'Seize the Day -- And the Key Industry!'

The Obama administration is pushing legislation to give it authority to "seize key companies" -- and some Democrats are complaining that it doesn't go far enough.

So says the LA Times:

The Obama administration this week will propose the most significant new regulation of the financial industry since the Great Depression, including a new watchdog agency to look out for consumers' interests.

Under the plan, expected to be released Wednesday, the government would have new powers to seize key companies -- such as insurance giant American International Group Inc. -- whose failure jeopardizes the financial system. Currently, the government's authority to seize companies is mostly limited to banks.

[SNIP]

"This is too little, too late," said Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks), based on his understanding of the plan. "It's going to be way less than it should be."

Naturally, Tiny (Tax Cheat) Tim Geithner is all in favor of this little piece of Marxist politics.

"We had a system that proved too unstable, too fragile. . . . Those are things we have to change," Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said Monday at an economic forum in New York.

I am developing a sure rule of thumb these days. If Tiny Tim is for something, I'm not going to like it.

But he's not alone:

Administration officials also have dismissed suggestions that they had moved too slowly, saying they had pushed ahead despite calls from some quarters for them to wait until the end of the crisis before acting.

"There are people who believe that the wrong time to reorganize the fire department is while the fire may still be burning," Lawrence H. Summers, chairman of the White House's National Economic Council and Obama's chief economic advisor, said in a speech Friday. "The president has concluded very strongly that that view is wrong. . . . Experience teaches that once the crisis has passed, the will to reform will pass as well."

Never let a crisis go to waste. Especially if you helped create it in the first place.

Do you believe that the Obama administration will be content to "seize" just a few more companies so that they can "get a handle" on the economy?

Or will it be like illegally using TARP funds to bailout the auto companies, then pressuring the auto companies into bankruptcy plans that give actual ownership to the government?

Rogue regimes will use any little pretext -- any slim guise of legality -- to shred the heart of the law.

Wake up, America!

Rejecting Obama's Latest False Choice

Almost missed this one, but Mark Steyn has sharp eyes:

Writing in the Chicago Tribune last week, President Obama fell back on one of his favorite rhetorical tics: “But I also know,” he wrote, “that we need not choose between a chaotic and unforgiving capitalism and an oppressive government-run economy. That is a false choice that will not serve our people or any people.”

Really? For the moment, it’s a “false choice” mainly in the sense that he’s not offering it: “a chaotic and unforgiving capitalism” is not on the menu, which leaves “an oppressive government-run economy” as pretty much the only game in town. How oppressive is yet to be determined: To be sure, the official position remains that only “the richest five percent” will have taxes increased. But you’ll be surprised at the percentage of Americans who wind up in the richest five percent.

Steyn is right. What we need right now is a chaotic and unforgiving capitalism that will clear out the detritus of failing businesses and incompetent executives, allowing the productive and competent to revitalize the American economy. It's what we needed last summer as well.

More on point excerpts:

The 44th president is proposing to add more to the national debt than the first 43 presidents combined, doubling it in the next six years, and tripling it within the decade.

Did you know that?

Put down what you're drinking before you read the next one.

When the Bolsheviks chose to introduce Russians to the blessings of a “command economy” 90 years ago, they were dealing with a relatively simple agricultural society largely contained within national borders. Obama and Geithner are trying to do it with a sophisticated global economy in which North American consumers, European bankers, Asian suppliers, Saudi investors, and Chinese debt-holders are more tangled than an octopuses’ orgy.

Or is it octopi? And is it in a garden, in the shade?

In their first two months, Obama and Geithner have done nothing but vaporize your wealth, and your children’s future. What began as an economic crisis is now principally a political usurpation.

I know it's the weekend, but read his entire column anyway.

How to Destroy the American Mining Industry

Not every bill introduced in Congress becomes law. That's the good news.

The bad news is some bills are absolutely insane, and in the current climate in Washington, D.C., there is no guarantee this won't be one of those enacted. Scott Harn of the Prospecting & Mining Journal, writes:

Nick Rahall, chairman of the House Resources Committee, reintroduced mining reform legislation in the House of Representatives on January 27, 2009. The Congressman has obviously been away from real work for far too long. H.R. 699, the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2009, should be labeled H.R. 666 because it appears to have been written by the Devil himself. If it passes as written, it will completely destroy an entire industry.

