Bush Order on Government Regulation Stirs Debate

BUSH ORDER ON GOVERNMENT REGULATION STIRS DEBATE
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Tabassum Zakaria]
An order signed by President George W. Bush on the oversight of thousands of government regulations issued every year was praised by business as a step toward controlling an unwieldy process but criticized by others as potentially a loser for consumers. The White House said the executive order signed by Bush on January 18 makes a senior official in each agency accountable for the regulations it issues and provides greater openness by ensuring that "guidance" documents issued to businesses are available to the public. Business groups say the order should help businesses which have to wade through a myriad of regulations, sometimes conflicting ones from different agencies, by making one person in each agency in charge of overseeing the regulations issued. Consumer groups say the public would lose out because the order could slow the process by which regulations in the public interest such as pollution controls would be issued, and puts the process under the control of an official appointed by the president. "This is just another tool for industry and their allies in the Bush White House to slow down and prevent agencies from getting things done to protect the public," said Robert Shull, deputy director for auto safety and regulatory policy at Public Citizen.
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyID...

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