‘The agency seeks to expand the definition of the waterways it regulates to include puddles’
WASHINGTON, DC, Dec 5 – “Government has grown more aggressive as it seeks to trample on our rights with regulations that are so intrusive they are positively inane, including a new one that would give the EPA the right to regulate rain water,” according to Dan Weber, president of the Association of Mature American Citizens.
Weber said that he was not amused when the Environmental Protection Agency announced that it would extend its authority under the Clean Water Act to include puddles.
“The Clean Water Act was enacted in 1972 to prevent the pollution of the nation’s navigable waters. It was not intended to allow the government to tell us how to deal with naturally occurring ditches on our property just because they might collect rainwater during a storm. But that’s exactly what the EPA proposes to do. It would be a joke if it wasn’t for the fact that such pervasive authority is bound to cause hardships for America’s farmers and for the country as a whole,” Weber explained.
Mark Pflugmacher operates a family farm in Champaign County, IL. He is also a member of the Champaign County Farm Bureau. As he put it in an OpEd article published in his local paper, The News-Gazette: “If the expanded definition is allowed, permits and other regulatory roadblocks — having to hire environmental consultants, for example — would stand in the way of conducting routine business activities like building fences, removing debris from ditches, spraying for weeds and insects, and removing unwanted vegetation on my own farm.
Pflugmacher cautioned that farmers are not the only businesses that will be impacted if the EPA is given the far-reaching authority it seeks. “Home builders, real estate agents, aggregate producers, manufacturers and contractors all would be affected. For these small, local businesses, the proposed rule would increase federal regulatory power over private property. The definitions would create confusion and, because they were intentionally created to be overly broad, could be interpreted in whatever way the federal agencies see fit, costing business owners money and the local economy jobs.’
Weber described it as “yet another example of big government, or big brother, if you will, gaining control of our lives, including the cost of living. The proposed EPA restrictions on the use of plentiful, inexpensive coal to produce affordable electricity will have a profound impact on the price we pay to heat and cool our homes. The new standing water proposals will undoubtedly increase the cost of the food we eat and the homes in which we live.”
The AMAC chief noted that the nation’s elderly will be the ones who suffer most and called on the new Republican Congress to rein in the regulators “who are usurping the power of our Representatives and Senators to make laws.”
NOTE TO EDITORS: Dan Weber is available for telephone interviews on this issue. Editors/reporters may contact John Grimaldi at 917-846-8485 or [email protected] to set up a call.
ABOUT AMAC: The Association of Mature American Citizens [http://www.amac.us] is a vibrant, vital and conservative alternative to those organizations, such as AARP, that dominate the choices for mature Americans who want a say in the future of the nation. Where those other organizations may boast of their power to set the agendas for their memberships, AMAC takes its marching orders from its members. We act and speak on their behalf, protecting their interests, and offering a conservative insight on how to best solve the problems they face today. Live long and make a difference by joining us today at http://amac.us/join-amac.
This is the fault of Congress when they gave their power to the EPA. I’ve tried emailing my Congressmen and some times I get an answer. Some times, not always, the answer covers the subject I wrote them about.
Damn, but these people can tap dance around a problem better than Fred Astaire.
Please people, keep trying. We can always vote them out.
Eliminate the EPA, overturn all their regulations & return land “stolen” from the states back to the control of those
states. There is a need to oversee what is done to our environment but it needs to be done by SANE individuals not FANATICS. This should be done by privately owned companies submitting recommendations to Congress. It’s obvious by what has been happening in the past under Democrat administrations that these recommendations CAN NOT be done by a government agency.
The Democrats/Socialists/Liberals have been using this agency to take control of one more aspect of our lives and we must press our Republican/Conservative Congressmen to overturn the damage already done. Eliminating EPA may have to wait until we have a Republican in the WH but surely Congress can do a lot in the next 2 years to overturn the out-if-control regulations.
We need to contact our Congressmen to let them know we expect them to do anything they can do NOW to overturn these abusive regulations & put some sanity back into this agency UNTIL it can be elongated and or restructured.
That should have said “eliminated” & restructured. Dang auto correct!!!’
