Dick Morris: Stop the Crucifixion of Scott Pruitt
The single most effective member of President Donald Trump’s cabinet is EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.
A strong conservative, he has set out to dismember, systematically, the edifice of new rules and regulations adopted under the Obama administration.
By freeing business of these regulations — and relieving fears of future new regs — Pruitt has helped to create tens of thousands of new jobs, with the promise of even more.
Nowhere has Trump’s promise to free business from constraints on its growth been more consistently kept than at the EPA.
In usual form, the left — sparked by the militant and ruthless environmentalists — is trying to bring Pruitt down by a myriad of minor allegations of conflict of interest. Pruitt’s choice of an apartment in D.C. to sublet (in which he lives with three other lawmakers), his use of first class airfare to travel around the country (on business), and his decision to raise the pay of his staff without White House approval have provided the nails with which to crucify him.
Pruitt’s achievements are far reaching and very important. That’s why the left wants to bring him down.
He led the fight to persuade Trump to withdraw from the Paris climate accords, in part because they did nothing to rein in the largest emitter of carbons — China — while imposing drastic restrictions on its competitors in the U.S. and Europe.
He is letting the market lead to better mileage standards rather than imposing them by fiat. In the past, the market has chosen to raise these standards higher than any proposed regulation would likely do.
He has embraced the reality — rather than merely pay lip service — of an “all sources” approach to energy regulation, ending Obama’s war on coal and expanding America’s energy might.
He has resisted efforts to kill fracking and has stood up against regulations on industrial emissions that make no sense either for health or pollution control.
As speculation has mounted that Pruitt may be headed for the chopping block, joyous media outlets have recalled the unhappy fates of the former secretary of state, national security advisor, and veterans administrator.
But there is a huge difference. Tillerson, Shulkin, and McMaster all pulled in opposite directions from that supported by the president.
Pruitt is only loyally following the president’s lead and advancing his policies with fidelity and dispatch. Firing Pruitt would set the cause of deregulation back substantially and would be a blow to the president’s administration and his agenda.
Don’t let the greens crucify Scott Pruitt!
Dick Morris is a former adviser to President Bill Clinton as well as a political author, pollster and consultant.
His most recent book, “Rogue Spooks,” was written with his wife, Eileen McGann.
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