To weaken federal agencies, the Bush administration has expanded them to the point of collapse

[marmar]

from In These Times:



Feeding the Beast
In order to weaken federal agencies, the Bush administration has expanded them to the point of collapse

By Christopher Moraff



When President Bush exits the White House in January, he will leave behind a federal government in shambles.

Since his first term, Bush has pressed forward with a radical view of the executive branch. Beyond adopting autocratic positions on foreign policy and taking broad liberties to subvert the Bill of Rights, Bush has waged a quieter — and perhaps more damaging — war at home against the very agencies under his charge.

From formaldehyde-soaked FEMA trailers, tainted pharmaceuticals and politically motivated firings of U.S. attorneys, to allegations of retaliation against government whistleblowers and an exodus of career officials from key regulatory positions, the Bush administration has lorded over a highly politicized and increasingly ineffective federal bureaucracy.

Policy analysts and legal scholars paint a picture of an executive intent on controlling every aspect of the federal bureaucracy, in particular the agencies tasked with regulating industry and commerce.

Taken as a whole, the president’s rejection of international law and his consolidation of administrative oversight are representative of a decades-long effort by conservatives to implement a so-called “unitary executive theory” — a euphemism for virtually unlimited presidential power.

But for such a creation to succeed, the executive must assert its influence over all aspects of government, from the top down, through the ranks of the roughly 3 million civilian employees that today work in government jobs at more than 100 agencies and sub-agencies.

Even his detractors say this is something Bush has been especially adept at. ........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3852/feeding_the_beast/

[tanyev]

1. Mission Accomplished.

[BOSSHOG]

2. Republicans get elected by telling the ignorant masses

"GOVERNMENT DOES NOT WORK, PUT US IN CHARGE AND WE WILL PROVE IT." Thus every four years they can rightfully run on their "accomplishments." And every four years they can count on the ignorant to vote against their own welfare.

[sinkingfeeling]

3. I believe it will take somewhere between 30 and 50 years to recover from this administration.

And that's assuming the country has the will to do so.

[marmar]

4. So sad but so true....

n/t

[seafan]

5. We are at the end game of 30 brutal years of right wing conservatism.

Feeding the Beast, by Christopher Moraff, August 18, 2008


We face a grim future without a reversal and stark repudiation of this ideology and its zealots.


Thomas Frank lays out the history of this dark period that we must overcome.

The Plot Against Liberal America, By Thomas Frank, August 17, 2008


For the next 5 months, unless Bush and Cheney are removed from office, we are, indeed, in freefall.