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2011-08-30 Home Front: Politix

House GOP leaders outline sweeping attack on EPA rules

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Posted by trailing wife 2011-08-30 00:00|| || Front Page|| [2 views ] Top

#1 The EPA needs to be wiped out totally. It no longer has anything to do with environment.

Posted by newc 2011-08-30 01:19|| 2011-08-30 01:19|| Front Page Top

#2 Under the State and Religion separation clause?

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2011-08-30 05:04|| 2011-08-30 05:04|| Front Page Top

#3 If you play this game, they'll fight just as hard to change as to remove the agency. If you're going to put that much into the fight, make it for the whole thing. When you 'negotiate' reforms, you're only going to get a partial of what you're looking for. If you start from nothing after eliminating the creature, then the other guy will only get a partial of what he's seeking afterwards in any future negotiations.

Posted by Procopius2k 2011-08-30 08:10|| 2011-08-30 08:10|| Front Page Top

#4 2013 - a housecleaning of Obama/Donk apparatchiks needs to be done at all agencies: DOJ, DOS, NHS, EPA,...

Posted by Frank G 2011-08-30 08:19|| 2011-08-30 08:19|| Front Page Top

#5 If only a housecleaning would do it, Frank. This garbage has such deep cultural roots (primary schools, universities, textbooks, media, etc.) it'd be more like trying to kill the cancer without killing the patient.

Posted by RandomJD 2011-08-30 08:29|| 2011-08-30 08:29|| Front Page Top

#6 Restrictions of "the big six" are good. Lead for instance is really nasty stuff. However, plant food" is not pollution, and hasn't caused any problem to date*. AGW zealots are the problem.

* and the science is in, although it's not well publicized: The sun causes the earth to warm. 60+ scientists from 17 worldwide institutes agree and working at CERN have published their results in Nature magazine. It's technical and and involves solar wind, cosmic rays and clouds, not direct solar heating effects. The problem is, will anybody read it?

Don't abolish the EPA though. I remember back when the air was so bad that I had to it chew first.

Posted by My two cents 2011-08-30 08:47|| 2011-08-30 08:47|| Front Page Top

#7 Nobody would argue against clean air and clean water, but those goals were accopmplish years ago.

Dismantle the EPA and sow the ground with salt.

Posted by SR-71 2011-08-30 09:26|| 2011-08-30 09:26|| Front Page Top

#8 Abolish the EPA.

Eliminate federal funding of environmental NGOs.

Give private entities the right to sue polluters for damages.

Half of proceeds from suit go to medicaid.

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2011-08-30 10:01|| 2011-08-30 10:01|| Front Page Top

#9 #4 2013 - a housecleaning of Obama/Donk apparatchiks needs to be done at all agencies: DOJ, DOS, NHS, EPA,...
Posted by Frank G

With your permission Frank, may I also add FBI, DARPA, ATF, DHS, The Department of Education, and any involvement with the UN, Pakistan, Russia, and China to your list?

Posted by Besoeker 2011-08-30 10:09|| 2011-08-30 10:09|| Front Page Top

#10 Cleaning the air and water has very little to do with the EPA of today - which has been taken over by Environmental extreamists more interested in destroying American industry in favor of socialism than actually improving the environment.

The EPA is now composed of watermelons - green on the outside - red on the inside.

A housecleaning wouldn't do it. It's like a cancer turning good 'cells' into bad ones and some cancers simply have to be cut out. And not just the EPA but every other agency on Besoeker's list.

Posted by CrazyFool 2011-08-30 10:19|| 2011-08-30 10:19|| Front Page Top

#11 Any agency stupid enough to classify Carbon Dioxide as a pollutant has to be outright killed.

Posted by CrazyFool 2011-08-30 10:21|| 2011-08-30 10:21|| Front Page Top

#12 The real problem is that Congress has abdicated its responsibility to unaccountable third parties by deliberately passing vague statutes. Only clearly written laws with specifics will alleviate barriers to growth. The problem with totally out of control bureaucracies is that it mirrors that of out control federal judges. I do not wish to trade one for the other.

Address the cause of the problem and the rest will follow.

And that's already more than my two cents worth. Thanks for the bandwidth Fred.

Posted by My two cents 2011-08-30 10:38|| 2011-08-30 10:38|| Front Page Top

#13 Yup. Barney Frank did an interview recently where he was chortling about the Dodd-Frank bill -- about how he and Dodd deliberately made it vague so that the regulators would have more 'room' to make new regulations.

That's a law that should be repealed right after ObamaCare.

