Score Card on Late White House Rules Changes

With the  Bush White House pushing through a raft of last-minute rules, the nonprofit journalism group ProPublica offers a running list, with the status of each:

• Business-friendly safety regulations would loosen restrictions on exposure to toxic chemicals in the workplace.
• Local police would get increased surveillance ability.
• Loaded guns would be allowed in some national parks.

• Health care providers would have to show they’re not discriminating against employees who refuse to perform abortions on moral grounds.
• Investment-firm employees could give advice to clients, even if employees have a financial stake in the matter.
• Federal agencies could decide for themselves, without independent scientific review, whether development projects threaten endangered species.
• A drinking-water contaminant would not require regulation.

Click on the link for more proposals and details.