chamomile, valerian and hops are plant medicines that calm the nervous system and help the body recover from a fall by promoting rest and muscle relaxation.
Take these herbs alone or in combination in tea or tincture form. Typical dose for a single herb or mixture: Drink 10 ounces of tea three times a day or take 60 drops of tincture in one ounce of water three times a day for up to two weeks.
• Get plenty of rest. Soaking in a warm bath with Epsom salts relaxes muscles and helps you get a good night’s sleep. Until you have fully recovered from the fall, it also helps to take 150 mg of magnesium citrate (the form most easily absorbed) twice daily. This mineral promotes relaxation.
• Consider bodywork. Soon after a fall, consider getting full-body massage or acupressure treatment several times. These therapies not only promote circulation and healing, but also help people regain trust in their bodies after a scary event.
Caution:
If you hit your head, are bleeding significantly or suspect a fracture from a fall, get to a hospital emergency department. If you experience headache, vision changes, dizziness, confusion, nausea, vomiting or a balance problem (even days after the fall), you may have a head injury and must seek immediate medical help.
*Check with your doctor first if you have a chronic condition or take medication.
Source: Jamison Starbuck, ND, is a naturopathic physician in family practice and a guest lecturer at the University of Montana, both in Missoula. She is past president of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians and a contributing editor to The Alternative Advisor: The Complete Guide to Natural Therapies & Alternative Treatments (Time-Life).
May 8th, 2013 at 10:51 am
My brother is a cop. All he cares about is drumming up excuses to get overtime. It is a sick group that operate just short of being a crime syndicate.
May 8th, 2013 at 4:35 pm
There is no mystery why America is fucked up. White people, we just live here.
May 8th, 2013 at 6:31 pm
t’s not that people have forgiven Sanford: it’s that conservative voters hate Democrats and progressive ideas more than they respect and appreciate appropriate behavior.
Sanford is a cheater, a liar, and an abuser of the public trust, which he’s proven to nearly everyone’s satisfaction, but that doesn’t matter in South Carolina: he’s a republican, so (at least in the eyes of the right-wing electorate) he’s automatically superior to any Democrat who might be running against him. That’s why he won the election.
If Jesus Christ himself were running as a Democrat, the red state voters would turn out en masse to vote against him. That’s how much these people hate and fear Dems. It’s in their DNA(Deny Nonwhites All).
It is generous to say they hate Dems. Actually who they hate is any OTW. That is the undeniable fact. Many of my relatives claim it is merely a political issue. We whites can lie to ourselves. But I smell the smoke. They hate OTWs.
May 8th, 2013 at 6:32 pm
“he pulled it off and in doing so proved that just three-and-a-half years after an ugly PR catastrophe that should have, for all intents and purposes, put a tombstone over his political career, enough voters were willing to forgive him”
____________
I disagree. It proves that voters in South Carolina so hate the idea of a black man in the White House that they’re even willing to vote for Mr. Sanford rather than give the President another supportive vote in Congress.
May 8th, 2013 at 6:34 pm
You may blame the republican led House for their incompetence, and racism. They have done NOTHING for the country in the years President Obama has been in office. Their only mission is to destroy him.
You whites must be so proud.
May 8th, 2013 at 6:36 pm
I read this on Huff post. – “Admittedly, Republican voters — definitely ones in South Carolina — were always willing to swallow the typically bitter pill of forgiveness because it’s generally in their DNA as Christians”
======================
What nonsense. In that region, it’s “any Republican over any Democrat”. Religion has nothing to do with it. Have fun, SC. He’s all yours.
May 8th, 2013 at 6:40 pm
I agree with you Doris#1. They’ll vote for any Republican, even one coated in maggots, just as long as he’s a Republican. That is the only thing that matters.
And as Robert, RT has said more than once. American white women for the most part follow lock-step behind their men. Men who for the most part vote their tiny penises.
May 8th, 2013 at 7:23 pm
YM,
Thank you for a wonderful day yesterday! I can never get enough of you. I love you.
May 9th, 2013 at 9:58 am
Hey, It was a treat to see that comment from you. I will be in SF today at 2. What is your schedule?
May 9th, 2013 at 10:18 am
Face it white people vote for anyone who is willing to continue allowing them to benefit from being America’s Affirmative Action Beneficiary.
They enjoy feeling entitled to be treated superior to the rest of Americas citizens.