EPA regulations

Obama is going to lose in 2012. A week ago, I wrote he would lose because of economic problems. But even if he magically gets past that, the Republican candidate should skewer him on his EPA policies which go beyond absurd and target rural areas and farming. These edicts are so stunningly looney, that I believe even someone in an urban area would choke on the overreach, especially if it is pointed out that the real poor in America are those who live in rural areas. It's Obamacare Reaction all over again. Go after Obama for abusing the rural poor the way Dems have so often gone after Republicans for hurting the poor. So here's a little quicky speech I would write for a candidate.

"Barack Obama didn't get Cap and Trade. So he decided to implement his version of environmentalism by executive dictate. For example, cities will now have to capture all their runoff storm water and treat it. Imagine how difficult this will be, even for an urban city. How is New Orleans supposed to catch all the hurricane storm water? I catch myself wondering who would write such an outlandish regulation. Someone with no sense of reality? Now think about those small towns and tiny hamlets in our countryside. Is a town of 50 people supposed to catch their rainwater and install a treatment plant that they can't even afford for their drinking water? The poorest people in America live in rural America. Why are we picking on them?"

"The EPA has new rules to curb dust. They don't like farmers plowing fields and they don't like dusty roads. Kick up a cloud and you get fined. Never mind that dust is heavy particulates and non-toxic. It's just dirt! How can you farm and not have dust? They have a new ban on burning in agriculture. This will not only make farming prohibitive and drive up the cost of food as never before. It is unsound ecology. Good stewardship of grasslands and forests requires burning to control brush and diseased tree stands. It's safer than pesticides. Elect Obama again and you'll see these natural landscapes die. Farmers and foresters make a living on these resources and they are already maintaining them far better than a foolish federal government."

"There is a now a regulation for sprayer drift. If you spray crops, the sprayer drift cannot exceed one foot. In practice it is impossible to limit drift to these dimensions. Ever watch a crop duster? Another rule re-classifies milk as an oil substance. A farmer who spills milk had better cry. He must now go through the same kind of rigorous environmental clean-up that a big oil company does."

"Maybe we need to stop asking what kind of an ivory tower nitwit wrote and approved these rules and ask, Why? All these jaw-dropping regulations are aimed at rural America. Rural areas don't vote for Obama and this is Chicago-style hardball payback politics. You and I, we never voted for these regulations. Congress never voted for them. They are done by executive order. And rural America constitutes the poorest people in our country, the least able to pay the EPA's extortion. I call on Obama to call off the dogs. Stop this vindictive campaign against rural folks. They don't ask for much. They work hard. They are still the backbone of America. This kind of partisan tit-for-tat is the last thing our country needs. It is old style political payback that we are tired of. Rural America needs jobs, Mr. President , not worn out politics and rules enforced by fiat. We need a new approach and a new leader."