Archive for September 12th, 2011

"Public Citizen Lady Liberty"As discussion about regulations heats up in Washington, D.C., we are in the mix, providing good information to policymakers and activists alike.

Tomorrow, watch for a new report we will be releasing that provides yet another reason why our regulatory system – the system of safeguards that help keep our air and water clean, our food supply safe, kids’ toys lead-free and the financial system stable – is so vital.

Also tomorrow, Craig Holman, our money-in-politics expert, will participate at in a Webinar called “Saving Our Democracy: Reining in Corporate Electioneering Post Citizens United.” It is sponsored by the Business Ethics Network and features Meredith McGehee of Campaign Legal Center and Norm Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute.

On Wednesday, we’ll be back to focusing on regulations. At 9:30 a.m., David Arkush, director of Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division, will testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. He’ll be telling lawmakers that the benefits of safeguards outweigh their costs and proposals to gut system are wrongheaded.

And in case you hadn’t noticed, this year is Public Citizen’s 40th anniversary! We now have just 40 days before our anniversary gala event, which will be Oct. 20. If you are in the D.C. area, please attend and check our Twitter feed for our countdown of  40 accomplishments you can thank Public Citizen for . . .  such as the airbags in cars that save thousands of lives every year!

 

In the debate over the current economic crisis, there is a continued drumbeat from Big Business that regulations will “kill jobs.” It’s an old trope that gets trotted out every few years. So as the drumbeat to roll back the nation’s vital public safeguards gets louder in the coming weeks and months, remember it is just Big Business crying wolf… again.

Photo by BlackburnPhoto via flickr

The latest example was found in a recent CNN Money page story Does a healthy environment harm jobs?, which repeated the theme that regulations “will result in factory closures and jobs losses just when the nation needs them least.” Fortunately, the article included the other, factually-based side of the story.

Included is a study from the Center for American Progress, which concluded, “The data shows that the fear of drastic economic harm due to a stronger (ozone) standard is unwarranted, despite industries’ fevered predictions.”

The article also quotes supporters saying “industry always cries ‘job losses’ whenever it’s told to clean up its act,” which, it turns out, is completely true.

Here’s EPA Director Lisa Jackson, in Politico: “Today’s forecasts of economic doom are nearly identical — almost word for word — to the doomsday predictions of the last 40 years,” EPA chief Lisa Jackson said in a September speech. “This ‘broken record’ continues despite the fact that history has proven the doomsayers wrong again and again.”

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