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White House Refused To Open Unwelcome EPA E-Mail

epfreed writes "The White House lost a case in the Supreme Court about the need for the EPA to regulate greenhouse gases. So the EPA made new rule. And now the NYTimes reports that the White House did not want to get these new rules from the EPA about greenhouse gases. So they did not open the email."

63 of 497 comments (clear)

  1. The WH's boss is still we the people you know by Gat0r30y · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Frankly I'm pretty sure my boss would give me the sack for that sort of BS.

    --
    Prediction: The real iPhone killer is going to be sex robots from Japan. Think about it.
    1. Re:The WH's boss is still we the people you know by Inglix+the+Mad · · Score: 5, Insightful

      And legally, wouldn't fall under something similar to "willful blindness"?

      i.e. deliberate failure to make a reasonable inquiry of wrongdoing (as drug dealing in one's house) despite suspicion or an awareness of the high probability of its existence Willful blindness involves conscious avoidance of the truth and gives rise to an inference of knowledge of the crime in question.

      /not sure

      --
      People say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Why? Is there any shortage of bad ones?
    2. Re:The WH's boss is still we the people you know by cavis · · Score: 5, Funny

      I think it is like an ostrich with his head in the sand. Except the ostrich is "Dubya", and the sand that he has his head in is really his ass. Judging by these and other events, he likes the view in there.

    3. Re:The WH's boss is still we the people you know by Paranatural · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It's like a never-ending spiral downward to see how absolutely slimy these people can be without actually getting forcibly ejected from the WH. Seriously, how badly do these bastards have to behave before they can be impeached? Bill got a hummer and has impeachment hearings brought against him, the Bush admins just flat out break law after law and absolutely nothing happens. What the hell?

    4. Re:The WH's boss is still we the people you know by srealm · · Score: 5, Insightful

      OK ... to further that then.

      Where is the impeachment for LYING ABOUT WHY THE COUNTRY WAS DRAGGED INTO A PROTRACTED WAR! ... not for the war itself.

    5. Re:The WH's boss is still we the people you know by oyenstikker · · Score: 4, Informative

      He was impeached. He was not convicted.

      --
      The masses are the crack whores of religion.
    6. Re:The WH's boss is still we the people you know by cez · · Score: 5, Interesting
      He's not the only one with their head in their ass, errr...sand:


      The Transportation Department made its own fuel-economy proposals public almost two months ago; they were based on the assumption that gasoline would range from $2.26 per gallon in 2016 to $2.51 per gallon in 2030, and set a maximum average standard of 35 miles per gallon in 2020.

      ...did someone misplace a decimal?

      --
      Walk with Music;
    7. Re:The WH's boss is still we the people you know by dpilot · · Score: 4, Insightful

      For one, because he was never under oath.
      Second, he never exactly lied, they merely "selectively observed" some facts, and "selectively neglected" others. Obviously completely different from lying, and completely out of the realm of lying under oath.

      More seriously, IMHO the Administration's problem is that they believe that they can force their wished version of reality into the world, and make is to, evidently by sheer force of will and political determination. Disagree with the facts? Reinterpret them until they agree with you!

      The real and impeachable crime here is misfeasance - sheer incompetence.

      --
      The living have better things to do than to continue hating the dead.
    8. Re:The WH's boss is still we the people you know by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Personally, I think Congress should vote directly on such a massive regulation that could impact hundreds of billions to trillions of dollars of economic development.

      That's far, far too much power to be wielded by officials not directly elected by the people. And, worse, have their non-election touted as a benefit by supporters...of the regulations. They don't have to "worry about politics."

      Not a very Founding Fathers-ish attitude. Break part of the separation and limitations of powers simply because, you know, you can get your laws, i.e. regulations, jammed down the throats of people that way.

      There was a reason Congress was expressly forbidden from delegating its lawmaking authority. This was so it couldn't avoid passing laws the people might not want, and would cause them to lose the next election. Shielded by this layer, with unpopular regulations they could just throw up their hands and lie, "Gee, I wouldn't have voted for that!" Uhh, you can vote to reverse it, though. "Yeah, we'll get around to that as soon as possible."

      It isn't an issue of the value of the regulation, i.e. law. It's an issue of Constitutional propriety. If a law is so necessary, it should be passed by vote with little or no problem.

      --
      (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
    9. Re:The WH's boss is still we the people you know by Kenrod · · Score: 5, Funny

      Are you suggesting the govt would voluntarily hold themselves to the same legal standards as the rest of us?