Posted by Steve White 2011-08-30 10:44|| 2011-08-30 10:44|| Front Page Top

#14 Can we add the Dept of Labor to the list, too? - Signed, a concerned HR professional

Posted by IG-88 2011-08-30 10:59|| 2011-08-30 10:59|| Front Page Top

#15 chortling about the Dodd-Frank bill

America Gives China A Mineral Monopoly
Rather than run the risk of buying any minerals that might have been smuggled from the Congo, many major mining companies are simply refusing to buy minerals from central Africa. The result is a de facto embargo. There are few buyers for Congos valuable minerals, especially tantalum and tungsten which have many hi-tech uses. This has damaged the Congos economy, because the nation relies on mineral exports. According to some sources, China, which does not have to meet Dodd-Frank standards, is snapping up many minerals at very cheap prices.

Posted by Eohippus Phater7165 2011-08-30 11:44|| 2011-08-30 11:44|| Front Page Top

#16 Private companies can do what is needed for the environment. I do not know where people believe the government is more trustworthy than private organizations. Private organizations (people) started these movements in the first place. And yes, the other agencies are just as useless and wasteful.

Dept of Education has never risen standards - nix it.
Dept of Energy never got our Country self sufficient on energy - nix it.

I have no idea what the DOT was supposed to do but it's .. useless.

on and on down the line. We need to erase half of this federal government.

Posted by newc 2011-08-30 11:45|| 2011-08-30 11:45|| Front Page Top

#17 Isn't the DOT responsible for the Interstate highway system? One might content that it (or rather the Interstates) really are authorized by the commerce clause.

Of course other parts of it are not authorized - for example regulations.

Posted by CrazyFool 2011-08-30 12:10|| 2011-08-30 12:10|| Front Page Top

#18 Maybe building them, but the states then become ultimately responsible? Mead wrote about it yesterday - quite pertinent to this conversation.

Posted by newc 2011-08-30 12:24|| 2011-08-30 12:24|| Front Page Top

#19 Isn't the DOT responsible for the Interstate highway system?

The federal construction of 'highways' predate the Big 'I' system or the existence of the DOT. The modern I system was justified as a 'national defense' project during the Eisenhower administration, having seen the utility of the Autobahn in Germany at the end of the war. However, that was the justification back when people actually believed in the letter and intent of the Constitution and sought ways to rationalize the appropriations which were intended really as a jobs program. At least back then the public got something 'concrete' for the money spent.

Posted by Procopius2k 2011-08-30 13:35|| 2011-08-30 13:35|| Front Page Top

#20 This I remember, Procopius2k. I looked it up and it seems to regulate a punchbag of agencies - Oversees federal highway, air, railroad, and maritime and other transportation administration functions; components include the FAA, FHA, FRA, NHTSA, Alphabet, etc.

Still, is it a keeper?

Posted by newc 2011-08-30 14:24|| 2011-08-30 14:24|| Front Page Top

#21 The modern I system was justified as a 'national defense' project during the Eisenhower administration, having seen the utility of the Autobahn in Germany at the end of the war.

That, and Eisenhower's experiences in moving troops across the U.S in the 1919 U.S. Armys Cross-Country Motor Transport Train from NYC to San Francisco. It took 62 days.

Posted by Pappy 2011-08-30 15:21|| 2011-08-30 15:21|| Front Page Top

#22 shut down Department of Agriculture (USDA)
shut down Department of Commerce (DOC)
keep Department of Defense (DOD)
shut down Department of Education (ED)
shut down Department of Energy (DOE)
keep CDC only Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
shut down Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
shut down Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
keep Department of Justice (DOJ)
shut down Department of Labor (DOL)
keep Department of State (DOS)
dunno Department of the Interior (DOI)
keep Department of the Treasury
keep Department of Transportation (DOT)
back to dod Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)

Shut all these down with a few exceptions

Independent Agencies and Government Corporations

A

drop Administrative Conference of the United States
drop Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
drop African Development Foundation
sell AMTRAK (National Railroad Passenger Corporation)

C

KEEP Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
drop Commission on Civil Rights
keep Commodity Futures Trading Commission
drop Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
drop Corporation for National and Community Service
keep Court Services and Offender Supervision drop Agency for the District of Columbia

D

keep Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board
drop Director of National Intelligence

E

drop Election Assistance Commission
States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
drop Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
sell Export-Import Bank of the United States

