http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/220837-obama-monuments-rile-the-gop

By making too many national monuments and parks...

The president has named 13 national monuments so far using the century-old Antiquities Act, putting tight restrictions on more than 1 million acres of public land.

The most recent designation came last week, when the president designated more than 350,000 acres of the San Gabriel Mountains in California as a monument near Los Angeles.

While Obama and his allies see the land protections as furthering the cause of conservation, Republicans say they are evidence of an “imperial presidency.”
“The Antiquities Act is a political arrow in the president’s quiver,” said Melissa Subbotin, spokeswoman for Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah). “It’s abused for political purposes.”
[...]
In June, he expanded to nearly 500,000 square miles a sanctuary near remote Pacific islands, putting the area off-limits to fishing and energy exploration.

He’s also protected historic sites like an area in eastern Maryland that was important to the early life of abolitionist Harriet Tubman, and the home and gravesite of labor movement leader Cesar Chavez in California’s Tehachapi Mountains.

Misleading title.

This is a good thing.

Misleading title.

Not really. The article is about how republicans are complaining about how Obama is abusing his power to add to the number of protected areas.

Did he do this while on a golfing trip?

There's far more important things to focus on. Why the federal government is even concerned about this is beyond me. It's another power that's not given to the feds in the Constitution and something that states can do themselves

Quote from: Kinder Swageington on October 16, 2014, 11:26:52 AM

Did he do this while on a golfing trip?

Yawn.

You know Obama has taken some of the fewest vacation days in Presidential history, right?

Thats because he doesn't count golf on his vacation time.

Not that I'm complaining, If I was the president I would do the same thing.

Republicans are retarded as hell. Of course, I hate both political parties, the two party system made voting for president in this country a joke a long time ago.

fix'd

State and local issues still matter a lot, and affect you more directly. Voting still matters.

Quote from: Kinder Swageington on October 16, 2014, 02:19:25 PM

Quote from: IcyWind on October 16, 2014, 11:58:21 AM

Quote from: Kinder Swageington on October 16, 2014, 11:26:52 AM

There's far more important things to focus on. Why the federal government is even concerned about this is beyond me. It's another power that's not given to the feds in the Constitution and something that states can do themselves

You do realize a government -should be- capable of doing more than one thing?

We aren't allocating a chunk of time to one issue before moving onto the next.

That's why it focuses on actual important issues, such as ISIS, Ebola, and personal privacy

One of these three is not like the others.

It actually is. Violation of privacy is equally as bad as regulating speech in a public place or not giving due process to an American-born who fights for a terrorist organization and is targeted and killed on purpose. Violation of the Constitution is a VERY serious issue and trying to say it's not a big deal is what gives politicians the push to constantly disregard it

they'd dismantle the EPA and let class-action lawsuits regulate companies.

But by then the damage is already done, and often irreversible when it comes to land and natural habitats.

Quote from: Mad Max on October 16, 2014, 10:26:16 AM

Quote from: Meta Cognition on October 16, 2014, 10:22:42 AM

The saddest part about this is that the federal government owns any monuments and parks in the first place.

I dunno, man. I don't really trust people enough to avoid destroying areas, resources, or habitats.

My city is still building thousands upon thousands of new homes, even though our infrastructure can't handle it. If it were up to them, they'd develop all of the natural habitats and mountains near me.

>doesn't trust people
>govt. by people for people
>trusts govt.

I don't trust unregulated industry. If nobody says companies can't  spill toxic waste into rivers and water supplies, they will.

I don't trust unregulated industry. If nobody says companies can't  spill toxic waste into rivers and water supplies, they will.

That's the thing, though.  NOBODY says companies SHOULD spill toxic waste into rivers and reservoirs.

All companies have to do right now is get a permit from the local town or EPA and they can pollute water sources.  If that waste ends up on privately owned land the landowner can do shit-all about it, because the company has a permit from the town, which supposedly acts on behalf of the populous.