Ashamed to be an American

With the budget crisis looming, House Republicans have taken the opportunity to load their budget bill with amendments that would gut environmental protection.  Not only are these clowns in Congress ruining the economy, they are hell bent on taking the environment down with it.

How cynical can you get? It makes me ashamed to be an American.

July 27, 2011
New York Times

Republicans Seek Big Cuts in Environmental Rules

By LESLIE KAUFMAN

With the nation’s attention diverted by the drama over the debt ceiling, Republicans in the House of Representatives are loading up an appropriations bill with 39 ways — and counting — to significantly curtail environmental regulation.

One would prevent the Bureau of Land Management from designating new wilderness areas for preservation. Another would severely restrict the Department of Interior’s ability to police mountaintop-removal mining. And then there is the call to allow new uranium prospecting near Grand Canyon National Park.

There is little chance that all the 39 proposals identified by Democrats will be approved by the Senate, which they control, or that a substantial number could elude a presidential veto. In fact, one measure — to forbid the Fish and Wildlife Service to list any new plants or animals as endangered — was so extreme that 37 Republicans broke ranks Wednesday and voted to strip it from the bill.

The whole article