Ben Chandler Votes to Kill Everyone With Food Poisoning

Yeah, tell me again how Ben Chandler voting for every repug destructive, people-killing idea really just positions him to promote Democratic principles and policies. 'Cause I just don't fucking see it.

David Shankula at Barefoot and Progressive:

As DownWithTyranny points out, the House of Representatives passed the Regulatory Flexibility Act last Thursday. The vote was 263 to 159, with no Republicans voting against and 28 Democrats voting in favor. One of those Dems was our own Ben Chandler.

The RFA is one of three anti-regulation bills the House GOP is using to strip safety protections — the primary one being Geofferson Davis’ REINS Act — under the guise of “job creation.” Basically (and you’ll be shocked by this) the Republican Party (and their Democratic co-conspirators) are using America’s economic collapse to roll back the rules that keep corporations from poisoning us.

Former Congressman Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) wrote of these three bills:

The Republican Party should be spending its time trying to improve what is basically an effective system, figuring out how to improve protections and reduce costs. But the House is off on a very different path, ignoring experience in favor of ideology, working to destroy a system that has protected business as well as the public. It’s high time for those in the center to call them on that.

Current Congressman John Conyers (D-MI) wrote of the Regulatory Flexibility Act:

Rounding out the trio of public safety killing legislation is H.R. 527, the “Regulatory Flexibility Improvements Act of 2011.” Under current law, rulemaking agencies must make an analysis for every new rule that would have significant economic impact on a substantial number of small entities, such as small businesses. Among other things, this bill repeals the authority of an agency to waive or delay this analysis in response to an emergency that makes compliance or timely compliance impracticable.

So if there is an epidemic of E. coli or listeria infection caused by some item in our nation’s food distribution network, or if there is an imminent environmental disaster that could be addressed systemically through regulation, this bill says “Don’t worry. Don’t rush.”

My conservative colleagues argue that this legislation is necessary because too much regulation is responsible for our nation’s current economic difficulties. They must be suffering from some collective form of amnesia. It was not too much regulation of Wall Street that led to the near collapse of the worldwide marketplace. It was not too much regulation that caused the BP oil spill. And, it was not too much regulation that allowed mortgage brokers, servicers, bankers and others to engage in predatory lending and falsify foreclosure documents in court proceedings.

Current Congressman Ben Chandler (R-KY) wrote of his vote in favor of this bill:









Oh. He didn’t write anything. Sorry.

This is another example of Down with Tyranny's point that DINOs like Chandler are not just an annoyance; they are causing active harm to the Democratic Party.