[Iran Press TV] The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has warned Texas officials it will take over regulation of greenhouse gases in the state as regulators have refused to follow the rules.
Gina McCarthy, the EPA assistant administrator for air issues, called for the regulation of carbon emissions by Texas environmental officials in a letter, adding that the federal government would take control of the state's permitting program if the goal is not achieved.
"The unwillingness of Texas state officials to implement this portion of the federal program leaves EPA no choice but to resume its role as the permitting authority," said McCarthy, adding that 167 facilities, many of them reported to be power plants and oil refineries, would be the subject to the permit rule.
Katherine Cesinger, spokeswoman for Rick Perry, the current Governor of Texas, however, said the new rule is not necessary since Texas has reduced air pollution with "market incentives and stable regulation, not costly mandates and overreaching legislation."
"The EPA's misguided plan paints a huge target on the backs of Texas agriculture and energy producers by implementing unnecessary, burdensome mandates on our state's energy sector, threatening hundreds of thousands of Texas jobs and imposing increased living costs on Texas families," Cesinger added.
The permit rule requires businesses to consider the best control technology for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Facilities that their annual emissions are above 100,000 tons will be subject to the rule.
Previously, the permit rule only took into account pollutants such as lead, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide, but under the new regulations, carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases contributing to the Earth warming are added to the list.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
"The EPA's misguided plan paints a huge target on the backs of Texas agriculture and energy producers by implementing unnecessary, burdensome mandates on our state's energy sector, threatening hundreds of thousands of Texas jobs and imposing increased living costs on Texas families,"
Exactly as it is designed to do. Did you really think it was about air quality?
#5
If pushed, Texas will push back. Do the dhims really want to start a pushing war with the Republicans fully in charge of the house? Might have to cut some fat from the budget from YOUR agencies. Just sayin'.
Plus, Texans don't like being pushed around. They get all cranky when that happens. Just ask Mexico.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/27/2010 10:29 Comments ||
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#7
This could get interesting. As a matter of law (as interpreted by the Courts) Texas is required to abide by the EPA regulations. Texans may not like it, but what can they do about it? Their practical right to reject Federal jurisdiction ended in 1865. I can see refusal resulting in massive loss of Federal funding and relocation of Federal facilities. But if Texas can't stand up to out-of-control Feds, nobody can. In the end it's going to have to come down to enough INDIVIDUALS around the country saying 'Enough!' and taking the consequences. How many individuals would it take? Certainly many million.
#8
Texas is not alone. Agricultural states are under attack by the EPA and the farmer rancher is a very independent type of person and a serious player in many states. If Texas challenges the Fed on this many states will join.
#9
Stall and lawsuit for the next two years, then O'bullshit's OUT and sanity returns.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/27/2010 11:33 Comments ||
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#10
I notice that the Media, the Left, and the Establishment RINOs are all saying that Obooboo is going to win in 2012, since there is no one in the Republican Party to go up against him. Funny thing is that they are predicting the lack of opponents 2 years out from an election with a President that is more unpopular than Jimmy Carter was.
#11
There was a Reagan visible in the wings to face Carter. I don't see anybody out there with both his potential AND credentials.
And the current administration is far more Stalinesque in understanding that it matters most who COUNTS the votes.
#14
Before O was elected I said he would be in for eight years. I see nothing as yet to derail the repeat performance. Media and many of our country have a short memory. Everything that has happened so far will either be forgiven of forgotten. Rino's and many on either side will attack any strong candidate we field. Look at what we have now for a President. He has been given a pass on everything. So the polls look bad. Too many now rely on some sort of government aid. Bush said to the effect that when they get to Washington they will be forced to make the decisions that will make us hold our nose. The bitter medicine may kill the patient now. Sorry but the Sate of the Nation stinks. This will be a long winter.
#15
#13 Mr. M yes. Defund is only nuclear option now. The problem is the consequences for those in office.
I suggested this defunding before but the response was we can't do that. The patient is on life support and the plug cannot be pulled at this point.
Managed triage only way to go.
