New plan for the newly elected Republican majority in Washington same as the old. Stop Obama at every turn!

Sen Jim Inhofe.

Courtesy of The Hill:  

The GOP is preparing to mount a full-scale assault on President Obama’s regulatory agenda, using the party’s strengthened hand in Congress to delay, soften or block contentious administration rules at every turn. 

As long as Obama sits atop the executive branch, Republicans’ power to derail scores of rulemaking efforts now under way is limited. But control of both the House and Senate in the next Congress will enable GOP lawmakers to ratchet up their attacks on what they view as overzealous regulation. 

“So long as we have this president the federal agencies can go around Congress," said Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) "But we can make it very, very difficult for them." 

Inhofe, who is poised to become chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, is certain to take a leading role in the GOP push against regulations at the center of Obama’s climate action plan. 

 Critics of Obama’s regulatory policies are likely to look to the Congressional Review Act (CRA), which allows lawmakers to disapprove of regulations that have already been finalized and stop them from going into effect. 

Inhofe, for instance, says he intends to push such a measure against the EPA’s newly proposed ozone rules, which manufacturers say could cost industry $270 billion in compliance costs during its first year alone. However, the president would have to approve such a measure, which is highly unlikely. 

In a nutshell the President is pushing policies that will save lives, while the Republicans main concern is to save money for their benefactors.

Oh and by the way this last October was the hottest on record. 

You know I try and I try to explain to people the importance of voting in these midterm elections, but so many simply do not understand how much ground we lose when the Republican gain power. 

It is critical right now to continue moving forward to explore green energy alternatives and move away from fossil fuels as quickly as possible, and these asshole Republicans simply refuse to acknowledge that fact.

President Obama convinces China to agree to a first time ever commitment to curb carbon emissions.

Courtesy of the New York Times:

China and the United States made common cause on Wednesday against the threat of climate change, staking out an ambitious joint plan to curb carbon emissions as a way to spur nations around the world to make their own cuts in greenhouse gases. 

The landmark agreement, jointly announced here by President Obama and President Xi Jinping, includes new targets for carbon emissions reductions by the United States and a first-ever commitment by China to stop its emissions from growing by 2030. 

Administration officials said the agreement, which was worked out quietly between the United States and China over nine months and included a letter from Mr. Obama to Mr. Xi proposing a joint approach, could galvanize efforts to negotiate a new global climate agreement by 2015. 

It was the signature achievement of an unexpectedly productive two days of meetings between the leaders. Mr. Obama and Mr. Xi also agreed to a military accord designed to avert clashes between Chinese and American planes and warships in the tense waters off the Chinese coast, as well as an understanding to cut tariffs for technology products.

I can see the Fox News reporting on this already, "President Obama sends another secret letter to  enemy of America."

Even after years of political and personal attacks from the Right Wing, and after losing the Senate to Republicans, the man continues to be a thorn in the conservative's side simply by doing his damn job.

I guess the Chinese did not get the word that this was the least effective President in the history of America. Perhaps they don;t get Breitbart News.

By the way if ANYBODY needs to curb carbon emissions it's China.

I don't know how these people get through the day breathing this crap.

New study finds that the political solution to climate change has everything to do with whether Republicans believe in it or not.

Courtesy of Duke Today:

There may be a scientific answer for why conservatives and liberals disagree so vehemently over the existence of issues like climate change and specific types of crime. 

A new study from Duke University finds that people will evaluate scientific evidence based on whether they view its policy implications as politically desirable. If they don't, then they tend to deny the problem even exists. 

“Logically, the proposed solution to a problem, such as an increase in government regulation or an extension of the free market, should not influence one’s belief in the problem. However, we find it does,” said co-author Troy Campbell, a Ph.D. candidate at Duke's Fuqua School of Business. “The cure can be more immediately threatening than the problem.” 

The researchers conducted three experiments (with samples ranging from 120 to 188 participants) on three different issues -- climate change, air pollution that harms lungs, and crime. 

“The goal was to test, in a scientifically controlled manner, the question: Does the desirability of a solution affect beliefs in the existence of the associated problem? In other words, does what we call 'solution aversion' exist?" Campbell said. 

"We found the answer is yes. And we found it occurs in response to some of the most common solutions for popularly discussed problems." 

Participants in the experiment, including both self-identified Republicans and Democrats, read a statement asserting that global temperatures will rise 3.2 degrees in the 21st century. They were then asked to evaluate a proposed policy solution to address the warming. 

When the policy solution emphasized a tax on carbon emissions or some other form of government regulation, which is generally opposed by Republican ideology, only 22 percent of Republicans said they believed the temperatures would rise at least as much as indicated by the scientific statement they read. 

But when the proposed policy solution emphasized the free market, such as with innovative green technology, 55 percent of Republicans agreed with the scientific statement. 

For Democrats, the same experiment recorded no difference in their belief, regardless of the proposed solution to climate change.

So to be clear we cannot do anything about protecting future generations from the ravages of man made climate change on this planet, because the Republicans don't like big government.

What a great thing to have etched onto the headstones of all of the people who will die of famine, disease, or drought in the years to come.

We could have saved you but we did not like the politics of those offering solutions.

And again, who is it that votes for these people? And what in the hell is wrong with them?

President assures nation that despite loss of Senate Obamacare will not be repealed.

Courtesy of TPM:  

"If in fact one of the item on (the Republican) agenda is to make responsible changes to the ACA to make it work better," he told reporters during a press conference, "I'm going to be very open and receptive to hearing those ideas." 

But some obvious things would not be open for discussion, Obama said, predictable things like full repeal of the law or repeal of the individual mandate. 

"In some cases, recommendations that Republicans have for changes would undermine the structure of the law," he said. "I'll be very honest with them about that, 'The law doesn't work if you pull out that piece or that piece.'"

That seems to fall in line with what Mitch McConnell visualizes as well in an interview given before the election to Time Magazine:  

Asked to imagine it was Wednesday morning and he wakes up majority leader—a position he’s aspired to, he says, since the 5th grade—McConnell strikes a conciliatory tone, saying he hopes to work with President Obama and Senate Democrats. He said there would be no shutdowns on his watch, despite the fact that he plans to use funding bills to force changes in Obama’s policies. 

Notably, a full repeal of Obamacare was not on his mind, but rather a partial repeal through the appropriations process. Finally, he named his new top priority: keeping the Senate in 2016 (though winning the White House is also “not unimportant”).

McConnell saying that there would be no government shutdown on his watch makes sense if his goal is to hang onto the Senate in 2016.

I actually do not have a great deal of confidence in the President and McConnell seeing eye to eye on much, and that includes which portions of the Affordable Care Act should be changed.

And that does not take into account the "Cruz effect: 

"Cruz also would like the Senate to be as aggressive in trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act as the House, which has voted more than 50 times to get rid of the law. 

Republicans should “pursue every means possible to repeal Obamacare,” Cruz said, including forcing a vote through parliamentary procedures that would get around a possible filibuster by Democrats. If that leads to a veto by Obama, Cruz said, Republicans should then vote on provisions of the health law “one at a time.” 

And when asked whether he would back Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky for Republican leader, Cruz would not pledge his support — an indication that there are limits to how much of a partner he’s willing to be.

There is some possibility that the biggest battles coming out of Washington will NOT be between the Republicans and the President, but rather between the Republican establishment and the Tea Party folks who simply cannot abide government working at all. much less in a bipartisan manner.