Maybe most of you should read the EPA proposal before you disengage your brains and spout off at the mouth. The proposed change is primarily intended to clarify current language that has caused confusion for landowners, industry etc. Read the proposal and stop listening to the likes of the author who wrote the AMAC article and the Farm Bureau. I can remember when the St Lawrence River was so polluted in the 60’s that you really didn’t want to swim in it anymore. The river is 6 miles wide at the mouth of lake Ontario and it was polluted until the clean water act was passed. Today it is a sparkling resource that we can all be proud of again. DDT shouldn’t have been outlawed???? Have you never read or heard of ” Silent Spring” by Rachel Carlson?? DDT was killing all of our birds, bees and poisoning our waters. Modern ag pesticides using nicotine as a base are now suspected of contributing to the current nationwide honey bee die-off.
If you just want to rag on about the EPA, read up on the latest coal powered generating plant proposals that will send your power bill up to about 300% of current rates as well as shut down thousands of mining jobs around the country. Then write your legislators about that issue. The Farm Bureau and it’s members have been on the taxpayer dole for so long that they just can’t get enough federal $ and the louder they whine the more they get. Get a life!
Silent Spring” by Rachel Carlson has been proven to be pure hype and outright lies! NO science to back it up. Come into 2014. As far as DDT, millions of lives have been lost from not using it to combat Miliaria. Do you read anything past 1970?
George you are so small your really rile me. I even misspelled my own name. There it is “McKenzie”. Oh well, all this gave me the time to review what others are writing. You ought to take a look. Basically they are saying you and your ideas are horseshit. Kiss ma grits George.
George B. Your language is smug. As in liberal. I know who the AMAC is. I know something about the EPA. I believe what I chose to believe depending upon my experience with the two sides in any argument. But “YOU”?
I do not know a thing about you other than you have a snotty, dismissive attitude. That and you think you can browbeat a poster into your way of thinking. I mean George you “could” be the little jackass in the Whitehouse posting to the mere mortals just for fun. George I dismiss you because you are irrelative …. and one other thing George, “F” you.
John P. McKenzie
Cosby, TN
423 608 4302
“[email protected]”
George, it’s really a challenge to trust you and the so-called scientists that have plenty of theory, but are causing America to do an “about face” on everything that made us great. I lived the great years. My chest was full of pride for this country. I served 20 years in the military. I saw our elevation to be the greatest nation on earth. I can assure you that ever since these idiotic pro-environmental, pro-animal, pro-gay, pro-abortion, pro-evil, anti-commerce, anti-individual, anti-God rules were forced on us, our greatness started to fall. As we speak, the USA is no longer the #1 economy in the world. Poverty level is higher, Racial war started under a black president and his AG. Commodities and food prices are sky high. Unemployment enjoying record levels. Etc.Etc. This current president embraces the same laws you speak so highly about. Just look at the results. Just stop for a minute and think fairly, like a man, about the results. That’s all. Don’t reply please. I may be barked at, but I know the dog is toothless.
The EPA should be abolished. They are a net loss to the nation today, causing more harm than good. Based on many of their opinions, we could not even return to the horse and buggy days because of livestock pollution. They are little more than a bunch of petty bureaucrats being encouraged to throw their weight around by an out-of-control administration headed by a Putin wannabee.
I take exception to Putin wannabee. More like Benito Mussolini. Putin doesn’t have enought power.
George, do you work for our government? these things are adding up to more over reach by our government. this needs to stop.
George, ddt was used for more than crop dusting. It was used to kill the mosquitoes that spread malaria. Now that we can’t use ddt, we have rampant malaria in developing countries again. Here in this country, we have an insect infestation of epic proportions – bedbugs. Yes, we now live in a country where no matter what your income level, you can sleep in a hotel or even your own bed and have bedbugs. Congratulations, Comrade, you and your kind are well on your way to achieving your century-old goal of making everyone equally sick and miserable.
The fact that any part of government would regulate collected rain water from any of us is revolting. Yes, I would agree, get rid of the EPA if they’re going to do stupid, selfish control over homeowners. Next thing you know, Monsanto will be in control of my rain barrel that collects water for my personal use and making it illegal to use non-GMO seeds, and controling the food and water sources for everyone. Too much government control has ruined much more than that was achieved. You get a life George!