#18
The 2011 Texas Legislature will confront the EPA Immediately.. The Obama regime saw the people of Texas in the November elections purge Austin of many Democrats and saw the people of Texas elect Rick Perry to an un-precedented additional term. EPA knows this, so Jan 2, 2011 was chosen as a day to attempt to superceed the inevitable. The 10th Amendment of The US Constitution that recognizes state sovereignity over mandates to states that are not, mandates not written within the US Constitution will be the first legal challenge to the EPA (i.e. Wickard vs Fiburn 1942) that will prove that such Federal actions will do harm to inter-state commerce, trade and taxation. The EPA morotoriums could cost Texas at least 300,000 jobs. Texans know this. They spoke in November. Texans WILL have their way.
Obama calls Eagles owner to congraulate him for signing Vick
By Chris Chase
Michael Vick(notes) has been getting support from all sides during his road to redemption. He's now getting it from the leader of the free world.
NBC's Peter King reports that Barack Obama called Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie earlier this week to congratulate him for giving Vick a second chance after his release from prison. According to King, the president said that released prisoners rarely receive a level playing field and that Vick's story could begin to change that.
Forget your political allegiances or feelings about Michael Vick and take a step back to think about this. The sitting president of the United States went out of his way to publicly praise a man who, 3 1/2 years ago, many thought would never play again in the NFL. Even the most ardent believers in Vick couldn't have fathomed a turn-around like this.
In retrospect it seems obvious that Vick would get a second chance in the NFL, but it wasn't so clear-cut back when he was lying to the commissioner, getting sternly admonished in federal court and serving out a sentence at Leavenworth. We tend to take for granted unbelievable events when they slowly unfold before our eyes. The step-by-step nature of these sorts of tales tend to minimize the shock when taken in over a long process. So though it now seems like it was all pre-destined to work out like this, it wasn't: Vick's rise and fall and rise is a truly stunning tale. He went from star to pariah to inmate to backup to MVP candidate to political prop for the leader of the free world all in a span of a couple years.
[Related: Obama and Kobe Bryant talk trash]
For Obama to praise Vick now shows a number of things, namely that uttering the quarterback's name is thought to be a safe political move. He's playing the best football of his life for a playoff team and was the second-leading vote getter for the Pro Bowl. At the moment, he's the model of redemption, someone worthy of praise.
Because, if you think about it, Vick got that "second chance" from Lurie 16 months ago. There was no phone call from the president then. Praising Vick at that time would have been a political third rail. But now that Vick is playing great and most people seem to have either forgiven him or stopped caring about his transgressions, it's a shrewd political move. After what could be termed a rough two years in office, the president is looking for a second chance from the people who have turned against him over the past two years. Supporting a huge star like Vick could help with the president's recent image problems. It may not register much nationally, but it couldn't hurt in Pennsylvania. After all, it's a swing state and 2012 is just around the corner.
#21
Texas is the state best situated to take on the Feds. And if they stand tall other states will follow.
I'd like to see Texas closing Federal offices and escorting Federal employees to the Texas border. What's The One going to do about it? Stop sending money? Two can play at that game, and guess what happens to Bammo's ability to borrow when faced with the real possibility of losing all his tax revenue from Texas? Then what? Send in Federal troops? Will they follow those orders? From Bammo? Sorry folks, but this battle is entirely one-sided.
#22
tw - 'they can't cheat if it's not close' is what is said. And they lost very few close, significant races. If Zero was close in 2012 you know the needed boxes of ballots would show up in somebody's car trunk somewhere - AND get counted! After all, it would only be fair, after the way the 2000 election was stolen from them - or that's how it would be rationalized by the remaining semi-ethical ones.
#24
Besoeker; Thank you for the Cris Chase post.
"Our Presidents priorities"
The stage is being set. These are politics in motion.
Image over substance. I wonder if he can con the American people again. He's gonna try. He has the cash cow by the throat now. Should he be reelected we will see more of a Chavez approach. Why? because it works.
#26
I don't see anybody out there with both his potential AND credentials.
