Tag Archives: Environmental Protection Agency

Who Owns Us?

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“I want the American people to work more for themselves and less for the government.” – Calvin Coolidge

Glenn Beck starts his radio show with that quote every morning. It’s a good one, encapsulating a motto we need to embrace now.

It’s particularly appropriate tomorrow, which Gerri Willis of Fox Business calls the Cost of Government Day. (In Tennessee we are slightly luckier; we hit it June 28th.) She explains:

This Sunday, July 15th, the nation can celebrate the “Cost of Government” day.

That’s the point in the year when we’ve worked enough to pay for the spending and expensive regulations from the government — federal, state and local.That means this year you’ll have worked 197 days on behalf of the government. The date it falls on is a good measure for just how bloated the government has become. This is the fourth straight year “Cost of Government” day has fallen in July.

Until Obama took office, it was late June or earlier, and compared to just a decade ago, you now have to work an additional 29 days to cover your share of the nation’s bureaucracy!

This all comes from the Americans for Tax Reform’s annual report on the cost of government, and the details are a doozy.The biggest driver of these costs is, of course, spending.

This year you worked a full 88 days just for federal spending, and you worked another 40 for your state and local, but that’s just the half of it.

A growing burden is the cost of government regulations. 69 days of the year goes to paying for that. Regulations like Dodd-Frank, or the reams of rules from the EPA, which are already bankrupting coal plants. But of course, July 15th is the just the national average.

Taxpayers in Connecticut will have to keep working until August 9th.

No matter what the country provides for its citizens you have to wonder if this is the role of government. Aren’t we, in fact, enslaved? We have no say in where our money goes. They don’t really want us to know because if we all paid attention, citizens would storm Washington.

Take Planned Parenthood. Please! as the joke goes. People opposed to them are forced into paying for them. Schools we don’t like, trips to Vegas by the GAO, frog and turtle crosswalks; well the list is long and damning.

Coolidge realized the danger of a government growing out of control as did our founders. He has gotten a bad rap from misinformation in our schools. He was harmed by the Great Depression and many erroneously claim he had a role in it.

Garland Tucker at americanthinker.com writes today of him, with application to our current state of affairs and Mitt Romney in mind:

Historian Paul Johnson has called Coolidge “[t]he most internally consistent and single minded of modern American presidents.” Amity Shlaes has written recently that Coolidge believed his first obligation was “to do no harm. His no harm rule came out of strength of character. By holding back, Coolidge believed he sustained stability, so that citizens knew what to expect from their government.” Perhaps one of Coolidge’s own supporters best summarized his record: “Coolidge never wasted any time, never wasted any words, and never wasted any public money.”

Coolidge believed that the role of government was appropriately limited by the Constitution and was convinced of the creative power of individual initiative. Like Jefferson, Coolidge harbored a very healthy distrust of government and a strong conviction that government was appropriately limited by the Constitution. He wanted “the people of America to be able to work less for the government and more for themselves. I want them to have the rewards of their own industry. That is the chief meaning of freedom.” He consistently resisted progressive efforts to expand the reach of government, and he understood it was a moral — as well as an economic — issue: “I favor a government policy of economy not because I wish to save money but because I wish to save people.” He deplored the dependency which accompanies expanded government.

…Coolidge termed high taxes “a species of legalized larceny,” and he knew that the creation of jobs comes from the private sector, not from government. As Coolidge simultaneously slashed top income tax rates from 77% to 24% and reduced government spending by over 35%, GNP grew at the fastest rate ever recorded for any eight year period in U. S. history.

Have we been indoctrinated past the tipping point of return to sane American government? We’ll find out this November.

How Don’t I Love Thee, Let Me Count the Ways

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Glenn Beck reminded people the other day all that Barack Obama has done for us. It’s quite a list. Hat tip Hillbuzz.

1. Universal healthcare

2. Don’t ask/don’t tell gone/Defense of Marriage Act trashed/came out in favor of gay marriage.

3. Justice system has become a political tool (weighing in & commenting on the Trayvon Martin case, which obviously influenced many blacks against Zimmerman)

4. Ended the war on terror. “There is no terror, only legitimate Jihad.”

5. Appointed members of the Muslim Brotherhood to posts in Homeland Security and the Pentagon. Also erased training against muslim terrorists.

6. Labor unions are a full partner in his Presidency.

7. Sueing the state of Arizona over illegal immigration, instead of enforcing existing federal laws.

8. EPA is out of control. Man, they even have SWAT teams over there!

9. Oil moratoriums. He has shut down the largest oil refinery on the east coast. Gasoline has doubled in price since Bush left.

