Trump making America Dangerous Again, with relentless dismantling of safety laws

MAKE AMERICA DANGEROUS AGAIN Trump is dismantling rules and laws protecting millions of Americans. Here are the most important. QUARTZ, BY Heather Timmons 22 Sept 17 Between the White House’s revolving-door staffing, president Donald Trump’s pugilistic approach to foreign and domestic policy, and Congress’s gridlock over almost everything, you might assume there’s not a whole lot being accomplished in Washington DC.

But in reality, the Trump administration is changing many of the nitty-gritty but vital things the federal government does that affect the quality of life of anyone living or working in the United States. As became clear during Trump’s first 100 days, the administration is systematically dismantling consumer, labor, and environmental protections, as well as de-funding studies that might make the case for new rules. In July it said that it plans to suspend, discontinue, or change 860 rules and regulations, many of which were proposed at the tail-end of Barack Obama’s presidency.

A new onslaught may be on the way. Yesterday (Sept. 21), Trump appointed a new head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC): Dana Baiocco, a lawyer who built her career on defending companies against lawsuits on asbestos deaths and airline crashes. The commission’s former head, Eliot Kaye, had refused to follow an early White House order to eliminate two regulations for every new one passed, because it “would be counter to our safety mission.” If Trump’s past appointees are an indicator, Baiocco, who starts her new job on Oct. 27, is less likely to have such qualms……..

As the changes pile up, we’re keeping track of what’s been rolled back and what seems in danger of being weakened or eliminated. Here are the most important changes so far.

Worker protections…..

Fair wages…….

Health and safety……..

Consumer protections…..

Environmental Protections…….

Polluting the air. In March, Trump repealed Obama’s “Clean Power Plan,” which required states to slash carbon emissions from power plants. (He did this after naming coal industry-backed lawyers and talking heads to his cabinet.) The plan was crafted to prevent climate change, but it would also have prevented thousands of premature deaths due to air pollution, the EPA calculated, and prevented 90,000 asthma attacks a year.

Heating the planet. In June, Trump said he would pull the US out of the Paris Climate Agreement aimed at curbing global warming. While the change can’t go into effect until a day after the next presidential election, and the US will continue to fund the UN body that oversees it, America’s decision to leave triggered fears that other countries might follow suit. So far, though, the major economies have only reaffirmed the deal. https://qz.com/1072054/dismantling-the-rules-that-protect-americans-a-guide-to-the-trump-administrations-destruction-from-within/

September 23, 2017 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA

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