      --
      Good heavens Miss Sakamoto - you're beautiful!
    10. Re:The WH's boss is still we the people you know by Kenrod · · Score: 3, Informative

      Bill was impeached for lying under oath. The only place you can get impeached for getting a hummer is Alabama.

      --
      Good heavens Miss Sakamoto - you're beautiful!
    11. Re:The WH's boss is still we the people you know by ArcherB · · Score: 3, Informative

      OK ... to further that then.

      Where is the impeachment for LYING ABOUT WHY THE COUNTRY WAS DRAGGED INTO A PROTRACTED WAR! ... not for the war itself.

      There are two problems with that. First, if Bush lied, then a whole slew of other people lied and would deserve equal treatment. Bill and Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, and even John D. Rockefeller would all be guilty of the same "crime". Funny, considering that John D. Rockefeller (chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence) even created a report to try to prove that Bush lied. It found nothing:

      But dive into Rockefeller's report, in search of where exactly President Bush lied about what his intelligence agencies were telling him about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein, and you may be surprised by what you find.

      On Iraq's nuclear weapons program? The president's statements "were generally substantiated by intelligence community estimates."

      On biological weapons, production capability and those infamous mobile laboratories? The president's statements "were substantiated by intelligence information."

      On chemical weapons, then? "Substantiated by intelligence information."

      On weapons of mass destruction overall (a separate section of the intelligence committee report)? "Generally substantiated by intelligence information." Delivery vehicles such as ballistic missiles? "Generally substantiated by available intelligence." Unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used to deliver WMDs? "Generally substantiated by intelligence information."

      As you read through the report, you begin to think maybe you've mistakenly picked up the minority dissent. But, no, this is the Rockefeller indictment. So, you think, the smoking gun must appear in the section on Bush's claims about Saddam Hussein's alleged ties to terrorism.

      But statements regarding Iraq's support for terrorist groups other than al-Qaeda "were substantiated by intelligence information." Statements that Iraq provided safe haven for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and other terrorists with ties to al-Qaeda "were substantiated by the intelligence assessments," and statements regarding Iraq's contacts with al-Qaeda "were substantiated by intelligence information." The report is left to complain about "implications" and statements that "left the impression" that those contacts led to substantive Iraqi cooperation.

      Even Rockefeller himself at one point said:

      "There has been some debate over how 'imminent' a threat Iraq poses. I do believe Iraq poses an imminent threat. I also believe after September 11, that question is increasingly outdated. . . . To insist on further evidence could put some of our fellow Americans at risk. Can we afford to take that chance? I do not think we can." So that whole Bush lied thing no longer carries any water. It doesn't matter either way as lying to the public is not an impeachable offense. That's why Bill Clinton was impeached for lying under oath and obstruction of justice, NOT for saying to the American public "I did not have sexual RELATIONS with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky".

      Please move on to something else now. May I recommend something a little more On Topic. Thank you.

      --
      There is no "I disagree" mod for a reason. Flamebait, Troll, and Overrated are not substitutes.
    12. Re:The WH's boss is still we the people you know by Carthag · · Score: 4, Funny

      Those are adjusted dollars from after your current dollar tanks in 2011.

    13. Re:The WH's boss is still we the people you know by sorak · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And legally, wouldn't fall under something similar to "willful blindness"?

      i.e. deliberate failure to make a reasonable inquiry of wrongdoing (as drug dealing in one's house) despite suspicion or an awareness of the high probability of its existence Willful blindness involves conscious avoidance of the truth and gives rise to an inference of knowledge of the crime in question. /not sure

      IANAL, but wouldn't it fall under contempt of court? The willful blindness analogy would hold up if it were a case of someone else committing a crime in the White House and the people being prosecuted had looked the other way, but this is a case of the defendants losing the case and simply ignoring the verdict by ignoring the EPA.

      It's like if I refused to pay my house payment, and then the mortgage company sued me, won the case, with the judge saying "you bill him and he had better pay that bill", and I tried to weasel out by immediately throwing away any mail that came from my mortgage company. How would that NOT be contempt of court?

    14. Re:The WH's boss is still we the people you know by DrEldarion · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Some things need to be out of the hands of the people because, quite honestly, the people are dumb and shortsighted.

      They're fine with denying people rights because of race/gender/sexual preference.
      They're fine with their own rights being stripped away because of some vague promise that it'll help fight "terrism".
      They're fine with destroying the earth as long as they can save $0.20 a gallon on gas for the next year.

      There are certain things that should not be up for vote by the people, and the environment is probably at the top of that list.

