From:
Gulf Crisis Exposes Failures of Centralized Power
(Campaign For Liberty) -- by Brian Roberts --
...In his Oval office speech regarding the leak, Obama's stated intention was to pass a climate bill. Apparently, the gulf crisis is just the excuse needed to centralize power by passing a bill that will rage across the economy; killing jobs and bankrupting states. There is undeniable proof of inevitable failure in the results of other countries. Spain, a "green" economy trailblazer, is only one step behind Greece as a bankrupt EU member and the great-sounding "green" economy has cursed the country with only one new "green" job created for every two "real" jobs lost.
Another call for centralization occurred when Obama attempted to ridicule proponents of the Constitution. He taunted:
"Some of the same folks who have been hollering and saying ‘do something' are the same folks who, just two or three months ago, were suggesting that government needs to stop doing so much,"
The "folks" are right. There is a simple answer here for anyone with even the most basic understanding of the Constitution should understand; first, the federal government has certain enumerated responsibilities that the "folks" have a right to demand attention to; and second, for every other responsibility the "folks" are duty-bound to force the federal government to back off. The feds have usurped the responsibility of taking care of disasters such as the Gulf crisis. Since the Feds are not thrilled with the responsibility but still like taking in cash from states and individuals to fund organizations like FEMA and the EPA, perhaps the problem is the centralization of power itself.
Obama continued:
"Some of the same people who are saying the president needs to show leadership and solve this problem are some of the same folks who, just a few months ago, were saying this guy is trying to engineer a takeover of our society through the federal government that is going to restrict our freedoms."
Again, the "folks" are right. As in the federal response to the gulf crisis, the greedy desire to centralize power trumps the need to cleanup and repair the gulf. Historically, this trail of power abuse is clear. The Obama government always chooses consolidated power over individual freedom or the actual needs of the people; whether it's health care, internet, the automotive industry, the financial industry, the economy, and worst of all the foundation of our liberties, the Constitution. A quick review of this list indicates that most industries are directly and negatively affected by "this guy" and his anti-American policies; and respect for our Constitution simply does not exist.
Is our country better off with power centralized in DC? Let's consider a few of the failures of centralization in the Gulf crisis.
Centralization enables Harmful Legislation
At the heart of this crisis is the collaboration of government and corporate power. In many ways, this collboration resulted in a situation where the means of production were privately owned by BP; but significant aspects of the business were controlled by misguided government regulation.
This problem goes back to legislation signed into law by President Clinton, but passed by a Republican congress. The legislation limited the liabilities of any disaster related to drilling to $75 million while giving the power to determine drill sites to the federal government. For the oil industry, this was an incredible deal as it gave them freedom to drill anywhere knowing that the maximum liability would be limited. It was a great deal for the federal government because they could satisfy environmentalist pressure to keep oil wells far from American shores. It was a horrible deal for "we the people" and states because drilling in deep water significantly increases risk and any resulting damage would ultimately be at taxpayer expense (minus $75 million).
Centralization results in Conflict of Interest
The conflict of interest between states and the federal government is embodied in the battle between Louisiana governor, Bobby Jindal and Obama. Initially, the federal government failed to take any action that might limit the damage or clean up the massive amounts of oil pooling in the gulf. As a response to this inaction, Jindal entered a request to protect the coast using booms. These requests were ignored. Recently, state initiated action launched ships configured to extract oil from the water. Rapidly, the Coast Guard demanded that these ships "cease and desist" cleanup efforts based on a drummed up technicality involving life jacket regulation.
Over the course of the crisis, the federal response has shifted from apathy for state needs to outright obstruction of any state attempts to clean up. There are two very real results from an emaciated gulf coast. First, it will drive an emotional response from the public that might be diverted to help with the passage of the climate change bill. Second, the economies of Gulf States will suffer immeasurably.
Knowing this, why would the federal government feel the need to impede cleanup efforts? The only logical conclusion, given the silence from the White House on this matter, is that the President is more interested in selling Climate Change and further centralization power than helping with cleanup. Likely, the damage to state economies represents a "win" for the federal government too, since this region is typically less inclined to choose servitude to a central authority over freedom...MORE...LINK
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