Archive for the ‘Obama’ Category

Rich Lowry: Obama was the real stooge for Russia – La Crosse Tribune

The circumstantial evidence is mounting that the Kremlin succeeded in infiltrating the U.S. government at the highest levels.

How else to explain a newly elected president looking the other way after an act of Russian aggression? Agreeing to a farcically one-sided nuclear deal? Mercilessly mocking the idea that Russia represents our foremost geopolitical foe? Accommodating the illicit nuclear ambitions of a Russian ally? Welcoming a Russian foothold in the Middle East? Refusing to provide arms to a sovereign country invaded by Russia? Diminishing our defenses and pursuing a Moscow-friendly policy of hostility to fossil fuels?

All of these items, of course, refer to things said or done by President Barack Obama. To take them in order: He reset with Russia shortly after its clash with Georgia in 2008. He concluded the New START agreement with Moscow that reduced our nuclear forces but not theirs. When candidate Mitt Romney warned about Russia in the 2012 campaign, Obama rejected him as a Cold War relic. The president then went on to forge an agreement with Russias ally Iran to allow it to preserve its nuclear program. During the red-line fiasco, he eagerly grasped a lifeline from Russia at the price of accepting its intervention in Syria. He never budged on giving Ukraine lethal weapons to defend itself from Russian attack. Finally, Obama cut U.S. defense spending and cracked down on fossil fuels, a policy that Russia welcomed since its economy is dependent on high oil prices.

Put all of this together, and its impossible to conclude anything other than that Obama was a Russian stooge, and not out of any nefarious dealings, but out of his own naivete and weakness. Obama didnt expect any rewards when he asked then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev during a hot-mic moment at an international meeting to relay to Vladimir Putin his ability to be more flexible after the 2012 election; he was, to put it in terms of the current Russian election controversy, colluding with the Russians in the belief it was a good strategy. His kompromat was his own foolishness.

The cost of Obamas orientation toward Russia became clearer during the past two weeks. When he pulled up short from enforcing his red line, an agreement with the Russians to remove Bashar Assads chemical weapons became the fig leaf to cover his retreat. This deal was obviously deficient, but Obama officials used clever language to give the impression that it had removed all chemical weapons from Syria. Never mind that Assad still used chlorine gas to attack his population exploiting a grievous loophole and that evidence piled up that Assad was cheating more broadly.

The Russians eagerly covered for Assad because hes their client. What was the Obama administrations excuse? It effectively made itself a liar for the Russians at the same time Moscow bolstered the Assad regime we said had to go, smashed the moderate opposition we were trying to create and sent a destabilizing refugee flow into Europe. This was a moral and strategic disaster.

To be sure, Donald Trumps statements about Russia during the past year and a half have often been stupid and shameful. But there was always a good chance that Russias blatant hostility to our values and interests would make any attempted Trump detente unsustainable. With his secretary of state and U.N. ambassador hitting Russia hard over the Assad gas attack and Trumps strike challenging Russias position, the administration looks to be adopting a hardheaded attitude without bothering with a doomed reset first.

Even if Obama eventually got tougher on Russia imposing sanctions after the Ukraine invasion and sending contingents of U.S. troops to countries near Russia he never entirely shed his reflex toward accommodation. No matter what conspiracy theorists might say, theres nothing to suggest anything untoward about Obamas relationship with Russia. But based on the record alone, you might have suspicions.

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Rich Lowry: Obama was the real stooge for Russia - La Crosse Tribune

Congressman Who Shouted ‘You Lie’ at Obama Hears the Same From Constituents – New York Times


New York Times
Congressman Who Shouted 'You Lie' at Obama Hears the Same From Constituents
New York Times
Representative Joe Wilson, the South Carolina Republican who gained a measure of infamy after shouting you lie at President Barack Obama during a joint session of Congress in 2009, had that memorable catchphrase hurled back at him by a group of his ...
The Congressman Who Shouted 'You Lie' at President Obama in 2009 Got the Same TreatmentTIME
You lie! congressman who yelled at Obama has his insult hurled back at him at town hallShareblue Media
Joe Wilson, Who Shouted at Obama, Gets Shouted at Himself: You LieU.S. News & World Report
Minnesota Public Radio News -Huffington Post -Daily Kos
all 53 news articles »

