Thursday, February 10, 2011

Republican Spending Slashers

What Republicans are currently proposing will neither sit well with the squeamish… or the intelligent. According to various wire reports, Republicans have unveiled cuts in government spending that go to the heart of the administrations job-creating, clean energy and social programs. For example, they want to slash the home heating assistance program and federal block grants that help cities with their current budget challenges. So, the folks under two feet or so of snow need not bother turning on their heat. Boehner & Co. would rather you freeze to death. Oh, and Detroit? Forget that revitalization you’re experiencing. The next sound you hear is the bottom falling out. One of my particular favorites is the cutting nearly $760 million from the administration’s request for the WIC nutrition program that provides support to pregnant women and their children. These are the same men of compassion and concern that want to overturn Roe v. Wade. The conclusion is inescapable: we will neither allow you to end your pregnancy nor will we ensure you remain healthy during it. Oh, and we’re not all that interested in your baby being healthy, either.

Republicans on the House energy committee are proposing to block the EPA from reducing greenhouse gases. And they want to reverse the agency’s finding that climate change is dangerous. And why not? Climate change is a myth, perpetrated by unproven science and greedy whack-jobs like Al Gore. All the Democrats want to do is regulate, regulate, regulate. And for what--to support faulty findings and put a stranglehold on the energy industry? To paraphrase Mr. Boehner, “chicken crap.”

It makes perfect sense for the Republicans to want to strip the EPA’s ability to curb pollution and reduce emissions. It costs too damned much. Representative Fred Upton (R-Michigan), the author of the proposed legislation, was quoted as saying the EPA’s planned regulations would “boost the cost of energy, not just for homeowners and car owners, but for businesses both large and small.” It is interesting to note that Representative Upton received almost $39,000 in campaign contributions from EnergySolutions, Inc., and over $24,000 from Ford Motor Company. He also received almost $23,000 from CMS Energy and over $19,000 from DTE Energy.

Bad science, indeed.




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