Regs Talk: The CSS Blog
Blogs are authored by CSS members and policy experts, and have been reprinted with permission.
Trade Negotiations Could Cause Sweeping Deregulation, Increase Corporate Power
The Coalition for Sensible Safeguards is deeply concerned about the deregulatory aims of the U.S.-EU Trans-Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA) negotiations that begin this week. The focus on eliminating so-called “trade irritants” through “harmonization” policies could have a tremendously negative impact on our regulatory system, overriding the public interest and long-supported safeguards that protect our […]
By the Numbers: The Costs of New Regulatory Delays Announced in the Spring 2013 Regulatory Agenda
The following post is from James Goodwin of the Center For Progressive Reform. It can be found at The Center For Progressive Reform blog “April showers bring May flowers.” To that well-known spring-related proverb one might soon add “the Spring Regulatory Agenda brings new groundless complaints from corporate interests and their anti-regulatory allies in Congress about […]
Creating The FDA: The Pure Food and Drug Act Turns 107
This week, we celebrate the anniversary of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, which led to the creation of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services responsible for regulating medicines, monitoring our food supply and enforcing other laws that protect consumers. This law marks […]
CSS Report: Public Pays Price as Eight Key Rules Held Up
It was just a year and a half ago – December 15, 2011 – that President Obama championed a key proposed rule from the the Department of Labor. The rule was going to fix a longstanding problem: companies employing home health care workers do not have to pay them minimum wage or an overtime wage […]
Bill Would Undermine Independent Agencies, Weaken Dodd-Frank Protections and Threaten Consumer Product Safety
This morning, another attack on our regulatory system was launched through the Independent Agency Regulatory Analysis Act (IARAA). The Coalition for Sensible Safeguards believes that effective standards and safeguards provide health, safety and financial security for American families and are a key component of a strong economy. Passage of this bill, however, would weaken our […]
Delayed Rules and Food Safety
Too often, important regulations drafted by federal agencies that would protect Americans from harm are stalled for months or years at the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). CSS’ recently released report, Down the Regulatory Rabbit hole, details eight key regulations stalled in the regulatory process, whose delay has provoked serious consequences. The nomination of […]
Rearview Visibility Act Stalled at OIRA
President Barack Obama has nominated Howard Shelanski to be the next administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), a key executive branch office that wields heavy power in rulemakings and public protections. Too often, OIRA has served as a place where needed rules get weakened, stalled or blocked at the behest of […]
Workers Memorial Day Thoughts
The following post is from Ross Eisenbrey. It can be found at Working Econmics, the Economic Policy Institute blog. How many times have you heard business lobbyists and spokesmen say: “Regulations are killing jobs”? Or how about, “Excessive regulations are driving manufacturers overseas”? Well think about what’s been happening in Bangladesh, where so many US […]
Three Years after Deepwater Horizon Disaster, Has the U.S. Improved Safety Standards for Oil Drilling?
The debates over our country’s regulatory system that have been happening in Washington often take place in the form broad generalities. This is how we come to hear complaints about the number of pages of new regulations with no look at the quality of or the need for that content. It’s how we hear of […]
Thirteen Ways Of Looking At a Whale
The following post is from Jennifer Taub. It can be found at The ParetoCommons. Wallace Stevens’ Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird came to mind Friday while watching bankers and regulators testify before the Senator Levin-lead bipartisan subcommittee hearing on “JPMorgan Chase Whale Trades: A Case History of Derivatives Risks and Abuses.” I was prepared to […]
London Whale Incident Highlights Need For Sensible Safeguards
If we expect banks to learn their lesson from 2008’s financial crisis and the multi-billion-dollar public bailout, we will be waiting a long time. History has shown that corporations and banks, left to themselves, do not have the public interest at heart, which is why we need strong public protections. Recent news in the financial […]
Turning Off the Alarm System: JP Morgan Chase’s Regulatory Dodge
The following post is from Wallace Turbeville at Policy Shop, the weblog of Demos Last night, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations released a searing 300-page report on JP Morgan Chase’s London Whale episode. The bank lost at least $6.2 billion through trading credit derivatives in a business unit tasked with reducing firm-wide risk, the Chief Investment […]
Two Years After Fukushima: Status of NRC Safety Reforms
The following post is from Ed Lyman, senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists Following the March 11, 2011, nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) set up a task force to identify the lessons the U.S. nuclear industry should learn from the accident to avoid […]
More American Workers Will Die as Silica Rule Delayed
The following post is from Randy Rabinowitz at The Fine Print, the Center for Effective Government blog. Two years ago next week, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sent to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) a proposed standard to protect workers from silica dust. 1.7 million workers are exposed to silica […]
Will New House Website Bring Real Small Business Voices to Regulatory Debates?
The following post is from Randy Rabinowitz at The Fine Print, the Center for Effective Government blog. Congratulations to Republicans on the House Small Business Committee for launching a new website that purportedly will alert small business owners to regulatory issues affecting them and make it easier for them to comment on pending rules. It […]
Free Market Myths and Regulatory Realities
Last week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued new rules to protect Americans from predatory banking practices as well as rules that make mortgage lenders offer those facing foreclosure more payment options. We applaud the efforts of the CFPB in taking important steps to protect Americans from another economic disaster. The fight to regulate […]
Spared of Demagoguery, How Regulation Really Works
The following post is from Michael Lipsky at Policy Shop, the Demos blog. In 2011, five workers died in Hawaii when unexploded fireworks they were attempting to defuse exploded. Yesterday, at a hearing in Washington, D.C., a federal panel responsible for regulating the treatment of hazardous chemicals announced its recommendations after a thorough study of […]
Burgeoning Cost of Regulations? Where?
The following post is from Dorry Samuels at National COSH. The Washington Post’s Wonk Blog has a piece this week on the burgeoning costs of regulations. WaPo’s Jim Tankersley writes, “If you’re a business leader or conservative economist who worries that the federal government is strangling the economy in red tape, 2012 was a banner […]
CPR Report: Rise in Contract Labor Brings New Worker Safety Threats, Demands New Government Policies in Several Dangerous Industries
The following post is from Ben Somberg at the Center for Progressive Reform Just how accountable is an employer to an employee if the employee is only working for one day? In areas from construction to farm work, warehouse labor to hotel housekeeping, contingent work is growing or already common. Rather than hire permanent, full-time […]
FDIC Helps Communities Through 2008 Crisis
When we as a nation debate the role of government, we often lose sight of why government matters. However, there are many examples of agencies stepping up to help private businesses and local communities in a time of crisis, making a disastrous situation significantly less devastating than it could have been. In this case, the […]