If your last name is Bundy and you live in the west, Your kids will probably be shot if they play in the puddles on the way home from school.
Speaking of China, look at almost everything you purchase, see where it’s made. CHINA, well, if we all stopped buying anything made in China, where are they going to sell all that cheap made garbage? And just think, the worker losing his/her job is an eight year kid who should be in school not working 12 hrs.’ a day in deplorable conditions.
Our government is again, out of control. What can we do, with the help of AMAC to STOP this crushing of our rights?
We may try introducing legislation making it legal to shoot unelected bureaucrats who step on people’s rights.
The government’s extension of power with The Clean Water Act comes out of the fourth branch of the government, the Regulatory Branch. I wager that’s not taught in high school civics class but it is very real and extremely powerful. A law may be passed by congress but then sent to the RB for implementation. Congress loses control at that point as the RB is in charge of regulations and enforcement going forward. The RB is a huge bureaucracy and they are combing through the regulations under their domain to see where they can extend their power. Obama and the dems have been doing that since his taking office with one power extension after another. Their redefinition of the Interstate commerce clause comes to mind. One of the biggest dangers to personal liberty actually comes from local government. Every level of government has their hands in control of water. The feds are trying to muscle in and it is shaping up to be a huge fight as to who controls the citizens. The tax payers will have to pay for the court fight. Too bad it’s not for freedom but for governing bodies to fight each other for control of us. It has been reported that Oregon has already laid claim to water run off including roof top run off. They can’t even have a rain barrel without being out of compliance. The state of Texas says they have control of all surface water and I’m sure many other states have serious issues with this recent federal power grab. Water is power and money. This is another offhanded transfer of wealth.
These agencies need to be reined in by a Congress that does its job of oversight. If the bureaucrats resist, their budgets need to be slashed. The problem is caused by lazy politicos who can’t be bothered to do their job and the Democrats who only encourage this overreach since they know their regulatory wishes would never get passed by Congress. Next up, the Repubs need to pass a bill declaring that the Clean Air Act doesn’t apply to carbon dioxide emissions.
Yes the FDA and USDA have leadership that is control by corporations. It is not about maintaining the health of American citizens. Many Manufacturing companies and the military are allow to pollute the water, air and land. States like MN & NY are allowed to pollute a certain amount of sewerage into the rivers. Texas want to build five more coal burning electric power plants, but DO NOT want to add scrubbers to remove the pollution out of the smoke stacks because it will add to building costs. Chemical manufacturing plants are developing effective chemicals to either kill insects or plants, but have a long shelf life and are cancerous or causes other ailments. The problem is that many of these officials do not use common sense in issuing laws. Residential homes should be installing rain catching system to supply water needs, both in house, car washing and gardens. Remember there is reason that the air smells so good and the water is so clear and taste good in the hills and mountains, so far.
Steve is correct. While G.E. for example was in compliance with the clean air act, etc, they continued to pollute the rivers (Ct. river for one), but nothing could be done about it because when then, CEO, Jack Welch was asked about it by Diane Sawyer, his reply was, GE is in compliance. When again she asked him about the moral issues of polluting the water ways, his answer was, GE was in compliance and wasn’t doing anything wrong.
Common sense is ignored. Companies with enough money and individuals alike get to do what they want to.
I’m in Vermont and we continue to get polluted by up state N.Y., namely, Plattsburg. I’m a conservative, but we don’t need neighbors like that. Period.
Does EPA provide a complete directory of all the laws they regulate?
Maybe we the people should demand copies for every citizen !
That would keep them busy for a while and utilize the deadwood employees do do something constructive.
It may also allow us to network with others to pressure our elected officials to do away with burdensome rules.
We should disband the EPA, start over with a new agency calling it Leave U Alone Agency. Either go after real polluters or close your doors. All the people I know that collect rain water is for their gardens. If the EPA arrests me , so be it!!!!! good bye America!!!!!
