The Scheme 33: The Undoing of the Modern Regulatory State

Summary

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse returns for his 33rd speech, focusing on the covert operations by right-wing billionaires to undermine the regulatory powers of the US Supreme Court, ultimately benefiting polluters and corporate fraudsters. This extensive critique highlights recent Supreme Court decisions that have crippled regulatory agencies' abilities to protect the public from environmental and corporate malpractices. The court's rulings against the EPA, SEC, and others illustrate a strategic dismantling of longstanding protections, influenced by dark money and orchestrated by powerful industrial and political networks.

Highlights

• Senator Whitehouse sheds light on the manipulation of the Supreme Court by right-wing billionaires. 💡
• Key regulatory powers, essential for public and environmental safety, have been significantly reduced. 🛡️
• The court's decisions provide heavy favors to industries and polluters, defying established practices. 🌍
• A network of dark money influences and funds the strategic direction of court rulings. 🕵️
• Justice Kagan criticizes the court’s approach to disregarding precedents, undermining legal stability. 📉

Key Takeaways

• Senator Whitehouse criticizes right-wing billionaires' influence on Supreme Court decisions. 🚨
• Recent rulings have weakened the capacity of regulatory agencies like EPA and SEC. ⚖️
• Dark money and political networks play a significant role in the court's decision-making. 💰
• The decisions undermine public protections and favor corporate interests. 🏢
• Justice Kagan’s dissent highlights the court’s trend of overturning precedents unfavorable to corporate interests. 📜

Overview

In his 33rd critique, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse highlights the concerning influence of right-wing billionaires on Supreme Court decisions, pinpointing a strategic dismantling of regulatory powers that protect the public. Through a dozen cases, the narrative weaves a disturbing picture where court rulings increasingly lean towards serving industrial and political elites rather than safeguarding public and environmental interests.

Decisions such as Ohio vs. EPA and SEC vs. Jassy illustrate how key regulatory agencies have had their enforcement capabilities compromised. These rulings, supposedly rooted in legal technicalities, effectively serve as veils for broader industrial interests that stand to gain enormous economic benefits. The court’s willingness to entertain unsubstantiated legal precedents underscores a troubling trajectory of prioritizing corporate benefits.

