White House quietly issues OMB report vindicating Obama regulations

More facts to help expose the lie behind Libertarians Deregulation Siren’s Song.  Here's another example of Enlightened Self-Interest showing itself to be the more rational constructive way to approach our problems.  I’ll leave the rest of this story to someone who can explain it better than I can.  

These are the facts we need to learn about and share with others. 

_______________________________

REGULATIONS

Contradicting Trump, OMB report highlights rule benefits

Maxine Joselow, E&E News reporter

Published: February 26, 2018 

https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2018/02/26/stories/1060074795

The White House Office of Management and Budget on Friday evening released its annual report on the costs and benefits of federal regulations, showing that the benefits of major Obama-era rules far exceeded the costs.

E&E News broke the story, but it’s only available to subscribers so I’ll relate David Roberts report from VOX.com:

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Trump White House quietly issues report vindicating Obama regulations

It was easy to miss, but OMB demolishes the GOP’s deregulatory claims.

By David Roberts  |  david@vox.com  |  Mar 6, 2018, 9:30am EST

https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2018/3/6/17077330/trump-regulatory-agenda-omb

_________________________________________________________________

For a copy of the Report itself, this has been posted by E&E News.net

   

2017 Draft Report to Congress on the Benefits and Costs of Federal Regulations and Agency Compliance with the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act

   

https://www.eenews.net/assets/2018/02/26/document_pm_01.pdf\

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President Donald Trump’s administration has been on a deregulatory bender, particularly when it comes to environmental regulations. As of January, the New York Times counted 67 environmental rules on the chopping block under Trump.

¶ Open let LaPlata BoCC - re anonymous letter(s?) - February 28th, 2018

An open letter to the La Plata County Commissioners

Brad Blake

Julie Westendorff

Gwen Lachelt

February 28, 2018

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hello County Commissioners,

I live in rural La Plata County and yesterday I was called by a neighbor about an unsettling anonymous letter received in their mail.  The letter isn't threatening per se but it does intimidate, 'we know who you are, where you live, and we don't like what you say in public!' sort of thing.  Besides the intimidation, its content is vague, inaccurate and directed at the wrong people. An angry myopic venting that deserves a response.

It’s not worth calling the sheriff, but on the other hand it is certainly worth reporting and making a big deal about since I believe it's another example of outside forces bringing high-powered ruthless political practices into our community.  It's pure poison.

Stoking hostility and misunderstanding and yes intimidation is not the American way to go, that’s the stuff of totalitarianism and hopeless conflict.

Our current land code planning controversies can only be resolved by recognizing that time does change our reality.  Our population has been exploding and population densities do matter a great deal, no matter how much our nostalgia wants to wish it away.  

Dreaming about the freedom of a bygone wild era, when the nearest neighbor was a mile or many miles away, are not going to help us deal with today’s down to Earth problems and moving into the future.  That past is gone.

Commissioner Lachelt Recall Is Unfair - L.T. - 2/15/18

Yesterday I read a good Letter To The Editor of the Pine River Times that nicely explains the upset that I, and many others, are feeling towards this contrived Recall Petition.  Today I called the author and she gave me permission to reprint it and include her name.  More thoughtful letters to the editors of local papers would be good.

Commissioner Lachelt recall is unfair

Feb. 15, 2018  | pinerivertimes.com/articles/52457-commissioner-lachelt-recall-is-unfair

The majority of La Plata county voters did not vote for our current president. And we hear constantly from his supporters that we should deal with it and get over it. 

Yet it is these same people who now mount a recall against Commissioner Gwen Lachelt, duly elected in 2016 in a fair open election. Duly elected! And these people of the recall won't do what they tell everyone else to do, accept results, deal with it and get over it. 

Gwen has done what she told this community she would do. She did not misrepresent any of her positions or beliefs; and people said, this is who we want as commissioner. We want a commissioner who has worked for years to hold the oil and gas industry accountable for their impacts. We want someone who will oppose a polluting industry, and now that industry wants her gone. We want someone who will fight for clean air and public health, who will not cave to pressures to shut up and sit down like a good woman should, who will be our voice in Denver and DC. 