Already happening. In our County we can only wash cars in the grass or gravel — not on any pavement or cement driveway even if you are not using soap. They are worried about the runoff into the storm drains. All new Commercial builds are required to have a holding pond for run off and elaborate systems for storm water runoff. Makes it very hard to do business and discourages new businesses from coming into the area. We run a aircraft maintenance facility and it has put us in a quandary. The federal regulations require you to clean and inspect the airplane as part of the annual maintenance, but the port authority doesn’t want us ruining their grass by washing airplanes and we can’t do it on the tarmac either. We’ve tried to offer solutions such as a catch basin for the storm drain, etc., but they are not open to anything other than enforcing the regs. We’ve even shown them that the water from washing never even reaches the storm drain, but runs into the grass. Still no go. This on top of losing our health insurance and having to buy another policy that was more expensive and covered a lot less has about put us out of business. Government. Sheesh!
Parking lots in Los Angeles have been required to have drainage underground to collect and disperse rain runoff. The rabid environuts claim the runoff pollutes the ocean! Have any of them ever looked at the vast Pacific Ocean on a globe or space photo? It is the tiniest bit of water in a very large bucket that flows into the ocean from the mighty LA River.
Here we go again. Another rogue government bureaucracy overstepping its authority.
It’s another item on the list of things which prove we’re under a communist dictatorship.But, this is what happens when brainless idiots vote for liberals.
Speaking of liberals, here’s my opinion of those psychopathic maniacs…….
The Liberal
The liberal is the epitome of Mass Man. He LOVES the herd. He is the molten mass from which his god and king Satan came. He has NO TOLERANCE for the individual – only the mass.He is the MASS RESPONSE in EVERYTHING he does and thinks. He is of mud, he is of dirt, he is dug up out of the earth. Therefore, whether he means to do it or not, he acts accordingly – he acts like mud, he acts like dirt. No tolerance for the free, only the SLAVES chained together. THAT is the HEART AND REALITY of the liberal.
I know that sounds hateful, but we’re no dealing with sane, rational, caring people. Liberals are the most arrogant, intolerant, insane pieces of walking fecal matter ever to have existed and polluted our world.
Kevin I do not think that I have ever heard a more defined, reasonable description of a liberal. They also never do any wrong (King Obama), justify the illegal actions of heathens, call other people racist( when they themselves are the most racist people on Earth) and do not abide by our constitutional laws(illegal aliens). The Republican Party needs to understand that they have to stand up for us voters, and not care about the LIBERAL MEDIA and what they say. PLEASE REPUBLICANS OFFEND PEOPLE if they are in the wrong, as come judgment day the moderates will probably be on the left side of God with the goats. There isn’t moderation in Gods Commandments, just COMMANDENTS!!!!!
It all boils down to the fact that through regulations,taxes,and mandating that we buy stuff,our personal property,and money doesn’t belong to us.Our government is intent on coming up with all kinds of things that rob us of what`s ours.One of the comments above used the word collective.That is exactly true.Government looks at us as a collective.We are supposed to be one big hippie commune producing not for our own success,but for the collective.The takers are entitled to everything the makers can produce.After all it`s the fair thing to do.we make,they take,and then the thousands of highly paid bureaucrats are supposed to dish it all out evenly.Problem is,is that there isn`t anything left to dish out.After awhile the makers lose the motivation to make,and then the well dries up for the takers.Thats not a problem for the ruling class,because by then they have all the wealth.I say off with their heads.after all isn`t that what the French Revolution was basically all about.I guess I should point out that “off with their heads” was basically a figure of speech,not a terroristic threat.Got to be careful these days.
Presently you are seeing the tip of the ice burg. When you get the whole story in view it becomes terrifying.
