Obama/viros suppressing mining

[ewv 0]

An an example of what difference who is in the White House makes for how the government is run under existing law, Obama viro appointees are cracking down on mining, attempting to reverse previous policies for mining rights under the law. In parallel, the standard strategy is for their cronies in the viro pressure groups to embark on friendly lawsuits nominally "against" the government to help them along in further expanding their powers.

Here are some excerpts from an article in the July 24, 2009 Public Lands News, a viro publication in Washington DC, on how viros are expanding powers to restrict land use outside a National Park (the Grand Canyon) because it is "adjacent" to the park -- all 1 million acres. This agenda has been pursued for many years. They keep pushing, year after year, knowing that it only takes one win to lock in what they want forever. National Parks are like cancers -- they matastasize to encompass what is around them, killing all private activity in sight (the so-called "viewshed") and beyond as the viros use "protection" of the "sacred" National Park as an excuse to expand.

In this case the government (BLM) already controls the surrounding land so the intervention is through the Interior Dept. issuing new edicts directly to block mining claims on behalf of the Anti-Industrial Revolution. Miners are supposed to be able to claim mining rights to discoveries under the 1862 Mining Act (analogous to the Homestead Act), which the viros have long been trying to destroy. Meanwhile the viros use bureaucratic edicts to "withdraw" land they want "preserved" as "wilderness" in order to blunt rights under the Mining law. Interpretation of laws is through regulations written by the agencies.

This case also illustrates how "compromises" made with viros never last -- they always take as much as they can get and come back for the rest later, demanding that they were entitled to all of it from the beginning.

In this case, McCain (R-AZ) is playing a prominent role, primarily against the viros, because he is an Arizona Senator.

Interior blocks new uranium claims near Grand Canyon

The Interior Department posted a “segregation” notice July 21 that bars the

filing of new uranium mining claims on almost one million acres of public land near

Grand Canyon National Park...

The department’s proposed withdrawal would approximate a June 25, 2008, demand

of the House Natural Resources Committee for an emergency withdrawal of the one

million acres. The Bush administration on Dec. 5, 2008, refused to carry out the

withdrawal, asserting that it was illegal...

Substantively, ranking House Natural Resources Committee Republican Doc

Hastings (Wash.) objected to the withdrawal because of its potential impact on

energy supplies.

“Once again, the Obama Administration is saying no to American energy and no

to American jobs,” said Hastings. “In just six short months, the Administration has

blocked new offshore drilling, blocked oil and natural gas leases in Utah, and is

now blocking uranium mining in Arizona.”

Grijalva responded that it is better to be cautious about the impact of

uranium mining before allowing companies to stake additional claims. “Until we have

a better idea of the impact of mining the administration is right to provide a time

out to take a hard scientific look,” he said...

McCain, Sen. John Kyl (R-Ariz.) and DeConcini all argue that a withdrawal

would violate an understanding the Arizona Congressional delegation reached in 1984

on statewide wilderness legislation. The deal called for designation of more than

one million acres of wilderness in exchange for release to commercial uses of other

roadless areas, including the area containing the uranium claims.

McCain, Kyl and DeConcini all invoke the name of former Rep. Morris “Mo” Udall

(D-Ariz.) as the broker of the understanding. But at the House subcommittee hearing

a former aide to Udall, Mark Trautwein, begged to differ.

“If there is an ‘understanding’ implicit in the Arizona Wilderness Act that

Mr. Udall’s work would be the final word on the Arizona Strip not to be rewritten by

those who came after him, which is the underlying thesis of the Senate letters, I am

quite certain Mr. Udall did not share it,” said Trautwein, who worked for Udall for

12 years. “In fact, I can think of no idea more contrary to Mo’s most fundamental

beliefs about the work he cared about so deeply.”

The House Natural Resources Committee’s emergency withdrawal order was based

on Section 204(e) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (FLPMA.) It

authorizes either the House panel or the Senate Energy Committee to order an

emergency withdrawal of up to three years.

Environmentalists have filed a major lawsuit to force the government to make

the withdrawal. Environmentalists, including the Grand Canyon Trust, argue in their

litigation that the withdrawal order not only bars future mining claims, but also

forbids exploration activities on existing claims...

(no link)

[RayK 0]

Ewv, I agree that who is in the White House makes a difference, but only to a certain point in today's government bureaucracy.

I have been thinking for quite some time how did government bureaus like the EPA get their power that was originally only supposed to be held by congress. Congress is supposed to be the only government entity (within our original system) to have the power to pass laws, but almost from the beginning it has not worked that way as Lincoln usurped power by the train load and seventy years later Roosevelt usurped even more. And from my own research, I am willing to state that I think Roosevelt usurped more power and did more harm to our form of government and the constitution than any other single president.

During Roosevelt's first term he got congress to approve the National Recovery Act which basically gave him the authority to decide where 3.3 billion dollars was going to be spent. This gave Roosevelt the power to decide where to spend money which was supposed to fall under the power of congress and it also gave him power over congress members as they now had to stay on Roosevelt's good side if they were going to get funding for their districts. This of course caused a fundamental change in the form or our government and to the "checks and balances" that were set up to limit the power that all three parts of the government retained. Today, thanks to Roosevelt and men like him, the Executive branch holds the majority of the power with the Congress and Judicial left almost begging to stay on the Executive's good side.

