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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency met a deadline Thursday on a plan to control emissions from three Arizona power plants that it contends have impaired visibility at places like the Grand Canyon. The Associated Press reports that the EPA had proposed approving Arizona's air-quality plan to reduce sulfur dioxide and soot at the Apache coal-fired plant in Cochise, along with the Cholla and Coronado plants. But when it came to nitrogen oxide emissions, the EPA suggested the state's plan didn't go far enough and came up with one of its own. The conflict highlights the tension between the EPA and...

COLOSSAL WIND COST: Tom King, president of National Grid, and Jim Gordon, president of Cape Wind Associates, announce a deal in Waltham, MA yesterday to start charging Bay State customers 20.7 cents per kilowatt hour in 2013.

President Obama didn’t want any advice from Congress on the decision to ask GM CEO Rick Wagoner to resign, according to Carl Levin (D), Michigan’s senior senator. “He didn’t ask us about it, he informed us,” Levin told reporters in a conference call Monday afternoon. “The president said he’d already decided.” Levin said he and three other lawmakers were informed of the decision in a phone call Obama made from the Oval Office. Obama told the members of Congress that Wagoner needed to resign so that the administration could show the public it was making an effort at a fresh...

This is a very good 10 minute video on where our country is going. It discusses the different types of governments in the world. This is not political. Both parties are responsible for the shift in the type of government that represents us. Can WE stop that shift. Never saw this before...it should be passed on...

I came across a video that left me shaking with fear and outrage: If this footage doesn't disturb you to your very core, I don't even know what to say. We have here a militarized group of young men being steeped in not only political ideology, but in literal cult worship of Barack Obama. This was going on before the election. I still remember the video featuring a glassy-eyed girl singing, “We’re gonna spread happiness! We’re gonna spread freeeeedom! Obama’s gonna change it, Obama’s gonna lead ‘em…” The cult mindset continued into his inauguration, with a creepy "Kids' Inaugural." That...

Interestingly enough an important amendment brought to the floor today was not in the H.R. 1388 when it passed the Senate today. The first presented by Sen Vitter (LA) wanted to insure that no money be made available to ACORN and its affiliates, on the grounds that it is a organization with possibly suspect behaviour and that including it in the bill would not be able to politicize charitable giving and activities. Saying that the bill doesn’t allow politicized does not necessarily protect the country from ACORN’s “so-called” charitable activities. ACORN has already received considerable funding from the government, for...

It is another sound good piece of legislation. H.R. 1388 has a creative title; The Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education (GIVE) Act. 321 representatives of the people voted approval for this legislation which, among many other things, strikes a blow to the rights of people to mount any protests against legislation. Listen closely, it outlaws the right to mount protests against proposed legislation.

With all the focus and attention on the TARP, the so-called “stimulus” bill, the nationalization of huge chunks of our economy and the various issues economic – lost in the weeds have been a host of destructive “programs” being developed and passed by the Obama-Democrat machine. Right now on the floor of the United States Senate is one of the most disturbing pieces of legislation I have seen in a long time. HR 1388, the “Serve America Act” is cloaked in feel-good rhetoric and supposedly noble goals, but it is nothing more than another Washington power-grab – this time targeted...

My parents taught me to read every word of any contract I signed. Obviously Congress doesn't follow that rule. Already we have Congress' frantic backlash from the AIG bonuses, which were in fact authorized by specific language buried deep in the stimulus bill that gave AIG its handout. Now we have more dynamite buried in the GIVE Act (H.R. 1388), already passed in a whirlwind by the House and being fast-tracked in the Senate. The GIVE Act reauthorizes the National and Community Service Act of 1990 and the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973, and also includes many more new...

The Senate Finance Committee’s top two members — Democrat Max Baucus and Republican Charles E. Grassley — teamed up today to introduce legislation that would provide money to help small and medium-sized charities get training and management assistance. The legislation, introduced as an amendment to a national-service bill now being debated by the Senate, would provide $25-million over five years to a “Nonprofit Capacity Building Program” within the Corporation for National and Community Service. The amendment would “strengthen small charities around our country, especially where resources are scarce,” Senator Baucus of Montana, who chairs the finance committee, told his colleagues...

