Friday, November 29, 2013

EPA preparing to unleash a deluge of new regulations

Happy holidays from the Obama administration. Federal agencies are currently working on rolling out hundreds of environmental regulations, including major regulations that would limit emissions from power plants and expand the agency’s authority to bodies of water on private property.
On Tuesday, the White House released its regulatory agenda for the fall of 2013. It lists hundreds of pending energy and environmental regulations being crafting by executive branch agencies, including 134 regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency alone.
The EPA is currently crafting 134 major and minor regulations, according to the White House’s regulatory agenda. Seventy-six of the EPA’s pending regulations originate from the agency’s air and radiation office, including carbon-dioxide-emission limits on power plants.
Carbon-dioxide limits are a key part of President Barack Obama’s climate agenda. The EPA is set to set emissions limits that would effectively ban the construction of new coal-fired power plants unless they use carbon capture and sequestration technology. Next year, the agency will move to limit emissions from existing power plants — which could put more older coal plants out of commission.
“The proposed standards, if finalized, will establish achievable limits of carbon pollution per megawatt hour for all future units, moving the nation towards a cleaner and more efficient energy future,” the agency said in its agenda. “In 2014, EPA intends to propose standards of performance for greenhouse gas emissions from existing and modified power plant sources.”
Hundreds of coal plants that have been closed or slated for early retirement due to Environmental Protection Agency regulations, according to coal industry estimates.
“Already, EPA regulations have contributed to the closure of more than 300 coal units in 33 states,” said Laura Sheehan, spokeswoman for the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity.
However, the agency isn’t just working on limiting emissions from coal plants. The EPA is also working on a rule that would expand the definition of “waters of the U.S.” under the Clean Water Act to include water on private property.
Via: Daily Caller

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Thursday, November 28, 2013

The Day After Thanksgiving - Black Friday

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Alaska Democrats Campaign to Reinstate Sarah Palin's Tax Policies

Alaska Democrats are campaigning to have former Gov. Sarah Palin's tax policy reinstated after Palin's successor, Gov. Sean Parnell, had it repealed this year, saying that it discouraged exploration. 

But Democrats liked the way it was in the Palin years and were able to gather enough signatures to make it a ballot measure for 2014, asking that Alaska voters repeal the new plan and keep Palin's, The New York Times reported.

"She was a transformational figure in Alaska politics," said Democratic State Senator Bill Wielechowski, a leader of the repeal effort. Tax policy had not caught up to the profits being made in oil in The Last Frontier. "People realized that for decades Alaska had not gotten a fair share."

Palin ran for governor as a reform candidate in 2006 after it was learned that the oil companies in the state were buying off state legislators in exchange for votes.

However, Andrew Halcro, president of the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce, argues that while Palin's tax policies were popular at the time, they may have gone too far and have resulted in discouraging oil companies from drilling. 

"People were angry at the oil industry, angry at the Republican Party, angry at the lawmakers who got caught in the scandal, and she channeled that," Halcro said. "And so when she raised taxes, people were like, 'All right, you go get 'em.' But then the reality sunk in."

While Alaskan Democrats prefer Palin's tax policy, they are hesitant to solicit her support in repealing the new law because she has become a polarizing figure following her candidacy as vice president in 2008 and her resignation as governor. 

"She did the right thing. She put in a tax that was tough on the big guys," said Jack Roderick, age 87, former Democratic major of Anchorage Borough and leader of the repeal effort. But with her divisive image, including her in the campaign would "probably not be helpful."

Via: Newsmax


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Thanksgiving 2013: ObamaCare Talking Point Survival Guide

