Court Nixes Higher Limits on Truck Driving Hours

A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled against a Bush administration directive that would have allowed big rig truck drivers to drive many more consecutive hours.

All three judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration -- the federal agency overseeing the trucking industry -- hadn't gave enough evidence to show the safety of its 2005 decision to increase the maximum driving time of truckers. The hours were increased from 60 to 77 over 7 consecutive days and from 77 to 88 hours over 8 days.

The court found the FMCSA ignored the results of a study it commissioned. When extrapolated, the study -- using the data of more than 50,000 truck accidents from 1991 to 2002 -- showed a greater risk of fatigue-related accidents during the extended hours of service allowed by the new rules.

Opponents of the changes, led by safety advocates and insurance analysts, say longer driving hours lead to a higher number of truck-related accidents. Around 100 people die per week in trucking related accidents.

Kenneth N. Margolin, Esq. of InjuryBoard.com says of the ruling:

The Appeals Court held that the federal agency had not justified the change in rules, in light of data that showed the trucking industry to be amongst the most dangerous, and fatalities in accidents involving large trucks to be far more likely than those involving cars alone. Naturally, the rules change was pressed by the trucking industry, which consistently ignores the data regarding trucking fatalities, and places profits ahead of quality of life and safety on our roadways.

Proponents of the loosened restrictions say they have made it cheaper and faster to move goods around the country. Shorter hours, they contend, would place more inexperienced truck drivers behind the wheel.

LifeOnTheRoad.com seems to believe that the trucking industry knows what's best for itself:

Perhaps it’s time for us all to look for another line of work and allow the know it alls at PATT, CRASH, Public Citizen and the rest, who seem to know better than us, what we need, to operate the U.S. trucking industry

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

Bills Call for FDA Regulation and Tax Increases on Tobacco

A bill poised to move through Senate committee would give the Food and Drug Administration the same authority over tobacco products it now has on food, drugs, medical devices and other consumer products.

An identical bill in the House and the Senate version both tout wide bipartisan support. It had been expected to pass through the Senate Health Committee Wednesday, but was delayed because of the all-night Iraq war debate.

The bill would allow the FDA to regulate levels of nicotine, tar and other components. Supporters say this could help save lives by making it harder to start smoking and easier to stop. Those who oppose the legislation contend that removing certain smoke constituents won't make a safer product and to place more emphasis on prevention.

Elyzabethe from the blog Yellow is the Color takes a crack at explaining the behavior of smokers and of those trying to regulate:

How stupid do they think people are? Nobody these days thinks cigarettes are safe. They smoke anyway, but they know it’s not “safe.” (although, when you look at it from the general persepctive of public health fascists who think the government needs to regulate all behavior, you can kind of see how this mindset makes sense; it’s absolutely mind-boggling to them that people sometimes engage in risky behaviors because they’ve weighed the costs and benefits and decided to engage in that behavior anyway; no, it makes much more sense to assume that the public is a bunch of silly, uneducated morons decieved by Big Something — business, tobacco, Planned Parenthood, Pharma — who need the gentle hand of Uncle Sam to prevent them from having decisions to make).

For the record, I don’t really have any particular problem with the FDA being given regulatory power over cigarettes; I was actually kind of surprised to find out they didn’t already have it. The only part of the legislation I really have problems with is the banning of certain flavors of cigarettes in some sort of misguided attempt to “protect the children” (maybe because I give the anti-smoking people too much credit, and think they’re not really idiotic enough to believe the clove-cigarettes-are-extra-desirable-to-kids tripe and are really just trying to slowly chip away at smoking being legal in the first place, much like anti-abortion advocates and the “partial-birth abortion” ban).

Separate legislation in the Senate is calling for a 61 cent increase in federal excise tax on a pack of cigarettes, money that would go toward children's health insurance.

Ed Morrissey at Captain's Quarters:

Sin taxes get a lot of support, but only to the extent that they actually work. For instance, the increase on cigarettes will probably not raise that much of an outcry, mostly because the tax increase is much more modest. It will not put manufacturers out of business, much as some members of Congress would like. Therefore, it will actually raise the funds Congress projects.

But the same Senate bill could place a maximum tax of $10 per "large cigar", meaning any stogy is subject to the tax except for the tiny ones that come in cigarette-like 20 packs.

Ed Morrissey again:

The whopping $10 per cigar limit, on the other hand, will kill the cigar industry. No one will pay $15 for a $5 cigar. Some might not have an issue with that, but cigars are not the same as cigarettes. They don't get smoked in the same way or in the same quantity, and they do not have the same addictive qualities and harmful additives of cigarettes. Nevertheless, it's quite apparent that Democrats want to kill the cigar industry with this ridiculous tax.

The President has said he would veto this bill if it were to pass.

