Politics Plus

Whenever we make the slightest bit of progress to benefit the American people, you can bet that the Fascist Five Republican Injustices of SCROTUS (Republican Constitutional VD) will step in to protect corporate crime and 0.1% profit.  In this case they are blocking implementation of the Clean Power Plan, a small, necessary step to reduce the effects if global climate change.

The Supreme Court’s extraordinary decision on Tuesday to temporarily block the Obama administration’s effort to combat global warming by regulating emissions from power plants was deeply disturbing on two fronts.

It raised serious questions about America’s ability to deliver on Mr. Obama’s pledge in Paris in December to sharply reduce carbon emissions, and, inevitably, about its willingness to take a leadership role on the issue.

And with all the Republican-appointed justices lining up in a 5-to-4 vote to halt the regulation before a federal appeals court could rule on it, the court also reinforced the belief among many Americans that the court is knee-deep in the partisan politics it claims to stand above. While the court’s action was not a ruling on the merits of the case, it will delay efforts to comply with the regulation and sends an ominous signal that Mr. Obama’s initiative, known as the Clean Power Plan, could ultimately be overturned.

The Clean Power Plan, announced by the Environmental Protection Agency last August, requires states to make major cuts in greenhouse gas emissions from their electricity producers, which chiefly use older coal-fired power plants, over the next few years. These plants produce more carbon emissions than any other source, and cutting them is the backbone of Mr. Obama’s larger goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions over all by at least 26 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.

The rule is based on the Clean Air Act — which, as the court has already made clear in multiple cases, gives the federal government broad authority to regulate a range of pollutants, including carbon emissions from power plants. Mr. Obama is using that authority here. And while the plan sets out aggressive state-by-state goals, it is carefully designed to give states the time and flexibility to meet them. It’s inevitable that some, perhaps many, older coal-fired plants will close; but states can also convert to cleaner-burning natural gas, build renewable-energy sources, like wind and solar, or enter into regional “cap and trade” programs that allow them to buy and sell permits to pollute… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <NY Times>

Just to reiterate, The Supreme Court has already made it clear that the Executive branch does have the authority to regulate carbon emissions from power plants.  SCROTUS will have to overturn their own overwhelming precedent to defeat the measure long term.  Instead, I think this is a temporary measure designed to sabotage Obama’s foreign policy and to undermine the Paris Climate Accord.  I hope our international partners will take a wait and see attitude and not abandon the Accord over this.

I bet you didn’t know, right?  You did?!!?  Dang!!  And I thought it was a surprise, based on Hillary’s victorious concession speech.  One might think she won.  In a very funny way, she did, but first let’s celebrate Bernie’s win!  We were hoping for a spread in the teens, but Bernie pulled off a virtual landslide. a twenty-one point spread!

New Hampshire resoundingly rejected the two major party’s mainstream candidates in its presidential primary Tuesday, with Bernie Sanders decisively beating Hillary Clinton on the Democratic ticket and Donald Trump overwhelming a pack of governors and U.S. senators who cannot seem to stop him.

Sanders’ 21-point victory over Clinton, though not unexpected after surging in recent polls, was a monumental achievement for a candidate who started out with less than 5 percent of the vote (trailing by 44 percent at one point last year) and calling for a revolution to fundamentally address economic and political inequality.

“We won because we harnessed the energy and the excitement that the Democratic Party will need to succeed in November,” Sanders said. “What the people here have said is that given the enormous crises facing our country, it is just too late for the same old, same old establishment politics and establishment economics: the people want real change.”…

Inserted from <Alternet>

Here is the complete video of Bernie’s victory speech.

If you prefer, click here for a transcript of Bernie’s victory speech.

Here’s the reason Hillary is not down over her loss.  She is taking more delegates from NH than Bernie is, in spite of Bernie’s landslide.  The problem is that the Democratic Party has 712 Super Delegates, from the party establishment, They are not required to follow the will of the voters in their states.  Here is how they are effecting the delegate count so far.

If that isn’t bad enough, this is Wikipedia’s analysis of Super Delegates.

Click through to find out who they are in your state.

I have no objection to Super Delegates committing to Hillary, as long as  they reflect the will of their states’ voters.  But for any candidate to take away two more of a state’s delegates that the candidate who won that state’s primary by twenty-one points is anti-democratic and obscene.  All delegates must be required to follow the will of the voters.

Congrats to Bernie!