What most do not see or understand is that this is just beginning of and ongoing program called Agenda 21 and the NWO being implemented on this country. It is one step at a time but the end results will be complete control of the country and its people. (Not only of the USA) but of the world. Your Constitution and rights to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness will not mean anything as control is taken. If you have not studied Agenda 21 and the intents of the UN for this country and the world I suggest you do so. Your future depends on it.
and James, a perfect reason for us to get out of the UN and get the UN out of the US. Write, e-mail, phone call, visit your Reps and let them know we know what ails this nation, and it is them. Make sure they know which side of their bread is buttered and that we, the voters, control the butter knife. Either they get rid of bad laws and organizations, or we will get rid of them. Target those who do not respond accordingly. Put on the heat. Mega wealthy, big business, the media do their part for wrong causes. We need to do ours for right causes. It ain’t right or left, it’s right or wrong and big government directed by special interests is definitely wrong. The people should be the special object of our reps, we are the special interest. What’s good for America is good for us.
In the meantime, let us not go hog wild for change. Take issues of soft law, like the EPA and harness them. Do not go after tax overhaul that would add to the tax rolls, like the fair or flat or whatever. Save that for when the economy improves enough that a greater tax base will not seem like a war on the poor. Corp. tax reductions are OK. We need jobs to come back home. After NAFTA, we should be smart enough to not fall for these other regional trade agreements that will just repeat on a larger and larger scale what NAFTA accomplished, loss of jobs and companies transferring operations out of country. Independants and union members are wary of trade agendas. We need to focus on the most egregious errors of government and avoid pushing blue coller workers back into the arms of the democrats. Otherwise, we will get the Republicans tossed out in the 2016 showdown. And we must not,NOT, not let the Republican establishment leadership foist upon us another McCain or Romney or any other neo-con or RINO Republican like Jeb Bush, Chris Christi, Rob Portman… We need to keep our heads when addressing our Reps, but they should know we will work either with and for or without and against accordingly. Once caught in a lie, they should be dropped and understand that you will report their lies to all concerned. Call it like it is and let the chips fall. This is probably our last chance. The establishment has grown too large and powerful for us to mess around. Let’s do it.
Ivan Berry, I agree with most of the conservative goals and principles you have expressed here, but the republicans, most of them RINOS, who have just been reelected to leadership positions in the House and Senate are not showing a whole lot of interest in carrying out the will of the voters, and they haven’t been sworn in yet. Mitch McConnell, for example, after campaigning on a promise to repeal Obama care, now says that he would be unable to get enough votes to do so. McConnell and John Boehner are both afraid that if they defund Obama’s illegal power grab on amnesty, and Obama closes down any part of the government as a result, that they will be blamed for it. Just because the press and the democrats blame them doesn’t mean that the republican voters will blame them. I think this last election proves that point. I don’t know why they are so terrified of a shutdown. Everybody always gets paid as soon as the shutdown is over anyway. we’re only talking about a small amount of funding here anyway. McConnell and Boehner have both been in office too long, and as long as they are there they will continue to see that RINOS continue to hold all the important leadership positions in the House and Senate. The only way this situation can ever be changed is through a process which you have already rejected. I am referring to an Article V Amendments Convention of the States. Three states approved such a resolution this year and there will be over 20 more states considering the same thing next year. The only conservative organization trying to prevent it that I know of is the John Birch Society. I do not understand their reasoning at all. None of their reasons make sense.
Earl, add Eagle Forum to the advocates against a COS. If I believed the Constitution was at the present time, the problem, I might be for accepting the risk a COS presents, however, it is that the Congress, the Courts and the Executive do not follow the Constitution we have. How in hell do suppose that amending it will result in following it? Fix what’s broken, our representatives allegiance, not change what is not essentually in error in the first place. For instance, a balanced budget amendment would be balanced by either raising taxes or reducing non-discretionary spending like Defence, Border control. All the various give away redundances that exist now would continue to do business as usual and be funded with likely increases as most of government continues to grow anyway.
And like you, I do not value the leadership positions in the House nor Senate. Republicans need to try and change the establishment leadership for true Constitutuionalists. Glad we can agree on most things, at least. Thanks for the comments.
