NEWS RELEASE: Memo to the Next President: Let’s Make Government Work for All of Us
Over the past several weeks, the Center for Progressive Reform (CPR) has urged the next president to take a constructive approach to our government and our system of health, safety, environmental, and financial safeguards. With Election Day just three months away, CPR is releasing a new paper that expands on those themes and provides a comprehensive blueprint for how the next president can rebuild our system of regulatory protections.
The new paper, Memo to the Next President: A Progressive Vision of Government and Protective Safeguards, calls on the next leader of the United States to put forth a positive vision of government and to ensure that our system for developing regulatory protections advances the public interest.
“The decades-long campaign against regulation and government helped set the stage for avoidable disasters such as the Flint, Michigan, water contamination crisis, and anti-regulatory rhetoric and the policy decisions it inspires will continue to cause serious damage unless something changes,” said Robert Glicksman, Board Member at CPR and a co-author of the paper. “As a nation, we can chart a better course in how we talk about regulation and government and the constructive role they play in our society.”
Indeed, regulations work and have immense benefits. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Air Act rules saved 164,300 adult lives in 2010 alone, and by 2020, they will save an estimated 237,000 lives each year.
“To allow agencies to continue to protect people from air pollution, foodborne illnesses, workplace hazards, and unscrupulous banks and credit card companies, it is crucial that the next president match actions to words,” said James Goodwin, Senior Policy Analyst at CPR and co-author of the paper. “He or she should commit to building a 21st century regulatory system, one that safeguards all of us in a timely, effective manner.”
To build a successful regulatory system that works for all Americans, the next president will need to seek broad-based reform. Among other things, he or she should:
The paper is available online at http://www.progressivereform.org/prestransition.cfm. Later in the year, CPR will release an additional set of recommendations specific to crucial public protections covering air and water quality, climate change, worker health and safety, energy, natural resources, consumer safety, and more.
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The Center for Progressive Reform is a nonprofit research and educational organization with a network of Member Scholars working to protect health, safety, and the environment through analysis and commentary. Read CPRBlog, follow us on Twitter, and like us on Facebook.