Ever Seen a Freudian Slip Written Into Law?

The following blog post is from Michael Williams, Senior Legislative and Policy Advocate for the BlueGreen Alliance.

Well, if H.R. 4078 passes the full House, then that parapraxis becomes more likely. (Though still highly unlikely, given the White House’s veto threat and sincere opposition in the Senate. Thankfully.)
H.R. 4078, the “Red Tape Reduction and Small Business Job Creation Act,” obliterates the federal government’s ability to issue regulations. It aims to “freeze” regulations until unemployment dips below 6%. Or… that’s what the authors supposedly meant for the bill to do. Unfortunately for them, the bill — as written and passed out of the House Rules Committee — left out a very important prefix, leaving the legislation to freeze regulations until EMPLOYMENT dips below 6%.

Now, I certainly hope the House leadership isn’t subconsciously rooting for 94% unemployment, but maybe they subconsciously know that playing games with the regulatory process does absolutely nothing to create jobs. Sounds like a Freudian slip in bill drafting to me.

To be sure, we shouldn’t overlook how dangerous this overall bill is. It messes with vital public health, worker safety and consumer protections. The Coalition for Sensible Safeguards, which the BlueGreen Alliance is a member of, has laid out five key reasons to oppose this monstrosity (for substantive reasons, ignoring the bill’s drafting failures). We’ll count them down from five to one.

Why an Unprecedented Effort to Shut Down Safeguards is a Damaging Idea

Reason #5: EPA standards designed to monitor soot pollution will not be updated to keep pace with current pollution levels.

Reason #4: Americans will remain unprotected from foodborne illnesses.

Reason #3:  Americans would not be protected from faulty blowout preventers, which could cause another oil disaster just like the Deepwater Horizon incident.

Reason #2:  Workers will remain unprotected from the hazards of silica and beryllium.

Reason #1:  Consumers will be unprotected from hidden fees and the sometimes predatory practices of the financial industry

For the rest of the blog post, click here

For explanation of the 5 reasons, click here