Don’t expect the God Owful Party to do anything about the EPA. Remember it was Nixon who started it. Also William Ruckelshaus the first head of the EPA who killed more people than anyone else in history. He banned DDT which was on its way to ending malaria. Now approx. 2 million people a year, mostly children, die from malaria. Anyone know which Section of the Constitution authorizes an EPA?
by the EPA’s own statement 93 plus percent of its staff is unnecessary.
this agency needs to get defunded. next in line would be the DoEnergy
In 1984, Geo. Hansen, Congressman from the 2nd Distric of Idaho wrote that ONLY the IRS can attach 100% of a tax debtor’s wages and/or property; can invade the privacy of a citizen without court process; seize property without a court order; can force a citizen to try his case in a special court governed by the IRS; can legally, without an order from any court, subject citizens to electronic surveillance; has conducted “armed” searches and raids by IRS agents; of “hit lists”; of snooping, harassment, entrapment and a myriad of other horrors. He predicted that if let stand, this police state mentality would be picked up by the vast administrative agencies and grow into what it has evidently become, an unaccountable despotism.
Hansen also disclosed that politicians who criticized the agency were subjuct to reprisal through misleading leaks of their tax records that made them appear guilty of abusing tax law and put their political careers at risk, Smear tactics that were generated by the IRS and criminal division agents involvment when no crimes had occurred were used in opposition by opponents in order to cost votes in upcoming elections. Hansen himself was targeted.
He was right. The Interrior Dept., The DEA, ATF&E, ICC, Commerce, Dept. of Ed., The EPA, and so many others relegated to the Executive have their own inforcement arms and penalty divisions that no one can abide the law. We now break laws that no one even knew were on the books. This has given the government the ability to “Tell me who and we will find a law that they have broken.”
This is the area that we need to most influnce our representatives to combat. Without doing away with this over regulation and lawmaking abridgement of the Constitution, all else fails and our nation will be just another Socialist failed state as most all of Western Europe has become. Write, please; call; visit. Do all you can. We only have a short time to save our Constitutional form of government. So, do all you can, and then some.
Very well said Ivan.
Rules and regulations written by unelected, unaccountable (to the voters) bureaucrats are illegal as far as I am concerned. Only Congress has the power to write and pass legislation. The only reason these illegal assaults on our freedoms are “obeyed” is because the scoundrels pick on “offenders” one at a time to enforce their will and intimidate others from disobeying them. Even cities and companies cower before the rascals in fear just because it is the federal government and they fear the unlimited resources they would have to fight to oppose them.
A good sign of things that need to come is the results from the standoff against the BLM earlier this year at the Bundy Ranch where Americans came together and said NO to the federal bullies. We need more activism like that, a lot more.
At this rate they will be inspecting our bowel movements to check smell, color and density. Don’t forget the urine specimens required. Just how stupid can this current administration get????
Hey everybody, Joe just gave me an idea … Everybody should “bag up” their next bowl movement and forward it to the EPA to let them know what we “really” think of them. … In fact, I know quite a few Democratic legislators that should receive likewise “care” packages. … What a message that would send! … We could call it “the CRAP donation” … CRAP would stand for “Certifiably Retarded American Progressives” … Let the “movement” begin!
Your idea is fabulous, but if you did it they would come and arrest you for sending biohazardous material thru the mail and label you as a terrorist and put you in jail indefinitely under the Patriot Act that bush signed. I would care to guess that 95% of everyone in congress is of the same mind set as obama, power-money-control! The only way this craziness can be stopped is to convince our local congressman and senators that they control the governmental purse strings and if they DO NOT unfund the epa, then they will not get reelected, which takes away their power-control & money.
RIK, you really are a stinker, ain’t you? There are movements and then other movements. The Republican tight asses in D.C. seem only able to pass small ones in opposition to the wide open democrats.
We allow our Government to do as they please without any repercussion’s!
Our Government is doing exactly what they intend to do buy deviding our country, not uniting . People in this country need to wise up and vote in responsable leaders. In GOD We Trust !
Somewhere, recently, I read that the EPA regulations are 38 times the size of the Bible. That’s a lot of rules and regulations for people to assimilate & live by. And apparently we are supposed to know them along with the IRS Code in order to stay our of trouble and be good comrades. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. I am all for taking care of our earth and not polluting our rivers and streams, but the EPA is totally out of control with the unregulated power they’ve been given. Should we regulate our farmers right out of business and rely on food from foreign countries that are raised under even more questionable conditions? Where & how does this make sense?
