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So doing something about lobbyists was in Obama's power set but not Trumps?
Did Obama put an end to lobbyists? Did he really do anything substantial? Let's recall that at the time I asked my question you indicated that you had no idea how Trump could do anything about the topic, while still expressing optimism that he would fix it.
Perry is up against a steep learning curve. Do you think that he could actually get rid of the Department of Energy? Do you think that he will still want to after he learns what it is that they do there?
You seem to be arguing that having an AGW skeptic as president, head of the EPA, and head of the department of energy is nothing to worry about because those folks are all incompetent?
Yes I do believe that Perry can do some serious damage to clean energy projects associated with the department of energy simply by moving money around and starving off the projects he does not want to continue. That certainly would not violate the Pendleton act, which is not really that strong a defense against being fired for having a particular scientific opinion rather than a political opinion.
In the end I agree that you (we) should be concerned about some of these appointments but there are robust mechanisms to keep these buffoons in line. Do you guys really think that the country has been taken over by Puritans on a witch hunt?
I respectfully disagree. The folks in charge have the power to substantially purge their departments of any efforts towards AGW amelioration simply by how they allocate money and effort. They also appear to be collecting names of AGW active scientists. If you are a scientist who fights upstream, then you might well be gone. Do you really think that the US is going to continue participating in climate accords after Obama is gone? What has Trump promised to do about that?
ABE:
The Pendleton Act prevents firing due to political party affiliation, and nothing more than that.
Edited by NoNukes, : No reason given.
Edited by NoNukes, : Add fact.
Edited by NoNukes, : No reason given.
Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also in prison. Thoreau: Civil Disobedience (1846)
History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people. Martin Luther King
I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend. Thomas Jefferson
Seems to me if its clear that certain things that require ancient dates couldn't possibly be true, we are on our way to throwing out all those ancient dates on the basis of the actual evidence. -- Faith