While we all debate Obama’s cabinet decisions and the Dems inaction action towards Lieberman, Bush has been a very busy bee. Given his dismal approval rating and the fact that, given a choice, the American people would have voted to end his term beginning November 5th instead of waiting until January, you’d think he’d spend his remaining days trying to salvage some remnant of his failed Presidency. But no…
Bush has been busy, busy, busy. Obviously he’s decided that the mess he’s left to Obama isn’t big enough. And while he may not go out with a bang – although I haven’t ruled out a December or January surprise – he’s definitely piling on.
First there’s his parting gift to the anti-abortion group.
Pharmacies said the rule would allow their employees to refuse to fill prescriptions for contraceptives and could “lead to Medicaid patients being turned away.” State officials said the rule could void state laws that require insurance plans to cover contraceptives and require hospitals to offer emergency contraception to rape victims.
The Ohio Health Department said the rule “could force family planning providers to hire employees who may refuse to do their jobs” — a concern echoed by Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
And after he’s done screwing women he moves onto raping the environment.
In the next few weeks, the Bush administration is expected to relax environmental-protection rules on power plants near national parks, uranium mining near the Grand Canyon and more mountaintop-removal coal mining in Appalachia.
And if that isn’t enough add Endangered Species and…
Among the rule changes and plans that might become final are commercial oil-shale leasing, a new rule that would allow loaded, concealed weapons in some national parks, and oil and gas leasing on wild public lands in West Virginia and Utah.
And probably the scariest action of all… Bush has decided to spawn.
The transfer of political appointees into permanent federal positions, called “burrowing” by career officials, creates security for those employees, and at least initially will deprive the incoming Obamaadministration of the chance to install its preferred appointees in some key jobs.
You gotta hand it to him. The man has no shame. Either that, or he actually believes people will miss him.