    15. Re:The WH's boss is still we the people you know by darkmeridian · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Americans now know how it's like to be ruled by a ten-year old. "Nuh uh, I'm not going to open the e-mail." "Sir? Mr. President, that's the EPA's conclusions. It's important." "I disagree." "Respectfully, Mr. President, you should read it first." "Not gonna do it."

      --
      A NYC lawyer blogs. http://www.chuangblog.com/
    16. Re:The WH's boss is still we the people you know by rthille · · Score: 4, Insightful

      GW has been under oath from the moment he took office. He swore an oath to uphold the constitution. He's failed at that. It's well past time to impeach.

      --
      Awesome furniture, accessories and cabinetry in Santa Rosa, CA: http://humanity-home.com/
    17. Re:The WH's boss is still we the people you know by sumdumass · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Wow.. Finally someone else gets this.

      You know, Back during the 70's oil crisis, American went off the international oil market and the trade was highly regulated. Over the years, this has been reversed and on the late 90's, the last regulations concerning the furures markets and trading oil was lifted. This is where it led us too. I'm not against deregulation but I think there is a problem when someone holds onto large reservers just to drive the price up in order to profit.

      As we see, the production and demand ratios will eventually regulate it, Saudi-Arabia notices that their biggest clients are taking less and less oil in and the value of the dollar was already low so all of a sudden they can produce a few hundreds of thousand barrels more and drill some more oil fields so they can maintain their income? And the US all of a sudden sees that huge amounts of oil are still untouched within their own borders?
      Actually, Saudi-Arabia is noticing that it can no longer manipulate the price of oil. Their goals are to sort of flood the market making the latests hoarding pointless and hopefully force a change in action from the people that are hoarding the oil. This could backfire too, it could reach a point where there is little demand and the people hoarding the oil to drive the price up are forced to sell at a severe loss. I'm guessing that the people doing so are using other people's money so that would likely mean massive losses in retirement accounts and unpaid debts creating another problem for the country.

      This hoarding is only possible because world wide production is close to it's maximum limits. Otherwise, they would just product more oil when demand increases. Drilling at home would negate this problem too. More wells doesn't mean huge flows of oil, they production can be manipulated to find a fair price. It is hard to reason why people would be hoarding oil knowing of this possibility and I'm thinking it has to do with more then perceived profits. I think it is being done to either manipulate social policy, international policy, or some contrived combination of both. Purposely loosing billions of inverter dollars that belong to retirement accounts or health insurance investments could create a necessity for socialized medicine. It could also be a purposeful act to restrict Co2 emissions by some group because people won't drive when they can't afford to. It could also be because someone wants us to get out of the middle east and drop support for Israel or even invade other countries and so on. It is hard to tell and I can only speculate. But buying oil at $100 a barrel and holding to sell it at $100 a barrel doesn't make as much profit as some people think. So I'm doubting that it is all about the money.

    18. Re:The WH's boss is still we the people you know by Red+Flayer · · Score: 4, Informative

      IANAL, but wouldn't it fall under contempt of court? The willful blindness analogy would hold up if it were a case of someone else committing a crime in the White House and the people being prosecuted had looked the other way, but this is a case of the defendants losing the case and simply ignoring the verdict by ignoring the EPA.
      It's far worse than contempt of court, since the court in question is the Supreme Court and the violator in question is the Chief Executive.

      This is willful, blatant disregard for one of the most important principles in the US Constitution, that of checks and balances.

      The legislative branch passed a law requiring action by the exective branch. The executive branch said it was; the judicial branch found differently and told the executive to do better. The exectuive branch plugged its fingers in its ears and ignored the order.

      This is a prime example of direct non-compliance with the US Constitution.

      Now, I don't think we should waste the resources on impeachment proceedings at this point. However, I think there needs to be a full investigation by the Senate so that all the details are entered into the historical record before they disappear. As GWB has often alluded to, history will judge him. I hope he is haunted to the end of his days by what he has done and by what historians write about him.
      --
      "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
    19. Re:The WH's boss is still we the people you know by R3d+M3rcury · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Just as an aside, remember the 9/11 Investigations where Bush and Cheney agreed to talk to the commission, but not under oath? Now you know why.

    20. Re:The WH's boss is still we the people you know by Cairnarvon · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'm getting really sick of people trying to justify the excesses of this administration by pointing out it's just more of the same.
      Yes, corruption has always been around, and the difference between this administration and pretty much any random previous one is one of scale, not kind, but that doesn't mean the Bush administration hasn't been particularly egregious, or undeniably worse than any other in recent history.

      Why try to explain away their excesses like this? Is it just an attempt to justify not getting up and doing something about it?

