FLASHBACK March 2011: Obama on Deporting Illegals ‘America Is a Nation of Laws,’ Presidential Action Not ‘Appropriate’
Obama Administration Moves Forward on Climate Change Without Congress
Forthcoming regulation likely means no new coal-fired power plants will be built in the United States
By Rebekah Metzler February 22, 2013
President Barack Obama is tired of waiting for Congress to move on legislation to reduce carbon emissions, and his administration is poised to move forward on actions to do just that—including a move that will effectively eliminate the possibility of any new coal plant opening in the United States, experts say.
“We can choose to believe that Superstorm Sandy, and the most severe drought in decades, and the worst wildfires some states have ever seen were all just a freak coincidence,” Obama said during his State of the Union address. “Or we can choose to believe in the overwhelming judgment of science—and act before it’s too late.”
Source: http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/02/22/obama-administration-moves-forward-on-climate-change-without-congress
Sure, let’s ignore China and Germany building new coal plants like there is no tomorrow because some activist idiots (led by “death train” Hansen)have made the weak minded afraid of the weather.
What happens when people start dying in the cold winters because they can’t afford electricity? This is already happening in Britain. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2240716/24-000-died-cold-homes-winter-Fears-grow-figure-higher-year-spiralling-bills.html
My comment to this unlawful presidential action spurred on by irrational fearmongering activists like Bill McKibben and 350.org is simply “Up yours, Mr. President“.
h/t to reader e. c. cowan
Ditto, Anthony!
“Up yours, Mr. President“.
This is chilling.
Winters are not going away. Energy bills will soar.
You have to weep for what this man and the AGW hogwash are doing to this formerly great land.
So far, the only “promises” made by this president that have been kept are the ones that have direct and negative impact on US citizens. All other promises made, such as ending war, stopping torture, bringing economic growth and prosperity have all been proven to be only empty rhetoric. So sad. For a supposedly intelligent and loyal American, he has chosen to be anything but.
Nice Job Barry. The US economy could use a good kick to the nuts right now. You know, whatever, your job is safe.
Much like what he is doing on education. He will have his fundamental Transformation whether the voters want it or not. He truly does mean an internal noetic transformation within people in terms of values, attitudes, feelings, and beliefs using education. What was being pushed as social and emotional learning anyway and hiding as unappreciated meanings of student achievement and growth is now angling to come in the front door as mental health first-aid.
Part of those changed beliefs is the belief that Gaia has a temperature and the reasons are man-made increases in carbon dioxide. This necessitates the reorganization of the US economy around Sustainability with government officials and bureaucrats in a position to designate the economic winners and losers. All this Industrial Policy being needed to stop the catastrophe assumed to be pending and impossible to disprove. So we have Dirigiste Mercantilism around a Low Carbon theme that just happens to benefit loyal supporters and their priorities and interests.
Most of us then are now to have a subject-sovereign relationship to government in the 21st century. We just are a bit more aware of such things here at WUWT than the general public is.
I share your sentiments Anthony.
How about the little matter of a charge of fraud and wilful deception, both for Obi and Billie.
An elegant and appropriate response. Thanks!
This is legislation by the executive branch. It is a clear violation of our constitution, and therefore an illegal abuse of Presidential power. We need to force the Supreme Court to address this issue.
Any ideas?
The stupid, it burns. I know not what it is about cAGW that makes people so bloody clueless. It is painful listening to blowhards like Obama and Kerry speak on the matter. It is a damn shame what is happening in the US right now (speaking as an observer from north of the 49th). I have always been a great admirer of the US, and to see it in decline (IMO) is like watching a good friend slowly die from disease of one sort or another. Death by 1000 cuts, as it were. As I said, a damn shame.
This president is quite frightening.
He and his administration don’t think rules or laws apply to them.
Until the press actually starts reporting we are screwed.
Don’t tell me the Michigan Militia was right!
What will happen if the energy suppliers begin restricting their service areas to those seviced only by ‘compliant’ generating plants? Areas previously supplied by coal plants can use windmills.
Really chilling? Where were you when Cheney instituted searches of every email in the U.S. without legal oversight? Torture of US and foreign citizens in secret prisons?
I am not happy about carbon dioxide regs either, but to act as if our rights have not been eroding since 9/11 is to ignor reality. This is a much broader issue.
Does anyone really believe that King Obama is going to just step aside when his current term expires?
How did America get to the point where the President has the power to close down electricity generating plants at his whim? Was this the tripartite division of power envisioned by the founding fathers?
If I were the coal guys I’d run to attack the legality of this … but of course, they have to be careful, because King Obama the First has already said it’s legal for him to kill any American he wants to with drones because … well … um … because Obama said so, and if you don’t like it, well perhaps you’d like a vacation at Guantanamo, you remember it, the place Obama swore to close.
And as a result, looks like this year may bring us the first drone strikes on coal plants, or perhaps that would create too much “coallateral damage”, he’d likely just hit the Big Coal executives in their cars or homes or something, Because we know Obama doesn’t care about the wives and kids of the people he’s decided to murder, he’s shown that many times.
I say “murder”, because it is not done with due process, it is not decided by a jury of the man’s peers, he has no right to appeal, it is not authorized under the Constitution. He could have been a hundred miles away from what he’s alleged to have done, but he gets no chance to protest his innocence, he has no right to present witnesses. Nothing.
What happens is that one man decides to kill someone, and another man dies.
I call that murder, because that’s what it is.
w.
PS—Obama has refused to say whether it would be legal for him to order a drone strike on American soil … are we feeling safer now?
Brad says:
February 22, 2013 at 10:33 am
Since Obama has continued and even increased Cheney’s searches, where were you? To act as if our rights have not been eroding since his inauguration in 2009 is to ignore reality. This is a much broader issue.
w.
Due process soon will include the Pres. signing an executive order that makes CO2 emissions a crime with jail time and declare that blogs like this are accssory to the crimes and subjet to fines also.
Just watch one of his recent events, try to watch several of them, understand what it protends ahead for all of U.S..
Yes this thread is a correct response.
When he or his help mates attack you direct here your will have firm evidence that you are a danger to them.
At tha point be on guard and do not give them a opening to attack you via Eric Holders Justice Dept..
Another executive order that will hit the elderly and the poor hardest—just the individuals he needs eliminated. As Hitler called these and others: “Useless Eaters” or “Life Unworthy of Life”.
These “T-4” programs of Hitler were also put into real practice by Margie Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood.
Federal euthanasia is the next “T-4” cog in the wheel to follow high energy costs, and Obamacare and the death panels.
Willis: 100% spot on. Murder.
Barry will retire to his $40 mill Beach front mansion in Hawaii along with his $100+ mill trust fund from his rich socialist patrons. Not bad pay for 8 yrs of golf. holidays and fundamentally wrecking the US economy!
From a strategic perspective, this administration scares the crap out of me.
Lets not go overboard. A judicial review of any EPA new regs is for sure in the cards. The justices hate having to do science, but they will have to, because the EPA has stopped doing it.
Willis,
“Was this the tripartite division of power envisioned by the founding fathers?”
Surely the tripartite division of power was simply based on the British tripartite division of power, with a few tweaks. And do we really want to go into what was envisioned by the founding fathers? They had some pretty weird ideas on race, for a start.
Americanos, unfortunately mostly handwaving. You had a chance to kick him out, you did not. Republicans picked a lame duck candidate Romney who never never had the slightest chance of winning being a Mormon etc. You will have to put up with this horse**** until the next election. Rubio is the ONLY winner the republicans have currently got. Lets hope they dont f*** ** again!
As someone who owns some working interests in natural gas wells and who also invests primarily in natural gas producing companies, I rejoice at this move which will mandate an ever increasing demand for Nat Gas plants and thus a steadily increasing price! Anyone connected to the o & g drilling business should profit handsomely from this move. (and yes, especially Exxon, who should finally get a nice payoff from their purchase of XTO energy a couple years ago – so much for sticking it to “the big guys”.)
Sorry for all you consumers out there who are going to get the shaft when you have to pay these higher prices, but hey, you’re the ones who voted for this guy.
For more on what “the king” is doing . . . .
http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ceq/initiatives/adaptation
http://www.whitehouse.gov/energy/climate-change
I’m in the same mindspace as Eliza. The Republicans lost the last presidential election because they couldn’t beat an incumbent that somehow turned out to be a worse performer than Bush. So America and the world gets another four years of economic decline under Obama.
It’s exactly what a (small) majority voted for. There is no longer any chance of a reversal. The body of people supporting the march toward Socialism is growing daily.
It will take one or more States to secede from the Union before those believe in freedom and personal responsibility will once again have a home. But I’m not even sure that can happen when states like Texas are packed with liberals.