Friends, I know, it's Thanksgiving, and the last thing you want to hear from your tongue-pierced Anthropology major nephew is how unbelievably fantabulous ObamaCare is. Grandma's stuffing is out of this world, to be cherished -- no, worshipped; yet the White House, via Organizing For Action, is encouraging the Zombie Faithful to shanghai dinner. 
So we must respond.  How?  Well, first, you might seize Billy's plate, and every time he mounts the Obama Flag, take something off it -- redistribute! -- so that by the time he's done, the plate is empty, vacuous -- like his head.
Play on instinct -- whatever seems right.  But, of course, you may engage him intellectually.... *cough* .... and if you choose this path you are not only brave, you're in the right place!  Keep reading.  Below lies the distribution of knowledge and, with hope of redistribution, the refutation of Billy:
OFA Talking Point #1: Healthcare.gov has had difficulties but the state exchanges are working well.
Rebuttal: HA-HA-HA.... Like Oregon?  They spent $45 million, give or take a million - who's counting? -- and signed up the same number of people clamoring to see Michelle on the cover of Sports Illustrated in a thong.  The states are signing up Medicaid enrollees, at a 4:1 ratio, a fiscal time-bomb that will ravage their budgets and lead to LESS care for those supposedly "covered."
OFA Talking Point #2: The website's problem is demand and once the front-end problems are fixed, it will work.
Rebuttal: HA-HA-HA.... Healthcare.gov project manager, Henry Chao, told Congress last week that 40% of the website isn't even built -- there's NO payment system set up.  Are you majoring in Comedy?
OFA Talking Point #3: Only a few young and healthy people will pay more -- for most people, they will keep their plans, or have something better.
Rebuttal: HA-HA-HA.... Costs are going through the roof in 41 states, and the other nine are treading water.  Five-million people have already lost their plans, with tens of millions - and next year as many as 100 million -- to lose their plan and their doctor, when both group and individual markets are forced into compliance with ObamaCare mandates.
OFA Talking Point #4: The pre-ObamaCare health insurance market was a "free market" full of junk plans, which screwed people over and dropped their insurance when they got sick.
Rebuttal: HA-HA-HA.... Who feeds you this garbage?  Prior to ObamaCare, 87% of Americans reported a high level of satisfaction with their insurance, and, indeed, 85% had insurance.  These plans were not, by law, able to drop coverage for "sick" people -- and by the way, did you know that Medicare denies more coverage -- by a greater than 2:1 ratio -- than private insurers?

Via: American Thinker
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The Simple Faith of Humble Men

That God will bless America Both now and evermore, As never hath a land so much To be so thankful for


“Thus out of small beginnings greater things have been produced by His hand. And as one small candle may light a thousand, so the light here kindled hath shone to many. Let the glorious name of Jehovah have all the praise.” (William Bradford, Governor of Plymouth County, 1621)

Thankful they assembled there,
A humble Pilgrim band,
To praise their God in silent prayer
That He should bless their land.

Through winter unforgiving,
Through pestilence and war,
Those grateful few yet living knew
What they were thankful for.

As they feasted on their succotash,
Maize and wild game,
Doubtless they did pause to think
On why it was they came.

Enduring death and hardship,
On this lonely, hostile shore,
To escape the persecutor’s rod
And live free evermore.

Yet well they braved the suffering
That they had come to find
And passing silent longings for
The land they left behind.

For the liberty to worship free
Was worth their pain and fear,
As gratefully they thanked Him:
“Lord, how good we have it here.”

Unceasing hath He blessed us since
That first Thanksgiving Day,
Throughout this nation’s lofty rise
His grace hath shone the way.

For this blessed land America’s
The living legacy
Of the simple faith of humble men
So thankful they were free.

And if this suff’ring Pilgrim band
Could yet see fit to give
Their grateful thanks to Him whose grace
Had simply let them live,

Then yet a thousand times more thankful
Should our people be
For this nation’s bounteous wealth,
Her strength and liberty.

So it is only fitting that
We thank Him on this day,
Reflecting on our blessings as
We bow our heads to pray….

That God will bless America
Both now and evermore,
As never hath a land so much
To be so thankful for.

© 2013 by William Kevin Stoos 

Via: Canada Free Press

WHITE HOUSE SLAM GOP'S FOOD STAMP REFORMS IN THANKSGIVING MESSAGE

On Wednesday, President Barack Obama's White House politicized Thanksgiving to promote the reauthorization of the SNAP (Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program) or "food stamps" as part of the farm bill at a time when a record number of Americans are receiving assistance. 

