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Mr. Trump’s regulatory abolitionists should know they will face litigation. In the 1980s, the Reagan administration’s repeal of the rule requiring airbags in cars was challenged by the insurance industry and consumer groups. The Supreme Court unanimously required the rule to be reinstated. Labor, consumer and environmental groups are mobilizing to fight efforts to sap health and safety protections. Citizens are rediscovering the benefits of focusing on members of Congress at town halls and other gatherings.
Smashing safety and consumer safeguards will lead to deaths, injuries and diseases that provoke intense news coverage. Demands to hold the profit-obsessed Trump team accountable for conflicts of interest will intensify. And civil servants, blocked from enforcing laws, will respect established procedures or become whistle-blowers, with legal protections.
The administration’s corrosive polices should be a clarion call to Democrats not to mimic Republicans in pursuing special interest campaign dollars and instead devise a powerful consumer protection message for voters left, right and center — voters who can be injured or defrauded regardless of their political views.
Championing a consumer agenda should be a good way to win elections.
