The War on Accountability

Here's another disturbing find in the new budget-- you know, that one that cuts $10 billion from Medicare while giving out $160 billion in tax cuts. It continues the proud tradition of having heads of government agencies be those most committed to undermining the agencies' efforts. From The Nation:

"Buried in President Bush's recent 2,000 page spending bill is a three-sentence provision creating an eight-member "Sunset Commission" that would decide every ten years whether federal programs not "producing results" should be eliminated. For Bush and big business, that could mean no more nettlesome EPA, FDA or SEC. The panel will be stacked with corporate lobbyists and overseen by Bush budget man Clay Johnson, who as the head of state appointments for then-Gov Bush in Texas, replaced all three members of the state environmental-protection commission with reps from Monsanto, the Texas Beef Council and the oil industry. Once again, the Bush Administration's deregulatory fervor makes Reagan and Gingrich look mild by comparison."