Sorry folks but Climate Central has many a ‘news’ release paving the way for, and mitigating this action. Go figure.
I only hope that Comedy Central has been informed as well.
http://www.climatecentral.org/search?q=obama&x=0&y=0
“There’s a war on coal in America — or at least that’s what players in the coal industry say. They’re not entirely wrong. Coal prices in the U.S. are falling and coal plants are being retired. Most of that change is being driven by what analysts refer to as “market conditions” — otherwise known as shale gas and fracking, which has driven prices for natural gas down, down, down. That’s encouraged utilities to phase out coal in favor of cleaner natural gas — a transition that has been accelerated by federal environmental regulations that will increasingly limit the sort of air pollution associated with old coal plants.”
Read more: http://science.time.com/2012/11/21/the-war-on-coal-is-being-won-in-the-u-s-but-the-real-battle-is-overseas/#ixzz2Leh55c1w
But the footprint of shale gas mining, extraction, and transportation releases more GHGs than a refitting and production of cleaner coal plants. Coal = Romney and Shale gas = Obama.
The push has been on to replace old plants with new ones and start construction by the end of 2012, since 2004: http://www.netl.doe.gov/coal/refshelf/ncp.pdf see p 18
The now “no more new ones” is just spinning the plan all along.
And anyways, more than a 1,000 plants are planned worldwide, anyways,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/nov/20/coal-plants-world-resources-institute
No worries, trillions of tonnes of Green House Gases (GHG) will be released no matter what the spin tornadoes say. If it has no effect…well then hallelujah…and Amen.
CAGW is like an autoimmune disease destroying a society: an overactive immune response of mankind against substances and tissues normally present in the environment.
There is a cure though: knowledge!
Keep fighting the good fight, Anthony!
One day knowledge and common sense will prevail!
Well at least you get to keep the coal power stations you already have. In the UK they are preparing to dismantle existing coal fired power stations to meet EU directives.
If someone had told me 5 years ago that we would be seeing clear violations of our constitution, I would have never believed them. We live in scarey times.
The President has been treated as a spoiled child.
Instead of vigorous pushbacks from all who claim to care about the Consitution, and public exposure from a press committed to preervation of our liberties, we instead are experiencing a slow motion train wreck: His policies do not work, will not work and the price- our financial future and the rule of law, is tragic.
“Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind” comes to mind.
Mike Smith says:
February 22, 2013 at 11:06 am
It’s exactly what a (small) majority voted for. There is no longer any chance of a reversal. The body of people supporting the march toward Socialism is growing daily.
————————————————–
Yup. President Obama himself doesn’t really irritate me. It’s the fact that we elected him that really gets under my skin. He’s just one of the more visible symptoms of the stupidity of our society – what else would we expect though, of our nation of Honey Boo Boo followers, most of who couldn’t even tell you the name of the Speaker of the House?
Don’t misunderstand me. I understand why we have a democratic republic and I don’t have a better solution to propose than that. All I’m saying is, President Obama isn’t the root problem; our averaged out stupidity as a people is.
I say, encourage the great one.
Every generation the parasites seek to rule over the productive.
They will fail again.
Obama and crew are believers in global government and the superiority of the educated class.
Same old song, we the bureaucrats, NGOs too, can better run your life than you can.
Therefor we deserve to live at your expense, leeching off of production.
We the never productive, are best fit to control production.
The progressives are engaged in massive overreach.
This is good, informed citizens are necessary for the republic to function, ditto for a democratic civil society.
51% of voters, who voted, are current believers, that the liberal, progressive methods work.
I call them ill-informed, as I believe policies based on theft must run out of willing victims.
Current government policies and practises are hurting the producers already and that damage will be felt by all voters, increased tax bite, combined with less income and freedom.
Socialism is wonderful, until you run out of other peoples wealth.
These are the times when citizens wake up, our liberal progressive friends are strange, they mistake silence for agreement, so when they scream down any doubters they seem to assume they have consensus.
What they actually have is increased resentment, anger and obstruction.
The failure of Obama and friends great vision and the exposure of the complicity of the our government agencies, the UN and the fake environmentalists, will be a boon to this generation.
A taste of Zimbabwe will create more informed citizens, that any amount of outreach and logic.
@Bob Diaz says:
February 22, 2013 at 11:14 am
What makes you think there is anything different than 5 years ago. It’s not . . . .
http://www.innocenceproject.org/about/Mission-Statement.php
How many people still say OJ did it.
What’s wrong with you people?
I call it part and parcel of being a visionary.
If he allowed these coal fired plants to be built, what would happen when he closes down coal mining The nation could suffer.
So sad. For a supposedly intelligent and loyal American, he has chosen to be anything but
Oblarny ? intelligent, loyal ? Have I misread. What bloody planet are you from? He is Kenyan, unintelligent though damn crafty and slimy. Sorry if I misread.
+1 to Joey’s comments at http://joannenova.com.au/
Pachauri quietly blows goalposts away, pretends to like skeptics. It’s all PR to keep the gravy train running
Spot on.
The good people of Boulder, Colorado, USA are trying to buy out the local (Xcel) power company so they can righteously shut down the historic coal-fired Valmont power plant. It produces steam and some of the Gas of Life. Boulderites hate the Gas of Life and want to ban it from the People’s Republic of Boulder. Less power to them.
“My comment to this unlawful presidential action….”
I’m sorry, but it’s not unlawful, as Congress gave the Executive these powers when they created and paid for the EPA in the first place. From at least the meat packing scandal in 1905, the executive has been granted power by Congress to make these controversial decisions, so that they wouldn’t have to. It’s the same way we go to war now. They write the declaration in a way that give the Exec the decision to go to war so that they won’t suffer the consequences. See the mealy-mouthed ” Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq” as a perfect example. They gave the Pres the ability to go to war, and then some – the opposition party Democrats – claimed to be shocked and disapproving when he actually did.
And I do agree with Brad to a point. It’s funny that partisans only get concerned about excessive executive action when it’s controlled and done by the other party.
Brad says:
Really chilling? Where were you when Cheney instituted searches of every email in the U.S. without legal oversight? Torture of US and foreign citizens in secret prisons?
I am not happy about carbon dioxide regs either, but to act as if our rights have not been eroding since 9/11 is to ignor reality. This is a much broader issue.
Brad, you’re absolutely right. It IS bigger, because both D’s and R’s are responsible. Now, Cheney has been out of office (as VICE President, BTW) for 4 years. Obama is in office now. So do we gripe about the past, or deal with the present?
“He did it too” is no excuse.
Read the Dily Mail article. And what was the response by the warmists?
Dave Timms, of Friends of the Earth’s Warm Homes campaign, also called for government action, saying: ‘The Government must take action to tackle this homemade humanitarian disaster by ensuring we all have warm and energy-efficient homes.’
How about ensuring we have reliable source of energy? Like keeping our coal-fired power plants running until new plants are built – preferably gas (using UK fracked sources), nuclear (but just about all the energy companies have pulled out because of the lack of policy) and coal – there is over 300 years’ of the stuff underground in the UK!
I bet dollars to doughnuts that most of the coal saved from this action gets shipped offshore.
From where I live (UK) I see the USA has piles (of trouble) and it seems that Barack (Preparation) H Obama figures he is the suppository. Hah!!
Well, if I had a “Sophie’s Choice” between Merkel’s no nukes and BO’s no coal, I’ll choose the latter(cough . . cough). Since most Western countries are really in a No Growth condition, no one in the US will notice shortages for another 10+ years. By then, the other party will get the blame. Of course there are minor inconveniences like long term base load plant replacement that will be put off. Oh, the gas and turbine people must be giddy.
Vince Causey says:
“Well at least you get to keep the coal power stations you already have. In the UK they are preparing to dismantle existing coal fired power stations to meet EU directives.”
Yup. Except the Germans, who failed to meet their co2 cuts under said pointless EU directives can build nearly 30 coal fired power stations instead. Maybe if we are nice we can buy electricity off them.
Perhaps Obama has joined the Sierra Club and now no longer feels obligated to accept the law?
Perhaps he will take instruction from Pres. Brune to “fight with both fists” and chain himself to the White House fence and get arrested?
http://news.yahoo.com/sierra-club-chief-arrested-white-house-protest-183450169–politics.html
Is anybody really surprised by this? I’m not.
Demonstration Project for Earth Day 2013: Turn off every coal fired power plant for 24 hrs.
Just think of of the damage such an “project” would cause to the electrical grid, power plants, the economy, and the enevitable lives lost to blackouts and brown-outs. Just a dispassionate discussion of the disaster that would unfold might be instructive.
How long would it take to restart the grid? How would it be done?
How long would it take to restart industrial processes designed to run 24/7?
