Huh: 35 Democrats Voted With GOP To Kill California EV Mandate

By William Teach May 5, 2025 – 7:00 am

Remember, the EV mandate was enacted by the California Air Resource Board, a group of unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats, and it has the force of law in California

35 Democrats vote with GOP to block Biden rule allowing Newsom’s gas car ban

Thirty-five House Democrats are rebuking the Biden administration’s 11th-hour waiver that cleared a path for California to enact a full ban on gas cars by 2035.

A Republican resolution aimed at repealing the Biden-era Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) move passed by a 246 to 164 vote on Thursday morning.

Notably, two California House Democrats were among the 35 who voted to rescind their own state’s clean energy waiver — Reps. Lou Correa and George Whitesides.

It was a stunning repudiation of their own former party leader’s policies targeting one of Democrats’ largest strongholds.

Republican leaders, meanwhile, cheered the resolution’s passage.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said of the California waiver, “This radical measure bans the sale of gas-powered vehicles, forcing electric vehicles on the American people and taking away consumer choice.”

Too bad the resolution didn’t include anything about the members of the CARB, Gavin Newsom, the members of his admin, and the general assembly not driving EVs themselves

A resolution of disapproval, under the Congressional Review Act, allows lawmakers a mechanism to oppose unilateral rules made by federal agencies.

With 35 Democrats voting for the resolution, will the media whine about the Republicans using CRA again?

Read: Huh: 35 Democrats Voted With GOP To Kill California EV Mandate »

Posted in Collapsing Science, Global Warming | 2 Comments | Trackback URL

Trump Directs DOJ To Reopen Alcatraz

By William Teach May 5, 2025 – 6:45 am

Oh, yeah, this is creating Category 5 Moonbattery

(San Francisco Standard) President Donald Trump says he wants to turn Alcatraz Island — a museum and tourist destination for decades — back into a federal prison.

“When we were a more serious Nation, in times past, we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm,” he wrote on Truth Social. “No longer will we tolerate these Serial Offenders who spread filth, bloodshed, and mayhem on our streets.”

Created in 1934, the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary held some of America’s most famous criminals, such as Al Capone and George “Machine Gun” Kelly, until it shut down in 1963 due to high operating costs and structural damage.

Given its remote location and the cold waters around it, escape from the prison was nearly impossible — and Alcatraz gained the reputation of being the highest security lockup in the country.

Right now it is a visitors center via the Nation Parks Service.

(The Hill) The Bureau of Prisons notes on its website that “USP [United States Penitentiary] Alcatraz closed after 29 years of operation” due to soaring costs.

“An estimated $3-5 million was needed just for restoration and maintenance work to keep the prison open. That figure did not include daily operating costs — Alcatraz was nearly three times more expensive to operate than any other Federal prison,” the bureau says.

It would cost a hell of a lot more now. And, knowing the government, it would take 15 years to get it back open. It’s rusted, the walls are falling apart, it’s decrepit. You would have to really tear it all down. Getting everything out and bringing stuff in would be difficult and expensive. Getting water and power in would be incredibly difficult. A lot of people actually escaped. Probably be better starting fresh using an island off the coast of Alaska.

But, I suspect this is more about winding up Democrats.

Read: Trump Directs DOJ To Reopen Alcatraz »

Posted in Donald Trump | 10 Comments | Trackback URL

St. Greta Almost (not really) Killed On Ship Heading To Help Hamas

By William Teach May 4, 2025 – 10:22 pm

Just gonna leave this here

Um, she wasn’t even on the ship yet. This also happened at Malta, which is halfway across the Mediterranean from Israel. It is below Sicily.

Read: St. Greta Almost (not really) Killed On Ship Heading To Help Hamas »

Posted in Dhimmitude, Global Warming | 1 Comment | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach May 4, 2025 – 2:02 pm

…is a horrible plastic bottle destroying the world, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The Right Scoop, with a post on Trump warning Iran.

It’s orange week!

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 4 Comments | Trackback URL

Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

By William Teach May 4, 2025 – 9:00 am

Happy Sunday! Another great day in Returned America. Getting a little well needed rain, the Dodgers are kicking butt, and my ankle is almost back to normal. This pinup is by Bill Medcalf, with a wee bit of help, and, no, per an email, I’m not trying to make the addition perfect. That’s always the point. The wonderful pinups take precedence.