F

drop Farm Credit Administration
sell Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
keep Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
drop Federal Election Commission (FEC)
drop Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
drop Federal Housing Finance Board
drop Federal Labor Relations Authority
keep Federal Maritime Commission
drop Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service
States Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission
keep Federal Reserve System
drop Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board
keep Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

G

keep General Services Administration (GSA)

I

drop Institute of Museum and Library Services
drop Inter-American Foundation
drop International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB)

M

drop Merit Systems Protection Board
drop Millennium Challenge Corporation

N

sell National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
keep National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
drop National Capital Planning Commission
drop National Council on Disability
drop National Credit Union Administration (NCUA)
drop National Endowment for the Arts
drop National Endowment for the Humanities
drop National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
drop National Mediation Board
drop National Railroad Passenger Corporation (AMTRAK)
keep National Science Foundation (NSF)
drop National Transportation Safety Board
keep Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)

O

drop Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission
drop Office of Compliance
drop Office of Government Ethics
drop Office of Personnel Management
drop Office of Special Counsel
drop Office of the Director of National Intelligence
drop Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive
drop Overseas Private Investment Corporation

P

drop Panama Canal Commission
drop Peace Corps
drop Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
drop Postal Regulatory Commission

R

drop Railroad Retirement Board

S

keep Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
drop Selective Service System
drop Small Business Administration (SBA)
keep Social Security Administration (SSA)

T

sell Tennessee Valley Authority

U

drop U.S. Trade and Development Agency
drop United States Agency for International Development
drop United States International Trade Commission
sell United States Postal Service (USPS)

Posted by rammer 2011-08-30 15:34|| 2011-08-30 15:34|| Front Page Top

#23 Shorter list, rammer: Shut down every agency/department that is not expressly permitted by the enumerated powers of the federal gummint in our Constitution.

Not a "penumbra"; not a "this would be a good idea."

What's permitted? Off the top of my head, the Department of Defense (War), an Interstate Commerce Department (truly interstate, not the crap they have now), and a State Department.

Notice I don't say the Commerce Dept. or the State Dept. we have now.

Since federal courts are authorized, guess we would need some kind of small Justice Dept. (not the out-of-control Chicago politics one we have now). A Treasury Dept. Probably there are others, but I'm in a hurry.

Posted by Barbara 2011-08-30 15:46|| 2011-08-30 15:46|| Front Page Top

#24 Nice detailed list, rammer. With your permission, I may like to repost it elsewhere with modification at an appropriate time (for effect)

Posted by newc 2011-08-30 16:14|| 2011-08-30 16:14|| Front Page Top

#25 But Yes, Barbara, These departments are merely Congress abdicating their elected responsibility to un-elected bureaucrats. Maybe we should make Congress do their job.

Posted by newc 2011-08-30 16:24|| 2011-08-30 16:24|| Front Page Top

#26 Good list. But some of those should be moved to the states and not absolutely abolished.

Others would need a lot of inter-state corrodination.

I can see a Federal role in facilitating (and only facilitating - no regulating and no control over) those functions. For example the FAA is needed to manage and corrodinate our avaition systems and someone should manage Food and Drug standards and requirements ( yes we need someone who insures that someone doesn't put dangerous drugs or medical devices on the market) - but the Federal Government should have no control over it - NONE!

Posted by CrazyFool 2011-08-30 16:46|| 2011-08-30 16:46|| Front Page Top

#27 Yes, feel free to use the list, it comes from some dot gov site anyway.

As for bad medical products we already have a full time private police force looking out for the public on those. They are called malpractice attorneys.

Posted by rammer 2011-08-30 16:49|| 2011-08-30 16:49|| Front Page Top

#28 "As for bad medical products we already have a full time private police force looking out for the public on those." And do not forget the professional private organizations that join companies together for professional excellence.

And yes crazyfool - most should be handled at the state level. There is already plenty of redundancy.

Posted by newc 2011-08-30 17:12|| 2011-08-30 17:12|| Front Page Top

#29 Alright, who let the secret out about the "Vast Right Wing Conspiracy " having its own source of clean air & pure water? It was supposed to be a secret, remember. Sheesh!!

Posted by Steven 2011-08-30 17:51|| 2011-08-30 17:51|| Front Page Top

#30 I thought they said they were gonna kill Obamacare first.

I'm still waiting....................

Posted by BrerRabbit 2011-08-30 19:00|| 2011-08-30 19:00|| Front Page Top

#31 Justice Thomas and Virginia AG Ken Cuccinelli are working on killing Obamacare.

Posted by Bobby 2011-08-30 19:19|| 2011-08-30 19:19|| Front Page Top

00:02 JosephMendiola
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