When California Republican Darrell Issa isn’t investigating the Obama administration for nefarious ties to the New Black Panther Party, apparently, he will be downloading instructions from oil companies, foreign automakers, drug companies and more. Seriously.
Corporatism really doesn’t get much purer than a Congressman asking corporations what they want him to do, so he can do it … From Politico:
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) wants the oil industry, drug manufacturers and other trade groups and companies to tell him which Obama administration regulations to target this year.
The incoming chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee – in letters sent to more than 150 trade associations, companies and think tanks last month – requested a list of existing and proposed regulations that would harm job growth.
“It was a broad net that we cast,” Issa spokesman Kurt Bardella said.
Bardella did not have a complete list of groups that received an inquiry from Issa or their responses.
But a partial list obtained by POLITICO includes ones sent Dec. 13 to Duke Energy, the Association of American Railroads, FMC Corp., Toyota and Bayer. Others receiving inquiries from Issa over the course of the month included the American Petroleum Institute, National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association (NPRA) and entities representing health care and telecommunication providers.
The goal is to investigate the Obama administration’s promise through the 2009 economic stimulus bill and other measures to create jobs, which “has gone unfilled, I guess is the nicest way to put it,” Bardella said.
“Is there something that we can do to try to ease that [regulatory] burden and stimulate job creation?” he added. “Is there a pattern emerging? Is there a consistent practice or regulation that hurts jobs? Until you have all the facts, you really can’t make a lot of determinations and judgments.”
At the same time, Issa is getting his cue from and a voice to a chorus of largely disgruntled industry groups and companies that have collectively groaned about regulations in the pipeline and on the books.
“I believe for the last couple of years that we were honestly shut out of this debate at least on the House side,” NPRA President Charles Drevna said. “Our policy positions haven’t changed one iota. [But] is there a better chance of what I would consider a more fair hearing? Absolutely.” Drevna received a letter from Issa late last month.
Issa has no qualms about giving Drevna and other administration critics a louder mouthpiece.
“As a trade organization with members that must comply with the regulatory state, I ask for your assistance in identifying existing and proposed regulations that have negatively impacted job growth in your members’ industry,” Issa wrote in a Dec. 8 letter to NAM. “Additionally, suggestions on reforming identified regulations and the rulemaking process would be appreciated.”
The letter to NAM is a template for ones Issa sent other groups over the course of last month. In the NAM letter, Issa notes that federal agencies in fiscal year 2010 “promulgated 43 new regulations” ranging from new limits on “effluent” discharges from construction sites to rules for Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations. The “effluent” rule, Issa charged, will cost $810.8 million annually, resulting in the closure of 147 construction firms and the loss of 7,257 jobs.
The list of regulatory grievances appears wide-ranging.
Rosario Palmieri, NAM’s vice president for regulatory policy, and Drevna both highlighted EPA greenhouse gas controls for major emitters that went into effect Sunday.
Palmieri said the group also highlighted in their response to Issa upcoming EPA decisions over whether to tighten limits on ground-level ozone and controlling hazardous air pollutants from incinerators and boilers.
Shorter Issa: “May I help you pollute the air and water, sir? Or perhaps get you a nice cup of tea?”
Welcome to the new world order.
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