Talk about repeals. Since he has taken office, President Obama has practically been a one-man steamroller, crushing Bush era policies and laws with the force of his pen.
The latest was his signing today of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. The law allows more time to take pay-discrimination cases to court. It effectively nullifies a 2007 Supreme Court decision that denied Ledbetter, who brought suit against Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. after her 19-year career there, an opportunity for redress.
There have been other actions to reverse decisions made during the Bush administration. Within his first two days in office, Obama and congressional leaders made it known they plan to repeal a ban on federal funding for stem cell research. Bush twice vetoed bills expanding stem cell research.
Then there’s abortion. Obama recently repealed an eight-year Bush administration policy, allowing funding support to family planning organizations abroad, which advocate abortion or provide abortion services. It is a rollback of an eight-year Bush administration policy.
Even the economic stimulus package, which has passed through the House, would help to undo at least one Bush administration regulation. It would further delay the implementation of six Medicaid rules that threaten to cut funding to nursing homes and other healthcare providers. It would not be surprising if the rules got thrown out entirely.
Got to love the changing of the guard in Washington. It is an opportunity for the party in charge to revel in its newfound power and rub it in the faces of the opposition. As liberals are celebrating in the streets, conservatives are kicking the dust and muttering insults under their breath.
Democracy in action: It’s a spectacle to behold.