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Congressman Who Shouted 'You Lie' at Obama Hears the Same From Constituents - New York Times

The Obama Climate Legacy – Niskanen Center (press release) (blog)

April 11, 2017 by David Bookbinder

Cass Sunstein is one of the smartest guys around and he played a big role in the Obama Administration. In a draft of a forthcoming article in the Harvard Environmental Law Review, Sunstein argues that one of [the Obama Administrations] priorities was to address the problem of climate change, and he concludes: With a paralyzed Congress, the executive branch proved able, between 2009 and 2016, to use regulatory authorities to take a remarkable variety of steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Im skeptical. The first Obama Administrations climate policy was largely indistinguishable from George W. Bushs and it fought having to regulate greenhouse gases almost as hard as its predecessor. Only after the 2012 election did it show any appetite for actual emissions regulation, and by then it was mostly too little, too late. As Ive previously noted, the low priority Obama gave to climate issues makes his policy legacy fragile. While his second administration took some steps to reduce emissions, only about half of them will matter and, as discussed below, even that may be outweighed by the administrations mistakes.

Sunstein highlights four sets of regulatory measures and one policy achievement as remarkable steps. Lets see whether these measures did any good, with one point awarded for each of the five:

Social Cost of Carbon (SCC)

The idea of calculating the future economic impact of current CO2 emissions as difficult and as flawed as it is is an important regulatory concept. Sunstein is justifiably proud of the SCC, and of his role in producing it a little over a year after Obamas inauguration. It has withstood review from a federal court, the Government Accountability Office, and the National Academies.

However, in only a single Obama-era regulation did the SCC provide the necessary justification in the regulatory cost-benefit analysis. That regulation methane emission standards for oil and gas pipelines is squarely in Scott Pruitts cross-hairs. Even the showpiece Obama effort to reduce CO2 emissions (the Clean Power Plan), EPAs Regulatory Impact Analysis,calculated that the benefits of conventional pollutant reductions far outweighed the Plans compliance costs. Still, a full point to the Obama administration.

Light-duty vehicle standards

Sunstein is effusive about the benefits of this 2010 rule:

The EPA and DOT [Department of Transportation] estimated that their 20122016 standards would reduce total CO2 emissions by 960 million metric tons over the lifetimes of covered cars and trucks, and at the same time produce 1.8 billion barrels of oil savings. In total, the agencies projected that their standards would reduce greenhouse gas emissions from U.S. cars and trucks by about 21 percent by 2030.

Remarkably, Sunstein omits any discussion of the role of Californias vehicle greenhouse gas emission standards, which are responsible for 100% of those benefits, beyond an aside noting that In addition, the United States had to work closely with state governments, above all California, which was planning to impose greenhouse gas standards of its own that could end up driving the national market.

The only thing EPA gets credit for is granting the required Clean Air Act waiver for Californias standards, a campaign promise that the President ordered EPA to make good on in his first week in office. Once the waiver was granted, Californias standards went into effect in California and more than a dozen other states, comprising about 40% of the U.S. car market. It was the California standards that produced the emissions reductions Sunstein attributes to the subsequent federal rule, because the auto industry had already announced that it would build a California compliant instead ofone set of cars for states with the California standards and another for states that defaulted to the federal ones. The California standards were the de facto national ones, and the federal standards that followed a year later merely made the California standards the de jure ones as well.

Sunstein then doubles down on the second round of these standards, for model years 2017-2025, which are expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 2 billion metric tons, reducing oil consumption by about 4 billion barrels in the process. According to the agencies, fuel savings and other benefits from the standards will far outweigh higher vehicle costs, with annualized net benefits ranging between $19.5 billion and $24.4 billion and net benefits totaling between $326 billion and $451 billion over the covered vehicles lifetimes.