10. Shut down the coal industry. On record as saying he would make it unprofitable and punishing to open a mine.

11. Advanced two ultra liberal judges to the Supreme Court.

12. Demonized millionaire entrepreneurs and Wall Street.

13. Co-opted banks & auto industry. Not fully nationalized just yet.

14. Credit protection agency answers to no one but the the Fed. Outside the Constitution.

15. US Military has been reduced in size, while creating a private state department civilian army

16. Changing foreign constitutions by withholding State Department money if they don’t modify their constitution to approve abortions.

17. Co-opted the media

18. Demonizes anyone with an opinion different from his.

19. Appointed Socialists & Communists revolutionaries to high positions.

20. Gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Socialist-Communist Delores Huerta.

21. Oversaw the basic destruction of NATO.

22. Operations such as Libya, were European-led, not US.

23. Gotten rid of the Missile Shield at the expense of Poland.

24. Given our nuclear codes & missiles from the US & allies to Russia

25. DOJ stopped prosecution of illegal voting in Florida.

26. Has been on a non-stop “apologize for America” tour.

27. Made sure ACORN was a federal budget item.

28. Cozied up with Russians, Hugo Chavez, etal. IOW, our enemies.

29. Massive regulations in place, courtesy of Cass Sunstein

30. Supports Occupy Wall Street, a group made up largely of anarchists, Communists and revolutionaries.

31. EPA can now regulate carbon emissions

32. Michelle Obama is trying to tell us what Americans can & cannot eat

33. Oversaw massive expansion of government dependency, with Food Stamp recipients going from 26 million to 48 million under his administration.

34. Bloated stimulus plans that did little other than benefit liberal pet projects, and funnel money back to Democrat election funds.

35. Student loan system now all governmental.

So the next time someone asks you why you aren’t voting for Obama, let them have it.

I think he forgot to include insulted the British on numerous occasions and insulted the Chief Justices of the Supreme Court while they were in the audience at the State of the Union address.

Thank You, Senator Santorum

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At last Romney’s smear machine has done enough damage to get him the nomination.

His last remaining obstacle, Senator Rick Santorum, announced today that he was suspending his campaign. That’s a euphemism for giving up. Sunday on a news show, Newt Gingrich effectively admitted defeat, too. He doesn’t see a way to get the delegates that would secure the nomination in Tampa this summer. Gingrich has also run out of money. For a while he was asking supporters to buy signs. Now he is in the hole.

Neither Gingrich nor Santorum could match the bucks Romney was willing to use to buy the nomination. He started his negative ad campaigns against Bachmann, Perry, Cain, etc. and went on until they were obliterated. Santorum was always working on a shoestring. It’s amazing he got as far as he did.

At least in Tennessee and Mississippi, Romney’s throwing the kitchen sink at Santorum didn’t work. Too much common sense here for people to believe that Santorum eschews conservatism. In other states, Romney was more lucky. This upholds my view that Southerners are much more savvy than the rest of the country.

While I will not work for Romney, I will vote for him. If Romney is Nixon (and he seems frighteningly as flexible as the man who gave us the EPA and other such liberal fancies), Obama is a monstrous mix of Mao and Stalin. So in that respect, it is an easy decision.

But I am not optimistic about the vote in November. Will Romney take it to Obama the way he took it to Santorum? I doubt it. Our candidates were too squishy to bring up the Mormon business. Obama won’t be. He won’t do it directly, but it will be done for him. I have nothing against Mormons, but they do have some rites that may scare away Americans. Also, the David Plouffe/Axelrod contingent has been set up in Chicago for a year and a half doing opposition research on Romney. If he ever sneezed in a movie theater, they know about it. Does anyone think Romney’s people have been as thorough?

I’m glad Santorum stayed in as long as he did. He, along with Cain, Perry and Bachmann helped push Romney a little more to the right than he might have wanted to go. The Republican establishment has promoted him and wiped away the Tea Party influence. If he loses, it will be on their heads. Rove and company: be careful what you wish for.

Block(ed) Party

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Living in Central Gardens in Midtown Memphis, we have earned the rating of 18th most fun zip code in the nation.

For instance, our block holds a yearly party. It’s the “official” block party vs. the spontaneous party such as the one last week when someone decided to fry chicken and invite the neighbors and their kids over to enjoy it. A band and its members live down the street and are also given to have impromptu wine and porch dinner parties in glorious weather. Anyhow, an e-vitation came yesterday with the day and time specifics.

The band would provide music, parents were asked to contribute to a Moon Bounce and it all sounds great. However, neighbors were asked to contribute to the $400 fee the city asks to block off the street and pay for required security guards and required insurance.

