Trump's "Disastrous" Regulatory Cuts Imperil Public for Corporate Benefit
Slashing regulations by 75 percent, as Trump pledged, would come at the expense of workers, the environment, and public health
Even as he moves to approve risky fossil fuel projects and eliminate healthcare for millions, President Donald Trump told corporate leaders on Monday he could "cut regulations by 75 percent, maybe more"--and he made similar promises to automakers in a meeting Tuesday morning.
"We're going to be cutting regulation massively," Trump said during Monday's White House meeting with business executives. Environmental regulations in particular, he told auto industry CEOs on Tuesday, are "out of control."
But keeping such a pledge would come at the expense of workers, the environment, and public health, while allowing "corporations to rip off consumers" and making the country "far less economically secure," warned watchdog group Public Citizen.
"Freezing new regulations across the board is bad enough," said Public Citizen president Robert Weissman on Monday. "But there is no way for President Donald Trump to slash regulations by 75 percent without cutting into bedrock public protections that hold Wall Street accountable, keep our water and children safe from lead poisoning, and contain food contamination outbreaks--to name just a few of the disastrous consequences of the proposal he discussed today."
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and environmental safeguards are at the center of Trump's deregulation bullseye, as Sophia Tesfaye reported Monday at Salon:
On Friday, Trump ordered a "freeze"on all new regulations coming out of federal agencies, including the EPA. On Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump will order federal agencies to stop studying the greenhouse gas impacts of new projects.
Trump's aides also told Bloomberg over the weekend that the newly-elected president plans to rescind President [Barack] Obama's directive that all federal agencies take climate change into account during their formal environmental reviews. President Trump will also reverse Obama's executive order placing a moratoriumon selling coal from federal lands until a new way to calculate royalties is resolved.
Trump also vowed to "massively" and "very substantially" cut corporate taxes at the same gatherings with business leaders.
Frank Clemente of Americans for Tax Fairness has previously said Trump's plan to slash corporate taxes would "drastically increase our country's already extreme levels of inequality" and require "massive cuts...to benefits and services that working Americans depend on."
Also Monday, Trump withdrew the United States from the corporate-friendly Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement. This had been a goal of progressives, but author and activist Naomi Klein warned online that the development, placed alongside Trump's latest corporate promises, was "nothing to celebrate":
Trump has made an ugly deal: he yanks TPP but showers corps with massive tax cuts + vows to slash regulations by 75%. Nothing to celebrate.
-- Naomi Klein (@NaomiAKlein) January 24, 2017
We are at a crossroads
This country and this world are at a monumental crossroads. US voters have an opportunity to beat back the forces of fascism and confront the billionaires who are rigging the economy, our media system, and our democracy, making it increasingly impossible for ordinary people to get by. We’re not just talking about the election. We’re talking about what must be done once these fascist elements are vanquished from power. We need a bolder set of solutions than what either major party has so far been willing to offer and a working-class movement ready to fight like hell for it. Trump didn't emerge from nowhere. The conditions that fueled MAGA authoritarianism were created by decades of radical neoliberal economic policies and a corrupt political system dominated by corporate interests. They slashed taxes on the super-rich, promising that the benefits would trickle down. They said giveaways to the corporate titans would make life more affordable for the rest of us. It was all bullshit. And when a bitter, betrayed populace searches for someone to blame, right-wing demagogues have little trouble finding scapegoats. People know when they're being lied to, but you won't hear any of this from the corporate media. Only independent journalism—powered and funded by people who believe in building a better world—can deliver truly trustworthy daily news. Our Fall Campaign is underway, and we need your help. To power our newsroom through the rest of the year, we need to raise $125,000 by midnight on October 31. So if you share our vision, please contribute whatever you can to sustain our work. |
Even as he moves to approve risky fossil fuel projects and eliminate healthcare for millions, President Donald Trump told corporate leaders on Monday he could "cut regulations by 75 percent, maybe more"--and he made similar promises to automakers in a meeting Tuesday morning.
"We're going to be cutting regulation massively," Trump said during Monday's White House meeting with business executives. Environmental regulations in particular, he told auto industry CEOs on Tuesday, are "out of control."