Under Roosevelt's terms we had the creation of an overwhelming amount of bureaus like the EPA which were given power by Congress, although unconstitutionally, and started to write regulations and or directives that were later made into laws. These groups tied businessmen's hands, along with many other people, and put an even larger demand on the economy as these new government workers were paid through increased taxation.

In John T. Flynn's book The Roosevelt Myth, which I mentioned in another thread, he gives a list (which is not a full one) of some of the bureaus that were created during Roosevelt's terms which I would like to share here.

FWA Federal Works Agency

NRA National Recovery Administration

USMC United States Maritime Commission

HOLC Home Owners Loan Corporation

AAA Agricultural Adjustment Administration

CCC Civiliam Conservation Corps

NYA National Youth Administration

SSB Social Security Board

BWC Board of War Communications

FDIC Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

FSA Federal Securities Administration

NLRB National Labor Relations Board

NHPC National Historical Publications Commission

NMB National Mediation Board

USHA United States Housing Authority

USES United States Employment Service

FIC Federal Insurance Corporation

CWA Civil Works Administration

RA Resettlement Administration

FPHA Federal Public Housing Authority

FHA Federal Housing Administration

CCC Commodity Credit Corporation

FCIC Federal Crop Insurance Corporation

FSA Farm Security Administration

SCS Soil Conservation Service

AMA Agricultural Marketing Administration

FREB Federal Real Estate Board

CES Committee on Economic Security

WPA Works Progress Administration

FCC Federal Communications Commission

OBCCC Office of Bituminous Coal Consumers Council

RRB Railroad Retirement Board

SEC Securities and Exchange Commission

TVA Tennessee Valley Authority

BIR-T Board of Investigation and Research-Transportation

CAA Civil Aeronautics Authority

NIC National Investors Council

DPC Defense Plant Corporation

RRC Rubber Reserve Company

MRC Metals Reserve Company

DSC Defense Supplies Corporation

WDC War Damage Corporation

DLC Disaster Loan Corporation

FNMA Federal National Mortgage Association

RACC Regional Agricultural Credit Corporation

CFB Combined Food Board

UNRRA United Nations Relief & Rehabilitation Administration

CEA Commodity Exchange Administration

SMA Surplus Marketing Administration

FSCC Federal Surplus Commodity Corporation

FFC Federal Funds Control

PRP Production Requirements Plan

CRMB Combined Raw Materials Board

CMB Combined Munitions Board

CSAB Combined Shipping Adjustment Board

CPRB Combined Production and Resources Board

CCS Combined Chiefs of Staff

PWA Public Works Administration

AOA Administration of Operations Activities

EIBW Export-Import Bank of Washington

EHFA Electric Home and Farm Authority

CPA Council of FPersonnel Administration

PRA Public Roads Administraion

EPCA Emergency Price Control Act

FPA Food Production Administration

OES Office of Economic Stabilization

PAW Petroleum Administration for War

SWPC Small War Plants Corporation

PIWC Petroleum Industry War Council

NRPB National Resources Planning Board

LOPM Liason Office for Personnel Management

OEM Office of Emergency Management

SSS Selective Service System

NWLB National War Labor Board

OCD Office of Civiliam Defense

OCIAA Office of Coordinatior of Inter-American Affairs

ODHWS Office of Defense and Health Welfare Services

ODT Office of Defense Transportaion

OLLA Office of Lend-Lease Administration

OSRD Office of Scientific Research and Development

OWI Office of War Information

WMC War Manpower Commission

WPB War Production Board

WSA War Shipping Administration

OPA Office of Price Administration

BEW Board Of Economic Warfare

NHA National Housing Authority

FCA Farm Credit Administration

REA Rural Electrification Administration

SA Sugar Agency

PCD Petroleum Conservation Division

OPCW Office of Petroleum Coordinator for War

WEPL War Emergence Pipe Lines, Inc.

BCD Biruminous Coal Division

PRRA Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration

BPA Bonneville Power Administration

NPPC National Power Policy Committee

OC Office of Censorship

FRC Facilities Review Committee

PWRCB President's War Relief Control Board

This is just the short list and not all of these bureaus made it through Roosevelts terms, but one can get a glimpse into the totality of controls, through regulations and directives, that came about because of these bureaus. Each one of these bureaus also had to be housed and staffed which put a large demand on the economy. And most of these bureaus had to also have their own little police force to make sure the regulations and directives were being carried out properly.

This is why I think that who is in the White House plays a part, albeit a small part, in what happens under their presidency. Until our government officials understand why the Constitution was written and why our government has "checks and balances" we are not going to change a thing long-term. Although I do think that one has to fight for anything that they can get short-term such as what ewv has been doing for years.