Gwen Lachelt is under assault and by any measure, La Plata County is under assault (see Jonathan Romeo's Jan. 30 (Durango) Herald article on Americans for Prosperity). 

It is up to the people who supported Gwen in 2016 to support her now. She has been there for you and now you need to be there for her. This recall is totally wrong and must be opposed.

Liza Tregillus

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¶ SaveLaPlataCounty's Recall Petition Examined - dirty tricks in action.

Save La Plata County’s Petition Language - Take a closer look at what’s being circulated by http://savelaplatacounty.com/the-recall-effort.  See if you don't agree it's a bunch of deceptive handwaving?  Please help discuss this malicious political deception aimed at robbing us of our duly elected County Commissioner!  Here I make a study out of the complete text of the Recall Petition, I have not altered any words from their Recall Petition, but I do address their claims and deceptions.

      Save La Plata County (from what?)

Recall Petition

We need commissioners who represent our interests above their own, and who govern with accountability and transparency.  (Of course!  Don't we all)  Commissioner Lachelt has not done that.  (False, look at the support rallying around her.)  She has repeatedly leveraged our public office for her private gain by appearing before the U.S. Congress and other federal government entities to advocate and advance her and her employer’s political and policy agendas under the guise of her role as our commissioner.  (False, she has been advocating for issues that we elected her to advocate for.  Those interests include protecting this environment that is our life support system!  Whether oil interests like it or not.)  Her county commissioner meeting attendance record further demonstrates where her allegiance lies. Her 2017 attendance record was much lower than any other commissioner.  (False, 91% v 95%.) 

We can and should expect our commissioners to act ethically (We should be able to demand the same of their opponents!) and not to take actions that undermine the public’s trust in our local government.  (Lachelt has never done such a thing.  No evidence of wrong doing presented - beyond advocating for a healthy environment*, that is. Why has that become an impeachable offense?).  As a result of Commissioner Lachelt’s actions,  (Nowhere is specific misconduct presented.)  the county has been required to investigate ethics complaints filed against her and to seek out ethics advice from at least one other county.  (Malicious misrepresentation of the facts.  This same group filed and pushed that frivolous complaint which was dismissed at every level it was looked at.  Now they resurrect it yet again.  Pure dirty politics in action!)  

For all these reasons, and more, we believe Commissioner Lachelt has acted in ways that have undermined the public’s trust  

(This perspective leaves  >2/3s of crowd out of frame, taken Feb 15, 2018 at Eno, Durango.)

Kochs in-house Political Spy Organization. Mayer, and Vogel - 2015

The amount of disturbing information is overwhelming.  Here are excerpts from another New Yorker article by Jane Meyers, describing the Koch in-house political surveillance operation.  It's followed by Politico's Kenneth Vogel's reporting on the unit's operation along with looking into the strategy and thinking that drives these people.   

I'm sharing this because I think the Democrats of La Plata county should be able to take a crash course on what they are up against with this oh so friendly sounding "Americans for Prosperity" who have moved into town with their silver tongues masking sinister intent. 

______________________________________________

Do the Kochs Have Their Own Spy Network?

By Jane Mayer  -   November 18, 2015 in the New Yorker Magazine

Five years ago, when The New Yorker published my piece “Covert Operations,” about the ambitious and secretive political network underwritten by the billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch, the Koch brothers complained mightily about the story’s title, protesting that there was nothing at all covert about their political activities. Since then, the two have embarked on an impressive public-relations campaign meant to demonstrate their transparency and openness. 

But today, the Politico reporter Kenneth Vogel came out with a blockbuster scoop suggesting that the brothers, whose organization has vowed to spend an unprecedented eight hundred and eighty-nine million dollars in the 2016 election cycle, are more involved in covert operations than even their own partners have known.