    21. Re:The WH's boss is still we the people you know by the+phantom · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It is the job of Congress to create laws. It is the job of the Executive Branch (i.e. the President) to enforce laws, and regulation is part of that (regulations are basically statements about how laws are to be enforced). It is the job of the Supreme Court to interpret the law. In this case, Congress passed a law (the Clean Air Act), and the Executive created regulations outlining how the law was to be enforced. The Supreme Court determined that those regulations did not sufficiently uphold the law, and told them to try again. This is a case where the Executive did not act according to the will of the people, as enacted by Congress; was slapped down by the Supreme Court for it; and is now trying to pretend that the issue never existed.

    22. Re:The WH's boss is still we the people you know by eclectic4 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Just to clarify, opening up to new drilling as proposed recently would yield oil producing structures in approx. 10 years, and would add to approx. 1% of the world's oil market.

      McCain will use it of course as a "too many people do not know this, and am going to 'play that card'", but it should be seen as nothing more than a boon for the oil companies, and a whole bunch of 1%, in 10 years (up to 15, depending on the difficulty of permit granting and construction location).

      Why in the hell is it so hard to have the above explained (to me by a neutral -stated- Havard Prof via NPR) in the 10 seconds it would take to dispel any further discussion about it, which IMO would be the right thing to do, on any network "news"?

      --

      "The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance - it is the illusion of knowledge." - Daniel Boorstin
    23. Re:The WH's boss is still we the people you know by sumdumass · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'm talking about buying futures just to create a shortage.

      When it comes time to deliver on the good, the contracts are just shuffled to someone else. A network like this can make extra oil completely scarce because Instead of having 100 barrels available, there are only 50 or so. That isn't a problem when people who use the oil hold the contracts because less people will be buying in the future. With contracts going to people who will never use the oil, there is sort of a split market where you end up with alternative sources for the commodity. Instead of taking the contract, it gets sold to someone else and repeatedly passed around as if it is a tangible object instead of something of a short terms or specific value.

      What happens is that Investor A sells to B who sells to C who eventually sells to D who can actually use the product. A buys more and starts again. But because there are 2 to 3 middle buyers before this happens, the oil can be kept out of the market for long periods of time creating the hoarding event. A buys so when C sells, it is worth more. C sells so it goes down and A buys. B, which is most likely a retirement fund or some insurance brokerage becomes a middle man to enable this behavior. B can actually be several different companies at once so the volume A and C trade can be large enough to hide a portion of the supply.

      I'm not sure if this is the classical definition of hoarding, but it takes the product off the market for the people using or needing it in order to create a shortage and increase the value of it. Generally hoarding has something to do with an emergency where people have a greater need for a product but at todays gas prices and the fact that public transportation is non-existent or ineffective in most areas, I would call it close to an emergency. A producer is limited to how much they can produce in in how much they can sell which is what creates an artificial shortage. In short, the seller becomes someone other then the supplier and the supplier loses all control over the price.

      I might have not been clear as I would have likes so Look at it this way. If I see that everyone in a city eats bread, they pay someone to buy it all up so I can sell it back at a large profit. What stops me from doing this is that the bread makers will just make more bread causing me to lose money. Normally this effect would be limited by the maximum amount of bread the bread makers can produce so if that is reached, the bread will be mine and you will have to pay my price (assuming that you can't make your own and nobody rations how much bread I can buy). Now in the real world, Someone would just build another factory and make more bread. Eventually, there would be a point where I couldn't get enough funding and I couldn't charge a price for the bread that would recover all that I would have to throw out or otherwise dispose of. But, if there were arbitrary restrictions stopping more bread factories from being built, and ones limiting the amount of production existing factories could make, then I would be limited by only the funding I can come up with. Now suppose I have an investment broker who handled all the retirement accounts for everyone in the city and I offered to sell them portions of the bread that they could later sell back to me at a profit. They raise regulatory concerns so I have my brother buy the bread and sell it to the broker who sells it to me and I then resell it to the people.

      I think this is happening with the oil. restrictions in the production and unregulated trade between people who aren't ever going to use the oil are doing exactly this. The amount of collusion between them could be negligible or it could be great. But I don't think it is not happening.

    24. Re:The WH's boss is still we the people you know by Watts+Martin · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I believe the lie that lead to the impeachment was about Monica Lewinsky. Wrong adulterous affair.

      In any case, it somewhat begs the question. I think the strongest case conservatives made was, essentially, the "rule of law" argument: our country doesn't have rulers, but has a system of law that no one, regardless of office, can be held to be above.