Glenmore, What about Rick Perry?
My understanding is that Global Warming is going to be front and centre at the next election, with the Obama Admin attempting to push the economy to the sidelines. Basically he is calling Perry out as the next GOP contender.
Sicking the EPA on Texans, that he knows will resist, takes the heat off him and also gives him credence with the Warmistas.
Death panels, one of the most controversial aspects of the bill known as 'Obamacare' will go into effect January 1st, despite having been removed during Congressional debate earlier this year.
Sarah Palin first coined the term 'death panels' in discussing one of the most controversial aspects of the proposed 'Obama care' legislation back in August 2009. The basic concept of the so-called 'death panel' in the original legislation came from the following reasoning: the bill included funding through Medicare for doctors consulting with patients on options for end-of-life care long before they were ever sick. Similar to a living will, this results in an 'advanced directive' in the event that they become too incapacitated to make their own medical decisions. Since 'Obamacare' introduced unprecedented federal oversight of the health-care industry, including amassing data on the cost-effectiveness of medical treatments, opponents of the legislation feared that doctors would have a financial incentive to reduce cost and thereby discourage patients accessing care. More
High taxes kill states. There can be no better evidence than the 2010 Census. The states that lost House seats -- because they're shrinking, relative to the nation -- had taxes 27% higher than the ones that gained seats.
Of the seven states that don't have a personal income tax, four (Texas, Florida, Nevada and Washington) account for eight of the 12 seats apportioned to the fastest-growing states.
New York and Ohio lost two more seats. Other losers -- down one each -- are Massachusetts, Missouri, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Louisiana and Iowa. What do they all have in common? High taxes. ...
The states that lost seats ranked an average of 24th in taxes and had an average tax burden of $2,267 per capita. ... The states that gained seats ranked an average of 39th in taxes and had an average tax burden (weighted) of $1,788 -- 27% lower than the losing states. ...
The trend is unmistakeable: The "losing" states drove out their high-income citizens (and middle-income jobs) with heavier tax burdens.
Nice chart and other info at site. Soon NY and the other states will be filled with only welfare recipients and they will have no one left to tax.
#2
Hey Darth!; Tourists were being shown about Israel. They came upon a new building. That's our new building for taxes. Its similar to your IRS. Wink Wink we call it the new wailing wall.
I heard it on the radio the other day.
Every where you go taxes, taxes, and more taxes.
[Iran Press TV] A recent report shows that members of Congress have held fundraisers on numerous occasions to collect cash during the same period they were drafting new laws.
The Washington Post reported on Sunday that several incidents where the timing of congress's drafting of new laws conveniently coincided with fundraisings and cash collections from wealthy lobbyists -- who often have great interests in the new laws.
In one incident, the members of a joint House and Senate committee worked on the final rules for regulating the financial industry in June 2008 for three weeks. During the same three weeks, the 35 members of the drafting committee collected USD 440,000 in donations from the same industry, which was heavily lobbying for looser rules and regulations.
Members of Congress claim the donations close to key votes are often coincidental.
Earlier this month, Democratic Senator Max Baucus of Montana, who is the chairman of the Senate committee overseeing tax policy, threw himself a birthday party/fundraising event on the same day that the chamber held its first vote on an 858-billion-dollar tax package that would provide breaks to wealthy Americans and corporations. The invitation to Baucus' event solicited money from lobbyists and executives that have great interests in the tax package.
Baucus' office stressed that the senator's votes could not be bought regardless of the fundraisers timing.
"Money has no influence on how Senator Baucus makes his decisions," his office claimed. "The only factor that determines Senator Baucus's votes is whether a policy is right for Montana and right for our country," Baucus spokeswoman Kate Downen said.
A congressional investigative office, the Center for Responsive Politics and the Sunlight Foundation, warned this summer that such last-minute fundraisers could violate ethics rules.
"It makes people wonder: Is the donor making the donation because they are trying to get a particular legislative action? Or is the member soliciting the donation because they feel they have a whole bunch of special interests over a barrel at that moment and can profit from that?" the Washington Post quoted a front man for the Center for Responsive Politics, David Levinthal as saying.