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

Resigned, Quit, Fired, Retired, Reassigned, Forced Out, Leaving or Gone

Slamming Dubya is kind of like shooting fish in a barrel. But without making any comments or judgments, it seems to me an interesting idea to list all the "casualties" of the George W. Bush Administration. I'm just going with a simple list of name, position and how and when they left. Feel free to take this idea a run with it. Correct me, add to the list and comment. Maybe the whole idea is pointless. Maybe there have been other administrations with more?

• Richard Clarke: the president's chief adviser on terrorism on the National Security Council -- Quit, January 2003
• Paul O'Neil: Secretary of the Treasury -- Fired, December 6, 2002
• Flynt Leverett: A Senior Director for Middle East Affairs on President Bush's National Security Council (NSC) -- Resigned/Fired, 2003
• Ben Miller: CIA staffer and Iraq expert with the NSC -- Resigned/Fired, 2003
• Hillary Mann: foreign service officer on detail to the NSC as the Director for Iran and Persian Gulf Affairs -- Resigned/Fired, 2003
• Larry Lindsay: "top economic adviser" -- Fired, December 2002
• Ann Wright: A career diplomat in the Foreign Service and a colonel in the Army Reserves -- Resigned, March 19, 2003
• John Brady Kiesling: Political Counselor in the U.S. Embassy in Athens, Greece -- Resigned, February 27, 2003
• John Brown: veteran of the Foreign Service, who served in London, Prague, Krakow, Kiev and Belgrade -- Resigned March 10, 2003
• Rand Beer: National Security Council's senior director for combating terrorism -- Resigned, March 2003
• Anthony Zinni: special envoy to the Middle East (from November 2002 to March 2003) -- Failed to be reappointed, 2003
• Eric Shinseki: the Army's chief of staff -- Retired, June 2003
• Karen Kwiatkowski: A Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force who served in the Department of Defense's Near East and South Asia (NESA) Bureau -- Retired, July 2003
• Charles Jack Pritchard: the State Department's senior expert on North Korea and special envoy for negotiations with that country -- Resigned, August 2003
• Major (then Captain) John Carr and Major Robert Preston: Air Force prosecutors -- Requested and granted reassignment, 2004
• Captain Carrie Wolf: Air Force officer and also asked to leave the Office of Military Commissions -- Requested and granted reassignment, 2004
• Colonel Douglas Macgregor: U.S. Army officer -- Retired, June 2004
• Paul Redmond: Assistant Secretary for Information Analysis at the Department of Homeland Security -- Resigned, June 2003
• John W. Carlin: Archivist of the United States -- Resigned, December 19, 2003
• Susan Wood: Food and Drug Administration's Assistant Commissioner for Women's Health and Director of the Office of Women's Health -- Resigned, August 31, 2005
• Frank Davidoff: internal medicine specialist on the FDA's Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee -- Resigned, September 2005
• Thomas E Novotny: deputy assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services -- Resigned, August 1, 2001
• Joanne Wilson: commissioner of the Department of Education's Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) -- Quit, February 8, 2005
• James Zahn: "nationally respected microbiologist with the Agriculture Department's (USDA) research service" -- Resigned, May 2002
• Teresa Chambers: U.S. Park Police Chief -- Fired, July 2004
• Martha Hahn: Idaho state director for the Bureau of Land Management -- Resigned, March 6, 2002

Note: There are 12 more names, mostly lower level jobs -- from the likes of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, the EPA, the Army Corp of Engineers and the White House Cultural Property Advisory Committee -- that are going to be omitted. For more meaning and context see Nick Turse's detailed article "Casualties of the Bush Administration". Let the list continue.

