So Much For States' Rights

Conservatives have long promoted smaller government, especially at the federal level. That is one tenet of conservativism that this regime has quietly dispensed with. An interesting opinion piece by Nina Mendelson, a professor at the University of Michigan Law School, and a scholar at the Center for Progressive Reform, in today's NY Times points out just how the Emperor and his minions have decided to listen to big business rather than the states.

WITH conservatives controlling the White House and Congress, one might expect states' rights to be firmly in vogue. But several recent federal actions have seriously weakened the states' efforts to protect health and the environment.

The Bush administration is following Congress's lead — but in a quieter way that is likely to undermine states even more....this spring, the Department of Transportation stepped in by inserting into its new fuel-economy standards for light trucks a statement that the exclusive federal authority to set fuel-economy standards bars California's emissions limits, because car manufacturers might comply with emission limits by increasing fuel efficiency. The car industry will surely use this to reinforce its position in court that California cannot set greenhouse-gas limits.

The F.D.A., for its part, is moving to limit states' authority over prescription drug labels. Buried in the preamble to the agency's new labeling standards — meant to make drug labels easier to read — is a statement that state agencies and courts cannot require any safety information beyond what the F.D.A. requires. ...

The F.D.A. has also moved — faster than Congress — to oppose California's food safety efforts. The agency tried to block a lawsuit brought by California's attorney general against tuna manufacturers for failing to place warnings on tuna cans about the dangers of mercury. Because of the risks to fetal development and children, the F.D.A. itself has recommended limits on tuna consumption, but it has stopped short of requiring labels. ...

So why is the federal government suddenly trying to block state efforts to protect public health — through bureaucratic actions largely outside the public view? The unfortunate result is that big businesses' revenues are being shielded, while protections for consumers and the environment are being stripped away. [Emphasis added]

Traditionally, federal regulations have been seen as the minimum in requirements, with states free to add to them. The theory is that each state has peculiar needs for various reasons, and therefore has the right to legislate in line with those needs. Unfortunately, Mr. Bush and his buddies in business have decided to do away with that part of the deal.

Environmental and consumer safety are just not as important as the almighty bottom line, I guess.