      The question, however, is: do we really believe that, or not? Because the defense of the Clinton administration boiled down to, "Well, these laws weren't broken in any matter that relates to the function of the office," and the conservatives replied -- I think correctly -- that it doesn't matter. Yet the defense of the Bush administration's actions boil down to, "Well, as long as we can make a plausible argument that we're breaking these laws in the service of national security, we shouldn't be held accountable." Would any conservative buy that argument if it had been made by Clinton? His wife? John Kerry? Barack Obama? Unless the answer is, "I would have absolutely no problem giving a Hillary Clinton administration the same sweeping surveillance powers and immunity from oversight," I would argue that's a serious disconnect.

    25. Re:The WH's boss is still we the people you know by StubNewellsFarm · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'm sure you couldn't be bothered to actually read the article, but the EPA report found "that tough regulation of motor vehicle emissions could produce $500 billion to $2 trillion in economic benefits over the next 32 years". That's benefits, not costs.

      The article also mentions that the EPA report was produced because the Supreme Court ruled that, under the Clean Air Act, the EPA was required to determine whether greenhouse gasses should be regulated.

      In other words, Congress did pass a law. It is known as the Clean Air Act. The Executive Branch was not properly implementing the law, and the Supreme Court told them that they needed to do so.

      This has nothing to do with your fantasy about non-elected officials substituting their regulations for laws. The regulations were specifically required by the law.

    26. Re:The WH's boss is still we the people you know by Maxmin · · Score: 4, Insightful

      wasn't aware that we had the power to destroy the earth

      Ah yes, the deniers favorite redirection - that we're simply not able to "destroy the earth." Not such a cute canard anymore, that one.

      For the record, it means "destroy our world," our world means those aspects of the Earth and its habitats that we human beings occupy, grow food in, take water from, excrete back into, etc. *That* world is the one folks are concerned about polluting, changing the chemistry of, etc.

      But you already knew that, didn't you?

      --
      O lord, bless this thy holy hand grenade, that with it thou mayest blow thine enemies to tiny bits, in thy mercy.
  2. time paradox by QuantumHobbit · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How did they know about the rules if they never opened the e-mail?

    Also after 7 years, is anyone surprised?

    1. Re:time paradox by joocemann · · Score: 4, Funny

      SUBJECT: NEW RULES
      FROM: Dude@epa.gov

      [x] Delete

      (like that)

    2. Re:time paradox by iluvcapra · · Score: 4, Insightful

      They don't have to open any emails anymore, they just call the NSA to give them the gist of it...

      --
      Don't blame me, I voted for Baltar.
  3. works for /. by notgm · · Score: 5, Funny

    i didn't want to rtfa. so i didn't click on the link.

  4. Well, if it works for the Whitehouse... by seanonymous · · Score: 5, Funny

    Looks like I won't be opening many work emails from now on. Those emails from my bank might go unread, too. It's about time they showed some leadership!

  5. Would you expect any less by elrous0 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The only thing sadder and more despicable at this point than the Bush administration are the Democrats in Congress who have been on their knees for the last two years after promising to hold this imperial administration accountable.

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
  6. Comments from the Bush Administration by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 5, Funny

    A Bush official, with fingers in his ears, was quoted as saying: "Nyah! Nyah! Nyah! Nyah! I can't hear you! Nyah! Nyah! Nyah! ...."

  7. LALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU by spazdor · · Score: 5, Funny

    Awesome! So it's cool if I just leave all that important-looking IRS mail in an unopened pile by the door, right?

    --
    DRM: Terminator crops for your mind!
    1. Re:LALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      You idiot that's you refund check!

  8. I wouldn't open it either. by snarfies · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Given the government's poor record with computer security, I wouldn't open ANY documents emailed me. I would imagine there are policies in place that would forbid the acceptance of such messages. This story could well be somebody at the EPA insisting on total asshattery.

    And if its something official and important, why is it being emailed anyway? Shouldn't it be, like, printed out and physically handed to somebody? Maybe signed, stamped, notarized, and whatever else?

    1. Re:I wouldn't open it either. by antibryce · · Score: 3, Interesting

      That was my thought as well. I'm half-tempted to start forging emails from the DEA to the White House laying out new rules to end the war on drugs, just to see if it gets anything accomplished.

  9. Wait a sec by DnemoniX · · Score: 4, Interesting

    IANAL but doesn't this amount to the whole ignorance of a law isn't a defense kind of thing? If an individual or a company violates EPA standards and they get caught they get spanked with fines and such. So by their rational if the rest of us don't know about the new rules we get off the hook too right? Works for me!