Control our medical and food resources and you control us. What’s next? Guns? The money is already controlled.
This is more of Obama big government he needs to go help run Russian Gov. And leave ours alone.
It is not about pollution, it is about control. They are taking over electricity production with the EPA regulating co2, a naturally occurring gas. They control the banks. They own 1/3 of the USA by stealing land from the states. They control what you drive. They control what kind of house you build and where you can build it. They took over control of your health care. Big government is not the solution, it is the problem.
The new Republican Congress should have passage of a bill declaring that carbon dioxide does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Clean Air Act on the top of their agenda. Let Obama veto it.
As a new member of AMAC I can see a lot of retired folks have a lot of time to postulate on topics like the EPA, They can sling a paragraph together and show their advanced public education. I’m getting ready to retire by selling my small business and pray to God that I can break free from government regulation that have for all intents and purposes control every aspect of business from paper license to now controlling free stuff for my employee’s, so they feel they shouldn’t have to work( rent support, food support on and on) So whats my point? If you feel the government is here to help you need to think again! they are taking more and more control and the young people don’t even see it. The young people think that there are really free things with no strings attached and for the most part don’t even know they come from taxes. They believe the government has a never ending money supply and it just drops out of the sky! so whats the problem they say? Have we older people forgot what it takes to be free and that we can’t spend our way to prosperity and that the only real problems we deal with everyday are being caused by our government in every part of our lives?
Welcome Randal and you’re exactly right. The complete disconnect that most young people have to the economic and societal realities of the world are truly frightening. Their ignorance is truly the government’s bliss.
PaulE, I know from previous posts that you at least attempt to educate those youngsters you come in contact with. That’s what we need to continue to do along with trying to influence our Reps to reign in these Admin. agencies.
Have you noticed that since we brought up Admin. Law, much like the Convention of States that we earlier attacked, more people on this site have indicated that they “get it”? All advocates for backing away from Rules/Regulation soft law that appeared here today is so very refreshing that it can only make one thankful.
And have you noticed that it has been many weeks since an article advocating for a COS has appeared here? That’s not to say the subject is dead. It’s still being advocated elsewhere. But it does seem that what we say here, all of us, does make a difference, small though it may be.
While reading others’ comments makes it obvious that many of us have an appreciation of what our nation has been and hope for it to regain its greatness.
Sometimes our quips are a little off-putting, but when we get really serious, good things happen. For instance, the comments by JACK FROM MASS were a welcome surprise. There are many others that have stated well our concerns. Refreshing, to say the least.
Yes Ivan, I often lead off my discussions with young people with economic principals and then tie them into how they impact their lives on a day to day basis. Anything from rudimentary economic concepts up through advanced macro economic theory, depending on their level of existing knowledge and interest. It helps make the larger discussion of why our Founders selected the type of government model we have, which was unique at the time, so important to our ultimate success as both a people and a nation on the global stage in such a relatively short amount of time.
I try to make it all something they can personally relate to and that will hold their interest. No preaching about George Washington or colonial era politics and concerns that drove decisions around the formation of the country. That just makes young people zone out. Most young people sadly don’t care about anything before they were born. That, in itself, helps explain why they are so malleable by the left. No long-term frame of reference in just about anything of substance. So I focus my discussions on getting them to understand the inherent greater value to themselves (yes, it has to be about them or they tune out) of personal opportunity driven economic model (capitalism) over the central state planning and control model (socialism) so valued by Progressives / Socialists. Once they understand the concrete benefits to themselves of capitalism over socialism, then they can begin to appreciate why we have a Constitution written the way it is and why it is important. That in turn always tends to lead to further discussions on the value of government (or the lack thereof) in expanding its influence over larger and larger areas of our lives.
By the way, I find most young people have, at best, a very rudimentary understanding of basic economics and in many cases, what they’ve been taught in school is fundamentally wrong. Lots of skewed Keynesian government driven spending that yields non-existent multiplier effect nonsense sprinkled in with liberal doses (no pun intended) of making decisions based on Progressive definitions of “social justice” and “economic equality” somehow yielding economic decisions that make sense.