[ewv 0]

This is why I think that who is in the White House plays a part, albeit a small part, in what happens under their presidency. Until our government officials understand why the Constitution was written and why our government has "checks and balances" we are not going to change a thing long-term. Although I do think that one has to fight for anything that they can get short-term such as what ewv has been doing for years.

The White House makes a difference insofar as Presidential appointments, such as Cabinet officers, hold different philosophies on how the agencies will be run. The entrenched civil servants, the already existing entrenched regulations and laws permitting them, and pressure group lawsuits all limit how much the better appointees can do, but the better people do make significant differences in controlling agency zealotry and expansive new initiatives for more control. That doesn't make the bulk of the status quo go away, and it doesn't stop things from getting worse over time, but it does matter, and in some cases makes survival possible for the victims and would be victims. The article above shows as an example how much worse things are now for mining than they were under the Bush Interior Dept., which tried to constrain the worst of the viro agenda. "Constraining the worst" isn't restoration of proper government, but that is all we can expect, at best, within the current state of affairs.

As for "how did government bureaus like the EPA get their power that was originally only supposed to be held by congress" -- Congress (unconstitutionally) gave them power that Congress wasn't supposed to have either. This is worse than giving "legislative" authority to an army of agencies in the Executive branch, as bad as that is.

Today, "Congress and the Judiciary" don't seem to be "left almost begging to stay on the Executive's good side" -- except for some conservatives, they are all outdoing each other pursuing the same statist agenda. This is one reason why Congress doesn't bother to read the bills it passes. They don't care what is in these long, convoluted bills as long as the favors and powers they want themselves are included. The rest is part of the deal to satisfy other members of Congress and are details that don't matter to them. So why bother to read it? The agencies will write the details and expand on them anyway.

[PhilO 0]

This is one reason why Congress doesn't bother to read the bills it passes. They don't care what is in these long, convoluted bills as long as the favors and powers they want themselves are included. The rest is part of the deal to satisfy other members of Congress and are details that don't matter to them. So why bother to read it? The agencies will write the details and expand on them anyway.

I think more Americans should consider the total depravity of any man who would vote for a 1000 page bill he hasn't even read, containing literally nothing but further restrictions on the remaining freedom of Americans.

The damage done by the sum total of all private criminals in America's history doesn't hold a match to *one day* of that activity.

[ewv 0]

This is one reason why Congress doesn't bother to read the bills it passes. They don't care what is in these long, convoluted bills as long as the favors and powers they want themselves are included. The rest is part of the deal to satisfy other members of Congress and are details that don't matter to them. So why bother to read it? The agencies will write the details and expand on them anyway.

I think more Americans should consider the total depravity of any man who would vote for a 1000 page bill he hasn't even read, containing literally nothing but further restrictions on the remaining freedom of Americans.

The damage done by the sum total of all private criminals in America's history doesn't hold a match to *one day* of that activity.

This criticism of Congressmen for not reading bills before voting on them as merely totally depraved gives them too much credit. If they were to read the bills it wouldn't make any difference to how they vote, which is why they don't bother to read them. They are much farther gone than simply not reading their bills. They read the parts they want and can have full confidence in their cohorts that anything else is compatibly statist. As long as they are confident that government is seizing more power then the details of other legislators' provisions don't matter to them. Where the power seized isn't enough there will be more later -- through agency regulations, judicial decisions expanding their reach, and further legislation that Congressmen don't need to read. Under the mentality of subjective power grabbing through a constant progression of this process, insisting that bills be read in their entirety mistakenly assumes that the politicians have some kind of objective standards by which what they read makes any difference to them. To compare this rampant statism with mere private criminals in terms of a day of Congress versus and entire history of private criminality unnecessarily restricts the comparison to mere quantitative terms. Private criminals -- at least the ones who aren't psychotic -- have a concept of their own criminality and the civilization they rely on as parasites. The progressive leftists running the government are far more primitive than that and far more dangerous.

[RayK 0]

I would also add that this type of behavior (passing of bills without reading them) is not anything new. Going back to FDR presidency (one more time) and the congress of his day, he would give the subject of the bill, get it passed and then they would fill in the specifics at a later date.

[ewv 0]

Prohibiting uranium mines outside the Grand Canyon has become an active political topic again. The Obama Interior Dept. issued rules extending a ban and a Republican appropriation bill (HR2584) that came out of the committee on July 12 denies funding to administer or enforce the ban.

They also reduced funding for land acquisition, cutting grants to states to zero and reducing Federal acquisition from $165 million this year to 'only' $43.9 million.

On July 21 the Obama administration threatened a veto if the bill passes in this form, pretending his bureaucrats are only "assessing water quality" related to the mining, and complaining that "the funding in the bill for LWCF [Land and Water Conservation Fund for acquisition] programs would deny willing sellers the opportunity to sell land holdings, and severely impair the ability of Federal, State, and localofficials, as well as private landowners, to preserve and manage areas important to wildlife, recreationalists, and sportsmen and women." [Federal Parks & Recreation, Volume 29 Number 14]

Meanwhile, Obama complains that Republicans are not "balanced" for refusing to give him tax increases along with increased record borrowing.