What is happening in Ye Olde Blogosphere? The Fine 15

  1. Not A Lot Of People Know That: Parliament EV Chargers To Be Removed For Safety Reasons
  2. No Tricks Zone: Brink Of Extinction – More And More Companies Rejecting Costly Hydrogen Technology
  3. Watts Up With That?: Another refinery closure in California increases the States’ dependency on China.
  4. American Greatness: Virginia’s Car Tax is the Highest in the Nation and Democrats Want to Keep it That Way.
  5. Bearing Arms: California Now Looking to Ban Most Popular Handgun Model on Planet
  6. Cold Fury: What Do We Have Here?
  7. Geller Report: China EXEMPTS A Quarter of US Imports From Tariffs
  8. IOTW Report: ICE Nabs Rapists, Child Predators, Gang Members In Deportation Blitz
  9. Jihad Watch: UK: Pro-Hamas candidate who backed segregated spaces for Muslims wins local election seat
  10. Legal Insurrection: China Poised to Address Fentanyl Crisis in Gambit to Start Trade Talks with Trump
  11. Moonbattery: Why the Oppressed Don’t Escape to Africa
  12. neo-neocon: The left’s “undocumented” martyrs
  13. Never Yet Melted: Firing Is Not Enough
  14. Pacific Pundit: Trans daycare worker gets plea deal, avoids prison time after sexually abusing infant in Kentucky
  15. And last, but, not least, The Gateway Pundit has New CEO of California High-Speed Rail Project Hopes it Might be Finished by… 2045

As always, the full set of pinups can be seen in the Patriotic Pinup category, or over at my Gallery page (nope, that’s gone, the newest Apache killed access, and the program hasn’t been upgraded since 2014, so, most are hosted internally). While we are on pinups, since it is that time of year, have you gotten your Pinups for Vets calendar yet? And don’t forget to check out what I declare to be our War on Women Rule 5 and linky luv posts and things that interest me. I’ve also mostly alphabetized them, makes it easier scrolling the feedreader

Don’t forget to check out all the other great material all the linked blogs have!

Anyone else have a link or hotty-fest going on? Let me know so I can add you to the list. And do you have a favorite blog you can recommend be added to the feedreader?

Two great sites for getting news links are Liberty Daily and Whatafinger.

Read: Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup »

Posted in Patriotic Pinup | 8 Comments | Trackback URL

Bummer: Democrats Upset Republicans Are Using An Obscure Law To Roll Back Over-Regulation

By William Teach May 4, 2025 – 7:00 am

I have to wonder: would the NY Times be in favor of rolling back regulations if they were directly on the NY Times? Would the Fish Wrap be fine with Democrats using the law to roll back Trump regulations?

Republicans in Congress Use Obscure Law to Roll Back Biden-Era Regulations

As President Trump moves unilaterally to slash the federal bureaucracy and upend longstanding policies, Republicans in Congress have embarked on a spree of deregulation, using an obscure law to quietly but steadily chip away at Biden-era rules they say are hurting businesses and consumers.

In recent weeks, the G.O.P. has pushed through a flurry of legislation to cancel regulations on matters large and small, from oversight of firms that emit toxic pollutants to energy efficiency requirements for walk-in freezers and water heaters.

To do so, they are employing a little-known 1996 law, the Congressional Review Act, that allows lawmakers to reverse recently adopted federal regulations with a simple majority vote in both chambers. It is a strategy they used in 2017 during Mr. Trump’s first term and are leaning on again as they work to find ways to steer around Democratic opposition and make the most of their governing trifecta of the House, the Senate and the White House.

I can’t find anywhere in the NY Times where they complained about Democrats using the CRA during the Biden years. The LA Times cheered the use of the CRA by Democrats, as did NBC News.

But this time, Republicans are testing the limits of the law in a way that could vastly expand its use and undermine the filibuster, the Senate rule that effectively requires 60 votes to move forward with any major legislation.

Because resolutions of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act need only a majority vote, they are some of the only legislation that can avoid a filibuster in the Senate. This allows them to circumvent the partisan gridlock that stands in the way of most significant bills.

See, it was OK when Democrats did it during the Biden years, but, not OK for Republicans.

Now Republicans are trying to go much further with the law, including using it to effectively attack state regulations blessed by the federal government. The House this week passed three disapproval resolutions that would eliminate California’s strict air pollution standards for trucks and cars by rejecting waivers from the Environmental Protection Agency that allowed them to take effect.

Those state rules have national implications and involve interstate commerce.

Either way, experts warned that Republicans may come to regret reading the statute so broadly. Michael Thorning, the director of the Structural Democracy Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a nonprofit think tank, said doing so could hand Democrats a powerful tool to undo regulations that they dislike when they one day return to power.

They already did this during the Biden years. Funny these same people weren’t worried about the lawfare against Trump and his people but are now bothered when Republicans do the same.

Read: Bummer: Democrats Upset Republicans Are Using An Obscure Law To Roll Back Over-Regulation »

Posted in GOP, Wonky Media | 6 Comments | Trackback URL

Energy Secretary Says Not Moving Forward With New “Green” Loans

By William Teach May 3, 2025 – 3:00 pm

I’m unclear why they are called loans, when the money is rarely repaid. These are handouts, for which Biden was giving them to friendly companies, with little expectation of results, and virtually no oversight

Energy Chief Says US Won’t Move Forward With With Billions in Biden-Era Loans

Energy Secretary Chris Wright said his agency doesn’t plan to move forward with billions of dollars worth of Biden-era loans as the Trump administration reviews the department’s $400 billion-strong green bank.

Wright, speaking during a Bloomberg Television interview Friday, criticized former President Joe Biden’s administration for issuing billions of dollars in loans and grants between the time President Donald Trump was elected and inauguration day.

