“The precedent, Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council, is one of the most cited in American law, underpinning 70 Supreme Court decisions and roughly 17,000 in the lower courts. Critics of regulatory authority immediately hailed the decision, suggesting it could open new avenues to challenge federal rules in areas ranging from abortion pills to the environment.” – Adam Liptak
The conservative Supreme Court is having its way with the law. Any pretense of upholding longstanding precedent is gone– if advancing the goals of conservative ideology means smashing a well accepted and often cited precedent to the ground, then they will do it.
Kicking regulatory power out of the hands of the executive branch is a major mistake. Corporate America, which has consolidated into a few major companies controlling the production and flow of goods, is already vastly under regulated. Now, the role of regulator is in the hands of congress. Congress is in gridlock most of the time, so its ability to pass even minor pieces of regulation is severely handicapped. Strategically speaking, this has likely been the goal of the Republican movement and its donors for a long time– to neuter the federal government’s power, gum up congress to a legislative standstill, and give the authority to determine legality purely to the unelected judiciary branch. In short, the conservatives are putting up a total opposition to the mechanisms that allow our country to function with any degree of autonomy.
Who benefits from this? Federal regulations are in place to protect individuals, people that have no power to determine if a can of soup is made with mystery meat or not. So, by removing federal regulatory power, conservatives have dis-empowered individuals. The corporations are likely very happy. It will be harder than ever to curb emissions, cut plastics, stop child labor abuses, and protect the rights of the little guy against the big. The elites of this country rejoice!
Just last night we had a presidential debate in which Donald Trump applauded his own tax bill because it saved money for the highest earners in the country. Does saving the elites money really trickle down? Nope.