How could we monitor the problem with nearly all communication turned off?
How much food would have to be discarded?
How many windows would remain unbroken?
“If someone had told me 5 years ago that we would be seeing clear violations of our constitution, I would have never believed them. We live in scarey times.”
I’m not a constitutional law expert. I’m not even a lawyer. IN fact, I’m not even very bright. But if Obama were to do something that actually violates the constitution, it could and would be challenged. The supreme court as currently constituted would almost certainly strike down such a law. Moreover, the Supreme Court has actually shown themselves to be reasonably sophisticated wrt “global warming.” Was it R.B. G. who made the statement to the effect the the science was far from settled. Who’s more liberal then she?
We are witnessing a coup. Obama intends Congress to become powerless and irrelevant. Expect him to declare himself president-for-life soon.
“…eliminating coal-fired power as an energy source could have drawbacks because the pollutants emitted would no longer be there to block sunlight and slow warming.” — NYT Green blog
So, to slow global warming we actually need to build more coal-fired power plants not fewer.
When one statist, redistributionist, poorly conceived program fails that means we need another statist, redistributionist program.
In other words, if it moves, tax it, if it stops moving, subsidize it.
Joseph Adam-Smith says:
February 22, 2013 at 11:40 am
“Read the Dily Mail article. And what was the response by the warmists?”
Yeah classic socialist responses… “Our socialism is failing… badly. We “fixed” it for a few years by becoming more socialist. So clearly the reason why our socialism is failing is because were not socialist enough.”
They created the probems they have now and the only fix they can figure out is more government. Its like raising taxes… it fixes every problem and if you are at 100% taxes well raise them to 200% that is the only possible fix.
Are you serious? Did you see how the court twisted itself into knots for the ObamaCare ruling? The Roberts court runs under a doctrine of doing whatever is necessary to make a law constitutional, no matter how bad the law or how illogical the ruling.
There are too many violations of the constitution by the Obama administration to list, but here are some highlights:
The Chrysler bankruptcy proceedings were unconstitutional as the bond-holders were denied their constitutional rights to their property and to due process.
The de facto amnesty Obama gave to some illegal aliens is unconstitutional as it complete ignores federal law.
The intervention in Libya was unconstitutional as their was no Congressional authorizatio. (Only Congress can declare war. BTW: a declaration of war does not have to include the actual words “declaration of war.”)
The ban on drilling on the Gulf after the courts lifted the ban was unconstitutional
The recess appointments to the NLRB while the Senate was not in recess are unconstitutional.
An opinion: Capitalism and Socialism must be in dynamic harmony, since either extreme unravels society.
An observation: The present CEO of the US, Obama, is marching along the same incremental progression of the state towards “fascism” for at least 50 years, maybe more.
fas·cism (fshzm) n. 1. often Fascism a. A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism.
b. A political philosophy or movement based on or advocating such a system of government.
2. Oppressive, dictatorial control: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/fascism
A more extensive definition can be found here:
http://www.anesi.com/Fascism-TheUltimateDefinition.htm
My use of quotes is to extend the definition to include a case where the “dictator” is not one person, but a group of people…errr…like wa11 street ex3cut1ves
Consider; that corporations are people with rights to free speech, the many executive orders that circumvent constitutional rights since 1995 (accelerated after 2001), the Patriot Act, the Right to Work Act, the…
Im done, lets get back to climate concerns, please.
I do not think the coal industry will suffer at all, they will be supplying coal to the “last minute” coal plants that where build, in excess of closed plants (since 2004), and in particular the big push in 2012 (so as to be old plants before the edict).
kramer: so i will take your bet, unless offshore could mean Mexico or Canada or Central America.
Beyond all this drama it is business as usual.
please have a look at what the carbon tax is doing to Australia we are going down the drain the only hope for a Australia is a change of GOV,T in september and it looks like the labor party has cooked its goose
john robertson says:
February 22, 2013 at 11:23 am
“…Socialism is wonderful, until you run out of other peoples wealth.
These are the times when citizens wake up, our liberal progressive friends are strange, they mistake silence for agreement, so when they scream down any doubters they seem to assume they have consensus.
What they actually have is increased resentment, anger and obstruction…”
*
You’ve summed that up brilliantly, John. That’s exactly how I see it. I find it interesting that people are waking up despite the MSM trying to keep everyone duped. I used to think we needed the MSM, now I’m beginning to see we don’t. When the rage starts, it’s going to get bloody, and God help the lot of them then.
Ed_B wrote (10:46 am):
“The justices hate having to do science, but they will have to . . .”
And what makes you think these “luminaries” will be any more willing to take a good, hard look at the science than they did in April, 2007? (Lisa Greenhouse, “Justices Say E.P.A. Has Power to Act on Harmful Gases,” New York Times, 4/3/2007).
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/03/washington/03scotus.html?n=Top%2FReference%2FTimes%20Topics%2FOrganizations%2FS%2FSupreme%20Court%20
To use the old phrase, “don’t hold your breath.” I say that first because you’ll be helping to improve our climate by exhaling CO2, and then because the watermelons would have you do otherwise.
Real and good change takes a long time . . . .
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/18/mississippi-fixes-oversight-formally-ratifies-13th-amendment-on-slavery/
This is the next step.
Well the US Constitution in article I Section 8, authorises the Congress to make a uniform law for bankruptcy nationwide. Seems perfectly reasonable to me. That did not stop the emperor from simply seizing GM from its owners, and giving it to his auto worker union buddies.
In article IV section 4, the same document says that the Unied States (that’s the feds) shall guarantee to every State in the Union, a Republican form of Government (NOT a democracy); and SHALL defend each of them against INVASION !
It does NOT say armed invasion, simply invasion. Note that is NOT in article I section 8, which tells the Congress what they MAY do. It is in a separate place and it tells THE UNITED STATES government what they MUST do.
So just when is the emperor going to protect ANY State against invasion, let alone all of them.
The present “family unification” Ted Kennedy legacy immigration law is destroying this country, and needs to be repealed.
An immigration visa, should permit the new immigrant to bring a spouse (if any) and any minor children, they would be responsible for under US law; and NOBODY ELSE FOR ANY REASON.
The idea of immigration is to bring into America, persons, who want to become Americans, and start a NEW LIFE in America. It is not to import a body of culture from some foreign place, and turn it loose on the American people.
Parents, grandparents, greatgrandparents, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, cousins, nephews, nieces, whatever, already have a life wherever they are. It serve no purpose to import them to America, just because a member of the family, wants to become an American and start a new life here. It should be self evident, that none of the above would prevent any other person, from applying for a US immigration visa on their own, should they want to stand in line to become Americans.
America does not issue hyphenated immigration visas.
On a related issue; the emperor wants to grant citizenship to those of age, who were dragged unwillingly to the USA by their parents, and have been good law abiders in the US ever since, and haven’t broken any laws.
It follows, that EVERY ONE of those innocent undocumented persons, brought here by their parents, and being of male gender, did on attainingt he age of 18 years, promptly register with the Selective Service System (izzat 5 days or 10 days) , just as is required of all male Americans older than 18 years, and younger than 26 years. Note that on reaching the age of 26, one is also no longer eligible for Obummercare on the parent’s policy, so you need to buy your own medinsurance.
So how many of the 30 milllion invaders, who are also males between ages 18 and 26, did as required and comply with the selective service registration provision of US law; well we are told they are fine upstanding law abiding folks aren’t we ??
@Kajajuk says: February 22, 2013 at 12:28 pm
You really were on a roll with your discussion of facism, despite your strange opening contention about socialism and capitalism.
Orwell said the word “fascism” no longer has any meaning. Originally, fascism was created by Mussolini to replace socialism because he believed socialism’s focus on class and class warfare was preventing any progress. In the Road to Serfdom, Hayek traced fascism’s roots from socialism. Fascism is not a form of capitalism.
BTW: Can you show me a Supreme Court ruling that says corporations are people? The Supreme Court held in Citizens United that it was unconstitutional to ban free speech through the limitation of independent communications by corporations, associations, and unions. In laymen’s terms, we don’t lose our rights to free speech when we form together into groups.
Well, in the case of Germany we have to say that the reason they’re building so many coal plants is quite obvious. When 3-11 happened in Japan and Fukushima had some issues, the Germans went nuts.The German S&R team fled Japan, in Germany Geiger counters were sold out, the media was quick to compare Fukushima with Hitler’s last bunker and political parties (the Green ones) milked Fukushima for their own political gain stating that Fukushima could happen in Germany tomorrow.
So they decided to turn off all their nuclear power stations.
Then they realized that wind and solar can’t supply the country. Yes, they realized that AFTER they decided to turn off the nukes. And now they’re scrambling to find a solution for this before their entire economy collapses.