    1. Re:Wait a sec by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 3, Funny

      So by their rational if the rest of us don't know about the new rules we get off the hook too right?

      Well, kinda. If the government doesn't publish or provide any way to read the rules, you'd be off the hook. Otherwise, you just violated Catch-22... oh, I don't have to show it to you.

      --
      Your ad here. Ask me how!
    2. Re:Wait a sec by Gat0r30y · · Score: 3, Informative

      It wasn't actually even about rules, it was an assessment. It stated that the country would save between 500 Billion and 2.5 Trillion dollars over the next 50 or so years by implementing some environmental protections through the clean air act. The White House didn't like the sound of that - so they refused to open/read the assessment until the EPA backed down.

      --
      Prediction: The real iPhone killer is going to be sex robots from Japan. Think about it.
  10. Subject of the Email by Kentamanos · · Score: 4, Funny

    Maybe the EPA shouldn't have mentioned V1agra in the subject...

    1. Re:Subject of the Email by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 4, Funny

      Maybe the EPA shouldn't have mentioned V1agra in the subject...
      I heard they put "BUSH: We found the WMDs!" in the subject line in order to trick them, but it didn't work because nobody in the White House believed it.

    2. Re:Subject of the Email by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I said it before, I say it again, I prefer having someone in the Oval Office that gets a blowjob to someone who really needs one badly.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  11. Why use email? by adrianbaugh · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This is a nuts use of email. For something this important you'd expect the documents to be sent by courier or registered post, signature on delivery etc. That way, you can prove they've received it and if they've chosen not to read it it's their bad. Anyway, why should the White House need to see this? The court has decided the EPA has the authority to introduce the rule and it's then up to the judiciary to enforce it. The legislature is surely out of the loop by this point.

    --
    "'I pass the test,' she said. 'I will diminish, and go into the West, and remain Galadriel.'"
    - JRR Tolkien.
    1. Re:Why use email? by sm62704 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Um, no, that's not how it works. The legislature (that's the House and Senate) writes laws. The President either vetos or enforces those laws. After enforcement, the judiciary judges whether or not said law has been broken.

      The primary law that all other laws must conform to is the Constitution. If the Constitutions doesn't say Congress has the power to pass a certain law, than said law doesn't have to be obeyed (in theory, of course).

      --
      mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
  12. This is perfectly legitimate. by StefanJ · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Based on the experience of the last seven years, non-reality-based decision making is a powerful tool for gathering and holding power. We should celebrate the Bush administration's success in contesting or ignoring every bit of evidence that contests their highly profitable worldview. After all, didn't a lot of people vote for Bush because they wanted a president who says what he means and means what he says?

    Anyway, listening to scientists just encourages to make up stuff that upsets people. Evolution, the germ theory of disease, the greenhouse effect . . . we'd all be happier and more content if we all behaved like Ben Stein would like us to: God-fearing authority-worshipping dumbfucks.

  13. True test of ignorance? by Duncan+Blackthorne · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If you think "If I ignore it, it'll go away", then you're probably ignorant. If you're the President of the United States and you think to yourself, "If I ignore this official message sent here by the EPA, maybe it'll go away", then you're criminally ignorant.

  14. Subject line? by cavis · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I bet George would have opened it if the subject line said "Exxon reports $14B loss in first quarter"

    Other possible subject lines: "Get Viagra / Cialis without a prescription"
    "VP Cheney shot another friend in the face"
    "Bum Fights Vol 3 now available on DVD"
    "American Idol canceled"
    "Mobilize the Navy! North Dakota invades South Dakota"
    "Senator Byrd called you a pussy!"

  15. Carbon Dioxide by Thelasko · · Score: 5, Insightful
    From TFA

    The White House in December refused to accept the Environmental Protection Agencyâ(TM)s conclusion that greenhouse gases are pollutants that must be controlled... That doesn't sound controversial at all. That's because it's a piss poor summary. The greenhouse gass in question is Carbon Dioxide. Which is far more controversial, considering it is emitted by everything in the animal kingdom, aside from those living near thermal vents. The term greenhouse gas also includes CFC's, but that's not the same, is it?
    --
    One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
  16. Checks and Balances? by Illbay · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Thomas Jefferson said: "The Constitution . . . meant that its coordinate branches should be checks on each other. But the opinion which gives to the judges the right to decide what laws are constitutional and what not, not only for themselves in their own sphere of action but for the Legislature and Executive also in their spheres, would make the Judiciary a despotic branch." [Letter of TJ to Abigail Adams, 1804, commenting on Marbury v. Madison]


    For the past sixty years or more, judicial despotism has increased until now, you have governors and legislators of states waiting to see what some court will rule on an issue before they can proceed. This is NOT what the Framers intended, and unless we get things back to the balance of powers between the branches of government things are going to become more despotic.

