India moves ahead with the construction of its own reusable space plane
India moves ahead with the construction of its own reusable spaceship.
Tag: policy
Playing Politics with the Constitution and the Law
Playing politics with the Constitution and the law.
All of Obama’s appointments yesterday are illegal under the Constitution. And, in addition, as too little noted by the media, his appointment of Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is legally futile. Under the plain language of the Dodd-Frank Act that created the CFPB, Cordray will have no authority whatsoever.
The Dodd-Frank act explicitly requires Cordray’s confirmation by the Senate in order for his authority to go into effect. Prior to that confirmation he has no authority.
Once again, the issue here is what Obama’s actions tell us about him as an elected official, suggesting that he an arrogant man who is willing to trash the Constitution and create legal hell for business and the government all for the sake of election-year politics. Not a good recommendation at all.
Contempt for Congress
This editorial in the Wall Street Journal summarizes very well the facts of Obama’s attempt to circumvent the Constitution yesterday: Contempt for Congress.
A President has the power to make a recess appointment, and we’ve supported Mr. Obama’s right to do so. The Constitutional catch is that Congress must be in recess.
The last clause of Section 5 of Article 1 of the Constitution says that “Neither House” of Congress can adjourn for more than three days “without the Consent of the other” house. In this case, the House of Representatives had not formally consented to Senate adjournment. It’s true the House did this to block the President from making recess appointments, but it is following the Constitution in doing so. Let’s hear Mr. Obama’s legal justification.
Democrats had used a similar process to try to thwart Mr. Bush’s recess appointments late in his term when they controlled both the House and the Senate. Prodded by West Virginia’s Robert C. Byrd, who has since died, Majority Leader Harry Reid kept the Senate in pro forma session. Some advisers urged Mr. Bush to ignore the Senate and make recess appointments anyway, but he declined. Now Mr. Reid is supporting Mr. Obama’s decision to make an end run around a Senate practice that he pioneered. [emphasis in original]
In other words, the Constitution is plain and Obama is consciously ignoring it, unlike Bush or any previous President. You can make excuses for this arrogant and unprecedented abuse of power, but an abuse of power it is, nonetheless.
As for sitting back and waiting for the courts to settle this, that’s a cop-out. The courts will almost certainly bow out, noting that this is a political battle between two other branches of government. The article above does note who will sue:
Private parties will have standing to sue if they are affected by one of Mr. Cordray’s rule-makings, and that’s when the courts may get a say on Mr. Obama’s contempt for Congress.
Thus, Obama’s actions will make any actions by his appointee legally suspect. It will create chaos in government and business, while simultaneously eroding the rule of law.
Is this the kind of government representation we want?
Is the Air Force using the X-37B to spy on China’s first space station?
Is the Air Force using the X-37B to spy on China’s first space station?
Is the Senate in recess? The Constitution says no.
Is the Senate in recess? The Constitution says no.
Article One, section Five of the Constitution states: “Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days.”
The House has refused to adjourn. The Congress is therefore in session. This kind of gamesmanship has been done many times in the past, but never until now has a President made believe he could simply ignore the plain words of the Constitution.
I know my liberal readers like to make excuses for Democrats when they ignore the law, but the law remains the law. Just because you happen to like what Obama is doing is a bad reason to let this pass. Just remember that if we ignore the law when you’ve got your guy in office, the other side will then have a free pass to ignore the law when they are in office. Sooner or later, we will all pay for that evil.
A NASA inquiry into the ownership of a variety of space artifacts, including Jim Lovell’s Apollo 13 checklist, has halted their sale at auction.
Power grab: A NASA inquiry into the ownership of a variety of space artifacts, including Jim Lovell’s Apollo 13 checklist, has halted their sale at auction.
In other words, it appears that NASA management has decided that everything ever built by NASA belongs to NASA, forever, even if NASA would have thrown it away at some point.
EPA Terrorizes Couple Over Their Dream Home
The EPA’s war on a couple’s dream house has now reached the Supreme Court.
Democrats regulating the dead
Democrats regulating the dead.
Democrats believe their personal preferences are so noteworthy and have such a significant bearing on the future of society that it’s only fair these indispensible preferences be imposed on the public by force of law.
Which brings us to Democrat Alvin Tillman, a third–term member of the council in Terrebonne Parish, LA, who evidently does not have enough to occupy his time. Tillman is personally offended by the chroma culprits who paint their family tombs anything but white, which is Tillman’s preferred color. “We want to stop this before it gets out of hand,” Tillman was quoted by the Associated Press. “Before you know it you’ll go out there and the cemetery will look like Mardi Gras.”
Since this is Louisiana — where being dead is no bar to exercising the franchise in favor of Democrats on election day — it could be that Tillman is simply responding to the wishes of his electoral base.
Iowa caucus results
If you are obsessed with politics and have a need to know immediately the results in Iowa, go here.
FYI, at 7:36 pm (Mountain time) Romney and Santorum were tied.
Space exploration and the unexpected consequences of government decisions
On Thursday, December 15, 2011, NASA management announced what seemed at first glance to be a very boring managerial decision. Future contracts with any aerospace company to launch astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS) will follow the same contractual arrangements used by NASA and SpaceX and Orbital Sciences for supplying cargo to the space station.
