Bush: The measure of the man

by Jay McDonough

Every politician becomes a lame duck eventually.  At that point, they will have no more re-election campaigns to wage.  They'll settle into their next life and never again have to explain their actions while they were in office.  It seems fair to presume politicians are their true selves at this point in their career, not quite as tethered to voters and polls and more likely to act in accordance with their inner callings.

President Bush leaves office in about seven weeks.  He's reportedly moving to a nice house in a nice neighborhood in Dallas.  But he's scurrying now, in the last few weeks of his presidency, to pass regulations that he won't have to explain to voters later.  Regulations that I would argue are a reflection of his character.  A measure of the man.

Some examples of high prioritiy items on President Bush's to-do list:

  -  Exempt perchlorate, a known neurotoxin found at unsafe levels in the drinking water of millions of Americans, from federal regulation.

  -  Open up some 2 million acres of land in Rocky Mountain states for the development of oil shale, one of the dirtiest fuels on the planet.

  -  A provision that would free industrial-scale pig and cattle farms from complying with the Clean Water Act so long as they declare they are not dumping animal waste in lakes and rivers.

  -  Exempt mountain-top mining operations from the Clean Water Act, allowing them to dump debris in rivers and lakes.

  -  Not require coal-fired power plants to install pollution controls or clean up soot and smog pollution.

  -   Allow the interior department to approve development such as mining or logging without consulting wildlife managers about their impact.

  -  Ease restrictions so power plants can operate near national parks and wilderness areas.

  -  Finalize rules allowing shipping firms to ask their truckers to drive as many as 11 consecutive hours.

  -  Exempt dozens of polluters from the monitoring of lead emissions into the environment.

It should be noted those regulations President Bush puts in place in the waning days of his administration can be undone.  However, that process is lengthy and laborious.

And that's the president's goal - make it difficult to overturn the regulations.  Maybe no one will care, but perhaps someday ex-President Bush will be asked what accomplishments he was most proud of in his final days as president.  He can proudly answer he was able to jam up the system with a bunch of last minute regulations that sold out the environment and public safety for the benefit of corporate interests. 

It's apparently how he wants to be remembered.