• I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby: Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to Vice President Cheney -- Resigned, October 28, 2005
• Dan Bartlett: Counselor to the President -- Announced resignation, June 1, 2007
• Andrew H. Card, Jr.: the President's first Chief of Staff -- Resigned, March 28, 2006
• Jack D. Crouch II: Assistant to President and Deputy National Security Advisor on the National Security Council -- Departed (to spend more time with family), May 2007
• William K. (Bill) Kelley: Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Counsel to the President in the Office of Counsel for the President -- "will return to his teaching job at Notre Dame at the end of [June 2007]."
• Scott McClellan: White House Press Secretary -- Resigned, April 19, 2006
• Ari Fleischer: White House Press Secretary -- Resigned, May 2003
• Harriet Ellen Miers: White House Counsel -- submitted resignation, January 5, 2007
• Robert J. Portman: Director of the Office of Management and Budget -- Resigned, June 19, 2007
• Megan O'Sullivan: Special Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan -- announced resignation, April 2, 2007
• Paul Wolfowitz: President of the World Bank -- Resignation effective June 30, 2007
• Sara Taylor: Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Political Affairs -- Resigned, 2007
• Claude A. Allen: Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy -- Resigned, February 9, 2006
• Donald Rumsfeld: Defense Secretary -- Resigned, December 18, 2006
• Porter Goss: CIA Director -- Resigned, May 5, 2006
• Jay M. Garner: Director of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance for Iraq -- Replaced by L. Paul Bremer, 2003
• George Tenet: CIA Director -- Resigned, June 3, 2004
• Tom Ridge: Secretary of Homeland Security -- Submitted resignation, November 30, 2004
• John Danforth: U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations -- Resigned, January 2005
• John Bolton: U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations -- Resigned, December 9, 2006
• Walter Scheib III: White House Chef -- Fired, February 2005
• Jim Nicholson: Secretary of Veterans Affairs -- Submitted resignation, July 17, 2007
• David Wurmser: Cheney’s chief adviser on Middle East affairs -- Announced resignation, July 24, 2007
• Karl Rove: Deputy Chief of Staff -- Resignation effective August 31, 2007
• Wan J. Kim: head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division -- Announced resignation, August 23, 2007
• Peter Pace: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff -- expected to step down on September 30, 2007
• Alberto Gonzales: Attorney General -- Resignation effective September 17, 2007
• Tony Snow: White House Press Secretary -- Resignation effective September 14, 2007
• Jack Goldsmith: Assistant United States Attorney General -- Resigned July, 2004
• Mike Johanns: Agriculture Secretary -- Resigned September 20, 2007
• J. Scott Jennings: Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Political Affairs -- Resignation announced, October 2007
• Karen Hughes: Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs in the U.S. Department of State -- Announced resignation, October 31, 2007; effective December 2007
• John Kneuer: Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration -- Resignation announced, November 9, 2007
• Frances Townsend: Homeland Security Advisor -- Announced resignation, November 19, 2007
• Al Hubbard: National Economic Council chairman -- Announced resignation, November 2007
• Michael Guest: Ambassador to Romania, appointed by President Bush -- (On December 4, 2007 the New York Times reported that Guest had retired from the State Department)
• Howard J. "Cookie" Krongard: Head of the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of State -- resignation effective January 15, 2008
• Candida Perotti Wolff: Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs -- Resigned December 28, 2007
• Deborah Platt Majoras: Federal Trade Commission Chairman -- Resigned late March 2008
• Admiral William Fallon: Commander of the U.S. Central Command -- Announced Resignation, March 11, 2008
• Alphonso Jackson: Secretary of Housing and Urban Development -- Announced Resignation, March 31 2008
• Lurita Alexis Doan: Administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration -- Resigned April 29, 2008
  

[Main Sources: TomDispatch.com and SourceWatch.org]

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation

Laws Require Flags be Made in the USA

Several states are acting to ensure that the flags they fly are made in the USA. Minnesota has passed the strictest measure, requiring all US Flags sold in states stores be made American by year's end.

Arizona's public colleges and schools require US made Old Glory's be outfitted to every classroom from Junior High on up. Tennessee must buy all state contracted flags from the United States. There are similar bills progressing in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

$5.3 million worth of U.S. flags were imported in 2006 from other countries, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates. That figure has held steady the past few years except for 2001 when $51.7 million worth of flags were imported mostly after the terrorist attacks of that year.

Douglas N. Jacobson of International Trade Law News blogs about how a consumer will know if a flag qualifies for the "Certified Made in the USA" label and the fact that US exports don't need to disclose the country of origin:

The article also mentions the Flag Manufacturers Association of America's (FMAA) “Certified Made in the USA” certification program. Under the FMAA's program, American flags carrying the FMAA-approved certification "have been made in the USA of materials that are domestic in origin and that all processes in every step of its manufacture were completed in USA facilities with USA labor." To date, FMAA has certified the following five flag manufacturers as “Certified Made in the U.S.A.”: Annin & Co., C.F. Flag, J.C. Schultz Enterprises, Inc., The Flag Source and Valley Forge Flag.

While all goods imported into the U.S. must be marked with the country of origin, there is no affirmative requirement for American made products to be labeled with the country of origin. However, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requires that any product advertised or labeled as "Made in USA" must be "all or virtually all" produced in the U.S. The FTC has stated that the "all or virtually all" standard means that all significant parts and processing that go into the product must be of U.S. origin and the product should contain no or negligible amounts of foreign content.

Andrew Davis of the LP Blog doesn't believe the laws are as patriotic as they are intended:

Evidently your American flag only represents freedom if it has the "Made in the USA" logo proudly stamped on it. So, be sure to hide all your foreign-made American flags, lest you have the Minnesota Flag Police storming into your yard with torches blazing.

I just wonder how Mr. Rukavina is going to feel about his victory once he realizes his 1,000 little flags were probably made by Mexican immigrants working in the manufacturing plants.

Oops.

And Kvatch at Blognonymous doesn't like it either:

Where I live, there aren't many people who fly the flag on Independence Day, or any other day for that matter. In fact, I suspect that displaying Old Glory is getting more rare by the year. So doesn't a law designed to punish merchants for selling flags made overseas seem just a little bit cuckoo? We're trying to encourage flag sales, right?

In Minnesota, violators of the law will be charged by default with a misdemeanor, punishable by a maximum $1,000 fine and up to 90 days in jail.

-Dippold

Political Online Reputation