As boring that sounds, this is probably the most important decision NASA managers have made since the 1960s. Not only will this contractual approach lower the cost and accelerate the speed of developing a new generation of manned spaceships, it will transfer control of space exploration from NASA — an overweight and bloated government agency — to the free and competitive open market.
To me, however, the decision illustrates a number of unexpected consequences, none of which have been noted by anyone in the discussions that followed NASA’s announcement back in mid-December.
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The new Arctic ozone hole
An interesting and very informative paper was published by the American Geophysical Union this past Saturday, entitled “Arctic winter 2010/2011 at the brink of an ozone hole.” The first paragraph of the introduction essentially summed up the paper’s key points:
Large losses of Arctic stratospheric ozone have been observed during winter 2010/2011, exceeding observed losses during cold winters over the past decades, characterized as the first Arctic Ozone Hole. Although in general Arctic ozone is expected to recover because of the reductions in ozone depleting substances as a result of the Montreal Protocol and its amendments, the observation that apparently the cold Arctic winters in the stratosphere have been getting colder over the past decades raises some concern that Arctic ozone depletion may worsen over the next decades if the cooling trend continues while concentrations of ozone depleting substances remain sufficiently high. [emphasis mine]
Two important take-aways:
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At the end of 2011, America, like much of the rest of the Western world, has dug deeper into a cocoon of denial.
“At the end of 2011, America, like much of the rest of the Western world, has dug deeper into a cocoon of denial.”
Tens of millions of Americans have yet to understand that the can can no longer be kicked down the road, because we’re all out of road. The pavement ends, and there’s just a long drop into the abyss. And, even in a state-compliant car seat, you’ll land with a bump. At this stage in a critical election cycle, we ought to be arguing about how many government departments to close, how many government programs to end, how many millions of government regulations to do away with. Instead, one party remains committed to encrusting even more barnacles to America’s rusting hulk, while the other is far too wary of harshing the electorate’s mellow.
The spenders won 2011
Congress has ended the corn ethanol tax subsidy
Congress has ended the corn ethanol tax subsidy.
That the taxpayer will no longer be shelling out billions to support this industry is a good thing. However, the news isn’t all good for the free market, as the mandates forcing an increase in ethanol use remain in effect.
Democratic Party and Obama fundraiser has been convicted of a $21 million bank fraud scheme
Chicago politics ain’t limited to Chicago: In Brooklyn today a fundraiser for Obama and the Democratic Party was convicted of a $21 million bank fraud scheme.
Six tired arguments the energy sector needs to stop using
In other energy news: Six tired arguments the energy sector needs to stop using.
I like the last best:
Social good alone does not make for a viable business, even if it makes for a darn good trading strategy. For investors, if you’ve been burned, try to remember that feeling good about green energy can still make you feel very nauseous when monitoring your portfolio.
Top 10 Worst Federal Rules of 2011
The top ten worst federal rules of 2011.
All are crippling, but this one is plain stupid:
4. The Equine Equality Rule. As of March 15 (the Ides of March, no less), hotels, restaurants, airlines, and the like became obliged to modify “policies, practices, or procedures” to accommodate miniature horses as service animals. According to the Department of Justice, which administers the rule, miniature horses are a “viable alternative” to dogs for individuals with allergies or for observant Muslims and others whose religious beliefs preclude canine accompaniment.
Holder laments the murders caused by the use of illegal guns
The kettle calling the pot black: Attorney General Eric Holder today lamented the murders caused by the use of illegal guns in Mexico and the southwest.
Somehow he failed to mention how it was his Department of Justice that helped smuggled those guns into Mexico. In a sane world, Holder would be on trial as an accessory to those murders.
The Obama Nation: Even More Debt And Even More Store Closings
A nation in economic collapse.
During “the Obama Nation”, the federal government has already accumulated more debt than it did from the time that George Washington took office to the time that Bill Clinton took office. Of course the Bush administration was nearly as bad at piling up government debt. Between Bush and Obama (with a big helping hand from the Federal Reserve), they have done a pretty good job of wiping out the financial future of the United States. If there are future generations of Americans, they will look back and curse those that did this to them. It is absolutely immoral to steal trillions of dollars from future generations. Unfortunately, there are very, very few members of Congress that are even objecting to this madness.
The article’s listing of store closings is also quite frightening, suggesting that the economic situation of the nation is far worse than has been reported.
A family struggles to complete a Knoxville to Nashville trip using an electric car
An exercise in absurdity: A family struggles to complete the 180 mile trip from Knoxville to Nashville using an electric car.
The Blink fast-charge station was on the blink. Efforts to use the two available plugs yielded nothing for Stephen Smith when he and his family arrived in Lebanon in their electric vehicle.
But all was not lost as the Smiths closed in on their destination – a brother’s house only 22 miles away in Antioch. With ten miles of available power left on their car, they could take advantage of a slower charger next to the other at the Blink station at Cracker Barrel. It took about an hour, but the boost gave enough energy for a total of 30 miles.
They also had to pay attention to whether the route was flat or hilly, as any hills significantly reduced their range of about 75 miles. In addition, they found that even that number was unreliable, and that often the maximum range the car could travel was far less.
Even the fast-charge station still needed about 30 minutes to charge up the car. Imagine having to wait 30 minutes every time you needed to fill up, and imagine having to do it every 70 miles.
There is a reason electric cars can’t compete with gasoline, and this journey illustrates it.