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June 07, 2013
The EPA Is The Underreported ScandalIf the news weren't so saturated with scandals right now, the broadcast evening newscasts would have had a different segment each night this week on the EPA. As we were doing the podcast last night, Drew, Andy and I tried to recount them all and actually came up short on the first try. There's just that many. I'd really like to keep the EPA scandals in the spotlight because they run the gamut from basic bureaucratic waste, to malicious politically-motivated abuse, to direct malfeasance by the EPA's highest appointee. Here they are: (1) EPA awarded former EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson's alias, Richard Windsor, an ethics award. There's two immediate take-aways to this scandal. First, it's right at the top. None of the standard Obama Administration excuses -- "it was a low-level employee; I was never informed" or "I do so many of these, I don't even read them" -- will work here. Jackson knew, she was complicit, and now she's conveniently gone -- the beneficiary of a cushy job at Apple just days after Democrats haled the company into hearings to browbeat it for obeying tax law. Second, it demonstrates the empty "meritocracies" of the bureaucracy. Windsor's name was on a list for completing a mandatory annual requirement, so of course "he" got an award. (2) EPA targeted conservative groups for disfavored treatment. The response of the EPA to this is laugh-out-loud funny. First came the blanket denial. Acting EPA Administrator Bob Perciasepe told a House committe, "our policy is to treat everybody the same." And then he added -- illogically, astonishingly -- that the agency was "considering" launching an investigation. Considering it! That's one of the reasons I'd like to see some light on this agency. They're still in liberal la-la land, where they think they can pretend to be concerned about a scandal and then go back to business as usual. Considering it! (3) EPA contractors turned part of an EPA warehouse into their own personal rec rooms and gym. EPA just found out last month and, to its credit, severed ties with the contracting company. But the agency was left with a bunch of unanswered questions, foremost among them: how did this happen? Boy, wouldn't we all like to know. (4) EPA leaked personal info of farm and cattle facilities to environmental activists. The EPA has asked environmental activist groups Earth Justice, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Pew Charitable Trust, to give the information back, but . . . c'mon. Come. On. I suppose at this point we should be grateful (?) the EPA's doing more than merely considering asking for the information back. No word on if anyone was disciplined for sending the personal information (it was inadvertently included in FOIA requests), but I wouldn't hold my breath. Come to think of it, I wonder if the groups that got the info also had their FOIA fees waived... Four simultaneous scandals is the most of any agency we're talking about right now. It's gonna take a lot more attention before the EPA is forced to clean house. More than a couple congressional letters, I would think, which is why I'm writing about it now. I don't know if it's because EPA is relatively more popular than some of the other agencies embroiled in scandal now, or if these scandals simply affect fewer people directly, but this is probably the best chance we've had in a while to curtail EPA's prosperity-destroying activities. | Recent Comments
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Saturday Overnight Open Thread (12/7/19)
Organic Food & Anti-Vaxxers - Does The Fear of Safe Food Lead to Fear of Safe Vaccines [BUCK THROCKMORTON] Saturday Afternoon Chess Thread 12-07-2019 Ace of Spades Pet Thread Saturday Gardening And Puttering Thread, Cozy Edition [KT] Changes and challenges to our healthcare system [KT] Saturday Morning Coffee Break EMT 12/07/19 The ONT's Upon Us Reflections Thread: Please Share Your Sad Stories About How Trump Destroyed the Economy and Blew Up the Planet and Killed You Search
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