Justice Kagan's dissent emphasizes the court's alarming pattern of abandoning legal precedents when such rulings favor corporate and industrial interests. It reflects a judicial strategy imbued with partisanship, aimed at eroding frameworks that underpin the administrative state, pointing towards a future where corporate misconduct goes unchecked, all under the guise of judicial oversight and independence.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction to the Scheme In the chapter titled "Introduction to the Scheme," the speaker discusses a covert plan orchestrated by right-wing billionaires aimed at capturing and controlling the Supreme Court. This plan has resulted in the Court's right wing making significant disruptive decisions. The speaker underscores the secrecy and power dynamics behind the scheme, marking this as their 33rd appeal to highlight these issues.
• 00:30 - 01:00: Decisions Undermining Government Agencies The chapter 'Decisions Undermining Government Agencies' discusses how recent court decisions have weakened the ability of government agencies to protect citizens from pollution and corporate misconduct. It suggests that these decisions are a form of payback to wealthy polluters who supported the appointment of certain justices to the court.
• 01:00 - 02:00: Ohio vs. EPA Ruling The chapter discusses the Supreme Court ruling on Ohio versus EPA, which weakened the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) authority under the Good Neighbor provision of the Clean Air Act. This provision was designed to protect the air quality of downwind states, such as Rhode Island, from pollution emitted by power plants and industrial facilities located in upwind states.
• 02:00 - 03:00: SEC vs. Jassy Case The chapter discusses a legal case between the SEC and Jassy, focusing on environmental pollution issues. It highlights how industries sometimes manipulate situations to avoid direct accountability for pollution, such as building taller smoke stacks to divert pollution to other states. The narrative describes how industry litigants managed to delay clean air regulations by influencing court decisions, favoring polluters through the Federalist approach.
• 03:00 - 04:30: Loper Bright Enterprises Ruling In this chapter, the focus is on a legal ruling involving Loper Bright Enterprises and its implications. The narrative delves into how societal and legal systems often prioritize the rights of polluters over the environmental and health rights of citizens, using the specific example of Rhode Islanders' right to clean air. The chapter also touches on the SEC versus Jassy case, highlighting how right-wing justices have limited the capabilities of federal agencies to conduct administrative enforcement and hold fraudsters accountable. This includes a Court decision that mandates civil penalties for securities fraud.
• 04:30 - 05:30: Corner Post vs. Federal Reserve Decision The chapter discusses a legal case concerning the Seventh Amendment, jury trials, and administrative adjudications in civil enforcement proceedings. It highlights consumer protection from financial institutions, worker safety, and environmental protection. The narrator expresses anger towards the court's decision to prioritize this case in addressing civil jury rights.
• 05:30 - 09:00: The Myth of Unaccountable Bureaucrats The chapter titled 'The Myth of Unaccountable Bureaucrats' discusses the erosion of civil jury rights in favor of big corporations. It highlights the contradictory stance on the Seventh Amendment, which supports private, mandatory arbitration for consumers or employees injured by big businesses, while fraudsters facing regulatory violations are protected by it.
• 09:00 - 15:30: Court Capture by Polluters The chapter titled 'Court Capture by Polluters' covers a significant legal case, 'ler bright Enterprises V rundo', in which the court decision favored fraud perpetrators over the protection of individuals against fraud. This ruling undermined a critical precedent known as Chevron deference. For 40 years, Chevron deference allowed federal agencies to interpret laws aimed at safeguarding health, safety, and the environment. The overturning of this precedent represents a pivotal shift in how laws can be implemented, particularly those related to environmental and public health protection.
• 15:30 - 18:00: Conclusion and Justice Kagan's Dissent The chapter discusses the principle that courts should defer to an executive agency's reasonable interpretation of a statute that it administers. This principle is highlighted as a sensible rule, emphasizing that Congress cannot be expected to handle technical details that are better managed by experts with extensive training and experience. The context suggests a critique of right-wing justices who may oppose this principle.

