In a banana republic, the objective of the ruler is to make sure he and his family enrich themselves as much as possible before the inevitable revolution sweeps the next dictator into power.
My question: how much different is this? Right now, the Administration is passing laws and regulations of a size and scope we have not seen in decades. However, they are taking care of all their buddies and cohorts on an unprecedented scale too.
Before the inevitable "whataboutery" concerning Halliburton and Cheney, can we just focus on this a bit? More on the Obamacare waivers:
Are any liberals here tired of the wink and nod routine?
Help the President and get direct financial benefit? I don't think that's what the country ought to be about.
My question: how much different is this? Right now, the Administration is passing laws and regulations of a size and scope we have not seen in decades. However, they are taking care of all their buddies and cohorts on an unprecedented scale too.
We already have more than 700 waivers to the requirements of ObamaCare in place, with 40% of those affected being in unions. Now we see waivers beginning in another area of the Obama administration’s key policy areas — greenhouse gas emissions. In January, the administration began enforcing new EPA rules on new or expanding power plants, and within just a few weeks, announced the first waiver of those rules:
The Obama administration will spare a stalled power plant project in California from the newest federal limits on greenhouse gases and conventional air pollution, U.S. EPA says in a new court filing that marks a policy shift in the face of industry groups and Republicans accusing the agency of holding up construction of large industrial facilities.
According to a declaration by air chief Gina McCarthy, officials reviewed EPA policies and decided it was appropriate to “grandfather” projects such as the Avenal Power Center, a proposed 600-megawatt power plant in the San Joaquin Valley, so they are exempted from rules such as new air quality standards for smog-forming nitrogen dioxide (NO2).
Hey, you know what else Barack Obama did in January? He picked GE CEO Jeffrey Immelt to lead his new jobs commission. Does that sound like a non-sequitur to you? Let Timothy Carney explain the details of the Avenal Power Center:The proposed Avenal Energy project will be a combined-cycle generating plant consisting of two natural gas-fired General Electric 7FA Gas Turbines with Heat Recovery Steam Generators (HRSG) and one General Electric Steam Turbine.
GE: They bring good waivers to life!
The Obama administration seems very eager to impose regulation on everyone except their bestest buddies. If these policies are so bad that Obama’s friends and political allies need waivers to get around them, then perhaps they shouldn’t be in place at all. And perhaps the Obama administration should learn something about the rule of law, rather than the rule of whim — or as the rest of us call it, The Chicago Way.
Before the inevitable "whataboutery" concerning Halliburton and Cheney, can we just focus on this a bit? More on the Obamacare waivers:
Last year, we learned that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) had granted 111 waivers to protect a lucky few from the onerous regulations of the new national health care overhaul. That number quickly and quietly climbed to 222, and last week we learned that the number of Obamacare privileged escapes has skyrocketed to 733.
Among the fortunate is a who’s who list of unions, businesses and even several cities and four states (Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio and Tennessee) but none of the friends of Barack feature as prominently as the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
How can you get your own free pass from Obamacare? Maybe you can just donate $27 million to President Obama‘s campaign efforts. That’s what Andy Stern did as president of SEIU in 2008. He has been the most frequent guest at Mr. Obama‘s White House.
Are any liberals here tired of the wink and nod routine?
Help the President and get direct financial benefit? I don't think that's what the country ought to be about.
Last edited by Doctor Fate on 11 Feb 2011, 8:53 am, edited 1 time in total.