Maybe it's just me, but I find federal legislation titled "The GIVE Act" and "The SERVE Act" downright creepy. Even more troubling: the $6 billion price tag on these bipartisan bills to expand government-funded national service efforts. Volunteerism is a wonderful thing, which is why millions of Americans do it every day without a cent of taxpayer money. But the volunteerism packages on the Hill are less about promoting effective charity than about creating make-work, permanent bureaucracies and left-wing slush funds. The House passed the "Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act" -- or the GIVE Act -- last week. The...

<p>Obama promised during the campaign to create a Socialist National Civilian Security Force similar to what they have in other Marxist regimes. Yesterday, the US House took the first step in organizing Dear Leader's dream youth service corp.</p> <p>German youth praising Hitler.</p>

Following overwhelming House passage last week, the Senate tonight voted 74 to 14 on a procedural move that essentially guarantees a major expansion of a national service corps, a cornerstone of volunteerism that dates back to the era of President Kennedy. It’s akin to a call to arms by President Obama, who has harkened back to those early days to demand giving back by those who voted for him. In fact, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the senior Democrat from Massachusetts whose battle with brain cancer has oft kept him absent from the Senate these days, appeared on the floor to...

HOT off the press! The Congressional Budget Office just released the cost estimates for S. 277 Serve America Act.(Senate’s version of HR 1388, Give Act) CBO estimates S 277 would cost over $6.1 billion dollars over the 2010-2014 period. Programs funded under National Community Service Act of 1990 (NCSA) and the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973 (DVSA) received appropriations of $1.1 billion for fiscal year 2009, including $200 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009...otherwise known as the PORKULUS/SPENDULUS Bill that passed that NO ONE in Congress read. Just lovely. Taxpayers would fund international...

"We're looking for supporters," said DeHaven of Hoover, one of the event's organizers. "We're not looking for a fight. That will come later, when we have an army."

America Serves "When you choose to serve -- whether it's your nation, your community or simply your neighborhood -- you are connected to that fundamental American ideal that we want life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness not just for ourselves, but for all Americans. That's why it's called the American dream."The Obama Administration will call on Americans to serve in order to meet the nation’s challenges. President-Elect Obama will expand national service programs like AmeriCorps and Peace Corps and will create a new Classroom Corps to help teachers in underserved schools, as well as a new Health Corps, Clean...

..(snip)…Does this not raise suspicion? While we hear of the “outrage” of the people who brought us the bonus scandal, the same people are rushing to pass the GIVE Act (you give, they take): national service. Senator Reid asked that the Senate proceed to act on this bill and then immediately asked for a cloture motion. Cloture The cloture rule–Rule 22–is the only formal procedure that Senate rules provide for breaking a filibuster. A filibuster is an attempt to block or delay Senate action on a bill or other matter. Under cloture, the Senate may limit consideration of a pending...

I read a disturbing story that showed advancement of the "well funded" civilian security force that candidate Barak Obama promised, and President Obama appears to deliver. The bill is passing under the guise of "volunteer" work, but would be mandatory. The bill stipulates that middle-school children would be required 50 hours per year, high schoolers 100 hours per year, and so on through college. The program included uniforms that the children will wear. I ask, why not ad a spiffy arm band with, perhaps the Obama emblem for good measure. This program will also enlist adults on up to seniors....

WHILE YOU WERE BEING DISTRACTED BY THE AIG SHAM OUTRAGE AND YOUR OWN CLASS ENVY…. the Obamessiah administration continues on with its plans behind the scenes. As we mentioned earlier in the week, The Obamessiah is pushing to community organize all of us into his own league of Socialist Brownshirts. The House passed the “Give Act” on Wednesday. How many GOP members caved and stabbed us in the back this time, you must be asking? 70. Full list of turncoats below the fold. Only one Democrat voted against it - Robert Berry of Arkansas. Kudos to him. The rest of...

Remember this? (see video at link) Obama's vision of a domestic security force "just as strong, just as well funded as our military" ( and presumbly loyal to him personally) just got a lot closer. The House of representatives has just passed HR 1388 otherwise known as the Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education (GIVE) Act. This reauthorizes through 2014 the National and Community Service Act of 1990 and the Domestic Volunteer Service Act of 1973, acts that originally, among other programs, funded the AmeriCorps and the National Senior Service Corps. However, it not only reauthorizes the programs, but also includes...