    --
    Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
    1. Re:Checks and Balances? by stinerman · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Dude, I'd really, really rather it be this way than the alternative.

      Without a "despotic" court, Bush et al. would have looked at Hamdan v. Rumsfeld and just said "well, we don't agree, so fuck you!"

      If judges are really overstepping their bounds, Congress always has the remedy of impeachment. If they're too afraid to pull the trigger, that's their problem in not asserting themselves.

    2. Re:Checks and Balances? by Tom · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Given that the legislative branch regularily passes laws that clearly (and, a few years later, also by Supreme Court decision) are unconstitutional, and the executive branch has already declared itself above the law, ignores laws and constitution wherever it suits them, and passes retroactive immunity laws where it can't - putting all that shit together, doesn't it strike you as a good thing that the judicial branch is taking a strong stand?

      --
      Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
  17. Email means nothing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    There's too many problems with it. If you're sending something official, there's no reliable record that it was even delivered.

    What's next? The EPA sending an IM about new regulations?

    Using email in this matter is completely inappropriate, and the ./ community shouldn't get so slackjawed because of it.

  18. Does all this stuff get forgiven after election? by jd.schmidt · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Does anyone know? Does there have to be some kind of catch all pardon from the President or something at the end of his term? (I hearby pardon all members of the Whitehouse staff of all crimes) That thing about firing Federal Attorney's who wouldn't procecute opponents of the White House during elections seems like something that shouldn't be just dropped.

  19. Re:Does this work for all mail? by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's a special character encoding. It's only ö when you're not looking at it.

  20. EPA's only authority comes from the President by FredThompson · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The President is the Chief Executive Officer of the Executive Branch.
    All power of the Executive Branch comes as proxy for the Chief Executive.
    The Executive Branch does not have the authority to create obligations which the Chief Executive officer does not want.
    The EPA is part of the Executive Branch.

    The SCOTUS ruling endorsed the authority of the EPA to create such regulations, it did not empower the EPA to create them exclusive of the Executive Officer. The SCOTUS did not somehow turn the EPA into a fourth branch of the Federal Government.

    There's no "there" there.

    It really is that simple.

    1. Re:EPA's only authority comes from the President by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Congress created the Clean Air Act.
      The executive branch must abide by and enforce the law.
      The EPA is the executive agency empowered to enforce that particular law.
      The President can't just choose to ignore the law.

      I'd say that "there" is definitely there.

    2. Re:EPA's only authority comes from the President by julesh · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Where, exactly, did the SCOTUS or the Clean Air Act COMPEL the EPA to act?

      Have you read the Clean Air Act?

      The relevant paragraph is this one:

      (a) Authority of Administrator to prescribe by regulation
      Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this section--
      (1) The Administrator shall by regulation prescribe (and from time to time revise) in accordance with the provisions of this section, standards applicable to the emission of any air pollutant from any class or classes of new motor vehicles or new motor vehicle engines, which in his judgment cause, or contribute to, air pollution which may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare. Such standards shall be applicable to such vehicles and engines for their useful life (as determined under subsection (d) of this section, relating to useful life of vehicles for purposes of certification), whether such vehicles and engines are designed as complete systems or incorporate devices to prevent or control such pollution.

      There's a phrasing there that does in fact compel the EPA to act. Or have you read the SCOTUS decision?

      The
      fact that DOT's mandate to promote energy efficiency by setting
      mileage standards may overlap with EPA's environmental responsibilities
      in no way licenses EPA to shirk its duty to protect the public
      "health" and "welfare," 7521(a)(1). Pp. 25-30. ...
      Under
      the Act's clear terms, EPA can avoid promulgating regulations only if
      it determines that greenhouse gases do not contribute to climate
      change or if it provides some reasonable explanation as to why it
      cannot or will not exercise its discretion to determine whether they
      do. ...
      Nor can EPA avoid its statutory obligation by
      noting the uncertainty surrounding various features of climate
      change and concluding that it would therefore be better not to regulate
      at this time. ...
      On remand, EPA must ground its reasons for
      action or inaction in the statute.

      Sounds like a lot of compelling to act is going on there too.

  21. Even if he knew you were "computer illiterate"? by RexDevious · · Score: 3, Insightful

    John McCain says he's completely computer illiterate, and has to rely on other people to do anything on the computer for him. Now, given that George W. Bush has said that "doesn't read newspapers" - what're the odds *he's* computer literate? Or that either of them would hire (or keep) people who felt that skill was far more important than they did?