On administrative law, I agree that it’s good to see so many people starting to get it. That they begin to understand how unelected bureaucrats can inflict so much damage to so many areas of the economy without having to provide any independent, verifiable cost / benefit analysis for their decisions.
On the COS, its also nice to see we’re not be treated to weekly articles pushing that bad idea anymore. That so many people realized, once they had a chance to think about it, that it wasn’t the “magic fix” it was being positioned as.
Paule; Thank you for the welcome, after I get my business sold I will be glad to help in any way I can to get the message out. It is nice to see that there are people like you who still believe we still can turn this thing around. I think I’m still to close to these young people to think that there could be any positive change without a total melt down of our way of life. I know there are a few solid kids who come through my business but darn few. They have been so brain washed by hollysewer and our education system that it will take a miracle!
Randle – Your assessment, regarding government’s money sources, is right on-target. In 1986 Ronald Reagan said “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” Today, that statement still holds true. And for years, our government has busied itself creating a “dependency” class, by giving people money that they did not earn. A good example is the annual Earned Income Credit “handout”, but there are about 80 additional federal programs and among them are the old standbys, Welfare, Food Stamps, and Social Security Supplemental Income (SSSI). Arguably, these programs are needed to help people get back on their feet, but they were never intended to be a way of life. So where does this endless supply of money come from? As you point out, a remarkable number of people don’t know and actually attach the label “free” to all of these handouts. Many do not associate government money sources with taxes, fees, penalties, and out-of-control borrowing. Keep in mind that almost 50% of our working population pay no income tax and do not pay attention to tax issues. A few years ago, out of personal curiosity, I conducted a (very unscientific) survey. Off the cuff, I asked co-workers and friends if they knew the amount of their gross pay. About 40% could not answer that question. This result caused me to assume that net pay was known primarily because it’s the amount they receive each pay period and take to the bank. I also assumed that these folks were not attentive to tax and benefit deductions, suggesting they also may not know sources of government money, and if they do, they likely don’t know the effect on their earnings. Complacency, or disregard?
PTBA, I DON’T KNOW HOW OLD YOU ARE BUT SOCIAL SECURITY PAYMENTS ARE NOT A
HANDOUT BY THE GOVERNMENT! I PAID INTO THE SS FUND FOR OVER 50 YEARS AND AM
NOW RECEIVING A SMALL RETURN ON MY INVESTMENT! THE GOVERNMENT HAS ROBBED
THE SS FUND BY PUTTING IT INTO THE GENERAL FUND. NOW THE DISBURSEMENTS FROM
THE GENERAL FUND CAN BE NAMED HANDOUTS!! I PAID IN FROM EARNINGS, THE SAME EARNINGS THAT PAID TAXES THAT SUPPORT THE SLIMY SENATORS THAT SIT IN CONGRESS
AND THINK OF MORE WAYS TO PART US FROM OUIR MONEY AND INCREASE THEIRS.
BTW, ANYTHING BAD THAT HAS HAPPENED TO SOCIAL SECURITY PROGRAMS IS THE FAULT
OF DEMOCRATS STARTING WITH PRES. JOHNSON (after Kennedy) AND FROM THERE ON!!
Herbl, Slow down, there is a huge difference between Social Security (SSA) and Social Security SUPPLEMENTAL Income (SSSI). It’s too much to explain, so let me just say this … SSA is not a handout, but SSSI is. Check it out, you’ll see what I mean.
PTBA, I just love President Reagan’s quote I often refer to it but most of my employee’s get the deer in the head lights stare. Also nice explanation on SSA vs SSSI. I am having the closing on my business this week and I am looking forward to being away from the new government trust fund employee’s. I also have a story regarding the Earned Income Credit that one of my employee’s told me, kinda goes like this, we got about $3,800.00 on the EIC and we bought a snowmobile and when it ran out gas in the front yard my husband left it sitting there until the next summer. A passing motorist ask about it and we told him he could have it because we didn’t want to mess with it and it didn’t cost us anything so take it. Same person told me a couple of weeks later they where thinking of having another child ( had 2 already) I’m the government and I’m here to help. Pray for America!