This is how far the U.S. has fallen! Neighbors can’t even plan a party without the government sticking its head in to tell us how we should do it. God forbid people just gathered from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. to have some family fun! The city decides it wants a piece of the action, too. So we have to have some kind of permit so that the government can get some Benjamins.

I suppose we should be grateful that they don’t require medics to be on hand. That Moon Bounce could get dangerous! Or that we don’t have to pay some kind of liquor license since Memphians might be walking down their blocked off street with a glass of Pinot Grigio. The horror!

Today if our ancestors wanted to have a house or barn building party where people came out to build something in a day they wouldn’t be able to. Think of the licenses, inspections, EPA rules and building fees it would require.

They might have headed back to the old country.

Marsha Blackburn Responds to Speech

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This morning Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn appeared on Fox Business Channel’s Stuart Varney show to discuss President Obama’s speech last night to a joint session of Congress.

The Republican Tennessean said she got thousands of emails and “I did telephone town halls with over 10,000 constituents last night after this speech and repeatedly what we heard from individuals was no new taxes, no new government regulations, please let’s get government out of the way. Please, Mr. President, we don’t want any more stimulus. It didn’t work the first time, it’s not going to work again.”

Varney asked her if Republicans would agree to a cut in the payroll tax which funds Social Security.

“You’re always looking for ways to allow the taxpayers to take more money. What we’re hearing from our constituents is wait a minute, these trust funds which Medicare and Social Security are, well we’re reading these reports from the trustees, they say they’re going to go broke. We’ve heard that Social Security had to go to the general fund and cash in an IOU a couple of times last year because we’re short in the funds. Tell me what this means for us in the long term.

“I think what individuals are wanting to see is thoughtful legislators who are going to be respectful of the American people who are going to listen to what they have to say, who are going to make certain that the commitments that were made to our seniors and near seniors as government had first right of refusal on that paycheck, that they’re going to make good on those commitments. They want common sense and consensus to carry the day and not the bickering that has taken place in statements like ‘go pass my bill.’”

Varney asked her about her guest, Henry Juszkiewiecz, Gibson Guitar CEO.

Blackburn said, “When the president said he wanted to see more products around the world stamped ‘made in the USA’ I wanted to stand up and say what about Gibson Guitars? This is an iconic, over a hundred year old American company and they have imported rosewood from India for many years and you have armed SWAT teams that go into these plants and shut down the artisans who are making these instruments. That is no way to get more products stamped with made in the USA. If you want more products that are stamped with made in the USA let’s cut some of this environmental regulation. Let’s roll back the EPA. Let’s make OSHA stand to the side . Let’s have a one year moratorium on all of these rules and regulations the administration wants to bring on and let’s bring back manufacturing the light bulb and stamp it made in the USA!”

Wake Up, Little Susie

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Have you seen Susie? She’s the cute little girl in a Verizon  ad selling lemonade. She has a simple stand in front of her house. As Dad leaves, he drops off a phone so that she can use it to calculate profits. Susie, who is way smarter than any adult as they are in TV land, immediately takes charge. She realizes she can use her phone to map her sales areas. Next thing you know, she’s sitting in a board room as CEO. She has people trying to keep up with her as she inspects her new lemonade outlets.  Susie is such a success, Dad can’t even get to see her without an appointment.

The message seems to be that hard work, smarts and the right equipment can make the American dream come true, even for a kid.

Sorry, Susie, but there are more lemons than sugar in that ade you’re pumping.

It used to be like that in the U.S. Entrepreneurs with a good product could pop up, work themselves silly and find success. Not now. The ad forgets one very important person.  Uncle Sam.  In the real world he’d be following Susie around like gum on a shoe. He wants a part of the action, for sure, but that’s not the only thing.  If Susie lived in the real world, today Sam would be standing in her way at every turn.

He would tell her Susie, please! What about fat kids or diabetic kids? You can’t be pushing that sugary juice in Michelle Obama’s world. You can sell it, but with warning labels. You had better have a low calorie version and you had better list every ingredient on every glass. Let’s not forget that obesity is the greatest problem society faces, according to them. We just don’t need any more fat kids or kids hopped up on candy type drinks. Ever hear of the Twinkie defense?

Susie, are you adding tax to that brew? If there is one thing that makes Sam the maddest, it’s you keeping the profit. Girl, get ready for an IRS sit down before you’re put down.

Then there are taxes you must pay on those employees running around for you. Payroll tax, social security tax, state income tax; they all have to be deducted. And that’s just the start.

Do you have a business license? Do the lemonade makers wear hair nets? Has your kitchen been inspected? That costs money, Susie, and we’re not talking change.