“We’ve got a lot of reasons to be worried and suspicious about that,” Wright said in response to a question about the department’s loan program. “Some of these loans will go forward, some of it, it’s too late to change course. A lot of them won’t go forward, but that’s a very careful review process that we’ve just put in place and just got a team to execute on.”

The department recently started a review of its Loan Programs Office, which has financed nearly $70 billion in energy projects and made more than $41.2 billion in conditional commitments that haven’t been finalized. The latter include $1.46 billion to biofuel maker Gevo Inc. and $4.4 billion for a high-voltage transmission line project spanning Kansas to Missouri.

In my mind, one of the major things they should be doing is auditing the “loans” and grants. Let’s see how the money was spent. What were the results? Were the projects completed or on their way to completion? How much money went to the projects and how much into people’s pockets? Are the projects sustainable, or, just simply being done on a whim, and will soon collapse generally putting money in people’s pockets)? Does anyone remember Solyndra, and all the other failed projects from Obama’s green slush fund? How about

Interesting

(AIE) “It” was the Ivanpah solar power project in the California Mojave Desert, and it was none of those things. Beginning operations in early 2014 to thunderous applause from all of the usual suspects—left-wing environmentalists, ideologues opposed to fossil fuels and modern economies, crony capitalists, federal bureaucrats, journalists credulous and lazy, and politicians eager to cut ribbons—it was a monstrosity combining huge costs, huge subsidies, huge environmental damage, and justifications hugely spurious. It never achieved its advertised electricity production goals even remotely, even as the excuses flowed like wine, as did the taxpayer bailouts.

And now, despite all the subventions, it is shutting down about 15 years early as a monument to green fantasies financed with Other People’s Money, inflicted upon electricity ratepayers in California denied options to escape the madness engendered by “climate” hysteria supported by no actual evidence.

The performance was so bad that PG&E, not exactly known as a carefully operating entity (lots of wildfires started due to negligence), terminated the contract. So, it’s closing 15 years early. And will soon be rusting in the desert.

Anyhow, now we wait for Democrat friendly judge to demand the Trump DOE spend the money willy nilly.

Read: Energy Secretary Says Not Moving Forward With New “Green” Loans »

Posted in Global Warming | 6 Comments | Trackback URL

NPR To Sue Trump Over Defunding EO

By William Teach May 3, 2025 – 1:48 pm

You’ll never guess why

Nothing says journalistic independence like getting handouts with taxpayer money from the government, eh?

Read: NPR To Sue Trump Over Defunding EO »

Posted in Barking Moonbats | 4 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach May 3, 2025 – 1:00 pm

…is an area flooded by too much carbon pollution, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Gates Of Vienna, with a post on Sweden going boom again.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 12 Comments | Trackback URL

Consequences: DOJ Sues Colorado And Denver For Interfering With Immigration Enforcement

By William Teach May 3, 2025 – 10:30 am

The Trump admin should send all the illegals they’ve picked for deportation and hold them in Denver while awaiting repatriation

Trump administration sues Colorado and Denver for allegedly interfering in immigration enforcement

The Department of Justice sued Colorado and Denver on Friday for allegedly interfering with federal efforts to enforce immigration laws, the latest attempt by the Trump administration to crack down on what some call sanctuary cities and policies.

The lawsuit claims the state and its most populous city, Denver, have passed “sanctuary laws” violating the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

“The United States has well-established, preeminent, and preemptive authority to regulate immigration matters,” according to the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Denver. (snip)

Justice Department attorneys argue Colorado’s “sanctuary policies” allowed the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua to seize control of an apartment complex in the Denver suburb of Aurora.

Local officials have called Trump’s claims that the gang had taken over large swaths of the city exaggerated, but acknowledged the apartment complex was terrorized, including by people linked to Tren de Aragua.

Friday’s lawsuit lists as defendants Democratic Gov. Jared Polis, the state Legislature, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser.

Well, this should be fun. And more fun is how the AP and other media outlets are suddenly fine with cities and states working against federal immigration enforcement. Remember when they went to bat for the Obama admin shutting down Arizone’s SB1070, the “show me the papers” law?

Meanwhile, Peak TDS

It’s a straight video, nor article, but, has this little blurb

US President Donald Trump is pressuring the Mexican government to crack down on Mexican cartels, blaming them for fomenting America’s drugs crisis. He’s threatened tariffs and even military strikes. Mexico has sent hundreds of troops to the state of Sinaloa, where a war rages between two factions of the infamous Sinaloa Cartel, putting civilians at risk. CNN’s Isobel Yeung visits the region – speaking to a member of the Sinaloa cartel, meeting families impacted by the violence and seeing the work soldiers are doing to destroy drug production in the rural countryside.

CNN has seriously made the infighting between a violent, deadly, destructive cartel about Trump.

Read: Consequences: DOJ Sues Colorado And Denver For Interfering With Immigration Enforcement »

Posted in Democrats, Donald Trump, Illegal Immigration | 6 Comments | Trackback URL
Pirate's Cove