    Whether you think this is genuine incompetence or just plausible deniability - the fact remains that we collectively "hired" someone who said he lacked a vital skill for the job, and a fair portion of Americans are seriously considering hiring another one.

    If you were willfully ignorant, and had to rely exclusively on the caliber of people a willfully ignorant person would hire as advisers - you too would end up having to:

    -Say things like "$4.00 a gallon gas? I hadn't heard about that".
    -Wait until your staff put together a DVD for you to illustrate what a "heckuva" job that ex-Head of an Equestrian club manager you hired to run FEMA was doing responding to a Category 5 hurricane that hit a below sea level city.
    -Claim that "Everyone thought he had Weapons of Mass Destruction".
    -Respond that "No one could have predicted" terrorists would fly highjacked jumbo jets into the building they previously tried to blow up with a truck bomb.
    -Assume that promising to "Protect and Uphold the Constitution" consisted primarily of keeping your hands of the interns, and doing a lot of bicycling.

    So let's not complain about this too much folks. We hired an incurious idiot to run the company. Just be thankful the company didn't go completely bankrupt before we started paying more attention to applicant's resumes.

    I'm actually far more surprised than thankful. If we make it to 2009 without China foreclosing on us, it's going to feel the way it does to wake up safe in bed when you have no memory of how you got home from the previous night's party: thankful you got home alive but still worried about kind of damage you've done to your car, credit line, or reputation in the process.

  22. Re:This is actually good news by geekoid · · Score: 3, Funny

    I don't care who is the president, I don't want this it is bad for everybody.

    "Bush did it so it must be ok."

    That's the new bar? we're screwed.

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  23. "It found nothing"? No, you just excerpted nothing by ReedYoung · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Your selective excerpts, Mr. Hiatt, only support the weak, in fact trivial assertion, that some of the tales that George Walker Bush, Condoleezza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, Ari Fleischer and Richard B. Cheney told the U.S. voters about Iraq prior to invading it, destabilizing the region and harming already difficult relations with Iran, were true. For your claim to be true ("It found nothing"), the full text of the report must not contain a single instance of conclusions that were not "generally substantiated by intelligence information."

    It's strange, making me suspicious of your thesis, that with all the hyperlinks in that Washington Post article, not one points to the full text of the report it discusses, nor even to complete paragraphs or even complete sentences that specify, for example, on [sic] nuclear or biological weapons, just which of the "president's statements 'were substantiated by intelligence information.'" And it's strange that, among so many excerpts, all the excerpts from that article are sentence fragments, necessitating the improper grammar repeated ad nauseam, "On [fallacy]?. The president's statements 'were substantiated [by ...].'" Did the complete report not begin those sentences with subjects that support the desired thesis? I wondered, so I checked, and in fact this is obvious within the first paragraph, you lazy, pathetic excuse for a "journalist":

    The major key judgments in the NIE, particularly that Iraq "is reconstituting its nuclear program," "has chemical and biological weapons," was developing an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) "probably intended to deliver biological warfare agents," and that "all key aspects - research & development (R&D), production, and weaponization - of Iraq's offensive biological weapons (BW) program are active and that most elements are larger and more advanced than they were before the Gulf War," either overstated, or were not supported by, the underlying intelligence reporting provided to the Committee. I can admire loyalty, even misplaced loyalty, up to a point. But willful ignorance of obvious facts is never admirable. If the subsequent excuses [Saddam was bad, he might have wanted to have nuclear yellow-cake from Nigeria despite never hearing of it, liberating the people of Iraq though we didn't do a thing about Darfur and now watch Zimbabwe like it's just a movie] offered by Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice and McCain had any validity, they should have been sufficient arguments in 2002/2003. Those were not valid arguments, and are still not now, as evidenced by our non-involvement in Zimbabwe and Darfur. They all lied. I'm not a lawyer, but I'd say it's obvious that in lying about matters of national security, with the result of initiating war despite lack of any clear and present danger in the world of fact, they all knowingly undermined the United States' ability to confront our real enemies, thus giving them comfort. Ergo, they all committed treason.

    And, no, most of Congress did not know at that time anything but the cherry-picked version manufactured by Douglas Feith & co.
    --
    "I can't imagine how things could get any worse!" (some guy) "That could just be failure of imaginatioÂn on your p
  24. Re:Does this work for all mail? by commodoresloat · · Score: 3, Funny

    I don't get it. It's a special kind of joke. It's only funny when you're not thinking about it.