Sigh. Who is John Galt?
It’s ok, so long as hopefully things remain relatively sane in Canada, we’ll build all the coal fired plants you won’t, and you can buy your power from us – and it will still be cheaper than any of the green energy fantasies.
And to Mr Everard… unfortunately while the MSM is a vile incestual bloated dinosaur, it still does basically feed us all these things to discuss. Blogs such as this would have very little to discuss otherwise, so in a weirdly symbiotic way, we need the very thing we despise. Now there is the odd paper released that we’re aware of due to the great minds spending time on this site, but the vast majority of it is pay walled, and the layman simply doesn’t care enough to actually spend notable amounts of their discretionary budget on it.
What the MSM needs (quite literally for their own survival) is a return to balance. Journalism is now activist editorialism for the sad majority of publications, and we mensch are not cooperating enough like dumb sheep (well, at least 47% of us), we know when we’re not reading “just the facts ma’am”.
“””””…..
Mike Alexander says:
February 22, 2013 at 11:40 am
“My comment to this unlawful presidential action….”
I’m sorry, but it’s not unlawful, as Congress gave the Executive these powers when they created and paid for the EPA in the first place. From at least the meat packing scandal in 1905, the executive has been granted power by Congress to make these controversial decisions, so that they wouldn’t have to. It’s the same way we go to war now. They write the declaration in a way that give the Exec the decision to go to war so that they won’t suffer the consequences. See the mealy-mouthed ” Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq” as a perfect example. They gave the Pres the ability to go to war, and then some – the opposition party Democrats – claimed to be shocked and disapproving when he actually did. …..”””””
Well doesn’t the Constitution give the Congress the authority to declare war. It doesn’t specify what words they should use. They don’t have to couch it in the words that Roosevelt spoke in Dec 1941.
They approve most things (or not) by taking a vote. Congress itself does not have the machinery to wage a war. So they take a vote to have the executive branch to go do it with the military machine that the CIC does in fact have.
So they did that three times after 9/11. The first by a vote of 534:1 I believe, to combat terroroism, and subsequently on Afghanistan, and Iraq, by lesser votes.
The lone dissenter on the first vote, being a congressman from Oakland, was presumably English Language impaired, and did not understand the meaning of the word “necessary”, or that to vote to NOT do that which is deemed necessary, is a fairly good definition of insanity.
Around the end of the Roman Empire, the emperors were making similar decisions to accelerate their own decline.
Obama will not be remembered as being one of America’s best presidents, just as one of its more forgettable ones.
Kajajuk says: February 22, 2013 at 12:28 pm
An opinion: Capitalism and Socialism must be in dynamic harmony, since either extreme unravels society.
————————————————————–
Capitalism is an economic system that is concerned with the creation of wealth. Socialism is a government system that is concerned with the distribution of wealth. Socialists usually assume there is a fixed quantity of wealth and attempt to distribute it evenly in the interest of “fairness”. They do this not by elevating the poor, but by penalizing the wealthy.
Capitalists, on the other hand, continuously look for a cheaper way to provide more desirable goods and services. If not everyone shares in the benefits, well, that’s not their problem.
China currently has a society with a capitalist economy operating within a dictatorship. Financially, it’s working well for them.
Kajajuk says:
February 22, 2013 at 12:28 pm
An opinion: Capitalism and Socialism must be in dynamic harmony, since either extreme unravels society.
——————————————————–
I don’t generally take up the capitalism vrs socialism argument on this blog, but I’m at least going to briefly express my disagreement with this opinion this time.
The only sense that capitalism and socialism need to be in ‘dynamic harmony’ is in the same sense that a parasite must be in ‘dynamic harmony’ with its host in order to survive.
I didn’t really follow the bit about Wall Street executives. I think it’s sloppy thinking to blur the distinction between the type of power a Wall Street executive has and a government has. Didn’t follow your point there, but whatever.
“The lone dissenter on the first vote, being a congressman from Oakland, was presumably English Language impaired, and did not understand the meaning of the word “necessary”, or that to vote to NOT do that which is deemed necessary, is a fairly good definition of insanity.
That would be Barbara Lee, I think. I too thought she was crazy at the time, but I’ve come to respect her, even though I don’t agree with her politics. At least she had the guts to vote against something she believed in, which was that going to war against Iraq was wrong. It’s too bad more Congress don’t show the same amount of guts in the face of tremendous public pressure. If she’s crazy, and if crazy means voting how you really think instead of pretending to be for or against something, maybe we need more crazy people in Congress.
To say the least, I think Obama’s wrong on several levels here.
Well, let’s see if Congress can or will stymie him. I’m doubtful.
From Willis Eschenbach on February 22, 2013 at 10:35 am:
Wasn’t there something in an oath somewhere about defending the country against all enemies “foreign and domestic”, using any and all means at your disposal?
Welcome to the future:
Death from a swarm of tiny drones: U.S. Air Force releases terrifying video of tiny flybots that can can hover, stalk and even kill targets
This is what they’re working towards. Mini-drones, deployed in swarms, that can carry small packages of poisons, incendiaries, explosives.
How many times have you heard on the news of people dying in horrific house fires, so intense the investigators never find the cause?
But sometimes it’s clearly traceable to careless smoking, evidenced by the small spot on the flammable couch or bedding identified as the starting point, or perhaps it’s an unattended candle catching curtains on fire. Etc.
Of course, these days even civilians have access to lasers so powerful you could shine them through someone’s window and start a fire, from a considerable distance away.
BTW, Willis and others, the Veterans Administration may be trying to get in touch with you. If you’ve ever had PTSD, got help coping with stress from military service, were declared unfit for military service, etc:
SHOCK REPORT — Veterans Receive Letters From VA Prohibiting Ownership or Purchase of Firearms
“Thank you for getting screwed up in service to your country, even if it was temporary and treatable. Now admit you’re a threat to the republic and the public and give up the weaponry. Don’t worry, we’re your government and we’ll take care of you.”
The most recent tranche of Richard Windsor emails released (redacted ENTIRELY) is a classic of the Obama Era.
http://www.globalwarming.org/2013/02/22/what-epa-transparency-looks-like-in-most-open-honest-administration-ever/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+globalwarmingorg+%28GlobalWarming.org%29&utm_content=Google+Reader
In 1952 in the case of Youngstown Steel & Tube v. Sawyer involving President Truman, the court held:
“In the framework of our Constitution, the President’s power to see that the laws are faithfully executed refutes the idea that he is to be a lawmaker. The Constitution limits his function in the lawmaking process to the recommending of laws he thinks wise and the vetoing of laws he thinks bad.”
Only Congressmen and Senators are elected to make laws on behalf of the people. In using executive orders to bypass the authority of Congress the president is acting contrary to Article I, Section 1 of the United States Constitution which reads: “All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States…”
On January 16, this year, President Obama signed more executive orders than past presidents signed during their whole terms in office. By using executive orders he is subverting the constitutional separation of powers and behaving as an autocrat.
As long ago as 1999 a bill was introduced to Congress “to restore the separation of powers between Congress and the President”. Named ‘Separation of Powers Restoration Act’, it included the following:
“As a limit on governmental power, Constitutional framers vested Federal powers in three coequal branches of government, each with unique and limited powers and each with a coequal duty to uphold and sustain the Constitution of the United States.
“A Supreme Court justice stated, ‘The doctrine of the separation of powers was adopted by the convention of 1787 not to promote efficiency but to preclude the exercise of arbitrary power….to save the people from autocracy.
“A congressional committee print has noted that, ‘[b]ecause the President has no power or authority over individual citizens and their rights except where he is granted such power and authority by a provision in the Constitution or by statute, the President’s proclamations are not legally binding and are at best hortatory unless based on such grants of authority.’
“The Supreme Court has stated that, even if Presidents have, without congressional authority, taken actions only the Congress may take, ‘Congress has not thereby lost its exclusive constitutional authority to make laws necessary and proper to carry out the powers vested by the Constitution ‘in the Government of the United States, or any Department of Officer thereof.’
“Treaties or Executive Agreements which purport to assign powers not amongst those specifically granted to the Federal Government by the Constitution are non-binding and cannot constitute law.
” (a) The President shall include with each Presidential order a statement of the specific statutory or constitutional provision which in fact grants the President the authority claimed for such action.
“A Presidential order neither constitutes nor has the force of law and is limited in its application and effect to the executive branch.
“The following persons may bring an action in an appropriate United States court to challenge the validity of any Presidential order which exceeds the power granted to the President by the relevant authorizing statute or the Constitution:
(1) CONGRESS AND ITS MEMBERS- The House of Representatives, the Senate, any Senator, and any Representative to the House of Representatives, if the challenged Presidential order–
(A) infringes on any power of Congress;
(B) exceeds any power granted by a congressional enactment; or
(C) violates section 4 because it does not state the statutory authority which in fact grants the President the power claimed for the action taken in such Presidential order.
