Dems eye midnight regulations reversal

[kpete]

Source: Politico

Dems eye midnight regulations reversal
By ERIKA LOVLEY & RYAN GRIM | 11/12/08 4:44 AM EST

Congressional Democrats are eyeing a way to reverse Bush administration midnight regulations that Barack Obama otherwise couldn’t undo.
Photo: AP

Today’s edition kicks off a new focus by Politico’s Lobbying team on four issues: the economy; defense and security; energy and the environment; and health care. Each Tuesday until the Inauguration, we’ll have the latest news on policy and personnel, with more special coverage planned next year.

Congressional Democrats are eyeing a little-known, Clinton-era law as a way to reverse Bush administration midnight regulations — even ones that have already taken effect.

It’s a move that would undermine the White House’s attempt to finalize its energy and environmental regulations by November so that Barack Obama couldn’t undo them after he’s sworn in as the 44th president on Jan. 20.

“Fortunately, (the White House) made a mistake,” said a top Senate Democratic aide.



Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15530.html

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. Good.

Then wipe the history books of any mention of the maladministration, raze the pig farm to the ground, salt the earth so nothing ever grows there again and send Dear Leader into an Antarctic exile.

For starters.

[UpInArms]

3. what Tandalayo_Scheisskopf said -

:kick:

:thumbsup:

[Coexist]

27. yeah.

[al bupp]

2. Excellent news to start the day

One time when the law might actually be of some help, and cause some heartburn among parting administration members.

[pattmarty]

4. Hey, I gotta idea; IMPEACH THE MOTHERFUCKER!!!!!

[MaineDem]

5. The better option is to indict him.

I hope that happens.

[pattmarty]

7. Well, we both know different, don't we? He'll go on to the........

.......Caryle group just like the rest of these shitbags and make their B-illions and live happily ever after. Only in fucking America!!!

[bobalew]

18. Carlyle? Seize its Assets!

They stole US blind! Nationalize Carlyle & take it ALL back! Then Do the same to all of the other perp corps:
Blackstone, and All the other Private equity funds where all the money went. Shut down Blackwater & seize its assets too. All the No-bid Crony Companies and Shell companies that stole our Treasure while this crap was going on. Invade Paraguay, when dorkus 'Escapes" just after the Swearing in ceremony & Inauguration ends, when we finally get to find out we're really, really Broke. Institute a TAX on the War profiteers, A 4 Million dollar per slain soldier Tax on these jerks, and a 500 thousand dollar per wounded soldier tax. Tax All War profiteers BONUSES at 100%. Just a few Ideas I think will work, and will get full support of the American people, after we find out just how bad this Bank robbery has been.....
Spreading the wealth back where it belongs....
Regards. Bobalew

[cascadiance]

13. Indict and imprison!

Hey, they hauled off the president in 24... And people like to think 24 represents reality for situations for torture. Then it should also be a template for IMPRISONING a criminal even if he's president of the U.S.!

[pat_k]

25. Must impeach to rescue the Constitution. Justice demands prosecution. . .

. . .but when government officials are corrupting and violating the law of the land, individual justice takes a back seat to enforcing that law. There can be no real justice when our common contract -- Our Constitution -- is in breach. There is no real justice if we fail to confront the truth as a nation and exercise our sovereign authority over the people we "hire" to serve us.

Only impeachment can do that.

And on a practical level, prosecution is unlikely as long as BushCheney can point to Congress and say "If the Democratic Congress believed these acts were crimes against the Constitution, they would have a duty to impeach. They didn't. They didn't even attempt to."

Congress is Our Voice. Every single day that War Criminals hold the massive power of the American presidency in their hands, we are duty-bound to call on them to object on our behalf by immediately impeaching.

Only a vote on impeachment can finally divide the defenders of torture from the defenders of our Constitution. Only a vote on impeachment can divide those who are committed to creating an authoritarian state from those committed to defending the principle that legitimate government power can only be derived from the consent of the governed.

As long as Obama defends "off the table," no amount of hope-mongering can erase the deed. There is no middle ground. One advocates impeachment or opposes it. As long as he remains an opponent, he will continue his policy of appeasement and denial of reality. He is a defender of torture.

If we allow Congress to fail us without a fight, our own dedication to a "new beginning" is a lie. Anything we build will be as fragile as house of cards built on sand.

Our so-called "leaders" can no longer invoke fear of electoral defeat to excuse their intolerable failure. And if members of the 110th Congress fail us, we must look to the 111th Congress. We must call on Kucinich to introduce articles against Bush and Cheney when they convene on January 6th.

President-elect Obama has called on us to join the fight to shape our common destiny as citizens and patriots.

It is time for those who wish to answer that call to "Get Real." Now. Today. Make the assertion "we do not torture" REAL. Confront the Congressional leadership; confront Obama; confront your district's representative -- current and elect. Call on them to finally set aside their irrational fears and take up the fight for impeachment.

http://talkingimpeachment.com">

[The Stranger]

30. What's funny is that the Nancy Disaster and Reid "still haven't made a decision" whether to do this.

I'm sure they'll just keep their powder dry and let the Bush Horror haunt us for decades.

