At his Monday town hall here in Aberdeen, Senator John Thune fluff-responded to a question about speeding up the process for approving road projects (see video #13). Trump has talked about speeding up infrastructure approval, but wait—President Obama and the Republican Congress already did that in 2015:
At the end of 2015, Obama signed a measure called the FAST Act. Its title stands for “Fixing America’s Surface Transportation.” In addition to providing funds for infrastructure through 2020, the law established the steering council that reviews the permitting process to ensure projects were reviewed in a timely manner. The law also put limits on the environmental reviews which in theory should shorten a process that could cause permitting to drag on well beyond five years.
Some business groups say the Obama-era law is working and see little reason for an aggressive overhaul.
“You’ve got it down to a process that is two and a half years,” said Bill Kovacs, a senior vice president for environment, technology and regulatory affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Kovacs added that it was uncertain as to how much more the government could shrink the timeline while still conducting reviews “to make sure there is no harm to the environment” [Josh Bozak, “Trump Wants Regulations Streamlined in Infrastructure Bill,” AP via KIRO TV, 2017.04.11].
When the Chamber of Commerce says the regulatory process strikes the right balance between urgency and environmental review, there are probably already a few too many turtle homes getting bulldozed. But I’m willing to accede to the Chamber’s position here and say our infrastructure approval process is already sufficiently efficient, thanks to President Obama, and that we don’t need to put any more wetland drainage or other environmental damage on any faster track just to satisfy Trumpy slogans.
… but if they don’t tinker with it, Kim Il Don won’t be able to take credit (he will of course)
That Obama thinking he could assist meat producers, by standing up for them so they could make sure to get the best deal possible, will just go away now. Thanks Thune, NOem and Rounds. Thanks for protecting the packers from the little guy because you know the little guy is just not important in your wealthy circles.
Not snark “The U.S. Department of Agriculture this week delayed implementation of an Obama administration rule aimed at making it easier for livestock producers to sue the large meat-processing companies they contract with over abusive practices.
The USDA Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyard Administration rule, proposed in 2010 and approved by the Obama administration in December, had been set to take effect later this month. The USDA postponed it for at least six months.
The government delay was welcomed by industry groups, including the National Chicken Council, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the National Pork Producers Council. The groups claim the rule would welcome frivolous, “government-sanctioned” lawsuits targeting corporations, and could raise prices for consumers and put farmers out of business.” Talk about putting farmers out of business, this is about enslaving farmers like fiefdom days.