Regulators are neutralized by budget cuts and concealment rather than direct repeal

Evidence

If countercontrol fails in the defanging phase, the battle shifts to weakening the implementation of the regulatory rules by deregulating the regulators, watering down their oversight rules or cutting their budgets so they lack the personnel and resources to enforce the law adequately. This strategy is known as “starve the beast.” Effective oversight also requires transparency of the organizational activities being monitored. Regulators can be foiled by obfuscation and concealment, so battles are fought over transparency rules. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 1528

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines “starve the beast” in the regulatory context as underfunding agencies to render them toothless.
• XREF: Closely tracks the FOIA/exemptions discussion in Troubling Transparency already in the library — transparency rules are the contested ground. — connects to: Funding takings compensation out of agency budgets coerces agencies to self-curb enforcement — Richard J. Lazarus, The Making of Environmental Law, 579; Centralizing budget authority neutralized regional rivals by making them compete for funds — Robert A. Caro, The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the…, 782