Call or write your senators: water rights S.787

Discussion in 'Freedom and Liberty' started by Tango3, Jun 30, 2009.


  1. Tango3

    Tango3 Aimless wanderer

    I am sad to say one of our democratic senators Russ feingold has proposed a bill granting control of all water to the fedgov.
    http://frankneudecker.com/index.php/2009/05/12/clean-water-restoration-act-s-787/

    Clean Water Restoration Act (S. 787)

    By Jackie Juntti
    Folks,
    I have been bellering about WATER for many years now and few listened. Each year these thieves we let sit in our public offices just keep pushing forward and never back off in reaching their end goals.
    You might live without a lot of things but you won’t live long without WATER no matter how much ammo and guns you have stockpiled. In order to keep out of jail I won’t tell you what you should be thinking about doing beyond applying pressure to these thieves.
    CALL CONGRESS TOLL FREE! �
    US Congressional Switchboard Toll-free Numbers
    1-877-762-8762
    1-866-808-0065
    1-866-220-0044
    White House Phone: 202-456-1111
    Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi: 866-340-9281
    For complete listing of all federal and state offices

    http://www.govspot.com/
    Action Alert From National Water & Conservation Alliance www.nationalwaterconservation.org
    Senate Environment & Public Works Committee
    Expected to Act Soon on Clean Water Restoration Act (S. 787)
    (Committee Chair Barbara Boxer considering Action Without a Hearing!)
    ***National Water & Conservation Alliance Established to Help Defeat Bill***

    1. This bill will profoundly impact every citizen & community in the country–your immediate attention and action is needed! Please do the following:
    2. Contact both your Senators and tell them to oppose S. 787.
    3. Insist that they request that EPW Chair Barbara Boxer hold a hearing (ask that the request be put in writing and that a copy be sent to you).
    4. Contact your legislator and local elected officials and ask them to make a similar request. Ask that the elected body that they serve on pass a resolution immediately.
    5. Get organizations in your area to pass a resolution and to support the attached petition in support of grassroots alternatives to federal legislation.
    6. Help support our efforts to defeat the bill.
    7. Forward this message to people in your network.

    Washington, D.C. __ Regarded as perhaps the biggest federal power grab in the nation’s history, the much anticipated Oberstar-Feingold Clean Water Restoration Act, bogged down last year in controversy and election year politics, could see action soon in a key Senate Committee. S. 787, introduced by Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold, with 23 co-sponsors, could see committee action as early as May 14th. One of the co-sponsors is Sen. Barbara Boxer of California, who chairs the Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works, the committee with sole jurisdiction of the bill in the Senate. ​
    The chief author in the House is Minnesota Congressman James Oberstar. Oberstar chairs the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which has sole jurisdiction of the legislation in the House. This is purported to be a ‘legacy’ bill for Oberstar, and although there is little support for the bill in his own district, he has made it a top priority for his Committee, and is expected to introduce a bill in the House soon.
    As Reed Hopper, lead attorney in a 2006 landmark Supreme Court decision stated in testimony, “…..this bill pushes the limits of federal power to an extreme not matched by any other law, probably in the history of this country.”

    Hopper wasn’t exaggerating. This bill expands federal power in two ways:

    1. By removing the limiting term ‘navigable‘ from the 1972 Federal Water Pollution Control Act and replacing it with the all inclusive ‘waters of the U.S.’ (including wetlands, intermittent streams, playa lakes, prairie potholes, sandflats, mudflats, ponds, meadows and sloughs).​
    2. By adding the new language ‘activities affecting these waters,’ which refers to land use activity as well as atmospheric deposition. As Oberstar has often stated, “water flows downhill.” That is to say that the bill is about federal control of entire watersheds. And everything is in a watershed–all water, all land, all people, all communities. ​
    In short, this bill is not about clean water. It’s about governance. It’s aim is top-down, command and control of land, water, people and communities. It should be viewed as perhaps the greatest threat ever to liberty, property, jobs, energy independence, and access to and use and enjoyment of public lands and waters. In the words of Jim Burling, senior attorney with the Pacific Legal Foundation, “If our constitutional system of limited federal powers means anything, we have to win on this issue.”

    The bill would overturn two U.S. Supreme Court decisions (SWANCC–2001 and Rapanos–2006) which ruled that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had exceeded their authority under the 1972 Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Cleverly and deceptively titled the Clean Water Restoration Act, the only thing the Oberstar-Feingold bill restores, and legalizes, is the abuse of the individual rights of American citizens, and the continued expansion of federal control over every aspect of American life.�

    In case you think we’re overstating the case, a 2006 report prepared by Oberstar’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee staff leaves no doubt as to what this legislation is about. The report emphasizes that control of non-point sources is the unfinished agenda of the Clean Water Act.​
    The simple definition of a non-point source is ‘anything that doesn’t come out of a pipe.’ This would include agriculture, forestry, mining, energy development, home-building and other property improvement, as well as recreational uses of public lands and waters. It would include activities such as mowing your lawn, planting a garden, or building, maintaining, or using a recreational trail–virtually any human activity you can imagine. As Ali Cambel, professor of Environmental Studies at George Washington University warned over 30 years ago, “Wait until they get around to controlling non-point sources of water pollution.”

