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Feature
Not Triangulation but Regulation
Obama’s answer to a GOP Congress.
(Page 2 of 2)
Net neutrality: After a federal court ruled that the Federal Communications Commission overreached in applying net neutrality principles to Comcast without proper statutory authority, the FCC announced yet another plan to reclassify broadband services to accomplish the same ends. Again, this is an end-run around Congress, which repeatedly has declined to pass net neutrality legislation.
Farm rules for rich trial lawyers: Former U.S. Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA) wrote an October 27 piece about how a former trial lawyer named J. Dudley Butler who specialized in suing the poultry industry now is an Obama appointee at the Agriculture Department, where he “is actively pushing to expand the scope of the decades-old Packers and Stockyards Act — which will make it easier for trial lawyers (such as Mr. Butler) to successfully sue meat and poultry companies. This [is a] heavy-handed attempt to push through new federal regulations without seeking congressional approval.…”
Tax breaks for rich trial lawyers: The Treasury Department has acknowledged it is considering a rule reinterpretation, again after Congress repeatedly refused to act, that would provide a $1.2 billion (cumulative) tax break to plaintiffs’ attorneys by allowing them to deduct client expenses up front rather than waiting for the outcome of their lawsuits.
New fuel-economy standards for heavy trucks: Never mind that trucking companies already are constantly trying, due to market forces, to improve their fuel economy. The EPA and the NHTSA jointly are proposing to force a 20 percent reduction in carbon emissions by the 2018 model year. Like the ethanol mandate, this is counterproductive: technology likely can’t achieve that stupendously aggressive goal by 2018. “The only way to increase fuel efficiency as quickly as EPA’s proposal requires will be to move less freight [per individual payload],” said Myron Ebell of CEI. Result: More big trucks on the road to carry the same amount of cargo, thus driving up prices and causing, at least in the short run, more emissions (because, say, 10 trucks each carrying x-minus-20 percent pounds emits more carbon than 9 trucks each carrying x pounds).
ON AND ON the regulatory monster grows. On education, for-profit colleges will likely be hamstrung, many put out of the business of serving lower-income students, by new rules completely denying the use of student loans for programs whose prior students have defaulted at high rates. (So current students and the schools that serve them will suffer because previous students weren’t responsible. What sense does that make?) All private colleges will be subject to accreditation — and therefore bullied — through a government panel, rather than being answerable by the existing, independent accrediting agencies.
And health regulation moves from the ridiculous to the malign. For the former, consider that the Food and Drug Administration threatened General Mills with regulating Cheerios as a drug if the cereal box makes claims about health benefits. And, of course, for the malign, there is the ObamaCare law, which according to Donohue of the Chamber of Commerce, “creates 183 new agencies, commissions, panels, and other bodies.” Yikes.
Obama’s promised “hand-to-hand combat” will increasingly pit executive overreach versus constitutional legislative authority. Republican congressmen understand this, and the Pledge to America includes support for a bill that would block any new “major rule” promulgated by federal agencies until the rule is approved by both chambers of Congress and signed by the president. Of course, President Obama would kill that bill with one of the quickest vetoes imaginable.
Former House Appropriations Committee chairman Bob Livingston of Louisiana suggested another solution in a recent Wall Street Journal column. Just insert language in necessary spending bills that specifies that “none of the funds appropriated in this Act shall be used for… [whatever Congress wants to block].”
Obama can’t regulate if he can’t pay the regulators. But unless newly empowered congressional Republicans challenge him, he’ll regulate all of us half to death.
About the Author
Quin Hillyer is a senior editor of The American Spectator and a senior fellow at the Center for Individual Freedom. Follow him on Twitter @QuinHillyer.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (28) | Leave a comment
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winterhawk| 12.16.10 @ 6:36AM
He has shown that this regime will stop at nothing in order to further its socialist agenda. His credibility is at zero and he cannot be trusted to do GOOD things for this country.
Alan Brooks| 12.22.10 @ 4:01PM
"MikeD| 12.16.10 @ 7:59AM
I am not yet impressed with the Republicans."
Oh pray tell, why is that, Sirrah? not impressed with the republicans?
Heavens to Betsy.
Heavens to Mergatroid.
Now, what CAN be ailing the GOP? oh dearie dearie me, they in their massive confusion are not going to mess things up even worse than they did before-- are they? NO! that cannot be! say it isn't so, Joe.
LORDY!
martin j smith| 12.16.10 @ 6:48AM
ARE YOU REALLY SURPRISED / I HOPE TH NEW REPUBLICAN CONGRESS COMES IN WITH GLOVES OFF AND READY TO ROLL.
MikeD| 12.16.10 @ 7:59AM
I am not yet impressed with the Republicans. With super RINOS like olympia snow and susan collins, just to name two of the worst, the GOP is already making 'vibes' that indicate they haven't learned anything from the elections. With every passing day it is becoming more evident that nothing will stop the demoncraps from their totalitarian take-over of America.
I wonder how the democommies and the rinos will react when they have finally pushed a critical mass of Americans into an inescapeable corner and the Second American Revolution breaks out.