But keeping such a pledge would come at the expense of workers, the environment, and public health, while allowing "corporations to rip off consumers" and making the country "far less economically secure," warned watchdog group Public Citizen.
"Freezing new regulations across the board is bad enough," said Public Citizen president Robert Weissman on Monday. "But there is no way for President Donald Trump to slash regulations by 75 percent without cutting into bedrock public protections that hold Wall Street accountable, keep our water and children safe from lead poisoning, and contain food contamination outbreaks--to name just a few of the disastrous consequences of the proposal he discussed today."
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and environmental safeguards are at the center of Trump's deregulation bullseye, as Sophia Tesfaye reported Monday at Salon:
On Friday, Trump ordered a "freeze"on all new regulations coming out of federal agencies, including the EPA. On Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump will order federal agencies to stop studying the greenhouse gas impacts of new projects.
Trump's aides also told Bloomberg over the weekend that the newly-elected president plans to rescind President [Barack] Obama's directive that all federal agencies take climate change into account during their formal environmental reviews. President Trump will also reverse Obama's executive order placing a moratoriumon selling coal from federal lands until a new way to calculate royalties is resolved.
Trump also vowed to "massively" and "very substantially" cut corporate taxes at the same gatherings with business leaders.
Frank Clemente of Americans for Tax Fairness has previously said Trump's plan to slash corporate taxes would "drastically increase our country's already extreme levels of inequality" and require "massive cuts...to benefits and services that working Americans depend on."
Also Monday, Trump withdrew the United States from the corporate-friendly Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement. This had been a goal of progressives, but author and activist Naomi Klein warned online that the development, placed alongside Trump's latest corporate promises, was "nothing to celebrate":
Trump has made an ugly deal: he yanks TPP but showers corps with massive tax cuts + vows to slash regulations by 75%. Nothing to celebrate.
-- Naomi Klein (@NaomiAKlein) January 24, 2017
Even as he moves to approve risky fossil fuel projects and eliminate healthcare for millions, President Donald Trump told corporate leaders on Monday he could "cut regulations by 75 percent, maybe more"--and he made similar promises to automakers in a meeting Tuesday morning.
"We're going to be cutting regulation massively," Trump said during Monday's White House meeting with business executives. Environmental regulations in particular, he told auto industry CEOs on Tuesday, are "out of control."
But keeping such a pledge would come at the expense of workers, the environment, and public health, while allowing "corporations to rip off consumers" and making the country "far less economically secure," warned watchdog group Public Citizen.
"Freezing new regulations across the board is bad enough," said Public Citizen president Robert Weissman on Monday. "But there is no way for President Donald Trump to slash regulations by 75 percent without cutting into bedrock public protections that hold Wall Street accountable, keep our water and children safe from lead poisoning, and contain food contamination outbreaks--to name just a few of the disastrous consequences of the proposal he discussed today."
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and environmental safeguards are at the center of Trump's deregulation bullseye, as Sophia Tesfaye reported Monday at Salon:
On Friday, Trump ordered a "freeze"on all new regulations coming out of federal agencies, including the EPA. On Monday, the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump will order federal agencies to stop studying the greenhouse gas impacts of new projects.
Trump's aides also told Bloomberg over the weekend that the newly-elected president plans to rescind President [Barack] Obama's directive that all federal agencies take climate change into account during their formal environmental reviews. President Trump will also reverse Obama's executive order placing a moratoriumon selling coal from federal lands until a new way to calculate royalties is resolved.
Trump also vowed to "massively" and "very substantially" cut corporate taxes at the same gatherings with business leaders.
Frank Clemente of Americans for Tax Fairness has previously said Trump's plan to slash corporate taxes would "drastically increase our country's already extreme levels of inequality" and require "massive cuts...to benefits and services that working Americans depend on."
Also Monday, Trump withdrew the United States from the corporate-friendly Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement. This had been a goal of progressives, but author and activist Naomi Klein warned online that the development, placed alongside Trump's latest corporate promises, was "nothing to celebrate":
Trump has made an ugly deal: he yanks TPP but showers corps with massive tax cuts + vows to slash regulations by 75%. Nothing to celebrate.
-- Naomi Klein (@NaomiAKlein) January 24, 2017