Admittedly, Barack Obama has not promised to wreck the economy, but judging from his plans to overturn many Bush policies, it's the only conclusion we can come to.
Not only is he planning to rescind the Mexico City Policy, which prevents taxpayer-funded doctors from talking about abortion to women in other countries, but also the ban on embryonic stem cell research, a process that has become more obviously brutal, barbaric and unnecessary in light of new research on the use of adult stem cells. But if Obama never saw a baby that shouldn't be killed if Mom decided she didn't want him/her, why should he get squeamish about using embryos? Pro-abortion types don't even acknowledge the humanity of embryos, so this is no surprise.
Even more than the life issues Obama will trample on, his hard left environmentalist bent will criple American industries, particularly the auto industry.
The president-elect has said, for example, that he intends to quickly reverse the Bush administration’s decision in December to deny California the authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from cars.
California had sought permission to require that greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles be cut by 30 percent between 2009 and 2016, effectively mandating that cars achieve a fuel economy standard of at least 36 mpg within eight years. Seventeen other states had promised to adopt California’s rules, representing in total 45 percent of the nation’s automobile market. Environmentalists cheered the California initiative because it would stoke innovation that could benefit the entire country.
“An early move by the Obama administration to sign the California waiver would signal the seriousness of intent to reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil and build a future for the domestic auto market,” said Kevin Knobloch, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Before the election, Obama told others that he favors declaring that carbon emissions are endangering human welfare, following an EPA task force recommendation in December that Bush and his aides shunned in order to protect the utility and auto industries.
If California can demand much higher EPA ratings for vehicles, the effects on the already shaky U.S. auto industry would be devastating. There's no doubt that high gas prices spurred demand for more fuel-efficient vehicles, but harsh regulations could create unsafe cars designed purely to meet EPA standards.
Some related reforms embraced by Obama’s transition advisers would alter procedures for decision-making on climate issues. A book titled “Change for America,” being published next week by the Center for American Progress, an influential liberal think tank, will recommend, for example, that Obama rapidly create a National Energy Council to coordinate all policy-making related to global climate change.
The center’s influence with Obama is substantial: It was created by John Podesta, co-chairman of the transition effort, and much of its staff has been swept into planning for Obama’s first 100 days in office.
The center’s new book will also urge Obama to sign an executive order requiring that greenhouse gas emissions be considered whenever the federal government examines the environmental impact of its actions under the existing National Environmental Policy Act. Several key members of Obama’s transition team have embraced the idea.
Such policies will cripple American industries and ban growth in a variety of areas. Obama may consider the economy his first priority, but the subtext is that he plans to wreck it in order to satisfy extremists on his side.
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