This time not a word about Californias 2017-2025 standards, which are again the de facto national ones. Donald Trump almost certainly will axe the complementary federal standards, but unless he also succeeds in revoking the California waiver, doing so will not add a single ton to U.S. vehicle emissions. No credit to the Obama folks.

Heavy-duty vehicle standards

EPA and DOT published the first-ever heavy-duty vehicle emission standards in 2011. According to Sunstein, these regulations were legally optional, giving the impression that this was pure climate altruism from the Obama Administration.

Not true. In 2007, Congress passed (and George W. Bush signed) the Energy Independence and Security Act, which mandated that DOT (in consultation with EPA and DOE) publish regulations creating a fuel efficiency improvement program designed to achieve the maximum feasible improvement. (For purposes of tailpipe standards, fuel efficiency and CO2 emission standards are the same thing.)

Maybe Sunsteins legally optional language refers to the stringency of the standards. After all, the Administration has plenty of leeway to determine what is the maximum feasible improvement. But, given that not a single manufacturer sued over the standards, that doesnt seem to fit either. However, EPA subsequently promulgated a second round of heavy-duty emissions standards, which Sunstein boasts (correctly) does not appear to be compelled by the CAA. Half credit on that basis.

Stationary Sources

Sunstein begins his discussion of stationary sources with this:

After the endangerment finding and associated developments, it seemed fairly clear that the EPA was under a legal obligation to regulate new sources, though the timing was not specified, and a lengthy delay would probably have been possible. With a proposed rule in 2014 and a final rule in 2015, the EPA imposed strict requirements for greenhouse gas emissions from new power plants. (Emphasis in original)

Each Clean Air Act source category (power plants, refineries, steel mills, pipelines, etc.) has its own set of emission standards, and CAA section 111 says that every eight years EPA must review and, if appropriate, revise them. After the Supreme Court held in Massachusetts v. EPA that CO2 was a pollutant under the Act, you might think that EPA would have to add a new standard for CO2 when it reviews each categorys standards.

However, in a 2008 decision refusing to regulate refinery CO2 emissions, the Bush EPA took the position that section 111 does not require EPA to now include CO2 emission standards. Instead, the only way to create CO2 standards for each of those sources is if EPA voluntarily imposes one. Thus, there is now no way to compel EPA to add a CO2 standard short of petitioning the agency to do so and, if the agency refuses, going to court inthe hope that the D.C. Circuit finds that EPAs decision was arbitrary and capricious. Anyone who has ever litigated against EPA knows how mind-bogglingly difficult it is to overcome the great deference courts give to this kind of EPA decision.

A year into the Obama Administration, EPA agreed to reconsider the Bush EPAs refinery decision. After another year of inaction, EPA signed a settlement agreement promising that it would propose emission standards for both new and existing refineries by December, 2011, and that it would issue a final rulewith appropriate CO2 emissions standardsby November 12, 2012.

No such standards were ever proposed or finalized. More critically, in its eight years, the Obama EPA never reversed the Bush EPA interpretation that the Clean Air Act does not require that CO2 emissions must be included in the periodic section 111 review. The critical opportunity to reinterpret section 111 has, alas, been completely lost. Unless the D.C. Circuit can be convinced that the Bush/Trump interpretation is wrong (and EPA will get deference in its reading of the law), any regulation of CO2 from stationary sources now faces a multi-year, steeply uphill slog through the agency and the D.C. Circuit.

Sunstein does not discuss this, but proceeds to discuss the Obama Administrations 2015 section 111 power plant standards (the Clean Power Plan). Again, however, he does not saywhat led up to that rulemaking.

