Brace for massive private-property land grab

The chutzpah of Barack Obama has no limits, and the man has no shame.

Clearly, he wants what he wants when he wants it, and the law and Constitution and tradition be damned.

The small article in my local paper, the Contra Costa Times, was headlined, "With new EPA water rule, Obama again takes executive action on environment."

The fact that it was a small article on the inside of the paper is illustrative that the liberal media find nothing wrong with the president using the power of an executive order to bypass Congress and get what he wants. As I said, he wants what he wants when he wants it.

Interestingly, but not surprisingly, the article was taken from the Los Angeles Times – another bastion of liberal reportage in California.

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The article presented the case from 1989, in which a Michigan developer was accused of violating the federal Clean Water Act, by filling wetlands on his own property. He faced prison time.

John Rapanos fought the charges, and his fighting the case wound up in the Supreme Court, and he won. The finding was that because his wetlands were some 20 miles from a river that drained into Lake Huron, it was a situation that didn't meet the federal definition of discharges into "navigable waters."

Property rights supporters cheered the victory, but the finding only fueled the determination of the EPA and the government to further clarify just exactly what is meant by a "connection" between "wetlands" and "navigable waters."

Over the years, Rapanos wasn't the only property owner who found himself face to face with feds who claimed jurisdiction over water on private property – whether a pool of water that only appeared after a rain or just dampness or just proximity of a nearby creek.

In battles like that, the property owners generally lost the fight and, in the process, lost the right to use or develop their own land. Sometimes it meant just a problem with landscaping, but often it meant the loss of the rights of farmers or ranchers or developers. Ultimately, that meant a loss of income.

The EPA, supported by the action from Obama, finalized a new rule, which it says strengthens the Clean Water Act and will protect the safety of national drinking water. The scope of the new rule covers a larger percentage of "wetlands" that would be affected, either in terms of being sources of drinking water or areas that are wildlife habitats.

Actually, the new "regulations" give the government control over all waters in the country and the land they're on.

The feds call it "regulations."

The reality is, it's a massive private-property land grab.

The original Clean Water Act was passed in 1972 and over the years has been expanded in its jurisdiction and the requirements for those who need to develop their land. They are required to obtain a variety of permits for proposed land use and, in many cases, find no permission is granted.

It's always amazing to see the different ways media report on the excesses of Barack Obama.

The first, short article in my paper, the summary of the Los Angeles Times report, was quite clear in the last paragraph that Obama's executive action is just another move of his to get what he wants even without the support of Congress.

It made clear that he's already "protected" millions of acres from oil and gas development – read that, land taken off the market for development – and he's expected to designate even more. In addition, the administration will be issuing "new rules this summer to control and reduce carbon emissions from power plants."

What that article doesn't say is that the "protection" of land from oil and gas development means that Obama has even further limited this country's production of fuels that stimulate our economy and bolster our export markets.

As for the new rules on carbon emissions – that may sound nice on the surface unless you realize it really means coal-generating electric plants will be forced to shut down and it will be impossible for new facilities to be built because of the increased costs.

The jobs lost, the businesses destroyed and the increased costs for citizens will be astronomical.

But what Obama wants, Obama gets.

Well, maybe.

Republicans want to kill the measure, and a bill has passed the House; it's pending in the Senate. It'll be a battle.

To give you an idea of the attitude of the White House about people who dispute the need for the stricter bill was made clear by Brian Deese, a White House senior adviser who announced the new rule along with the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers.

According to him, "[T]he only people with reason to oppose the rule are polluters who knowingly threaten our clean water."

Oh, I see. The opposition is just money-grubbing exploiters of the environment.

The arrogance of that attitude is exactly what I would expect of Barack Obama and his administration. They know what's best for us and have no respect for any opposing view, even if it's from the people who will foot the bill for it all and suffer the consequences.

Obama is shameless.

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