The Scheme 33: The Undoing of the Modern Regulatory State Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 uh president I am uh back now for the 33rd time to keep shining a little light on the right-wing billionaires covert scheme to capture and control our Supreme Court as a result of that scheme the Court's right wing just took a wrecking
• 00:30 - 01:00 ball to the government's ability to protect Americans from big polluters and corporate cheaters this year's billionaire Bonanza came through four decisions that gutted administrative agency ability to do their jobs perfect payback to the polluter billionaires who helped foot the bill to get these justices onto the Court in the
• 01:00 - 01:30 first place the first decision is Ohio versus EPA where the Supreme Court undermined the Environmental Protection administration's ability to enforce the Good Neighbor provision of the Clean Air Act the provision that defends the air quality of downwind States like mine Rhode Island from power plants and Industrial facilities in upwind States
• 01:30 - 02:00 where sometimes they build the Smoke Stacks extra high so that the pollution doesn't hit the polluting state but it floats over and comes down and hits Us in Rhode Island without even full briefing on the merits industry litigants succeeded in getting the court to stall proposed clean air regulations and place a thumb on the scales in favor of polluters at the hands of the Federalist
• 02:00 - 02:30 Society justices the right of polluters to pollute beat the right of Rhode Islanders to breathe clean air then came SEC versus jassy the rightwing where the right-wing justices undercut the ability of federal agencies to hold fraudsters accountable through administrative enforcement proceedings the Court held that civil penalties for Securities fraud required
• 02:30 - 03:00 jury trial under the Seventh Amendment undermining administrative adjudication in all sorts of civil enforcement proceedings across the federal government protecting consumers from predatory financial institutions workers from unsafe conditions and the environment against polluters I am angry that the court picked this case to express concern about the right to a civil jury while it
• 03:00 - 03:30 has been busily eroding that same civil jury right when doing so favored big corporations over regular people if you're a fraudster on the losing end of a regulatory violation they're all about the Seventh Amendment if you're a consumer or employee injured by a big business off you go to private secret mandatory arbitration at the hands of the federal
• 03:30 - 04:00 Society justices the right of frauders to commit fraud defeated the right of people to be protected from fraud in ler bright Enterprises V rundo the court overruled 40 Years of precedent granting what is called Chevron deference to federal agencies when they're implementing laws that protect health safety and the environment sheffron recognized that
• 04:00 - 04:30 courts should defer to an executive agency's reasonable interpretation of a statute it's charged with administering just reading that sentence tells you how eminently reasonable the rule was plus Congress can't be expected to make fine grained determinations in technical areas that are best left to experts with Decades of training and experience in ler the right-wing justice
• 04:30 - 05:00 has removed that difference to expertise the result look at this Washington Post headline corporate lobbyists I new lawsuits after Supreme Court limits Federal power more ways for polluters to stall regulations with delays that can save polluters billions
• 05:00 - 05:30 just to read this text mere hours after the Supreme Court sharply curbed the power of federal agencies conservatives and corporate lobbyists began plotting how to harness the favorable ruling in a redoubled quest to whittle down climate Finance Health labor and Technology regulations in Washington these cases are a power grab by a captured Court transferring regulatory Authority from an elected
• 05:30 - 06:00 Congress and an elected executive to an unaccountable Judiciary ill suited to make such technical determinations almost laughably as they did this J as Gorsuch had to amend his opinion in that Ohio versus EPA case because he confused nitrous oxide laughing gas with nitrogen oxides that were the subject of that case h so much
• 06:00 - 06:30 for judges knowing technical stuff better than the experts the right of federal Society judges to make up fake science for billionaires triumphed over the right of regular people to have real experts defend them finally in corner post the Federal Reserve the Court held at the six-year statute of limitations to challenge a federal agency's action begins when a
• 06:30 - 07:00 person or entity challenging a rule is allegedly injured maybe decades after the rule became law every regulation can now be litigated for eternity agencies will be perpetually vulnerable to litigation on every Ru making stalled by Deep pocketed litigants armed with exotic legal theories and the backing of this captured Court
• 07:00 - 07:30 as Justice Jackson wrote in her descent in corner post the tsunami of lawsuits against agencies has the potential to devastate the functioning of the federal government even more to the present point that result simply cannot be what Congress intended when it enacted legislation that stood up and funded federal agencies and vested them with authority to set the ground rules for the individuals and entities that participate in our economy and our society
