Conflicted Regulatory AgenciesCaptured agency.That‘s a term that comes up time and time again with the FCC. Captured agencies are essentially controlled by the industries they are supposed to regulate. A detailed look at FCC actions—and non-actions—shows that over the years the FCC has granted the wireless industry pretty much what it has wanted. Until very recently it has also granted cable what it wants. More broadly, the FCC has again and again echoed the lobbying points of major technology interests. Captured Agency. How the Federal Communications Commission is Dominated by the Industries It Presumably Regulates By Norm Alster There should be no doubt that regulation is necessary for orderly markets. Deregulation, as practiced by Trump or formerly by the Bush administration, was extremely damaging to the public interest. Supervision was by people who didn't believe in regulation, and actually opposed it. Agencies were captives of the industries that they were suppose to police. Cabinet appointments have been to people opposed to the very purposes the agencies were designed to protect. Personnel is policy. FCCThe Bush Administration pushed for further consolidation of media ownership in spite of public outcry. The FCC destroyed reports showing that further concentration is a very bad idea. The FCC has never seen consolidation that it didn't like. Consolidation is accompanied by restructuring to favor right-wing propaganda. Roll back of net neutrality will allow corporations to censor content. The Trump family is very close with the Murdochs and their Fox News and extensive media empire. Media control is a prerequisite for regime change. In spite of a massive public outcry, it appears that the Republican FCC will do away with net neutrality. EPAThe Bush Administration was a poor environmental steward. See R.F.Kennedy's book Crimes Against Nature. Scientists have been stifled because of Republican ideology, often that of religious zealots. Trump's appointment of Scott Pruit has brought Bush's denial to a whole new level. The US is now the only one of 196 countries to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement. EPA scientists have been gagged and censored. Climate data removed from the EPA's website. Trump has called climate damage a hoax. NLRBThe Bush National Labor Relations Board was shrinking workers rights to organize unions, and other worker rights to benefit Republican plutocrats. FDAThe FDA did little to assure the safety of factory food supplies, nor was it diligent about oversight of drug companies. CPSCThe Consumer Product Safety Commission did no oversight of dangerous products imported from China and other countries. The result is widespread distrust of products. The CFPB has been defanged by Trump's appointment of Mick Mulvaney This is class warfare in action as consumers get ripped off by unrestrained corporations. The Republican tax overhaul doubles down on this. SECCorporations are not democratic. The SEC did little to curb corruption in the financial sector, nor did it see the flagrant abuse by corporate entities. Hence, the financial crisis. Department of EducationBetsy DeVos (Secretary of Education) Note. State DepartmentMuch of he State Department has been stripped of career professionals and many positions go unfilled. In various ways, he Trump administration has alienated the rest of the world. The US is the only country not to sign on the Paris agreement, the only signer of the Iran deal to back out, David Friedman, named by Donald Trump as his Ambassador to Israel, is
ideologically to the right of Benjamin Netanyahu. (12/16/2016) Homeland SecurityFECThe Federal Election Commission has been paralyzed by Republicans,
whose main strategy is voter suppression. CIADODAlthough there is a rapidlyt shrinking budget for the State Department, the checkbook is open for the military. A clear demonstration that the military is the favored tool over diplomacy. The war drums are beating. NCUA HHS FDIC Linkshttp://thepumphandle.wordpress.com/2007/05/30/congress-vs-the-white-house-on-regulatory-agencies/ |