Regulations

Scott Pruitt has called for the dissolution of much of the EPA, yet now runs the Environmental Protection Agency.  He is a seasoned legal opponent of the agency and is incredibly effective tool for Trump and Republican efforts to dismantle regulations on climate change and clean water and "get rid" of the agency.  Pruitt and the White House are waging a war against science, safety, and common sense in order to benefit their favored corporate interests.

First, what is the Community Reinvestment Act that Trump's Treasury Department is seeking to destroy?

The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), enacted by Congress in 1977.... is intended to encourage depository institutions to help meet the credit needs of the communities in which they operate..... intended to encourage depository institutions to help meet the credit needs of the communities in which they operate, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods, consistent with safe and sound banking operations.

Trump's appointed leaders of the Health and Human Services Department are busy undermining the foundations of our society and putting lives at risk.

The following three moves were rolled out purposely around Chrstimas to avoid media coverage.  They are blatently unpopular actions that harm our environment for the unjust benefit of corporations and people who donate immensely to Trump and Republicans.  The Washington Post article linked below lists seven others the disgraceful administration slid through as well.

Just before Christmas, some terrible policy decisions were enacted which have just started to come to light.  This is another upsetting, inexplicable, and indefensible one.

The Interior Department.... issued a secretarial order just before Christmas rescinding several climate change and conservation policies issued under the Obama administration, saying they were “inconsistent” with Trump’s quest....

The oil and gas industries, enormous donors to (and owners of) Trump and the Republican Party, are ecstatic about some late-2017 deregulation that didn't hit the media cycle at all.  While a plan to vastly expand offshore drilling was unveiled in early January, they already had some terrible things to celebrate at the end of 2017.

In April 2017, Trump signed an Executive Order aimed at ending the ban on offshore drilling in certain areas.  Smart Dissent painfully covered that here.  In late June, Trump spoke again on the topic (see here), claiming that progress is being made to make his "vision" a reality and sell our environment to the highest bidder.  

Smart Dissent reported back in February 2017 and July 2017 what has now occurred in early January 2018.  Since the current Administation nominated Jeff Sessions for Attorney General, the question has not been 'if' but 'when' he would take action to enforce Federal laws contradicted by legalized recreational marijuana use laws in seven states and Washington DC.

Congressional Republicans have fought unrelentingly for years to weaken the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, put into place under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010.  The purpose of the CFPB is to promote fairness and transparency for mortgages, credit cards, and other consumer financial products and services. The CFPB was created to provide a single point of accountability for enforcing federal consumer financial laws and protecting consumers in the financial marketplace.

While Trump campaigned to "drain the swamp," in practice he's done the opposite, filling his administration with people who hate the existence of the department they run. Is this case, we have the Department of Agriculture being filled not necessarily by people who despise the USDA, but rather by people who have no idea what the USDA is nor any qualifications to work there.