• 07:30 - 08:00 at the hands of the federal Society justices the power of special interest to tangle up Regulatory Agencies has defeated the right of taxpayers to protection from those special interests here's how I explained that protection in my Amicus brief in the Loper case over the last century our society has advanced remarkably as Industries and corporations grew their motive to maximize profits caused social harms and
• 08:00 - 08:30 threatened consumer safety regulation responded heavy equipment and dangerous chemicals came to mines factories and construction sites Regulators implemented workplace safety standards meat packing and mass production ballooned Regulators implemented sanitation requirements in production facilities Americans widely adopted automobiles Regulators required seat belts and airbags the modern economy necessitated
• 08:30 - 09:00 a modernization of the US regulatory framework Congress responded to the complexities of the modern world by ensuring that administrative agencies have the capacity flexibility and expertise to respond to new developments part of that project was delegating clear and Broad authority to executive agencies and allowing those agencies to adopt and adapt regulations to respond to new hazards as a result daily life in the United States is safer
• 09:00 - 09:30 workplace illnesses injuries and deaths have declined children on average have lower levels of lead in their blood food borne illnesses that used to kill thousands of people per year have been practically wiped out highways are no longer Carnage and air travel is even safer than highway travel so why tear down what has worked so well for Generations well the billionaire funded Think Tank say it's to strip power from
• 09:30 - 10:00 so-called unaccountable bureaucrats they love to talk about unaccountable bureaucrats except that federal agencies are not unaccountable indeed they're way more accountable than judges again from my Loper brief agency experts report to politically appointed executive agency heads nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate accountable
• 10:00 - 10:30 these agency heads serve at the pleasure of the president who is accountable to the people if the public is unhappy with how agencies are implementing congress's policies voters can make that known at The Ballot Box Congress oversees agency actions through legislative committees dedicated to agency oversight and regularly conducts oversight hearings Where Heads of agencies are called to account Congress retains the power to enact
• 10:30 - 11:00 legislation to limmit or reverse agency rulemakings if it disagrees with the agency's actions and in some cases on an expedited calendar furthermore Congress holds the power of the purse every Appropriations Bill presents an opportunity to expand correct or contract agency authorities if the public is unhappy with how Congress is holding agencies accountable voters can make that known at The Ballot Box finally agencies are accountable to the
• 11:00 - 11:30 Judiciary which has the authority to review an agency statutory interpretations and actions to ensure the agency's decisions are reasonable and follow appropriate processes and procedures the myth of unaccountable administrative agencies is a fake the real objection is that career agency employees are expert and can go toe-to-toe with industry trickery and worse for polluters they can't put
• 11:30 - 12:00 the fix in politically with a big campaign contribution or a couple of million dollars to a super pack because agencies are forbidden to take political considerations into account and they are forbidden to self- deal all of this wreckage of the longstanding protections of our administrative process was done by polluters who fund the Republican party and paid
• 12:00 - 12:30 to stack the court that dark money built and this is the polluters payday a whole smelly ecosystem of secretly funded corporate front groups is involved anti-regulation doctrines get cooked up in right-wing hot houses funded by polluters the doctrines get Amplified by right-wing front groups funded by polluters they then get fed to the court via
• 12:30 - 13:00 little flotillas of right-wing amiy funded by polluters secret dark money funding from billionaire special interests underpins the entire operation much of this is the coke Industries political influence operation a powerful right-wing dark money political polluter Network look at that Loper case the lawyers who represented the petitioners
• 13:00 - 13:30 in that case worked for free supposedly for a public interest law firm supposedly called cause of action interesting Law Firm it discloses no donors and it does not report any employees in fact the New York Times discovered the groups lawyers who supposedly worked for cause
• 13:30 - 14:00 of action actually work for Americans for Prosperity the main Battleship of the kooch political front group Armada an operation that is so cozy with the far-right justices it helped put on the Supreme Court that Justice Thomas has repeatedly flown out to join fundraisers for coch political operations including Americans for
• 14:00 - 14:30 Prosperity here is the flotilla of front groups that appeared in Loper as Amy cui the Buckey Institute KO Institute the competitive Enterprise Institute Landmark Legal Foundation Mountain States Legal Foundation National Right to Work legal defense Foundation new civil liberties Alliance Pacific Legal Foundation and of course our dear friends the United States Chamber of