Senator Reid Exposes the Radical Koch bros - 2014

In March of 2014 Senator Reid gave a speech to the Senate, that lays out what’s going on here.  Below the fold I include the full text of his talk.

The Radical Koch Brothers, Exposed By Senator Reid

The Daily Conversation  |  Published on March 13, 2014  |  6:33 min

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiS_un4hKAs

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) speaks out against the efforts of Charles and David Koch, who are using their vast fortunes to push for right-wing, pro-industrialist policies.

Subscribe to The Daily Conversation for more progressive videos like this.

https://www.youtube.com/TheDailyConversation

Full transcript:

¶ Americans for Prosperity's Siren Song

To offer a feel for this organization I’ve taken the liberty of copying from Durango’s Americans for Prosperity Facebook page and sharing the text along with a few comments.

AFP’s siren song:

Our Colorado Chapter

One of 36 state chapters nationwide, Americans for Prosperity–Colorado has over 85,000 activists and an ever-expanding base of local donors. 

The grassroots volunteers of AFP Colorado advocate for public policies that champion the principles of limited government as well as regulatory and fiscal restraint. Part of our mission includes holding elected officials accountable for promises and votes throughout the legislative session.

“Americans for Prosperity exists to recruit, educate, and mobilize citizens in support of the policies and goals of a free society (Implying what, we are shackled?, and why are AFP’s meeting so secretive?) at the local, state, and federal level, helping every American live their dream – especially the least fortunate. 

(Then why does AFP oppose a woman’s right to self-determination and self-defense?

Why does AFP oppose universal health care efforts?

Why is AFP trying to destroy our public school systems?

Why does AFP have contempt for effort to protect the environment that supplies our life support system?  

Why does AFP lie about the dangers of fossil fuels burning and global warming’s increasing harm to the less fortunate?

Why does AFP act as though paying your fair share in taxes is equivalent to rape?

Why does AFP hate our government that created this amazing society in America? )

¶ Why start this blog?

Last Thursday a Durango Herald article by Jonathan Romeo informed me that Koch’s political machine, “Americans for Prosperity,” has now invaded our nice little town.  It’s first target is County Commissioner Gwen Lachelt because she has the audacity to be concerned with our environment’s health.  Worse, she believes the Oil Industry needs to take responsibility for the messes they consistently make.  Ironically, Lachelt has never voted against an oil development permit, but that’s not good enough, ideological purity is Koch’s goal.

That Gwen is competently fulfilling her sworn duties and representing the sentiments of a majority of her constituents, means nothing to Americans for Prosperity.  She’s doing what We The People wanted, but she’s unsupportive of Koch’s unbridled prosperity, thus she must go.  A lesson to make all understand who our future belongs to.

I’ve long been familiar with the “Americans for (Koch’s) Prosperity” on account of their dirty tricks regarding communicating climate science reality.  Campaigns based on deception, innuendos, misrepresenting the science, along with wholesale malicious lies and a good dose of bullying opponents.  But since learning about our climate and Earth’s evolution in general, along with defending climate science, has taken up what free time I have, I’ve pretty much ignored them.

Time to stop that, so the past days I’ve spent a bunch of time getting to know them through their website.  The high pressure recruiting effort is astounding, their absolutist tenor is terrifying.  Still I refuse to let my sense of defeat and dread immobilize me, thus I've decided to share my findings and report on local AFP shenanigans as we move forward.

After perusing their blog, and other articles, I’ll wager AFP may well wind up breaking the GOP and morphing into an ‘independent’ political party run by and for oligarchs as they force their radical changes onto our pluralistic American Way.   It sure smells like that's their endgame.  

They only want their fair share - All of it!  

Frighteningly, the Koch bro’s and friends have the ruthlessness along with the ways and means to accomplish their dream.  Realistically, at this point, who’s to stop their juggernaut of deceptive siren song, exclusivism and dedication to Profits Über Alles under the banner of Americans for Prosperity? 

La Plata County liberals/progressives it’s our move.