Former Bush White House aide Andrew Card comes to Portland in search of Job-Killing Regulations; Finds None
Kyle Curtis
Playing the part of a corporate shill on behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, former top Bush White House aide Andrew Card was in town to meet with small business owners to encourage their support of the "Regulations from the Executive In Need of Scrutiny Act"- cleverly acronym-ed REINS- which passed on a strict party-line vote yesterday. According to The Oregonian, Card was speaking at the annual Northwest Environmental Conference, and he asked for the crowd of 200 to provide examples of how "job-killing regulations" were strangling their businesses. Only two responded: one asked Card who he favored in the Republican nomination battle for President, while the other asked for his views on the Occupy Movement.
This lack of examples regarding "job-killing regulations" should be of no surprise for those of us who are paying attention. After all, business owners have said- repeatedly- that it is the lack of demand and poor sales that are actually harming their business. But, whatever. Far be it for a water-carrier from the George W. Bush to allow reality to interfere with his preconceived conservative dogma that if we could just do away with all those nasty regulations, all of us would be sitting poolside smoking cigars lit by rolled-up one hundred dollar bills. You know, just like that deregulated housing market of the last ten years, which has left us swimming in budget surpluses as far as the eye could see.
And one final question: What the bleep was Andrew Card speaking at an environmental conference? This was the same White House aide who cautioned against starting the Iraq War in the summer of 2002, saying "You don't introduce new products in the summer," spoken like the former CEO of the American Automobile Manufacturers Association that he once was. Why the participants of the environmental conference sat there and listen to Card blather about non-existent job-killing regulations as opposed to having him tarred-and-feathered on the spot is beyond me.
Seriously, what a tool.
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11:11 a.m.
Dec 8, '11
This "environmental" conference is not what you think it is.
From their website:
11:37 a.m.
Dec 8, '11
Thanks Kari!
2:05 p.m.
Dec 8, '11
Linked is my response to REINS that ran in the DesMoines Register (but not in the "O".) http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20111205/OPINION01/312050011/Guest-columnist-Deregulation-push-is-masquerading-as-aid-for-small-businesses
2:05 p.m.
Dec 8, '11
The amusing thing is that given the charter Kari reported, if we got rid of the regulations all those people would be out of work!
3:35 p.m.
Dec 8, '11
He'd have been better off looking for job killing tax evaders.
4:55 p.m.
Dec 8, '11
I also do not understand why a small businessman would give any credence to someone representing big business and the Chamber claim that he was looking out for small business interests. The Chamber's policies typically sacrifice small business interests for big business.
Healthcare is a classic example. Let's keep drug prices high so that small business has to pay more for healthcare, but big pharma makes lots of excess profits.
5:54 p.m.
Dec 8, '11
Saying the US COC represents small businesses is like saying elected officials represent the interests of the 99%.