• 14:30 - 15:00 Commerce a proper murderer row of polluter mischief and who are they funded by oh let's look donor's trust the donor's Capital fund the Koch family foundations the Bradley foundations and Exxon Mobile itself donor's trust and donor's Capital fund are so-called Donor advised funds they don't actually do anything they don't actually produce anything build anything thing what they do is
• 15:00 - 15:30 provide right-wing identity laundering Services donor's trust has been described as the dark money ATM of the right and with donor's Capital has laundered over a third of a trillion dollars into climate denial operations if you're Exon Mobile or a billionaire polluter and you want to support climate Deni but you don't want
• 15:30 - 16:00 your name on the phony front group that is doing the climate denial work you send your check to donor's trust and they take it and they send the money where you tell them to the other group only it's disclosed by them as coming from donors trust it is an identity laundering operation for dark money political influence some amiy also were funded by front groups affiliated with Leonard Leo who we know as the Billionaire's
• 16:00 - 16:30 operative in this court capture operation the Loper Amicus advancing American Freedom received $1.5 million from Leonard Leo's conquered fund between 2020 and 2021 $1.5 million Leo's conquered fund which is this operation on this graphic operates also under the
• 16:30 - 17:00 fictitious name of the judicial crisis Network when I say fictitious name I mean under Virginia corporate law conquered fund has filed judicial crisis Network as a fictitious name term of Art in the law under which it is allow allowed to operate without disclosing that it's actually the conquered fund through the judicial crisis Network Le and his Confederates spent millions of
• 17:00 - 17:30 dollars on the court capture operation tv ads barrages of TV ads huge checks in for $15 million in $7 million from undisclosed donors to pump the right-wing justices that they had chosen through confirmation so this same group that helped push the justices from the
• 17:30 - 18:00 federal Society lists onto the Supreme Court then files a brief through the um advancing American Freedom $1.5 million from conquered into advancing American Freedom this whole thing is a billionaire backed shell game in which the court willingly
• 18:00 - 18:30 participates and the connection between Court capture and regulation destruction that's not even in dispute the court capture operation and the anti-regulatory operation were admitted by Trump's White House councel Don mcon to be and I'm quoting him here two sides of the same coin you stacked the court to tear down on the regulations so your polluters are
• 18:30 - 19:00 happy and they fund your effort to stack the court and support Republican power and about this slate of recent decisions that I've just discussed he proudly told the New York Times and I'm quoting him again none of this was an accident none of this was an accident indeed it was bought and paid for there is considerable literature
• 19:00 - 19:30 about a phenomenon called regulatory capture sometimes called agency capture it's the capture of regulatory agencies by industry to corrupt government decision-making you can imagine railroad Barons taking over a Railroad Commission whose job it is to set the rates for their railroads well the Supreme Court has been captured in the same way and this was no small or incidental
• 19:30 - 20:00 undertaking True North research estimates that at least $580 million has been spent on the court capture operation these groups were a significant part of it and these groups enjoy the benefit of it now 500 $8 million is a lot of
• 20:00 - 20:30 money but just these four decisions are payback for the polluters that makes that $580 million a cheap investment and the public will pay the price but that's a price that this captured court is happy to have the public pay I'm going to conclude with Justice kagan's descent in the ler case she pointed
• 20:30 - 21:00 out because she saw this game play out right in front of her she's over there on the court watching this game play out and she pointed out that the polluters justices stopped applying the Chevron Doctrine back in 2016 as part of a plan because she said they were and I'm quoting her here prepar comparing to overrule Chevron since around that
• 21:00 - 21:30 time an 8year long plot to take out a precedent that bothers polluters forget calling balls and Strikes these justices were on a multi-year billionaire polluter Mission and it's not just Chevron this is a pattern as Justice Kagan went on to
• 21:30 - 22:00 say this kind of self-help on the way to reversing precedent has become almost routine at this court and here's how she describes it stop applying a decision where one should throw some gratuitous criticisms into a couple of opinions issue a few separate writings questioning the decisions
• 22:00 - 22:30 premises give the whole process a few years and voila you have a justification for overruling the decision something she called an overruling through enfeeblement technique that mocks star decisis as she described it this captured Court at the big donor's
• 22:30 - 23:00 Direction stalks for years and then kills off precedent that the billionaires don't like precedent that interferes with their polluting or interferes with their cheating that stalking and killing plan may be a lot of things Mr President but I'll tell you what it's not what it's not is judging to be continued Mr President I yield the
• 23:00 - 23:30 floor