(2) STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS- The highest governmental official of any State, commonwealth, district, territory, or possession of the United States, or any political subdivision thereof, or the designee of such person, if the challenged Presidential order infringes on the powers afforded to the States under the Constitution.
(3) AGGRIEVED PERSONS- Any person aggrieved in a liberty or property interest adversely affected directly by the challenged Presidential order.”
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/106/hr2655/text
Though the bill was not passed in 1999, given the way the president is undermining Congress by way of executive orders, perhaps it is time this or a similar bill was introduced to reestablish the safeguards of the US constitution.
Readers here might be interested in precisely where Barack Obama came from. He was lured to Chicago by Tony Rezko who is now serving time in prison (oh, to know what he knows). In fact Obama bought his ‘tony’ (excuse the pun) Chicago Hyde Park home through the maneuvers of Rezko. I always thought it interesting that Obama would choose to pick the most corrupt state, Illinois, to launch his career. And Chicago, is unarguably the epicenter of that corruption. During his early days in Chicago, Obama befriended Alice Palmer, Illinois State Senate representative in the capital in Springfield (Abraham Lincoln’s home). The U.S. congressional rep in Washington for that district, Mel Reynolds, went to prison for sex crimes relating to the affection of a 16 or 17 year old admirer, oh, and of course, corruption. Funny how life works because that is what paved the way for Obama’s rise to fame. Obama’s mentor, Alice Palmer, started a campaign to run for Reynolds’s vacated seat. Per usual in Chicago there were a slew of Democratic candidates (and probably no Republicans) vying for that seat in the primaries. Jesse Jackson Jr. (that name should be familiar) entered the fray, ultimately winning the election, and now, years later, packing his bags for a vacation in the slammer. Once Jackson ran, Alice Palmer knew he’d be unbeatable so she went to return to her state senate seat but Obama stabbed his former mentor in the back (watch out, Hillary!) by taking her to court over allegations of, get this…voter fraud – in Chicago?! Without opposition he got her seat, proceeded to vote ‘present’ 130 times (keep your thoughts to yourself), and then gerrymandered his Chicago Hyde Park District. The only election he lost after that was when he ran against the wildly popular Bobby Rush, former Black Panther member. From Springfield Obama basically sailed into the senate seat in Washington and the rest is history. But not exactly. Illinois Governor Rod Blogojevich would wind up in the slammer (ahead of Jesse), one of a mere four Illinois governors to go to prison, in this case for attempting to sell Obama’s vacated senate seat. Needless to say, the angelic Obama never entered into this dirty business. At least not directly. During Rod’s trial, testimony revealed that Barack recommended, of course not directly but through a union steward, that his seat be occupied by a person of true stature: his brave envoy to Iran; his alter-ego, Valerie Jarrett.
This is the Nobel Peace Prize Winner, the healer of the planet, the stopper of the riseth of the oceans, the constitutional scholar, who presides on a plain far above us mortals. Why of course he can shut down an industry with the snap of his fingers. Do you have a problem with that?
Allen says:
February 22, 2013 at 11:01 am
“I’m in the same mindspace as Eliza. The Republicans lost the last presidential election because they couldn’t beat an incumbent that somehow turned out to be a worse performer than Bush. So America and the world gets another four years of economic decline under Obama.”
I assume that you are not aware of the extent that the MSM including television, newspapers, and our schools have been taken over by the progressives and democrats in the US. A large part of the Media had an agressive agenda to trash Romney and Republicans every day and night while twisting every issue or ignoring important news such as Fast and Furious and the Bengazi debacle. These were covered up by the administration and the media which in fact criticized Romney when he discussed the travesty. Would you believe that an administration could make up a story that it was the video that caused the demonstrations/attacks in the middle east and sell it so well? Oh! the media sold the story by ignoring the facts. The electorate was mis informed.
The most dangerous government situation is one where the compliant media is in the tank for any administration, which then becomes emboldened to assume more power and commit more egregious lies and acts.
I live in a “blue” state and stopped buying the local newspaper because it constantly bashes R and covers up for D’s. Thats how our state fell from one of the most wealthy to one going down the tank in 6 short years with excessive spending.
Romney experienced a huge head wind both during the primary and during the election and lost by only a few % points. I don’t blame him as much as I credit the media for the outcome.
“””””…..Mike Alexander says:
February 22, 2013 at 2:41 pm
“The lone dissenter on the first vote, being a congressman from Oakland, was presumably English Language impaired, and did not understand the meaning of the word “necessary”, or that to vote to NOT do that which is deemed necessary, is a fairly good definition of insanity.
That would be Barbara Lee, I think. I too thought she was crazy at the time, but I’ve come to respect her, even though I don’t agree with her politics. At least she had the guts to vote against something she believed in, which was that going to war against Iraq was wrong. It’s too bad more Congress don’t show the same amount of guts in the face of tremendous public pressure. If she’s crazy, and if crazy means voting how you really think instead of pretending to be for or against something, maybe we need more crazy people in Congress……”””””
I think maybe you didn’t read what I wrote Mike.
The vote that went 534 :1 had nothing to do with the Iraq war. It was to authorize the President to “do whatever is necessary and appropriate to curb international terrorism.” ergo to vote against doing what is necessary is insane.
Nobody said Congressman Barbara Lee couldn’t debate what it was that may be necessary; in that I agree with you she had a perfect right to represent what her Oakland constituents would want her to do; they after all elected her to do their bidding.
As to the Afghan and then Iraq wars, I didn’t keep track of her or anyone else’s vote, but I would guess that she voted no on both of them. Fine, that is what the role of Congress is.
But the fact remains that the Congress on all three occasions, did vote by a majority of both houses to go to war. And it is the job of the executive branch to implement what Congress passes.
I’ll make no judgement here as to the merits of what the Congress did; the fact is they did it, both Republicans and Democrats and independents, as they saw fit. The President did what he was told to do; not how to do it.
We can also choose to believe that the US dustbowl and high heat were also just coincidence. ‘Science’, as he has pointed out, has told us that the meteorite and the close miss of the recent asteroid was also just coincidence which I choose to believe.
It’s called BAD WEATHER, which is not just a thing of the past.
America is dead as a democracy. Obama has killed it. I encourage companies to start moving their head offices offshore.
What we have in North America is Capitalism, supposedly, but it is mitigated by a type of welfare state, or ad hoc socialism; as a means to mitigate the effects of Capitalism. Instead, my bizarre statement was to embrace both extreme philosophies as a dualism. The statement was inspired by the incorrect use of socialism moniker for Obama, he is a shrewd politician who’s words and actions (or lack there to) are not mutually inclusive. Funny how in such economic times of ‘socialism’ corporate America are recording, albeit quietly, profits.
so·cial·ism /ˈsōSHəˌlizəm/ Noun A political and economic theory of that advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated…(in Marxist theory) A transitional social state between the overthrow of capitalism and the realization of communism.
Thank you for the astute relation between the F-ism and S-ism; all the more reason to be precise.
So (regarding Citizen’s United) they are again to be heard by the Supreme Court next Tuesday, and will win. And if not now, then next time or the next time or…
(they must win in preparation for 2016)
Consider:
http://www.raps.org/focus-online/news/news-article-view/article/2608/in-landmark-ruling-court-sees-off-label-marketing-as-protected-free-speech.aspx
http://reclaimdemocracy.org/corporate-personhood/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/21/citizens-united-california-constitutional-amendment_n_2728560.html
http://tucsoncitizen.com/in-the-aggregate/2013/02/22/citizens-united-2-0-u-s-supreme-court-to-lift-aggregate-limits-to-campaign-contributions/
Many paradigms are modeled on the balance between two extremes:
The nature of light: wave and particle
Tao: yin and yang
You cannot change my mind on philosophies of society. Only on scientific theory.
No worries here i am a powerless as the American underclass.
Tom O says:
February 22, 2013 at 10:25 am
So far, the only “promises” made by this president that have been kept are the ones that have direct and negative impact on US citizens. All other promises made, such as ending war, stopping torture, bringing economic growth and prosperity have all been proven to be only empty rhetoric. So sad. For a supposedly intelligent and loyal American, he has chosen to be anything but.
====================================================
Gives you cause to wonder who the real enemy is doesn’t it. Are WE THE PEOPLE THE ENEMY or is it Obama and his minions?
The goblins released by the Russian revolution have their apotheosis in Obama. All of the very worst human attributes are on display, including endless, deliberate lying by the President of the U.S., and psychological projection, and immorality, and theft of the labor of the productive citizens, and a complete perversion of the rule of law, in which supporters are rewarded financially, lawbreakers are given amnesty, and anyone who disagrees with “The Won” is destroyed.
