California Construction Trucking Association (CCTA)

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the incoming chairman of the powerful House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the main investigative committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, sought council from more than 150 big business associations, trade organizations, and corporations concerning which of the Obama administration’s regulations he should target in the 112th Congress. “As a trade organization with members that must comply with the regulatory state, I ask for your assistance in identifying existing and proposed regulations that have negatively impacted job growth in your members’ industry,” Issa wrote in a Dec. 8 letter to the National Association of Manufacturers that, “Additionally, suggestions on reforming identified regulations and the rulemaking process would be appreciated.”

It was reported that Issa contacted a variety of other groups with similar requests:  partial list obtained by media sources included ones sent Dec. 13 to the Association of American Railroads, FMC Corp., Toyota and Bayer. Others receiving inquiries from Issa over the course of the month included the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), and entities representing petroleum, transportation, health care and telecommunication providers.

Issa said on February 7 that, “The president has recognized the value in examining the regulatory barriers impeding private sector job creation.” In addition to his letters, Issa has launched a new website that allows businesses to describe their problems with government regulations. It is www.americanjobcreators.com

Rep. Issa, who announced that the Obama administration is “one of the most corrupt,” [in history] is preparing to dig in as one of its most committed opponents. Issa, who will have power to subpoena government officials to appear before the committee, said he intended to conduct inquiries into the release of classified diplomatic cables by Wikileaks; recalls at the Food and Drug Administration; the role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the foreclosure crisis; the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission’s failure to identify the origins of the meltdown; as well as business regulations and alleged corruption in places like the EPA and committees like CASAC.

“I’ve always been fond of the saying that when it comes to oversight and reform, the federal government does two things well: nothing and overreact,” Issa said recently. “Too often, a problem is allowed to fester until it reaches a crisis point. . ..and the American people are left asking the question: what went wrong and why?”

Democrats, however, have accused Issa of mounting a purely partisan crusade directly against Obama with a series of requests for information about the administration’s internal dealings.

An Issa staff member disagreed, saying that the latest action was simply an attempt to glean information about the best way to foster a pro-business, pro-job creation environment. “Is there something that we can do to try to ease that [regulatory] burden and stimulate job creation?” Issa spokesman Kurt Bardella told media sources. “Is there a pattern emerging? Is there a consistent practice or regulation that hurts jobs? Until you have all the facts, you really can’t make a lot of determinations and judgments.”

Both parties are looking toward the 2012 election, the traditional political divisions could emerge when it’s time to act on the responses. Republicans want Obama to fire his EPA extreme activist administrator, Lisa Jackson, as she has been aggressively moving to set stricter air emissions standards (again mostly based on junk science) under the Clean Air Act, for things like Particulate Matter, Ozone and the real killer gas, CO2 which is linked to global warming. Democrats passed a bill to limit the amount of greenhouse gases two years ago when they controlled the House, but the measure never got a vote in the Senate. Many outside California are demanding investigations and cuts in EPA now.

CDTOA encourages every business owner to tell their story about the over-regulation here in this state from the BOE to CARB and Water Boards to unreasonable workers’ comp rates. Again, go to this site and tell your story: www.americanjobcreators.com