Executive Orders: When is Bush's Pen Going to Go Dry?

The Race To The Finish is On...and efforts to slow down the Bush Administration's last minute effort to recreate the nation in its own image are mobilizing.

The big giveaway of 300 thousand acres of Utah wilderness to oil and gas companies is being blocked by a lawsuit, at least temporarily.


http://www.nrdc.org/media/2008/081219a.asp

The Executive Order is a scary thing in the wrong hands. A president signs an order and, with no checks and balances from anywhere, effects change.

Here's the latest health news...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-health-conscience_fridec19,0,4837485.story

My view, of course, isn't shared by everyone. In fact I found a blog fretting about what our new "Marxist in Chief" will do once he's sworn in.

http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/blog/2008/11/10/marching-orders-upcoming-obama-executive-orders/

I find it remarkable that someone who's attempting to restore a democracy that's been hacked to ribbons is labeled a marxist. Did we call Bush a fascist? It's not a reach.

Fascism is an authoritarian or totalitarian nationalist ideology.^[1][2] It is primarily concerned with solving the perceived problems of national decline or decadence, by achieving a millenarian national rebirth, exalting the nation or race above all else, and promoting cults of unity, strength and purity.^{[3][4][5][6][7]} Fascists typically seek to form a mass movement of militants who are willing to engage in violence against their perceived enemies. (courtesy Wikipedia)

Fascists don't like democracy, you argue? Neither does President Bush and his sidekick, Dead Eye Dick.

So the Guy in the Oval Office spends his days adjusting the earplugs so he doesn't hear us howling outside his window and signs signs signs.

Here are some executive orders signed before December. There have been dozens since. And once they're signed, it's not easy to undo them.

This one creates a presidential transition council...but specifically says the candidates must be "major party". An effort to create problems if a third party should become viable?

http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-24465.pdf

Can't read the original one this one amends...it was done in the 40s. But it relates to social security numbers and privacy regarding federal agencies...and the amendment knocks out words like "shall" and substitutes "may" and eliminates the word "exclusively". It's sketchy at best.

http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-27771.pdf

This one's a bit mind bending...its topic is supposedly reorganizing federal agencies to exempt them from certain labor regulations. But what it does is reclassify the departments of energy, transportation, homeland security, justice and the treasury as agencies whose primary function is intelligence and national security. Whoa. Since when? And what might this reclassification accomplish besides the labor impact?

http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-27771.pdf

Are you paying attention? If you're not, don't complain about what happens.

Bush: This Looks Like a Good Place to Drill

The waning days of the Bush administration are proving to be as horrific as the preceding eight years.

On December 19th, Utah's Redrock wilderness is going on the auction block, courtesy our Fearless Leader.

Oil and gas speculators are invited to bid on drilling rights for 300 thousand acres this Friday.

It was all done in classic Bush/Cheney style....they didn't tell anybody what they were doing. According to the NRDC, the plan was hatched on election day and no one even told the National Parks service what was happening until after it was all agreed upon.

Want to scream? Me, too. Go here and write an email to your legislators instead:

http://www.nrdcactionfund.org/wilderness_giveaway

If the auction goes through it won't be easy to reverse those leases. And the new administration shouldn't even have to deal with this garbage. Amazingly, while our economy slides down the chute and no one's reaching for the brake in the White House, the outgoing president and his buddies are reserving their attention for getting in some last minute goodies for their oil pals.

The land up for grabs includes Desolation Canyon, an area proposed for national park status. It's just the latest in a long string of efforts to exploit what's left of our land to get at a finite source of fuel. It's short sighted, it's sneaky and it's just bad policy.

If you agree, make noise. Make a lot of noise.

http://www.nrdcactionfund.org/wilderness_giveaway