This will not end well for honest people, who are specifically targeted by the goblins. It may take several centuries, or an act of God, to put things right.
Hi Dan,
Exactly! And that is why a balance needs to be struck.
We are part of a dis-harmmonious collusion between capatalism and socialism.
China’s dictatorship has embraced the strive for harmony between the competing paradigms; hence their great success. The dictatorship mentality will be mellowed in time.
Capitalism evolves to where a machine workforce produces the cheapest products that only 1% can afford.
Socialism evolves to an impoverished ruling class.
I’ll happily take that act of God, D. B. Stealey (5:04 pm). Didn’t He say about the last days that “good will be called evil, and evil good?” And concerning honest people, (or, in this case, our Dear Leader who passes himself off as one), let me quote an old mentor: “I wouldn’t trust that SOB if he said good morning to me.”
Well this idiot got voted in didn’t he. The once great US of A is done.
A caveat, I am powerless as…, but a singularity and not 150,000,000 strong. The transformation of communist Russia to a ‘democracy’ was relatively smooth but i wonder if…
Relax Catcracker, unless martial law is proclaimed from D.C. the republicans will rule in 2016. It is definitely their turn.
@ Dan in California,
Socialism makes sure that wealth is limited and then shrinks it out of existence.
Strange how people will not produce when you try to rob them blind.
Kajajuk: “democracy” (5:36 pm)
Political paradigms (and history) prove democracy is simply a multiplicity of wolves deciding who they’re going to devour next. A constitutional republic (i.e., the “rule of law” as opposed to “the rule of men” [where the majority usually wins for lack of an objective standard] is the ideal, but as Ben Franklin stated cogently, only “If YOU can keep it.” Rules and standards always apply in science, weather, religion and governance. “Consensus” is ever the road to ruin, even if it makes one feel good during the trip.
But John, the word has a definite meaning, in its simplest:
A political and economic theory of that advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated”
It is not robbery when the villagers know that they are to share the excess of their labours with their neighbors. People produce because they are alive, and share because no one can provide all. It is a model of existing used throughout human history from the Inuit to the Marshal islands (well before that is, now not so much), All “primitive” societies had a very strong socialist slant within their tribe, capitalism (i postulate) evolved from tribal wars and resource competition (the generation of wealth or money…whatever that really is?)
All the -isms are wonderful in theory, but we are beyond theory at this point of civili evolution (this one hehehe). All the -isms, that we know of have all been tried. Do you wish a system based on infinite growth of wealth? Good luck with that. Is it because you covet others wealth or want to horde yours?
Actually, since i am indulging in this i actually want a Resource Based economy with the before mentioned dynamic paradigm…ohhhh scary!!!
Be ready for a fight to defend your rights. It is coming, and was forecast in 2008. I think many understand what has been happening in the good old U.S.of A. Just talk to those folks who have recently found out that their pay has dropped since the beginning of the year.
Remember the pledge of no new taxes on middle America from the POTUS? ~~ ” Not One Dime”
Hummm, yet 77% of Americans took on a 2% tax hike to start the new year? Let alone the price of energy that has Quote ” Necessarily Skyrocketed”
Just look at the Walmart sales numbers if you think it did not have an impact.
Google it yourselves and learn what is being forced upon you “Law Abiding Citizens” by virtue of the influence of low information voters.
I have often asked those who voted for our POTUS what he has done for this country in 5 years. They don’t have a real answer that cannot be destroyed by FACTS.
Do you?
I think we are upon an awakening in the U.S..
Many folks are feeling it for sure!
I don’t know about you, but when I realize I have been mislead, it is actually a good vibration that perpetuates my freedom!
Enjoy the new freedom, to those of you who have finally figured out you have been manipulated by costly rhetoric and costly policies, from the POTUS, and not actions on your behalf..
What’s to stop the operators of coal-fired power stations to give Obama what he wants; a total shutdown of coal-fired power stations in the USA?
Why not do it today?
I’m sure “efficiency measures” will be found to deal with the 40% reduction in available electricity. Too bad if all those homes in e.g. Chicago also miss out on district heating from the operation of those coal fired plants. After all, it’s what Obama’s constituency, the Sierra Club, want.
Deliver what that for which they wish.
I’d love to be able to buy electricity as cheaply as those in Chicago (around 5.5 to 8 c/kWh) as I’m pay 3 to 5 times that here in Western Australia.
You write: ‘King’ Obama to circumvent lawful due process on climate.
Not ‘King’ Obama. Contrasting his rhetoric with his deeds, his fondness for extra-constitutional executive orders and his position(s) on the second amendment and climate change (tyranny), one can speculate he prefers the role of King George XX.
Apropos:
This is a fantasy filk (not a misspelling) song, so I’ll not bold the last two lines, as they are extreme for reality, and I am strongly opposed to any such thing. I also despise the opening statement on the video by “surfing god”.
Verse 3:
Verse 6:
Mercedes Lackey Oathbreakers – Oathbreakers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7L8ucL4oXts
Some may be interested in the fifth verse beginning:
Verse 5: These are the signs of the treacherous priest
Off topic just for fun:
Oathbreakers – The Leslac Version http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEh8s3kCmHo
Magic, Moondust, & Melancholy – Mis-Conceptions http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ65UNG-FQs
Do they remember why cat converters were mandated for autos? Maybe they will rethink it since they convert hydrocarbons into CO2 and water vapor. At the time it was referred to as “harmless” carbon dioxide. Pollution was cleaned up and now there was a great reduction in sun-blocking particulates and it gets warmer. I’ve seen one article, years ago, stating “Clean air means warmer air”. They could of just stopped there. It’s all about insane amounts of money being transferred from the people to those who care about the earth. Greenpeace goes to coca-cola and they snuggled up and come up with a program and get McDonalds involved and Kimberly Paper. They do all this by “Green” extortion. IF you don’t play along, we we smear you in the press and protest.. Corps. hate these people but play along with the “sustainable” programs that lines the pockets of Greenpeace. They are mafia with no guns, but use threats of smearing them, “They hate little children.” kinda crap.
The more AGW theory slips, the more radical they become. Somebody should come up with a comparision of storms before 1988 when CO2 was “safe” at 350ppm. and the extreme weather since. It’s no surprise, the weather was much worse during that time. ’74 was the worst year for extreme tornados. SO, according to McKibben, when need to get back to that weather of ’88 and prior, when it was stable and nice. /sarc
I would like to point out a few points about the Constitution that everyone knows but doesn’t necessarily remember. The first one is that Congress enacts laws, the Supreme Court, or in what has been for the last 50 0r so years, that group of people in black robes pretending to be a Supreme Court, decides whether the law passed by the Congress meets the standards of the Constitution, and the President “executes” the laws passed by Congress. Notice that ONLY Congress can create law. There is no provision in the Constitution or the amendments that empowers the President to create law – executive orders, therefore, can not have the power of law. The Supreme Court is supposed to determine if a law passed by Congress meets the standards of the Constitution. If they determine that part of it does not meet those standards, the entire bill is supposed to be null and void. The Court is NOT supposed to write law by saying part of a bill is okay and other parts are not. Only Congress can enact law, and the Supreme court “interpreting” a bill would be the same as rewriting it. I am sure the Supreme Court has been out of touch with its Constitutional directive for longer than just the 1950s or so, but I point to the Warren Court as the first court in my lifetime that actually instituted law by it’s “One man, one vote” edict. With that decision, the power within all states was turned over to the cities, which traditionally are the most corrupt part of governments, and all power was taken away from rural communities – most states can easily see the effects of the judgement as by, say, looking at the amount of road construction done in rural areas versus how much is done in urban areas.
The point of this ramble is that the President has no power – under the Constitution – to do anything other than enforce laws passed by Congress or Veto them. There is NO authority for him to write executive orders beyond temporary measures. It is the people not being educated to realize this that has allowed Presidents since Reagan to act as if they are monarchs. What Americans need to do is to force their representatives and senators to do their job or face recalls so that someone that WILL do that job is sent to Washington. Trouble is, until they are willing to give up the convenience of touch screen voting machines and go back to paper ballots, they will never have control over the election process again. Obama does what he does because Congress wants it done but doesn’t want to be “on record” as having done it. And Congress does what it does because the people are not willing to invest the effort to research for themselves which candidate running for office is the best candidate, usually allowing the TV ads to make those decisions for them.