As with the refinery rule, a Bush EPA decision refusing to impose CO2 emission standards on power plants had been remanded by the D.C. Circuit and was sitting around at EPA when the Obama Administration arrived. And that remanded decision continued to sit, and sit, and sit, while the Obama EPA ignored repeated pleas from environmental NGOs and concerned states that it do something. After more than a year of this, the states and environmental groups threatened to sue to force EPA to comply with the remand order (friendly sue-and-settle this was not). EPA finally signed a settlement agreement in December, 2010, agreeing to issue proposed rules for both new and existing power plants by July, 2011, and final rules for both by May, 2012.

EPA then proceeded to ignore the Settlement Agreement (a habit with the Obama EPA). It did not propose new plant standards until March 2012, and did not propose any standards for existing ones. But then, in response to coal industry objections (during an election year), EPA withdrew the proposed standards and did not come up with a replacement until 18 months later. EPA finally proposed existing plant standardsthe Clean Power Planin June, 2014, three years after it had promised to do so.

Because the new and existing plant standards were not finalized until 2015, they were still in court when Donald Trump took office. As a result, the Trump EPA will make sure that they arenever implemented. Using the same three-year process to get to a final rule, if the Obama Administration had started work on these in 2009, they would have been done by 2012, and the legal challenges over and done with years ago. Id assignnegative credit but Ill stick with just a zero.

Appliance standards

I have no issue with anything Sunstein says about the fourth regulatory program he discusses, the Appliance and Equipment Standards Program, except for his boast that, According to one estimate, these and other energy efficiency standards are expected to produce annual CO2 savings of 345 million tons by 2020. He cites a DOE fact sheet, but agency estimates of their own achievements are notoriously inflated, and this estimate is 60% higher than the 216 million ton official estimate the U.S. submitted to the UNFCCC. But give them full credit anyway.

Conclusion

My assessment:2.5 points out of a possible 5.

The Obama Administration simply did not make climate a priority, wasted enormous amounts of resources in its doomed power plant regulations by ignoring pleas (and violating agreements) to get these done sooner rather than later, and handed the Trump EPA an excellent excuse for doing nothing about any other sources by letting the refinery rule stand.

History will judge.

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The Obama Climate Legacy - Niskanen Center (press release) (blog)

Remember That Time President Obama Shot a Rainbow Out of His Arm? – The Root

Ive made a bad habit out of viewing my On This Day list curated by Facebook. You know, the list that reminds you of all the stuff you probably shouldnt have posted on Facebook.

A couple of weeks ago, as I was having brunch with someone I didnt want to have brunch with but only did because I was bored, I scrolled through my On This Day list and saw a Facebook post from four years ago that read, Never trust a hipster with an ugly dog. Coincidentally, that was the same hipster I was having brunch with. So, of course, it made sense to show him the post. And, of course, he was offended that I called his dog ugly. Not because I didnt trust him (priorities). But I figured that after showing it to him, Id finally never hear from him again. It worked, eventually.

That really has nothing to do with this photo of President Barack Obama shooting a rainbow out of his arm, though. But this photo is one of my absolute favorites that I came across this week.

On April 10, 2015, which technically isnt this day, President Obama was leaving a visit from Jamaica, and Pete Souza captured this awesome photo:

Shoot a rainbow from his arm? Donald Trump could never. But there seems to be a downpour of poo wherever he goes.

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Remember That Time President Obama Shot a Rainbow Out of His Arm? - The Root

Trump’s golf outings soar above first-12-week totals of Obama, Bush and Clinton – AOL

A president's first 100 days are often seen as an indicator of whether or not the administration will ultimately be a successful one.

Though that period is still underway for President Trump, when it comes to golf outings, he has already soared high above the achievements of his predecessors, reports the New York Times.

According to the media outlet, Trump has, in his first 81 days, paid an estimated 17 visits to golf courses.

Inside President Trump's first 70 days

33 PHOTOS

Inside President Trump's first 70 days

See Gallery

Donald Trump is sworn in as president of the United States on January 20, 2017, outlining his "America first" vision in his inaugural address.

Four million people around the world, including 500,000 in Washington, DC, attend the Women's March on January 21, 2017.

Kellyanne Conway coins the term "alternative facts" after the administration made false claims about the number of people who attended Trump's inauguration.