The Office of Congressional Ethics reported this summer that eight members of congress were under investigation over the issue of the timing of donations.
The members had solicited hundreds of thousands of dollars in donation last December from financial institutions just before a critical House vote on new regulations for Wall Street.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/27/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Our government is getting more and more corrupt (not that it was every pure as the driven snow). People have lost faith in it and are losing faith in the process. Not good.
Only allow one term, only allow 60 days to campaign, limit TV spending.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
12/27/2010 11:12 Comments ||
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#3
Now, now 49 - there's no need to go insulting Whores. At least with them you expect to get f*ed so they do provide a needed public service of a sort.
Didn't M-fker Murtha used to do this all the time. They would even give him a dinner event to thank him for accepting their bribes contributions.
#4
It is the collapse of public faith and confidence in our government that is the most chilling aspect of the past decade, accelerating in the past two years. Its not something that returns quickly, if ever. People can see now the incrementalism of big government, like the Obama Medicare decision to administratively invoke the "end of life counseling", making the slide towards death panels actually true. Glenn Beck looks more like the canary in the coal mine than a loon, and that ought to give all of us pause.
#5
Not just public faith and confidence in the Government but in the Media as well. People are waking up and realizing that the Media has been outright lying to them.
#6
Amusing that Iran PressTV has suddenly discovered the issue, and are so highly indignant. Given that their own country is a corrupt religious tyranny and all, I mean.
Congress is always in the process of drafting new laws. That is their job, after all; even when they are officially on vacation or campaigning for re-election, they are wheeling and dealing over the phone trying to move their various projects forward. And, given how expensive it is to run an election campaign these days, if they don't constantly raise funds, they won't be able to run.
My personal feeling is that, while our current batch of Congresscritters is more corrupt than the Founding Fathers, they're probably a good deal less corrupt than the Tammany Hall generation.
#7
Count ALL the "institutions" that have been lying to us:
1. Government at all levels
2. The "Legacy Media"
3. "Hollywood"
4. College & University professors
5. Many if not most secondary school teachers
6. A majority of "scientists"
7. The Left (but I repeat myself)
8. Half or more of all churches
9. The "elite".
Is there any wonder that most of the thinking people in this country are skeptical? What should the "elite" think, but that the "ordinary people" are angry? Of course we're angry! Everyone and their brother have been lying to us for the past 70-80 years. Far too many people think they have the right to remake this nation to conform to their beliefs, and the rest of us can just accept it, or else. It's time to re-assert the Constitution, and start hanging people that think they can ignore it. It's finally torch and pitchfork time. It's going to take courage - a great deal of courage. Unfortunately, I think that's something in short supply at the moment.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/27/2010 13:55 Comments ||
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#8
People can see now the incrementalism of big government, like the Obama Medicare decision to administratively invoke the "end of life counseling", making the slide towards death panels actually true.
What pisses me off is the deceptiveness and lying that has accompanied much of this creeping cancer. The American people have been aced out of the process. They have merely become the source of money to feed this monstrosity.
#9
PEOPLES DAILY FORUM > [Atlantic War] ECONOMISTS: 2011 WILL THE YEAR OF [US-Global] RECOVERY.
and
* XINHUA > 2001-2010: A GAME CHANGING DECADE. Despite its seeming omnipotence, the USA is finding that it cannot achieve its agendum alone, i.e. widout the assistance of traditional + new Allies = various Regional, International States.
* GWYNNE DYER: NEW WORLD ORDER ARRIVED IN 2010, albeit it may NOT be OFFICIALLY/PUBLICLY ACKNOWLEDGED FOR ANOTHER 5-10 YEARS = 2015-2020.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
High taxes kill states. There can be no better evidence than the 2010 Census. The states that lost House seats -- because they're shrinking, relative to the nation -- had taxes 27% higher than the ones that gained seats.
[Iran Press TV] A recent report shows that members of Congress have held fundraisers on numerous occasions to collect cash during the same period they were drafting new laws.