If this country fails, it will be because the political parties have placed partisanship ahead of the nation, and the people have chosen ignorance over education. The founding fathers said, basically, we have given the nation a Republic, but a republic can only last as long as there is a vigilant and educated citizenry. Since the Department of Education was formed to generate the universally poor educational system we have in this country, people, as a whole were more educated in the workings of the nation than they have ever since. I looked at and failed miserably an 1890 8th grade test from Kansas, I believe, that you had to pass in order to graduate from the 8th grade. I am not a bad student – or rather, wasn’t when I was young – but the education I received by the time I graduated from high school had not prepared me to pass that 8th grade test, and education has deteriorated ever since.
Obama, and what he has done, angers me, but so didn’t Bush before him, and Clinton before him. Until we have a true opposition party to the two-headed monster we now call Democrats and Republicans, nothing is gong to get better. End of rant. Sorry, I get carried away at times.
I’ve said it before that the people who run the coal plants should shut them down or let them idle for a couple of days to let everybody know what it would be like without them. Here in the UK we are due to loose some of our coal plants due to stupid EU rules in a year or two and nothing has been built to replace them except windmills and with about 4000 of them working today they are giving 1.1GW while coal is 16.64GW of a total grid demand of 38.64GW. One small coal plant near London was converted to run on biomass, only thing is the biomass was shipped in from the USA and it has this unfortunate habit of at times catching fire in the storage bins and it took a lot of time and effort to put it out.How green is that.
It does make you wonder if these people ever look at the real world outside their window and think why does it look so different to this report I’m reading?
James Bull
“James Bull says:
February 23, 2013 at 12:40 am”
I know exactly what it will be like. I recall the power black-outs of the 1970’s in the UK which was all over industrial action (Strikes, pay and conditions etc etc). We had days, sometimes weeks, without power in some cases. Fortunately then we had an open fire, with a back-boiler, and gas fired cooker and fridge. I pity anyone who relies 100% on electricity.
James Evans says:
February 22, 2013 at 10:50 am
Willis,
“Was this the tripartite division of power envisioned by the founding fathers?”
Surely the tripartite division of power was simply based on the British tripartite division of power, with a few tweaks. And do we really want to go into what was envisioned by the founding fathers? They had some pretty weird ideas on race, for a start.
No it was not based on the UK. The UK is a ‘United Kingdom’ the Uiited states is a Federation of States into a Republic. The Constitution and the subsequent 10 Amendments are specific on the limitation of the powers of the Federal government as a whole and the rights of the people.
The problem is that everyone in the Congress, Senate and Supreme Court have got an overweening sense of their own importance, they are ONLY the Federal government and that has limited scope which they have consistently ignored. They should have been put back in their box a long time ago. Now they believe that they can micromanage down to the smallest issues and have created agencies who believe that they as ‘the feds’ have total power over the States. Unless someone takes a stand then The Constitution will be effectively dead. And that includes the rights in all of the first 10 amendments. Go on google them and read them and see which ones you would say are seen as fundamental and fully protected by all of the current Congress, Supreme Court or President.then remember that each and every one of them has sworn an oath to protect The Constitution that they are daily ignoring – or to use the Presdents phrase – ‘going around’. Ideally they should all be impeached, but there will be any number of hair splitting lawyers forcing modern usage on the old words saying it is legal for the President to deprive someone of life liberty and the pursuite of happiness if the President believes it is.
Ian W. Sad statement of affairs. It also appears to be true. Within the European (Soviet) Union the rights of the peoples are all being subsumed by the Grande Projet of a United States of Europe. And (just about) ALL politicians are going forward one this AGW Global Warming myth. As politicians say: There is not turning back! That was also said of the Charge of the Light Brigade – and look what a debacle that was
@ http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/02/22/king-obama-to-circumvent-lawful-due-process-on-climate/#comment-1230489
Nice . . . . most important part of the website . . . .
http://www.climatecentral.org/what-we-do/funding/
@ http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/02/22/king-obama-to-circumvent-lawful-due-process-on-climate/#comment-1230877 and http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/02/22/king-obama-to-circumvent-lawful-due-process-on-climate/#comment-1230880 and others on the subject . . . .
“”The Democratic-Republican Party was the political party organized by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in 1791-93. “” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic-Republican_Party
I would agree with Jefferson and say this country was set up as a Democratic Republic. And the founding documents are the principles by which all “citizens” were (are) to govern themselves since we are a government . . . “of the people, by the people and for the people” . . . . This is way oversimplified but essentially accurate. It is a part of what has been lost, over looked, or, forgotten, and; needs to be reclaimed and observed by every citizen, now and in the future.
No body is perfect, but, hopefully they do the best they can . . . . given the circumstances. . . . and the rest . . . they just can’t/won’t/don’t give a care for anyone other than themselves. Many think the President is one of “them” latters, and I do not envy the Presidents circumstance or position. I am glad I am not in his shoes, because he will never please everyone.
“and that’s all I got to say about that” . . . for now.
Let’s see how this works out for him.
http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/23/17062042-white-house-tells-agencies-to-widen-access-to-federally-funded-research?lite
People are getting silly thus damaging their own credibility on a very serious matter.
Remarks such as drone strikes on coal plants is an example, over the top and a switch of context from a war situation. And “bubbagyro” is on a poorly explained tangent, apparently from his ideology of a specific debatable issue. (Anonymously, whereas Willis is at least using his real name and urging others to do the same.)
The EPA has long been accused of circumventing Congress by using its regulation making powers, as have other agencies. Beyond that there is interpretation of laws and regulations, which as sole source they can be quite successful at getting away with. While government has been moving in that direction for decades remarks such as those I name above do not help the communication to thinking voters that is needed to turn the trend around.
I recommend Leonard Peikoff’s book “The Ominous Parallels: Nazism and Contemporary America”, which chronicles the roots of the rise of National Socialism in Germany and explains the risks of similar happening in the US.
Note Obama’s use of the standard type of line “judgement of science”, which really means believing who you want to believe. I doubt he’s as bad as Hitler, who preached deciding on emotions (thus on faith) – but he’s headed society in that direction. Totalitarianism of the communist and Nazi variety is based on faith (as Marxism is internally contradictory), though Hitler, Lenin, and Trotsky were cheap thugs when they were young adults.
Jailing emitters is a likely progression of the EPA, climate alarmists such as David Suzuki have mused about that happening.
Laurie Bowen says:
February 23, 2013 at 7:52 am
yup.
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/02/21/looks-like-shes-a-former-penn-state-student-of-michael-mann/#comment-1230452
@ http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/02/22/king-obama-to-circumvent-lawful-due-process-on-climate/#comment-1231293
You should check out some of the foundation sites . . . . they give away alot of money, which is motivated and enabled by the “profit” tax laws . . . which is why the Treasury is broke, which is why the US can not pay the bills.
Can you blame anyone for going where the money is when the only other option may be food stamps, the military or some other quasi government funded option.
Code word for this method of concentrating the property, money and power is “structural deficit” design.
. . . . In my humbled opinion.
@http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/02/22/king-obama-to-circumvent-lawful-due-process-on-climate/#comment-1231260
Works out similar here, no doubt,…er…if we are allowed to know.
http://sciencewriters.ca/initiatives/muzzling_canadian_federal_scientists/
No, i cannot blame them, and am a bit ashamed that i wish (sometimes) that i was so blessed.
“structural deficit” nice.
Kajajuk “structural deficit” those are the presidents words . . . not mine!
Mark Bofill says:
February 22, 2013 at 11:23 am
I agree with you Mark. He doesn’t look too bad on the surface but try “drinking” him for a few years. All you’ll find are rotten Grapes! He and his Scumbags are going to win eventually because the rational and reasonable people are dwindling fast and because we are weak from not being able to eat good food these days (the soil doesn’t give us too many nutrients any more), The average bloke on the Street won’t be able to counteract the rubbish that’s put out there in the name of Science.
WUWT tries very hard to correct the rubbish (thank you Anthony et al) but there are too many on the payroll for this to go away. Besides this environmental stuff is only a distraction to get our minds off the real threat to us. The Economy is what gives our Society it’s everything. When that goes bellyflop Billions of people worldwide will see their Superannuation go up in smoke. Then people in public life are going to have to accept the responsibility for their ideologies that will have Bankrupted the entire World. No-one will have the money to bail-out the world.
As an example, in Australia, we went from a budget surplus of $20-40Billion/year and no fed guv debt to repeated budget deficits and >$250Billion in debt from when the Socialists (the Labor Party) got in till now. Never mind the Small and large Business debt. They cannot help themselves because they spend too much on us and borrow to pay for it (that’s the simple answer). All because the voices of reason are shut out by the media. That’s how governments the world over control the populace. If their is a voice of reason, it is quickly drowned out by the Guv or anyone who agrees with their philosophy.
