American democracy State, National, International, posted by Amy, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Jun 21, 2010 at 8:28 pm
Those were the words by Thomas Sowell of the Hoover Institution in his article "Is U.S. Now On Slippery Slope To Tyranny?"
As Sowell states, "Just where in the Constitution of the United States does it say that a president has the authority to extract vast sums of money from a private enterprise and distribute it as he sees fit to whomever he deems worthy of compensation? Nowhere.
And yet that is precisely what is happening with a $20 billion fund to be provided by BP to compensate people harmed by their oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico."
___
A suggestion to Gina Channel-Allen and/or Jeb Bing:
How about interviewing our very own representative...Jerry McNerney...about Thomas Sowell's article? For a change of pace, conduct some investigative reporting instead.
Posted by Jane, a member of the Amador Valley High School community, on Jun 21, 2010 at 10:19 pm
I copy here my words from a thread further down the forums page as my response to Amy. BP is not a good corporate citizen and you should please keep in mind who Obama "extorted" here:
In March 2006, BP was responsible for an Alaska pipeline rupture that spilled more than 250,000 gallons of crude into Prudhoe Bay – at the time, a spill second in size only to the Valdez disaster. Investigators found that BP had repeatedly ignored internal warnings about corrosion brought about by cost cutting. The company got off cheap in the spill: While the EPA recommended slapping the firm with as much as $672 million in fines, the Bush administration allowed it to settle for just $20 million.
At this moment, BP is waiting for final approval for plans to drill 2 miles down and 6-8 miles sideways in the Arctic on an "island" to tap a reserve known to be considerably smaller than the one leaking in the Gulf right now. The island is a 5-mile square man-made pile of gravel that BP created so that they could technically avoid the deep water drilling regulations which would have cost a billion more dollars in pre-drilling costs.
And you dare take BP's side, like they are victims here? Shame on you, Amy.
Posted by Amy, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Jun 21, 2010 at 10:36 pm
I am not a fan of BP. However, BP aside, when an accident in another industry occurs, where is it in our Constitution and body of laws that a sitting President can extract funds from that company to spread to others? When an unfortunate accident like a plane crash occurs, should the President shut down ALL AVIATION? This is what he is doing to offshore oil drilling. When a semi-truck has a breakdown, should the President shut down ALL TRUCKING?!!! Where is the logic in the President's actions? Where does he have the legal and Constitutional right to have a moratorium on all private sector offshore drilling???
Wise up Jane...or are you too blinded by your hatred of the private sector like other socialist democrats?
Posted by Amy, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Jun 21, 2010 at 10:40 pm
PS...Jane.
Where is your outrage at our federal government for APPROVING every move, every procedure, everything BP has done? Even giving them some kind of AWARD for their efforts!!! Where is your outrage against our government that has been and is impotent...even worse...is exacerbating the problem by blocking efforts at clean up!
But noooo it is ALL the big bad private sector fault, in your warped opinion.
Posted by M., a resident of the Downtown neighborhood, on Jun 21, 2010 at 10:59 pm M. is a member (registered user) of PleasantonWeekly.com
Interesting article Amy.
I will point out that many of the expanded powers were instituted well before this administration took office. Not that the expanded powers are acceptable, just that they did in fact exist previous to the current administration. In the end is our government changing, yes clearly it is. Right or left it does not matter, the powers will keep expanding. To what end, unknown. Thank you Amy for presenting something for what it is, without excess commentary (unlike myself at this moment).
Posted by dublinmarx, a resident of Dublin, on Jun 21, 2010 at 11:50 pm dublinmarx is a member (registered user) of PleasantonWeekly.com
As I have mentioned in prior posts, Amy could save us time by stating: "I hate Obama, no matter what he does." "I hate Democrats, no matter what they do." "I hate Liberals, no matter that if it were not for them (and! Progressives of their stripe) that I would not have the capacity to betaken seriously and have the right to vote."
Posted by Jane, a member of the Amador Valley High School community, on Jun 22, 2010 at 9:37 am
Your suggestion, Amy, that a truck accident or plane crash and the impact those events might have on the lives of everyday Americans is somehow analogous to BP's spill in the gulf is faulty on too many levels to list. The BP escrow money "extorted" by Obama will help private sector enterprises impacted by the spill, allowing them to remain viable. How you wildly extrapolated that into my "hatred of the private sector like other socialist democrats" is anyone's guess.
The temporary suspension of drilling permits will allow owners of rigs the time to upgrade their equipment like the blow-out preventers which the EPA says have a 45% failure rate in cold waters. It is the prudent thing to do, despite your willingness to find fault.
Posted by To Amy, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Jun 22, 2010 at 9:29 pm
If you love America's capitalism so much, then why did your hero (George Bush) need my tax dollars for TARP to bail it out? Why did your other hero, Sara Palin, say we needed the bailouts? Is that the way your capitalism works? Rich Wall Street bankers rob honest tax payers? I'm just wondering?
Posted by Amy, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Jun 22, 2010 at 9:34 pm
Dear To Amy,
I actually agree with you. The problem with Geo Bush was that he was not a true conservative. I was very much against the auto bailouts and against TARP. He also never used his veto pen when govt spending bills came to his desk. While I supported his war efforts along with his tax cuts, I was not a fan of his because he did not follow conservative principles.
Posted by Amy, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Jun 23, 2010 at 9:43 am
DublinMike:
You apparently have not been listening to me closely. I am not a republican who defends all congressional republicans. I am a devout conservative who will defend to my death the US Constitution, Bill of Rights, freedom and free enterprise. It is when America deviates from the ideals that gave rise to this great country is when I strongly rebel.
When our ideals of limited government and States rights are threatened is when "we the people" should sound the alarm.
We have been deviating from limited government ever since the socialist FDR passed his immense spending New Deal program. When I was growing up, I was led to believe FDR was one our greatest Presidents. I have since learned that the "Great Depression" was only "Great" (i.e. prolonged) BECAUSE of his massive government spending. If there was no New Deal, the likelihood was that our Great Depression would have been much more limited in scope and impact.
Mark Levin's book "Liberty & Tyranny" is a wonderful history on just how much America has deviated from the ideals of our Founding Fathers ... and those ideals were Conservative.
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