Trump signs an executive order withdrawing the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a multilateral trade agreement.

(Photo by Ron Sachs/Pool via Bloomberg/Getty Images)

Trump orders the government to begin construction of the US-Mexico border wall and pulls federal funds from sanctuary cities.

Trump signs his first immigration executive order, sparking nationwide protests.

Trump nominates 10th Circuit Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.

Republican donor Betsy DeVos is confirmed as education secretary with a historic tie-breaking vote cast by Mike Pence one of the most contentious confirmations ever.

Michael Flynn resigns as National Security Adviser amid uproar over his communications with Russian officials.

Trump announces that "the time for trivial fights is behind us" in a his first address to Congress.

(Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo/Pool via Bloomberg/Getty Images)

During his address to Congress, Trump honors Carryn Owens, whose husband, US Navy SEAL Ryan Owens, was killed during a raid in Yemen in January. The US-led attack is estimated to have killed 30 civilians, including 17 women and children, and 14 Al-Qaeda fighters.

(Photo via REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

Canadian PM Justin Trudeau comes to Washington to announce the Canada-US Council for Advancement of Women Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu visits White House and Trump says he "can live with either" a one-state or a two-state solution, backing away from historic US support for Palestinian state.

Trump tweets that the media is "the enemy of the American people," a day after a wide-ranging press briefing during which he lambasted the press for reporting "fake news" about his administration.

After weeks of mounting pressure, Trump publicly condemns anti-Semitism in response to attacks on Jewish people and institutions across the country.

The Trump administration cracks down on undocumented immigrants, speeding up deportations.

Trump announces $54 billion increase in defense spending.

Kellyanne Conway provokes outrage after being photographed sitting casually with her feet on an Oval Office couch.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions recuses himself from investigations into the Trump campaign's ties to Russia after reports emerge that Sessions did not inform Congress of his meetings with the Russian ambassador during the campaign.

Trump accuses Obama of secretly wiretapping his phones leading up to the 2016 election.

Trump signs a revised travel ban, scaling back a few of the restrictions, in what Trump calls a "watered down version" of the original executive order. Two federal judges rule against the ban on March 15.

Trump surprises a White House tour and poses with a young visitor in front of a portrait of Hillary Clinton

US Attorney Preet Bharara says he was fired by the Trump administration after he refused to resign. Trump, as president-elect, had asked Bharara to stay on.

Trump unveils his federal budget blueprint, proposing cuts to virtually every federal agency besides Defense, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs, which would all receive boosts.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visits the border of North and South Korea, announcing that the US may take pre-emptive action if the country continues expanding its nuclear weapons capability. In this photo, a North Korean soldier covertly photographs Tillerson from behind.

Trump meets with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss NATO. Trump references reports that Merkel was spied on by Obama in 2013, joking he and Merkel "have something in common, perhaps."

FBI Director James Comey confirms an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and the Trump's campaign's ties to Russian officials. Comey also tells Congress that he has no evidence to support Trump's claims that Obama wiretapped Trump Tower.

Trump meets with truckers and CEOs at the White House and sits in the front seat of a Mack Truck.

In a major setback for Trump, House Republicans pull legislation that would have repealed and replaced Obamacare before it can go to a vote.

Trump signs an executive order rolling back key Obama-era climate policies, including the Clean Power Plan.

Ivanka Trump announces that she will be an official White House employee, taking on an unpaid position as an adviser to her father, after facing criticism from ethics experts for her previously unofficial role.

Rep. Devin Nunes announces that he has information that Trump and his associates may have been "incidentally" surveilled by American intelligence agencies, information The New York Times reported was given to him by two White House officials. Nunes says he will continue to chair the committee investigating the Trump campaign's ties to Russia, amid Democrats' protests.

HIDE CAPTION

SHOW CAPTION

The Palm Beach Post suggests he has played 14 times.

At this juncture in their presidential careers, Barack Obama and George W. Bush had yet to set foot on the links, while Bill Clinton had done so 3 times, notes the Times.