Even if the Liberal Party wins the Federal Election this year, they will have to Severely Cut Guv spending with all the problems that will have for the Economy because many people rely on the Guv for their benefits. It could always have been worse and I personally think that the World Economy will collapse due to all the Debt of almost every Country within 5 years. All we can do is elect governments who will do the right thing by us and pray that we find the right way to go in our daily lives. HFTC.
It is logically impossible to be extra-constitutional without being unconstitutional.
Just found a article about the NREL which is funded by the DOE to the tune of over 1/2 Billion dollars which pays the head almost $ 100 Million Dollars. One wonders how many BTU’s of usable energy we got for this enterprise. These are the folks who are going to find the energy source that will replace coal?
Maybe it is time to buy an emergency generator!!
CO: Secret energy lab spawns million dollar govt employee
http://watchdog.org/62420/co-secret-energy-lab-spawns-million-dollar-govt-employee/
“If you live outside Colorado, you probably haven’t heard of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory – NREL for short. It’s the place where solar panels, windmills and corn are deemed the energy source of the future and companies who support such endeavors are courted.”
“It’s also the place where highly paid staff decide how to spend hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars.”
“And the public pays those decision-makers well: NREL’s top executive, Dr. Dan Arvizu, makes close to a million dollars per year. His two top lieutenants rake in more than half a million each and nine others make more than $350,000 a year.”
“But what is really going on there? Energy expert Amy Oliver Cooke drove out to the site, which looks something like Nevada’s Area 51 with its remote location and forbidding concrete buildings. NREL had started a construction project and Cooke wanted to see for herself. She didn’t get far: a man in an SUV seemingly appeared out of nowhere, stopped her car, and told her to leave.”
“A beefy looking fellow told me, ‘It’s top secret,’ said Cooke, director of the Energy Policy Center at the Independence Institute think tank. “I said, ‘I’m a taxpayer and I want to see what you’re building’ and he said it was it was ‘top secret so we can bring Americans a better future.’”
“With its bloated budget and overseen by a $533 million a year government-funded management company, Cooke isn’t buying it.”
“NREL has given us two of the most significant boondoggles, one of them being ethanol and the other being (bankrupt) Abound Solar,” she said. “They were part of the team that pushed Abound Solar along. In fact, they wrote in March 2011 on their website how proud they were of their role in abound solar.”
“Am I impressed with NREL? No, not really,” she said.
“NREL’s taxpayer-funded management company has seen its budget more than double since 2006. That’s when one of its most ardent supporters, Rep. Ed Perlmutter D-Lakewood, was first elected to Congress. The lab sits in the middle of his district.”
“Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, NREL started in 1977 as the Solar Energy Research Institute, a Jimmy Carter-era response to the 1973 Mideast oil crisis. Its budget, then about $100 million, was slashed during the Reagan era.”
“By the time Perlmutter was elected, NREL’s budget was $209.6 million. It increased steadily before ballooning to $536.5, a beneficiary of President Obama’s stimulus plan and a $135 million contract spread out over five years to construct a new science center. Its current $352 million budget is down slightly from last year’s $388.6 million.”
Any one think that NREL is earning it’s big bucks?
Love this topic. WUWT lurkers just itching to integrate politics into scientific discussion. Nothing exists by itself in a vacuum.
OssQss says:
February 22, 2013 at 8:53 pm
I like your post.
But sometimes you have to go backwards before you can go forward. Democrat progressers are mathematically challenged and need to re-learn their math lessons. That’s why we put Obama in again. The other choice would have continued the same corporate government trade, monetary, and foreign policies, so in that light it doesn’t matter who is president, except to make a point.
This is how we did it;
http://www.myspace.com/video/vid/109079927
It’s really simple folks. If you don’t take anything else away from this topic at hand, try to remember this;
The Mainstream Media is there for one purpose and one purpose only; To be a Nonstop Infomercial Promoting Perpetual WAR!
I have alot more faith in the USA than alot of people on this blog. I beleive Obama will get what he wants regarding coal power, but it will be in a weak watered down form. And sometime in the future, the regulations will be quietly relaxed and coal will make a comeback.
Oblarny ? intelligent, loyal —
Dialectic Behavior Therapy – ?. Academic Intelligence may be applied without the Walk thus without logic, appear as the art of community organizing. The great cattle drives Texas North to the rail-head required in the initial ‘start’ days of schooling the herd leader-cows into a particular motion-pattern. Once learned the head-cow knew the Walk.
D.B. Stealey says:February 22, 2013 at 10:33 am
Does anyone really believe that King Obama is going to just step aside when his current term expires?
Maybe he will appoint Michelle Antoinette….
Kajajuk says: February 22, 2013 at 5:12 pm
Hi Dan,
Exactly! And that is why a balance needs to be struck.
We are part of a dis-harmmonious collusion between capatalism and socialism.
Capitalism evolves to where a machine workforce produces the cheapest products that only 1% can afford.
————————————————————————
I followed you until this part. That’s not how capitalism works. If there *were* a machine workforce that produced products that only 1% could afford, some enterprising capitalist would figure out how to get rich selling to the other 99%. This is critically different from socialism in that the 99% spend their money on what *they* perceive as the best value for their money, not what some socialist bureaucrat tells them to buy. Go look up “market gap analysis”
Dan in California says:
February 24, 2013 at 11:33 am
The robots have no budget and the 99% have no money because they are unemployed and revolt as something to do while they starve. An extreme result of ‘infinite’ capitalism.
The socialists no long use money, the ruling class becomes part of the masses and society stagnates then partitions into competing tribes. This leads to a non-point unravelling of any larger society, innovation stops, productivity is insular, and tribes begin to war with each other until the resulting populace is again ruled by the winning tribe(s)…not as clear for me with infinite socialism since i see it as a primal paradigm.
I digressed for dramatic effect.
The point was that neither -ism exists in a vacuum and that they are inherently inter-related. Demonizing either is pointless. Modern society is capitalist by intent and socialist by necessity (each country with its own mix); otherwise there are the riots and unrest of the ’30s (and maybe again, except this time the ruling elite are prepared). I was stating that this mutually inclusive requirement be embraced to foster a dynamic harmony to reap the benefit of both. Instead, i offer, we have a dis-harmony that creates a debilitating polarization where each side denounces the other, which they necessarily need. Most frustrating since society becomes more and more ineffective while bickering with itself.
“””””…..That would be Barbara Lee, I think. I too thought she was crazy at the time, but I’ve come to respect her, even though I don’t agree with her politics. At least she had the guts to vote against something she believed in, which was that going to war against Iraq was wrong……”””””
Well there’s an informative statement……”””””she had the guts to vote against something she believed in,…..””””””
Most people would call that stupidity.
I don’t have a problem, with Congressmember Barbara Lee voting against an Iraq war declaration, that she; and by inference her Oakland constituents, were opposed to. That’s the way the system is supposed to work.
But her earlier vote was against “doing what is necessary”. Not against what she believed was unnecessary.
(A) is “necessary” for (B), if and only if, in the absence of (A), (B) is impossible; no matter what.
Debate all you want about “what is necessary”. But voting against it is insane, and a formula for non-survival.
He still can’t do anything without congress. He can introduce all the bills he wants, but congress still has to pass them…
MattN,
Are you sure? What is your opinion of Obama’s egregious misuse of Executive Orders?
For just one example out of many: Congress voted decisively to reject the Dream Act, which would have legalized millions of illegal aliens within America’s borders. But with the stroke of a pen, Obama made them legal.
Under those circumstances, do you still believe that Congress is relevant? Or are they now a rubber stamp, like the Roman Senate under Agustus?
Serious question…
Shehan is so duplicitous. He mendaciously asserts that “there is a 95% probability that the real trend is between 0.091 ±0.120 °C/decade”. What orifice did he or his pals pull that bogus number from? That would require a number that is supported nowhere in the legitimate scientific literature. It would indicate a recorded +3ºC rise since the LIA — clearly preposterous. Who is Shehan trying to fool, with his false assertions?
The fact is that natural global warming has been only ≈0.35ºC/century since the end of the Little Ice Age:
http://curryja.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/14.jpg
There is no verifiable, falsifiable AGW ‘signal’ in the data. None at all. AGW is a conjecture. There is no empirical, testable measurement of AGW. It is either a figment of Shehan’s religious belief, or he is being deliberately mendacious. I don’t know which it is. He has me baffled with his fabricated numbers.
Those falsely asserting that “carbon” is causing runaway global warming are either deluded, or lying. I am not sure which applies to Shehan. But I cannot see any third alternative.
Obama given Free Pass to Murder…
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-02-24/iran-says-it-has-brought-down-another-foreign-spy-drone
mendacious; nice word.
AGW no way. Anthropomorphic Global Effect, oh baby!
King Obama is gonna love these.