Texas Tells The EPA To Pound Sand–UPDATED A War Is Breaking Out

by Melissa Clouthier | August 5, 2010 5:15 pm

Please go over to Pierre LeGrand’s place[1] and read the whole document and then come back. You need to feel better today so slug through the legalese, because it is SO worth it.

Here’s the deal: The States and the people are starting to assert themselves (Missourians rejecting Obamacare, States calling out the federal government–Arizona on Illegal immigration, Louisiana on federal response to oil spill, Texas on capricious and egregious EPA regulations). This frustration has been building for quite some time.

The American people have been asked to cede a whole lot of authority to the federal government, and in fact, many have become wards of the government in one form or another and expect the government to take care of them. Thus, the people of New Orleans feeling so abandoned when their government caretakers were ineffective. Since Katrina, there have been floods in Tennessee and Pennsylvania, hurricanes in Texas, and many more natural disasters, including Federally helped disasters like the BP oil spill.

In return for ceding that power, i.e. money, people have expectations. But the assurances and help have consistently, and predictably gone underserved or unmet. So now, people want their power, and money, back. Wards of the state are understandably concerned–whether it be people on social security who didn’t plan to take care of themselves, or the generations of misery induced by welfare, or Teachers unions, or public employees, these folks have a vested interest in keeping the central government strong and powerful. Those interests directly conflict with the rest of the country who must pay for services that are over-promised and under-delivered.

So, expect more Texas-size actions on the part of States. Expect more Missourian-like actions by individuals. It’s inevitable. The federal government is too big for their britches and not keen on being hemmed in. We’ll see, how this Texas effort goes.

UPDATED:

AJ Strata notes this[2]:

This administration has been using the EPA as a threat to try and scare the Senate into voting for job killing climate legislation; however, that effort has now failed and they are left with trying to use the EPA to make good on their threats. This is the opening salvo in that war. I believe the dems have vastly overestimated the ability of the EPA to achieve their ends, because the biggest problem is that *everything* the EPA does is going to reduce manufacturing jobs in the affected areas! Imagine how it will play for the Feds to be actively killing jobs while unemployment is still near 10%!!!

The new Congress is not going to be nearly as sympathetic to Ms. Jackson’s efforts as this one has been, and they will have a very effective tool — they don’t need to pass anything that could get vetoed, they just need to slash funding for the EPA by 75% and see how long it takes to get their attention. A Republican house may not be strong enough to dictate specific policy changes, but in a deficit obsessed, budget cutting world they can play hell with the EPA’s day to day operations.

I think we’re about to see a 2 year long civil war in which various parts of the government do everything they can to sabotage and undermine other parts, depending on who controls the respective power centers. Some would say that’s been going on for some time already, but those have just been skirmishes — this conflict is about to break wide open. Lord help us all, we’re in for one hell of a mess.