Then there’s the EPA. Has your kitchen been tested for lead? Are you using organic ingredients? Are you green? Let’s hope those cups you’re handing out aren’t styrofoam. They had better be biodegradable, recycled materials or Sam and Michelle are going to be very mad.

Lucky for you there was a minority person in the ad. We can’t leave any group out what with affirmative action. Keep that in mind as your business grows, Susie, because there are lots of lawyers out there just waiting for a slip up. Ask Wal mart or Micky D.

Susie, you’ll have to come to a decision about health care. Somebody’s got to pay if they get sick. What if lemon squirts in someone’s eye? Things could turn sour, and fast.

Susie, I’ve just peeled off a few layers of Sam’s demands. You’d get loaded down by lots more with your city and state. You’d be crying uncle before you’d get a seat in that big boardroom you like.

Have you thought about a newspaper route? It’s a dying business, but rumors suggest Sam might get in to help you out.

Think about it, Susie.

And Yet He Wants More

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In the State of the Union, Obama called for more “investing” in certain fields. Larry Kudlow points out that in the last three years education spending has gone up 209%, energy spending up 150%, EPA spending 126%, transportation up 71% and science up 47%. Do you see any direct results from that massive amount of money?

Satire? No, the future

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money-go-roundI had just put up my bicycle in the garage – so much room in there now since the government and Ed Begley Jr. persuaded me to dump my carbon footprint making, gas pedal throttling Toyota – when I realized I had forgotten to buy a replacement light bulb.

A few weeks back I had (clumsy me!) dropped my energy efficient mercury light bulb. Weeks of cleaning furniture, washing bedding, removing carpet and airing out the room for days (I follow my EPA directions!) ensued. Now, when I finally was able to remove my gas mask and pedal to the store I left my list behind and forgot the bulb.

How could I have forgotten it? Well, there’s a lot on my mind since my aging parent had to report to the Donald Berwick Senior evaluation center. Her hip was hurting a lot for months and she was hoping to get a replacement. At 63 they deemed she would be an inefficient use of the taxpayer money under our new Health Care Reform bill (they’re probably right, she was a stay at home mom and a real drag on society) so Mom’s going to move in with us.

Now the builder and my EPA agent were going to arrive soon to talk about making an extra bedroom for her and it would have to be done in the dark.

Yes, it will be costly to make a new bedroom. But, lucky for me, without car payments I was able to pay for the thousands of dollars in environmental compliance upgrades mandated by the Home Star Retrofit Act of 2010. And with my Smart meter installed I don’t have to rely on my own eyes to check the thermostat to make sure it’s at the most energy saving level; the government does it for me! Think of the money I’ve saved paying out thousands in energy savings. And they say Obama doesn’t care! Sure he does, and Congress, too, since they passed the Home Star Efficiency loan and I can conveniently use Fannie Mae as my official lender.
But back to the bedroom. We won’t make it too big, especially since I’ll have to pay for the installation of proper hookups for charging an electric vehicle. Not that I have one, but the guy working for the builder will have to charge his up somewhere, as he makes improvements, won’t he? He was one of the 400,000 lucky people in the right demographic group allotted his for free! Isn’t government wonderful? I’m sure he could use it with all his family now coming across the border since Obama declared amnesty.

Should anyone think this scenario is far fetched and unlikely, take a look at the latest Senate energy bill unveiled last week. These proposals are in it buried under pages devoted to “Oil Spill Response,” “Reducing Oil Consumption,” “Protecting the Environment” and other innocuous sounding titles. In essence, though, it is a move towards more government spending and social engineering.

Check out the article “Poison Pill: The New Senate Energy Bill” at www.americanthinker.com and then tell me this can’t happen here.

Top Draw

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Of course, the main speaker everyone wanted to see and lined up an hour and a half before, was Sarah Palin. She had many people championing her, especially veterans. Each seat in the ballroom had placed on it a cellophane wrapped caribou jerky with a tag, “An Alaskan Snack from Sarahpac.”

To her question “Do you love your freedom?” she got a roaring response. Palin noted that “the party of Lincoln and Reagan is back!” Good to hear that she emphasized her party affiliation.

Media reported her retort to Obama, who criticized her as “no nuclear expert,” chiding him by noting  his career as a community activist was hardly good preparation for nuclear expertise. She targeted the Obama doctrine as one that appeases our enemies and makes enemies of our friends. Palin spoke of the smoke and mirror energy plan of Obama and dubbed the EPA as the “Energy Punishment Agency.” When she said “shoot” as a minor expletive, she quickly apologized with a wink. My favorite comment, “Don’t retreat, reload,” brought laughter and applause as well.

Anyone who discounts this lady does not have an idea of her enormous popularity.