These are the most dangerous times; and our elected representatives who ignore the reasons they were sent to the cesspool on the Potomac do so at their own peril.
Find www.texassaidno.com to read an account that is so close to the truth it is frightening.
Mikecampbelly2k| 12.16.10 @ 2:50PM
Snowe and Collins should be target number ONE for conservatives/tea-partiers. It's long past time these two gutless RINO's paid a penalty for subverting the conservative agenda. If they are replaced by moderate Democrats what's the difference? We have to punish our enemies and these two have stabbed us in the back enough times to be classified as such.
saleboter| 12.16.10 @ 7:13AM
What part of 'fundamentally transform' do people not undestand. With all these job killers the economy is going nowhere
coal carrier| 12.16.10 @ 7:21AM
In the mind of this president, nothing has changed politically. The Congress could be 100% Republican and he would not care. He has his plan, his czars and his executive order pen. That is all he needs to circumvent the Congress. He will continue to regulate for the next two years and say that he is working with the Republicans and it is all bipartisan. And the Media will praise him.
Ken (Old Texican)| 12.16.10 @ 8:44AM
Quin,
Your list is indeed long...and as you said, not long enough.
I truly worry about your conclusion.
I simply don't know if America as we know it can survive two more years if the Republicans DON'T
defund all the agencies and regulators.
We producers won't "riot" like we are watching in Europe, but either a massive tax revolt to de-fund, or a national sit-down/slow down will have to be utilized to de-fund.
Actually, an interesting, if predictable trend is setting in country wide. Families and close friends are seriously discussing "household amalgamation".
...that is...
sharing the home,
sharing the food budget,
setting up an "internal car-pooling"
setting up "barter circles" for labor sharing.
Quin,
These and a host of other tried and true methods were utilized by our great grandparents..and the effect is to "starve the beast", (the gubmit), from the bottom up.
ie: lower tax revenue due to lower income needs as a "freehold" instead of a "household"; similar to the "freeholds" I envision in www.texassaidno.com
John Navratil| 12.16.10 @ 1:28PM
Ken,
I think there will be new found respect for earmark (designated) spending. The appropriators will need to ensure spending is allocated according to the wishes of the people expressed through their elected representatives, rather than allocated according to the diktats of Obama's ideological bureaucracy.
Perhaps we had better define when an earmark is pork and when it is spending the people actually want. The term is overbroad.
TennesseeVolunteer| 12.16.10 @ 8:51AM
Ken, I have already made plans for a "family bunker" if the snot hits the fan. My younger son, who is a newly completed training air traffic controller is not going to buy a house until I say so purely on this new reality.
I enjoy your posts greatly and wish you and yours a Merry CHRISTmas!
Mitch Angoop| 12.16.10 @ 9:09AM
I read the book. If you read nothing else this year, read this. It is so realistic that you will smoulder to a slow burn as the light begins to go on in your head that THESE PEOPLE WILL STOP AT NOTHING. We are at a turning point in history, like 1848, and 1968; only with much worse consequences. Unless we all stop obama and his dangerous henchmen, we are finished. Go to: www.texassaidno.com and get this.
Ken (Old Texican)| 12.16.10 @ 11:24AM
Mitch,
Thank you. I am furiously writing the sequel: "America Alone Said NO!"
Actually, I am running hard chasing the characters...and taking notes. (smile)
Every time I write something stupid, right off the page, the characters yell at me to get it right, and to watch and learn.
I wanted all of my friends here to "live it" as only fiction can accomplish.
Have a merry Christmas....and buy some bleach.
davelnaf| 12.16.10 @ 9:12AM
People have found it rather hard to believe that this administration has been actively trying to harm the economy—and the country—for some broad ideological endgame. But the irrefutable evidence has been piling up for two years that this has been the case all along. Earth to dems: voters no longer see mitigating factors in the decisions of those who have been aiding and abetting Obama.
If surviving Democrats want to save what is left of their party—and, make no mistake about it, they are going to take another hit in 2012—they need to abandon Obama right now. They will pay for abandoning him in the short term. But it will be a tradeoff they can believe in.
RacerJim| 12.16.10 @ 10:18AM
[We have given you] "A Republic, if you can keep it." -- Benjamin Franklin
"When the government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny." -- Thomas Jefferson
Unless/until a controlling legal authority indicts usurper Obama, the military effects a coup, or "We the people..." invade Washington DC en masse...
Petronius| 12.16.10 @ 10:37AM
Government officials have been acting as dictators forever. When my brother got his industrial HVAC certification from the EPA he was told by the shave tail giving the seminar that, "what's in the law doesn't matter. It's whatever I decide to charge you with." And they never get stopped because we eight don't know or cannot find out what the laws really are.
Mimi| 12.16.10 @ 11:21AM
Is it on PURPOSE???...I tried not to belive it...But the signs & symptons have been evident for a long time...kept saying.. .." Naw, that can't be"
The latest outrage is a killer...that purposeful, "get even" Omnious Bill...It's getting...HOTTER than a prairie fire...people are steaming mad to the point of BOIL. It's like they want to annull the Nov. election and still run the show, and destroy way into 2011 when they have no authority...Brazen FOOLS!!!
John Navratil| 12.16.10 @ 1:31PM
Mimi,
Brazen, indeed, but not fools. They are the enemy of the people who are demonstrating, at this very moment, the contempt with which the hold those who grant them their power.
Richard| 12.16.10 @ 11:39AM
All of this means lower standards of living and more unemployment. This is something conservatives have to hammer home.
Dean| 12.16.10 @ 12:54PM
Here is an idea for any potential candidates: Appear on stage standing next to one year's collection of the Federal Register and explain what is in those numerous volumes. The visual of hundreds of thick books would demonstrate very well the extent to which the regulatory state has gone out of control.
Ralph| 12.16.10 @ 2:15PM
Sadly, most Americans are unaware of the growing regulatory burden on the nation. If the nation were informed (and at least somewhat interested) Obama's approval ratings would be single digits and not low 40"s. Ignorance of the masses elected this Marxist and will allow 2 more years of destruction to take place. Since the majority of the media are also Socialists, they will provide ongoing cover for what Obama and his minions are up to. A long, hard, uphill battle awaits. Whether today's America can handle it an return to a nation of liberty is to be determined.
Nathan Bickel | 12.16.10 @ 2:38PM
This power hungry president has continued to disrespect the Constitution and rule of law. It is no surprise that he continues to offer the American people his political 3rd finger. Else how can anyone logically explain his heavy use and insistence on ruling by regulation?
A perfect example of how this president fails in his job to enforce the law is his refusal to secure our country's borders. Instead he continues to make his own laws by opposing the law and regulating existing law, while creating new regulations.
The new GOP controlled House better not deal with this president with kit gloves but with political pitchforks..........
John Navratil| 12.16.10 @ 3:42PM
Second finger! The third one is for wedding rings, and I sure don't want to be married to this guy :P
But you are so right on knowing your enemy and knowing how to fight him. The gloves must come off. Did you notice that it was obstructionism of the Republicans which kept the important bills from passing when the Dems owned the House and had a veto-proof majority in the Senate. It's Orwellian.
Oldefarte| 12.16.10 @ 3:43PM
I attempted to warn voters of this in my October LTE of my hometown paper, but of course we just had to have the FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT, didn't we [and these enumerated cases are the typical result]. Why, oh why were people that stupid as to vote for this person, which a review of his history should have predicted this outcome? If at alll possible, hopefully the new batch of Republicans [with possible help from moderate Democrats terrified of their future re-election prospects] can seriously consider IMPEACHMENT, defunding legislation,etc methods of dealing with this. I blame the stupidity of the American voter for allowing this administration to be elected/established, and sadly the knowledgable/enlighten amoung us could easily see this coming as clear as a bell prior to November 2008. My only hope/prayer is that the American voter has now [as evidenced by the November 2010 elections] finally awakened as to who/what they are faced with from the domestic terrorists now running our government. If not, the last hope will be if they are successful in raising everyone's taxes 1/1/11 and/or passing this trojuned-horsed 2000 page, pork filled budget bill should be the slap in the face [or the kick in the ars] needed to wake up America!!!!!!!!!
martin j smith| 12.16.10 @ 6:12PM
triangulation more like strangulation. He is a straight line pointing to himself. He is the most dangerous president for the American people I have ever seen and experienced . I knew he would be very bad based on a number of factors known to those who kept their eyes wide open before the election. Obama has lived up to his rep and way beyond to our peril. And, let me add this: Thereis no way we can do any deals with him or his musketeers in congress --they are all untrustworthy totally.
jstwndring| 12.17.10 @ 7:22PM
Impeach him. Make it two DemocRats in a row. Embarass him publicly. Bring all this garbage to the attention of the American public. Hold hearings on his appointees. Remove them if possible. Remove his judges. Strip out, or, severely limit the role of the EPA, the FCC, and every other agency the DemocRat party uses to circumnavigate the Constitutional limitations they are required to observe. This jackass of a president needs to go before his term is up.
New car smell| 12.18.10 @ 3:30AM
Tonight, in one of his endless TV appearances, President Oafbama pleaded for us to "refresh" our faith in our leaders. He choked on the word, "refresh". I did, too. To refresh, implies it existed once.
A few years ago I ran over a skunk. He was already such serious roadkill as to be unidentifiable, but his last living act was to stink up half the county. I can tell you, it was impossible to "refresh" the undercarriage of my car. At least I imagined I would never get rid of the smell, no matter how many expensive "detailings". Someone told me tomato juice is the antidote - but I could not find a car wash that featured a tomato juice rinse. So I bought a new car.
That is the only way we are going to refresh our faith in our leaders. We ran over skunk in the last election.
Christian Louboutin | 6.23.11 @ 6:03AM
President Obama already laid down the marker, in early October. His approach to new Republican strength on Capitol Hill, he said, will be nothing but "hand-to-hand combat."