The leaner and meaner system that the man from Georgia is currently trying to force on a disenchanted public merely transfers power away from the people and into the hands of industry and other resource grabbing, unaccountable interests. The Speaker of the House, and his freshmen attack dogs, are seeking to overturn years of beneficial policy, under a justification of balancing the budget. Strategically ignored, however, are the corporate subsidies that are funneled to special interests, who also finance candidates for election and re-election. Federal subsidies not on the table to help balance the budget include support for the tobacco industry, big sugar and other farm products, ranching, mining interests and other corporate players who can't or won't pay their own way without their hands in our pockets. No wonder we can't balance the budget.
Deregulation is another new weapon of choice in the war against the environment.
Farming and chemical interests, such as ADM and Monsanto, favor deregulation as a way to be able to produce questionable pesticides and biotechnological wonders that could harm the environment and local communities even as they improve someone else's bottom line. Newt is only one of the misguided opportunists who actually believe that industry will regulate itself in regards to environmental standards. How they came to the conclusion that polluters will police themselves with any measure of integrity is beyond me. Had not environmental regulations been put in place in the early 70s, America would have choked to death on the industrial pollutants that were being pumped into the air and water at an alarming rate. Regulations equal restraint.