Advertisement
The site offers an interactive game highlighting some of the "midnightrules" -- last minute regulatory changes -- the Bush administration is seekingto cement in place in its waning days.
Advertisement
CNA/NNOC is inviting those who visit the sendbushpacking.com website andplay the game to sign an online petition to Bush to "tell him to do no moreharm and rescind the rules that undermine our healthcare, public protections,and workplace safety."
Healthcare, workplace safety, and environmental protections are majortargets of the proposed rule changes, "many of which could seriously undermineaccess to care, workplace safety and workers' rights, and the environmentalsafeguards Americans depend on," said CNA/NNOC Executive Director Rose AnnDeMoro.
"On Nov. 4, American voters send an emphatic signal that they want changefrom the policies of the past eight years. It is disgraceful that the Bushadministration wants to squeeze in even more of its rejected practices in itsfinal hours in office," DeMoro said.
Some national pundits have said it is time for President Bush to get offthe world stage. New York Times columnist Gail Collins wrote Nov. 22, "Can Isee a show of hands? How many people want George W. out and Barack in?"
One day later, columnist Thomas Friedman sounded a similar note: "If I hadmy druthers right now we would convene a special session of Congress, amendthe Constitution, and move up the inauguration from Jan. 20 to ThanksgivingDay."
Among the new regulations:
-- A reduction in outpatient services for low-and moderate-income peoplecovered under Medicaid, likely to mean cuts in such basics as dental andvision care, diagnostic screenings for children, and lab and ambulanceservices.
-- Reduced access for reproductive and family planning care through a newrule permitting workers to refuse to perform abortions, dispense birth controlpills, or even provide emergency contraception in rape cases.
-- More stringent rules on employees' use of the Family and Medical LeaveAct which allows workers to take unpaid leave to take care of sick familymembers.
-- Revised Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations thatmake it more difficult to limit on-the-job exposure to toxic chemicals.
-- Numerous environmental changes that would permit oil and gas leases onpublic lands, more air pollution near national parks and forests, increaseddumping by mining companies into streams, and erosion of the EndangeredSpecies Act.
SOURCE California Nurses Association
