I love it, now that Democrats are in the White House, making recess appointments is “peeing on the constitution,” according to drug-addled bigot and corporate tool Rush Limbaugh (and many others of his ilk). But wait, when Republican’ts controlled the White House, not only were recess appointments the greatest thing since sliced Wonder Bread (Rush’s favorite food group, along with Twinkies and other crap that makes you obese?), but anyone who opposed those recess appointments was a “Stalinist.”  Got that? That’s the Republican’t Party line these days, apparently, so we might as well get used to spending some energy demolishing it.

The fact is, this current false “outrage” is utter hypocrisy by a party famous for it. It’s just like how, when Reagan raised taxes a dozen times as president, while also racking up trillions in debt and growing government by leaps and bounds, it was hunky dorey for Republicans, who have pretty much sainted ol’ Ronnie. But when Democrats like Bill Clinton slashed the deficit, or when Democrats like Barack Obama cut taxes for 95% of Americans, they’re commie/pinkos/socialists/blahblahblah.  Or, when conservatives pushed the individual mandate and “cap and trade” as enhancing personal responsibility and harnessing the power of the free market, that was fine. But the second Democrats start to push those conservative ideas?Oh, then they’re EVIL!  Sensing a pattern here? Hmmmm…gee, ya think?

What do coal-fired power plants and AG Ken Cuccinelli have in common? They both blow smoke. Unfortunately, it’s not certain which form of smoke is more dangerous for Virginians. On the one hand, coal-fired power plants don’t know they are killing thousands of individuals each year. They’re not sentient human beings. Ken Cuccinelli, on the other hand, is a (quasi) sentient individual who has to be fully aware that regulating mercury will dramatically reduce American’s exposure to this toxic substance. Or is he?

In an interview earlier today on The Kojo Nnamdi Show, Cuccinelli claimed that the EPA has produced no demonstrable benefits that “holds up for the mercury piece” that would justify sending electricity rates “through the roof.” No demonstrable benefits, really? How about thousands of saved lives and prevented birth defects, learning disabilities, and respiratory diseases as demonstrable benefits?

Moreover, Cuccinelli claims to care about the well-being of “poor” Virginians like those living in the Appalachia and Southside areas, so much so in fact that he has not come out publicly in opposition to lifting the uranium mining ban in Virginia. Moreover, why doesn’t Cuccinelli complain about the seemingly frequent rate hikes asked for by Virginia’s utilities and rubber-stamped by the VA State Corporation Commission?  

During the same interview on The Kojo Nnamdi Show, Cuccinelli made another unsubstantiated claim: Since 1998 there has been a nearly 60% reduction in mercury output in the U.S. without direct regulation. Aside from the fact that Cuccinelli sites no references for his claim (maybe it was the same conservative think tank that disavows global climate change?), how many lives would have been saved, among other factors, had there been an 80% reduction, assuming for the moment that the 60% cited by Cuccinelli is accurate. That is, what if government regulation helped reduce mercury output by 80%, 90%, 95%, instead of 60%, how many Americans lives would be better today?  

The last time I checked, the federal government’s first priority is saving lives, not a few dollars here or there. Of course, what is “a few” dollars might equal out to quite a bit of dough, but how much would you pay to bring a loved-one back to health, to give that individual a chance to live a happy, uninhibited life free of mercury poisoning? The EPA uses the figure of $7.9 million as the value for the life of each American individual. I’m curious to know what Cuccinelli’s own estimate for the value of a human life is worth.  

A whistleblower who has come forward with information about the Keystone pipeline is sure to have his message go unreported by CNN and the rest of corporate media. Mike Klink of Auburn IN was an inspector for the first phase of the Keystone pipeline and says that TransCanada consistently cut corners during construction of the first phase of the pipeline, always choosing to save money instead of resolving safety issues.

In an op-ed in The Journal Star of Omaha, Klink said, “What did I see? Cheap foreign steel that cracked when workers tried to weld it, foundations for pump stations that you would never consider using in your own home, fudged safety tests, Bechtel staffers explaining away leaks during pressure tests as ‘not too bad,’ shortcuts on the steel and rebar that are essential for safe pipeline operation and siting of facilities on completely inappropriate spots like wetlands.”

Because Klink, a civil engineer, called attention to how Bechtel, contractor for the TransCanada pipeline, was cutting corners and using shoddy materials, he was fired from his job.

“TransCanada didn’t appear to care. That is why I was not surprised to hear about the big spill in Ludden ND where a 60-foot plume of crude spewed tens of thousands of gallons of toxic tar sands oil and fouled neighboring fields,” Klink stated.

Keystone is simply another example of the necessity for strong, forceful regulation of corporate behavior to protect the rest of us from narrow-minded greed. And, Virginians better make sure that strong regulation is in place before letting Virginia Uranium and its Canadian backers open that uranium mine in Pittsylvania County. Beware, Virginia, the fix is already in, and only voter pressure can postpone that decision.