The legislation would completely federalize mining of everything: coal, silver, gold, you name it, and would regulate mining activity so circumspectly that hardly any mining operations would survive, unless it was you and your brother-in-law camped out beside a mountain stream with your shaker pans. Just don't use a vehicle to carry your gear.

Casual use would be redefined to allow only those activities that do not cause “any disturbance of public lands and resources.” The collection of samples, use of gold pans and non-motorized sluices would be the only activities allowed without a Notice or Plan. Taking a vehicle off-road would also require a Notice or Plan. Any extraction of minerals for sale or use would require a Notice or Plan.

So you can't actually sell or use what you find?

H.R. 699 would be retroactive. Existing mining that is not already operating under a Notice of Plan would require proof of a valuable discovery to retain a mining claim, and those operating under a Notice or Plan would have ten years to bring their operation under compliance with the new regulations.

This would discourage staking and holding of claims that are unlikely to "pan" out. There are other illogical, onerous provisions:

The federal government would be entitled to an 8 percent gross royalty for all locatable minerals for any new mining operation. Even if the miner is unable to make a reasonable profit at current commodity prices, he would have to give 8 percent to the federal government. [snip]

Anyone transporting a locatable mineral, concentrate or product derived from a locatable mineral shall carry documentation declaring the amount, origin and intended destination. Miners shall create and maintain reports relating to the quantity, quality, composition, volume, weight and assay value of all minerals extracted from a mining claim. Failure to produce these reports when requested by any officer or employee designated by the federal government may result in involuntary forfeiture of the mining claim.

("Where are your papers, Herr Miner?")

Tens of millions of acres would be added to existing areas that are already off-limits to mining, including Wilderness Study Areas; areas of critical environmental concern; areas designated for inclusion in the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System; areas designated for potential addition, or eligible for inclusion; and any area identified in the set of inventoried roadless maps contained in the Forest Service Roadless Area Conservation Final Environmental Impact Statement, Volume 2, dated November 2000.

Any State, political subdivision of a State, or Indian tribe could petition the Secretary of Interior to withdraw areas based on drinking water supplies, wildlife habitat, cultural or historic resources, scenic vistas or other similar values. Indian tribes could also petition for the withdrawal of areas for religious or cultural value.

The bill would give the Secretary the authority to deny any operation that may cause undue degradation.

To get an approved Plan, the operator would have to be able to show that no treatment of discharged water will be necessary 10 years after mine closure, and any Plan could be changed or halted if additional information about scientific, cultural or biological resources becomes available.

The last provision alone would be enough to halt most projects. There are more than a half dozen other stipulations, including this very interesting provision:

Designated employees of the Department of Interior and Department of Agriculture would be given full law enforcement powers over permitted miners, including the power to subpoena miners to force attendance, testimony, and disclosure of all paperwork, and warrantless searches of vehicles and buildings expected to contain locatable minerals or products derived from them would be allowed.

Warrantless searches? I thought liberals were against such things. I guess foreign terrorists deserve constitutional rights, but those greedy, capitalist gold miners do not.

Harn concludes that small mining operations would be wiped out as these typically do not have the financial or time resources to comply with all the paperwork and licensing.

Large-scale mining would be also phased out as mining companies would be unable to deal with the unattainable requirements of these regulations, citizen lawsuits, thin profit margins, reporting requirements, and the uncertainty that comes with the federal government’s new authority to halt a mining operation when “undue degradation” is occurring or a scientific, biological or cultural resource is discovered. Many areas that may have potential would be inaccessible. No one in their right mind would provide funding for exploration or operations under the proposed conditions.

The most likely outcome would be that the environment would suffer as mining companies move all operations to countries with little or no regulations.

Like the current situation with oil, Americans would be forced to obtain natural resources overseas, sending money to countries that don’t like Americans and would love to control our prices.

Here's the list of the co-sponsors, every damn one of them a Democrat. You'll recognize many of the names as the usual progressive suspects who are destroying the Constitution and the free enterprise system:

Reps. George Miller (D-CA), Henry Waxman (D-CA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Howard Berman (D-CA), Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), Rush Holt (D-NJ), Jim Costa (D-CA), Donna Christensen (D-VI), Pete Stark (D-CA), Dale Kildee (D-MI), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), Ron Kind (D-WI), Lois Capps (D-CA), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Mike Honda (D-CA), John Salazar (D-CO), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Niki Tsongas (D-MA), and Gerry Connolly (D-VA).

By 2010 it may be too late to recover. Who is John Galt?