As Daniel Webster wisely warned, "The power to tax is the power to destroy." Likewise, the power to regulate.
Sometimes, destruction may be the unintended consequence of over-greedy taxation or overzealous regulation – a case of killing the goose that lays the golden egg. Are there other times, when it may be no accident at all, but the very goal desired?
One can deplore rapacity and still understand it at some level. Wanton destruction is very hard to fathom.
For instance, we can't help wondering if the Environmental Protection Agency at times hasn't substituted an anti-capitalist crusade for its original mandate of reducing pollution and reviving endangered species.
We want clean air and water and species preservation, but we've never been able to grasp how those worthy goals necessitate the strangulation of vital industries and the ravaging of our economy.
Too many radical environmentalists seem to think the world would be a better place without human beings altogether. We, on the other hand, think the world would be a better place without those radical environmentalists.
For a while there, it looked like the Rads were gaining the upper hand and we'd best start packing for reeducation camp. Now, the tables may be turning, and it's none too soon.
Last week, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans concluded that the EPA exceeded its authority under the Clean Air Act when it rejected the state of Texas flexible permitting program. The program allows refineries, power plants, etc. to modify their facilities without additional regulations if emissions continue to satisfy guidelines.
"This ruling is a victory for Texas jobs," said State Attorney General Greg Abbott, "and confirms what we've said from the start: that the EPA's actions were baseless and nothing more than a federal power grab by an administration that is desperate to extend its control over businesses."
Greenies, grab your gorp and gunnysacks and hit the road!