If I weren't laughing, I'd be crying.

[The Stranger]

31. What's funny is that the Nancy Disaster and Reid "still haven't made a decision" whether to do this.

I'm sure they'll just keep their powder dry and let the Bush Horror haunt us for decades.

If I weren't laughing, I'd be crying.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

6. He even fucks up his plan to fuck things up.

Poor Chimpy.

[truthisfreedom]

8. Wow. Bush is going to kick himself a few times today after hearing this news.

What a schmuck.

[AldebTX]

9. But But But....

that law was never intended to be used against a Republican president just Clinton :-)

The Congress is going against the whole purpose of having that law on the books.

<sarcasm>

[NV Whino]

10. Thanks, Kpete

That made my day. I especially liked the part about lumping them all together. "Raise your hand, aye or nay. The nays have it." Poof. Gone. Good-o.

[LynnTheDem]

11. Let's correct that one sentence to better reflect bush reality;

"White House’s attempt to finalize its energy and environmental DEregulations..."

[Blaze Diem]

17. Yes, The REAL Reason Bush Was Selected in 2000/2004

With Cheney calling the shots, DEREGLUATION of the Energy & Environmental industries was the only goal. All else was smoke & mirrors.

Now with their mission accomplished, they are free to quietly step away from DC, billions tucked away in foreign accounts.

Perhaps we can hope that our congress, compliant in this raid on our Treasury all along, may actually work to undo the damages that stare them down and laugh in their faces in the final days of the Bush 'heist' on America.
Why do I feel we have only one single ray of hope left, with this one tiny law that the smooth operators of the Bush/Cheney cabal overlooked.

Two months before President Obama can begin the process of rebuilding this nation, stick by stick.

Bush should have been impeached, yes, but perhaps there is still hope of criminal accountability for many who aided his grand theft of the United States of America.

Eight years of trashing all things good and secure about this nation, is an awful lot to clean up.
Bless President Obama and his efforts to make it right again.
I believe in him and will trust he knows what he's doing.

tks
Blaze

[mopinko]

12. bwaahhaahahahahahaha

hoist by their own petard.
aaahhh. i've been waiting 8 years to say that.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

14. Quick, Mo! Do you know what a "petard" is? nt

[mopinko]

21. a fart, i believe

i actually tried to find the source of this expression once, and i does not exist in modern english. it is from shakespeare and probably extinct as a definition. but i have always loved the expression.

[sofa king]

22. Oooh, ooh! I know!

A petard was a small bomb affixed to a pike or other long pole, sometimes part of a machine used to position the bomb over walls or near gates.

Shakespeare and Wikipedia seem to think that the word "hoist" meant that the engineer might be literally lifted by a premature explosion of the bomb, as the bombmaker's own plans destroy him.

But other sources suggest that "hoisting" meant that captured engineers were skewered by their own infernal machines and displayed above the walls as a warning to others not to try the same thing.

The word itself apparently comes from Latin through the French language, its original meaning being "fart."

Edit: links

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petard
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/260/whats-a-petard-as-in-hoist-by-his-own
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/hoist%20by%20your%20own%20petard.html

[DeepModem Mom]

15. K&R

[druidity33]

16. excellent news... k&r, nt

[SlowDownFast]

19. Best news since election day!

Gladly rec'd.

[sofa king]

20. O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!

At least through 2005, the Bush Administration had met no success at all in re-writing some of the "midnight" regulations they yanked when they got in. They were far happier with completely broken processes which didn't work at all rather than having ones which dared to help people they didn't like--like American Indians and other Native American groups, which was my own area of interest. I think they were also lacking in qualified individuals capable of writing regulations.

Five years ago a very experienced and respected lawyer in the field of Indian Affairs told me she thought the Bush Administration was trying to return to the so-called "termination era" of the 1940s and 1950s, in which American Indian tribes would be de-tribalized and the last of their lands stolen away. That may have been the intent, but as usual, the Bush Administration lacked the competence to make it happen. Now it ain't gonna happen at all.

[ellenfl]

23. yes!!!!! eom

[BluePatriot21]

24. I'd make some petards for them to be hoisted upon

I would have to eat lots of beans, broccoli and cauliflower?

[Zorra]

26. "....(the White House) made a mistake.” Heh. Anyone else shocked? n/t

[No Elephants]

28. From the article in the OP--

The environmental lobby would cheer such a move. “It seems like everyone in the world wants to throw themselves in front of this bus,” said Sierra Club lobbyist Dave Hamilton, who added that the organization supports any attempt to derail the Bush rules. “You just , ‘Haven’t you done enough?’”



Oh, yes. He's done way more than enough. January cannot come too soom!

[matcom]

29. DON'T ANNOUNCE IT!!!

the little shithead bastard will find another way to block the reversal :grr: