| | | NYT story begins in Paragraph 21
Don Surber by Don Surber
Occasionally, even the most biased newspaper story has a nugget of truth in it, if the story goes on long enough.
Check this out.
The New York Times story sounded pretty knee-jerk, tree-hugging, liberal press release:
G.O.P. Hurries to Slash Oil and Gas Rules, Ending Industries’ 8-Year Wait Then came this in Paragraph 21:
Energy rules quickly ended up at the top of the list. Mr. Obama was unusually aggressive in using his regulatory powers to expand the reach of the federal government over the energy industry, after failing to win the support he needed in Congress to pass legislation to take similar steps. So it is not a congressional overreach or an overreach by President Trump that is the heart of this story, but rather the abuse of power by Barack Obama that is the problem.
In this case "unusually aggressive" means unconstitutional.
The story did not delve into Obama's overreach, nor did it touch on sue-and-settle agreements in which environmental groups sue for regulations which the unelected staff of the EPA agrees to in a sham settlement.
But the story centered on Republicans using the duly elected Congress to enact laws.
Imagine that.
The story made it sound sinister:
The document carried the title “A Roadmap to Repeal,” a concise list of Obama administration environmental regulations that a Koch brothers-backed group was pressing President Trump and Congress to quickly reverse after Inauguration Day. [SNIP] Using a rarely invoked law, the Republican-controlled Congress nullified a measure intended to curb the venting of gas wells on federal lands, and began the process of rolling back other regulations, including one enacted to limit damage that coal mines cause to streams — each items on the “Roadmap to Repeal.” And there was this:
Not since the Reagan administration has Washington moved so quickly to roll back or nullify so many federal regulations, one of the clearest signs of an abrupt shift of power in a government now under one-party control that has flipped the script of winners and losers. Yes, that has not happened since Democrats did it eight years ago.
The great power of the bureaucracy is why it is important to hold the White House.
This is why Republicans must hold their nose or even wear a gas mask to vote for the Republican presidential candidate.
We can never afford another four more years of the expansion of government.
The New York Times story ended:
The push to repeal these rules has created moments of obvious frustration for Democrats on the floor of the House and Senate chambers. As the blitz began this past week, Democratic lawmakers used various props — like poster-size photographs of fish harmed by mining industry practices — to try to make their points. Senator Ed Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts, arrived on the chamber floor with a mock “Wheel of Fortune” board, with slivers marked “coal,” “mining” and “even more oil” indicating the available prizes that Congress was offering. “Let’s consult our wheel to see who is the big winner of the G.O.P. giveaway this week,” Mr. Markey said, essentially conceding that Senate Democrats were all but certain to lose many of these fights. But for Freedom Partners — the secretive club of hugely wealthy political donors led and organized by the Koch brothers — it was a week to celebrate, as there had been a great deal of progress on their “Roadmap to Repeal” list. James Davis, an executive vice president at the group, sent a message late on Friday declaring “these repeal bills will soon be on their way to President Trump for his signature.” Hallelujah. |
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