    The bill is not about pollution, it’s about power. It is being supported by every national environmental organization in the country as a means of maintaining and expanding their power base in Washington. Many of these groups don’t just have office space in Washington–they own buildings! There are no checks and balances, and little oversight. This is purely and simply a redistribution of power and authority, removing it from American citizens and communities and their local elected officials, and transferring it to a massive federal bureaucracy. That is why organizations such as the National Association of Counties are so strongly opposed to the legislation.
    Of course, there are some who will benefit. If passed, it will be a full-employment act for environmental activists and attorneys, already a major growth-industry in America. There will be endless litigation, as every acre of land and water in the country is up for dispute as to whether a human activity should be allowed.
    This legislation could move very quickly, so you must act now!�

    Here’s the full makeup of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee:
    Senate Majority Committee Members
    Democrats :
    Barbara Boxer (Chairman)
    Max Baucus
    Thomas R. Carper
    Frank R. Lautenberg
    Benjamin L. Cardin
    Bernard Sanders
    Amy Klobuchar
    Sheldon Whitehouse
    Tom Udall
    Jeff Merkley
    Kirsten Gillibrand
    Arlen Specter
    Republicans:
    James M. Inhofe (Ranking Member)
    George V. Voinovich
    David Vitter
    John Barrasso
    Mike Crapo
    Christopher S. Bond
    Lamar Alexander
    Call your Senators even if they are not on the EPW Committee. You can call any Senator at (202) 224-3121.

    This bill must be defeated, so please act now! There’s a better way to achieve water quality objectives–a way that allows for every citizen to participate in solutions to environmental problems–solutions that are better, faster and cheaper! This approach has been tried successfully in many parts of the country. It works. And it can not only lead to common sense solutions to problems, it can help restore trust in government. The choice is very simple: Do you want more top-down, one-size-fits-all, command and control government from Washington, or responsible, bottoms-up, common sense government from average citizens and local communities? �

    Please take the time to get organizations to support the petition below by resolution and have them return it to us as soon as possible.�

    *Petition in Support of Grassroots Alternatives *
    The undersigned hereby supports local and regional alternatives to the proposed federal Clean Water Restoration Act, in order to achieve water quality objectives that reflect broad, popular support among people and communities most directly affected by environmental policies and regulations. Name Organization Address/Contact Information

    _____________ _______________ ________________________________
     
  2. Seawolf1090

    Seawolf1090 Retired Curmudgeonly IT Monkey Founding Member

    Is there NOTHING these Federal Jackboots won't try to STEAL!? :rolleyes:
     
  3. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    You give them too much credit, Jackboots might actually think. These are more like jackals, motivated by only one thing, hunger for control, power and money.
     
  4. Tango3

    Tango3 Aimless wanderer

    The turd that caught my eye was laying claim to rainwater(non point source water) like the South American water conglomerates.


    The bill would overturn two U.S. Supreme Court decisions (SWANCC–2001 and Rapanos–2006) which ruled that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had exceeded their authority under the 1972 Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Cleverly and deceptively titled the Clean Water Restoration Act, the only thing the Oberstar-Feingold bill restores, and legalizes, is the abuse of the individual rights of American citizens, and the continued expansion of federal control over every aspect of American life.�

    In case you think we’re overstating the case, a 2006 report prepared by Oberstar’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee staff leaves no doubt as to what this legislation is about. The report emphasizes that control of non-point sources is the unfinished agenda of the Clean Water Act. The simple definition of a non-point source is ‘anything that doesn’t come out of a pipe.’ This would include agriculture, forestry, mining, energy development, home-building and other property improvement, as well as recreational uses of public lands and waters. It would include activities such as mowing your lawn, planting a garden, or building, maintaining, or using a recreational trail–virtually any human activity you can imagine. As Ali Cambel, professor of Environmental Studies at George Washington University warned over 30 years ago, “Wait until they get around to controlling non-point sources of water pollution.”
     
  5. gunbunny

    gunbunny Never Trust A Bunny

    Great, PA's finest, Arlen Spector is on that committee. I expect nothing less than full anal penetration anytime that turncoat bastard gets to vote.[shtf]
     
  6. Ponce

    Ponce Monkey++

    For many years I have been saying the following......."Learn Spanish, learn Chinise and buy water stocks"... Ponce
     
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