Golf is considered by many to be an appropriate, stress-relieving activity for presidents, but there are certainly those who feel otherwise.

SEE ALSO: Mitt Romney's 'binders full of women' have been found

In fact, not long ago, Donald Trump himself was a champion of the no-golf-for-presidents movement.

He harshly criticized President Obama's participation in the sport, tweeting jabs like, "PresObama is not busy talking to Congress about Syria...he is playing golf...go figure."

RELATED: Presidential Historians Survey 2017: Presidential ranking

45 PHOTOS

Presidential Historians Survey 2017: Presidential ranking

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43. President James Buchanan

2009: 42 2000: 41

(Photo via Getty Images)

42. Andrew Johnson

2009: 41 2000: 40

(Photo by PhotoQuest/Getty Images)

41. President Franklin Pierce

2009: 40 2000: 39

(Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

40. President Warren G. Harding

2009: 38 2000: 38

(Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)

39. President John Tyler

2009: 35 2000: 36

(Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

38. President William Henry Harrison

2009: 39 2000: 37

(Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)

37. President Millard Fillmore

2009: 37 2000: 35

(Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)

36. President Herbert Hoover

2009: 34 2000: 34

(Photo by ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

35. Chester Arthur

2009: 32 2000: 32

(Photo via Getty Images)

34. President Martin Van Buren

2009: 31 2000: 30

(Photo via Getty Images)

United States President George W. Bush announces his plan for jobs and economic growth at the Economic Club of Chicago. His plan features $674 billion in tax cuts and benefits. (Photo by Brooks Kraft LLC/Corbis via Getty Images)

1864: Rutherford B Hayes (1822 - 1893), in his uniform as a Major General in the Union Army. Hayes later served as Republican Governer of Ohio and became the 19th President of the United States after winning the election of 1876. (Photo by MPI/Getty Images)

circa 1850: Millard Fillmore (1800 - 1874), 13th President of the United States of America. Fillmore was vice-president to Zachary Taylor and became President upon his death. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

377869 57: Zachary Taylor, twelfth President of the United States who served from 1849 to 1850. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)

Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd President of the United States. Elected in 1888, Harrison was the grandson of William Henry Harrison, the 9th President of the United States. (Photo by Library Of Congress/Getty Images)

377869 20: Portrait of 20th United States President James A Garfield. (1881) (Courtesy of the National Archives/Newsmakers)

circa 1954: Studio headshot portrait of American vice president Richard Nixon (1913 - 1994) wearing a jacket and tie. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

(Original Caption) Calvin Coolidge is seen here, (1872-1933), the 30th President of the United States. This is a head and shoulders photograph.

American President Jimmy Carter (Photo by ?? David Rubinger/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

(Original Caption) President Gerald Ford is seen here in a head and shoulder 3/4 profile.

377869 75: William H. Taft, twenty-seventh President of the United States serving from 1909 to 1913. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)

377869 24: Portrait of 24th United States President Grover Cleveland. (1837-1908) (Courtesy of the National Archives/Newsmakers)

General Ulysses S Grant, American soldier and politician, c1860s (1955). Ulysses Simpson Grant (1822-1885) commanded the Union (northern) army in the American Civil War from March 1864, leading it to final victory the following year. He was elected the 18th President of the United States in 1869, holding office until 1877. A print from Mathew Brady Historian with a Camera by James D Horan, Bonanza Books, New York, 1955. (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)

377869 71: John Quincy Adams, sixth President of the United States serving from 1825 to 1829. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)

WASHINGTON, DC -- CIRCA 1986: U.S. Vice President George H.W. Bush circa 1986 in in Washington, DC. (Photo by David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images)

John Trumbull, Portrait of John Adams (1735-1826), President of the United States (1797-1801), United States, Washington. National portrait gallery, . (Photo by: Photo12/UIG via Getty Images)

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Trump's golf outings soar above first-12-week totals of Obama, Bush and Clinton - AOL