His first week in office, Pr*sident Trump met with top CEOs from around America and told them the hob-nailed boot of regulation were going to be removed from their neck so they could finally start earning some profits. “We’re going to be cutting regulation massively,” he told them. “Now, we’re going to have regulation, and it’ll be just as strong […]

Donald Trump’s visit to Detroit yesterday seems to have made news largely because he didn’t say anything outrageous and wasn’t goaded into lashing out at over a dozen protesters who interrupted his speech. He stood quietly during each outburst then said, “Thank you”, as if he were to be commended for not telling the crowd to beat the daylights out […]

With all of Gov. Snyder’s “Comeback Kid” and “Road to Recovery” rhetoric, you’d think Republican candidates in Michigan would be piling on to support the idea that Michigan is on the rebound. Not so with Republican candidate Mike Bishop who is running in Michigan’s 8th Congressional district to replace Mike Rogers. He had this to say recently: Bishop, 47, is […]

Working together with health officials, vehicle manufacturers, refiners, states, and with input from the general public, the Environmental Protection Agency finalized new emission standards for vehicles and fuels that will have a huge impact on public health and the quality of the air we breathe. The new rules, signed by President Obama EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy today, call for a […]

It’s like they don’t realize how ironic they are being

Currently in Michigan, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in in charge of protecting and preserving land and other property under its control from damage or improper use. The Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act says that “it is the goal of this state to encourage the lasting conservation of biological diversity.” Republican state Senator Tom Casperson from Escanaba, however, wants the legislature to take over that overseeing of the protection of our natural areas in Michigan and to forbid the DNR from passing any laws or taking any action that will set aside land for the purpose of maintaining biological diversity.

This is from the party that repeatedly tells us that regulations are strangling our state and frequently advocates for a part-time legislature. The irony is rich and deep.

Details after the jump.

In a rare act of bipartisanship, both the House and Senate recently passed H.R. 2845, the “Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011. According to the White House, “this bill doubles the maximum civil penalties for violations of Federal pipeline safety laws, authorizes the Transportation Department to issue various regulations related to leak prevention and detection’ and […]

A couple of things happened this week in the Governor’s office that I think were good moves and I commend Governor Snyder for them. First, earlier in the week, he signed legislation that moves all school board elections across the state to November of even-numbered years. This is a smart move that will save money and will encourage far higher […]

There are a pair of bills going through Congress right now that have the potential to radically alter the government’s ability to regulate industries and organizations in our country. The first of these is the childishly-named “Regulations from the Executive In Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act”(H.R. 10). Currently, Congress passes a regulatory law and it is up to the agencies […]

I was taking a gander at one of the Republicans’ latest bits of anti-Obama pablum, a report called “Broken Government: How the Administrative State has Broken President Obama’s Promise of Regulatory Reform” (pdf). In it, the very first job-killing regulatory move they decry is described thusly: The removal of the opt-out provision in the EPA lead paint rule is a […]

Republican Congressman Darrell Issa has put a form online where business owners can submit their ideas for how the GOP can reduce regulations that protect Americans in order to improve their corporate bottom line. While that’s all well and good, perhaps it would be good for him to know that regulations can HELP businesses as well by leveling the playing […]