In an email, the White House urged Americans sitting down for Thanksgiving Dinner to remember: "For decades, Congress has authorized SNAP in a bipartisan fashion through the Farm Bill. They don't have to do it in a way that hurts children, seniors, veterans, and vulnerable families. Learn more, and pass it on."
The White House linked to a report about how SNAP is boosting the economy and accused Republicans of undermining the program's reauthorization. 
Congress could not agree on a bipartisan farm bill because Democrats would not agree to make reforms to SNAP. Robert Rector, the godfather of the landmark welfare reform bill in the 1990s, has suggested the food stamp program be reformed by moving the program from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of Health and Human Services, because "the food stamp program is a means-tested welfare or anti-poverty program, not an agricultural program," and "the USDA’s expertise is in farming, not welfare."
He has also recommended means-testing, anti-fraud measures, drug testing, and converting the program to a "work activation" program while ensuring benefits do not go to illegal immigrants. 
As Breitbart News has reported, food stamp enrollments "have remained over 47 million for an unprecedented 13 consecutive months." And that number has indeed benefited a certain sector of the economy. As the nonpartisan Government Accountability Institute (GAI) discovered, corporations are also incentivized to pressure the government to maximize the number of people on food stamps because of the profits companies like J.P. Morgan make from EBT card transaction fees. 
The program also has been riddled with fraud, and those with EBT cards have often offered to sell them for cash on social media sites like Twitter. 
Via: Breitbart
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RONALD REAGAN’S 1985 THANKSGIVING ADDRESS

Below is the text, followed by the video, of President Ronald Reagan’s Thanksgiving Address from 1985:
Good morning, everyone. You know, the Statue of Liberty and this wonderful holiday called Thanksgiving go together naturally because although as Americans we have many things for which to be thankful, none is more important than our liberty. Liberty: that quality of government, that brightness of mind and spirit for which the Pilgrim Fathers braved the seas and Americans for two centuries have laid down their lives.
Today, while religion is suppressed in perhaps one third of the world, we Americans are free to worship the Almighty as we choose. While entire nations must endure the yoke of tyranny, we are free to speak our minds, to enjoy an unfettered and vigorous press, and to make government abide by the limits we deem just. While millions live behind walls, we remain free to travel throughout the land to share this precious day with those we love most deeply – the members of our families. 
My fellow Americans, let us keep this Thanksgiving Day sacred. Let us thank God for the bounty and goodness of our nation. And as a measure of our gratitude, let us rededicate ourselves to the preservation of this: the land of the free and the home of the brave.
From the Reagan family to your family: happy Thanksgiving and God bless you all.

[CARTOON] Thanksgiving 2013

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It's all ho-ho-ho til Obama hijacks your holiday: Column

Loathe peaceful holidays? Detest the spirit of agreeableness and good will that tends to pervade during this time of year? Well, if you're longing for it to be 'tis the season of debates, irritations, and shouting matches, you're in luck: The Obama administration thinks the holidays are the perfect time to gather round and discuss … Obamacare.
Wary about the effect bringing up the most polarizing political topic among your relatives and friends who likely span the blue-purple-red spectrum will have? Don't be, because President Barack Obama's Organizing for Action haslaunched a website with helpful tips about how to have "the talk." (Here's my first tip: If any adolescents or preteens are present, you might want to use a different phrase than "the talk" when broaching the subject if you don't want an instant exodus.)
The tips including asking your family and guests coming over for the holiday to bring the information they'd need to sign up for Obamacare, because it's absolutely not awkward at all to tell someone you'd like him to bring wine and oh, his social security number and annual salary, too. You're advised to bring up Obamacare during "family time … downtime after meals or between holiday activities." Perfect: When your family is curled up in chairs in a turkey/stuffing/pumpkin pie-induced stupor, you can cut off the idle reminisces about bygone days and football and kids saying the cutest things, and launch that super festive health-care conversation that's sure to have everyone bursting into a rollicking round of kumbaya, despite that pesky little fact thatpoll after poll shows the country is sharply divided on this issue.

Heritage releases witty Thanksgiving cards poking fun at Obamacare, ‘Let’s Move’

What do you have to be thankful for this year? Your family? Your job? That the First Lady isn’t keeping a watchful eye on how much pumpkin pie you eat?
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank , has released a set of six Thanksgiving cards that poke fun at the Affordable Care Act and Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” initiative that promotes healthy eating and exercise. The cards are a cheeky way to “express exactly what we can all be thankful for this year,” according to the website.
The Heritage email blast also recommended sending a card to “that really annoying liberal in your life.”
One of the cards makes fun of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, while another card mocks the glitches of HealthCare.gov. See a couple of the cards below, and check out the Heritage website to see them all — and send one or two to your friends and family!
Heritage Thanksgiving card
Heritage Thanksgiving card Sebelius
Heritage Thanksgiving card HealthCare.gov Cyber Monday
Via: Red Alert Politics
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Stores selling Obamacare policies popping up across California

As shoppers hunt for holiday bargains this season, they may find something unusual for sale at the mall: Obamacare.

With enrollment deadlines looming, California officials, insurance companies and agents are staking out retail space to sign up thousands of people as part of the Affordable Care Act. These sales tactics reflect how dramatically the healthcare law is changing the insurance industry.

Until recently, most health insurance companies and agents didn't put much time into selling policies to individuals and focused more on catering to employers and large groups in the workplace. But the health insurance mandate and billions of dollars in federal premium subsidies have made individual policies a far more attractive market.

California's health insurance exchange and other government-run marketplaces are rushing to sign up people by Dec. 23, the deadline to have coverage in effect Jan. 1. Open enrollment lasts until March 31.

A state lawmaker and union organizers last week opened a mall store in a predominantly African American area of Los Angeles. In Orange County, insurance agents are signing up dozens of people each week at Laguna Hills Mall, and healthcare giant Kaiser Permanente has rented five retail locations in Northern California to sell exchange policies.

The Covered California exchange has posted solid enrollment since opening Oct. 1, primarily through its website and call centers. It has signed up nearly 80,000 people in private health plans through Nov. 19 and an additional 135,000 people have applied for Medi-Cal, the state's Medicaid program for the poor.

Via: LA Times


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[VIDEO] Uh oh: Another ObamaCare “success” story turns sour for White House

Nancy Clark was originally a booster of ObamaCare — so much so that the White House featured her in an April 2012 ad that still remains on the White House website today.  “My personal philosophy is that health care is a right and that it should always be affordable,” Clark tells viewers in this campaign spot. “[A]s a very small business owner,” Clark continues in her enthusiastic endorsement of ObamaCare, “I will always offer the mechanism by which people can have access to health care.”


That was then … and this is now.  CBS News’ Sharyl Attkisson caught up with the New Hampshire business owner, who decided this year to dump her employees out of group insurance and into the ObamaCare exchange.

Poll: Nearly half of meteorologists don’t believe in man-made global warming

Poll: Nearly half of meteorologists don’t believe in man-made global warming
Not all scientists agree that global warming is man-made. Nearly half of meteorologists and atmospheric science experts don’t believe that human activities are the driving force behind global warming, according to a survey by the American Meteorological Society.
The survey of AMS members found that while 52 percent of American Meteorological Society members believe climate change is occurring and mostly human-induced, 48 percent of members do not believe in man-made global warming.
Furthermore, the survey found that scientists who professed “liberal political views” were much more likely to believe in the theory of man-made global warming than those who without liberal views.
“Political ideology was the factor next most strongly associated with meteorologists’ views about global warming. This also goes against the idea of scientists’ opinions being entirely based on objective analysis of the evidence, and concurs with previous studies that have shown scientists’ opinions on topics to vary along with their political orientation,” writes survey author Neil Stenhouse of George Mason University.
“The result suggests that members of professional scientific organizations have not been immune to influence by the political polarization on climate change that has affected politicians and the general public,” Stenhouse writes.
President Barack Obama and Democrats have often touted the “97 percent” consensus among scientists that climate change is driven by human activity, primarily through the burning of fossil fuels.
“Ninety-seven percent of scientists, including, by the way, some who originally disputed the data, have now put that to rest,” President Obama said while unveiling his new plan to combat global warming. “They’ve acknowledged the planet is warming and human activity is contributing to it.”
This new AMS survey runs counter to the notion of a “97 percent” scientific consensus and shows that there is much more disagreement among climate scientists than previously thought. The 97 percent number came from a survey of published environmental papers written by scientists from around the world, while the AMS survey measured U.S.-based scientists.
Via: Daily Caller

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