Environmentalists Want To Restrict Millions Of Acres For The Sage Grouse

Bird Known for Mating Dance May Decide Senate Control

Saturday, 05 Jul 2014 09:32 AM

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An obscure, chicken-sized bird best known for its mating dance could help determine whether Democrats or Republicans control the U.S. Senate in November.
The federal government is considering listing the greater sage grouse as an endangered species next year. Doing so could limit development, energy exploration, hunting and ranching on the 165 million acres of the bird's habitat across 11 Western states.

Apart from the potential economic disruption, which some officials in Western states discuss in tones usually reserved for natural disasters, the specter of the bird's listing is reviving the centuries-old debates about local vs. federal control and whether to develop or conserve the region's vast expanses of land.
Two Republican congressmen running for the U.S. Senate in Montana and Colorado, Steve Daines and Cory Gardner, are co-sponsoring legislation that would prevent the federal government from listing the bird for a decade as long as states try to protect it.
"Montanans want locally driven solutions," Daines said in an interview. "They don't want bureaucrats thousands of miles away in Washington, D.C., dictating what should happen."
Environmentalists and the two Democratic senators being challenged, John Walsh in Montana and Mark Udall in Colorado, oppose the idea. They say they don't want a listing, either, but that the threat of one is needed to push states to protect the bird.
"A bill like what some in the House are proposing that would delay listing the bird would actually undermine locally driven efforts," said Udall spokesman Mike Saccone.
The greater sage grouse is described in the journals of explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, and it once roamed widely across the massive sagebrush plateaus of the West's interior.
The bird is perhaps best known for its unusual springtime mating dance, during which it puffs its bulbous chest and emits odd warbles. But livestock grazing eroded the bristly plant that the bird depends upon, development chopped up its habitat and energy exploration erected towers that chased it away from its home range.
Rachel Carson warned in 1962 of the bird's possible demise in "Silent Spring," her classic environmental book.
Three environmental groups sued to force the federal government to protect the bird after the government declined to list it as endangered in 2005. In a 2010 settlement, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed to decide on listing by September 2015.
A major factor will be whether the federal, state and local landowners whose land it inhabits protect the grouse. Many environmental groups say the bird is a stand-in for a vanishing Western ecosystem that needs preserving.
"This is the great landscape of America, when you travel west and see open spaces. This is all the stuff you grew up watching on television," said Randi Spivak of the Center for Biological Diversity in Tucson, Arizona, one of the groups that sued to force grouse protection. "And that land has been drilled, subdivided."
Industry groups and state governments worry about the cost.
A study by the Western Energy Alliance, a Denver-based trade organization of independent oil and gas producers, estimates that from 5,000 to 31,000 jobs could be lost should the federal government take steps to protect the grouse.
Kathleen Sgamma, the group's vice president of government and public affairs, said that as the federal government starts to draw up protections, energy leases are being deferred, drilling projects shut down and bureaucratic hurdles raised to any kind of development in the bird's range.
"It's another issue that's slowing economic growth and job development in the West," Sgamma said.
Local officials are alarmed, too.
Udall and other Colorado lawmakers pushed for the Obama administration to delay a decision on a far less prevalent species, the Gunnison sage grouse, until after the November elections. Federal land managers have already declared more than 400,000 acres off-limits to development to protect that bird. The Western Governors Association last month urged the federal government to defer to states on protecting the bird.
The administration announced last month that it would spend $32 million over 10 years helping ranchers in Nevada and California preserve the bird's habitat.
Industry leaders and environmental groups agree that the grouse can be protected without serious economic damage. Some point to Wyoming, the state with the greatest amount of both energy exploration and grouse, which has put in place a plan to conserve the bird's core habitat.
"It's based on sound science and helps us advance meaningful conservation of the species," said Jerimiah Rieman, energy and natural resources policy director for Gov. Matt Mead, R-Wyo.
Gardner, the Republican congressman from Colorado, and others opposed to a listing point to Wyoming as an example of why states should take the lead. "The states are working right now very diligently," Gardner said. "Once you list it, there's sort of a wall that comes down between people."
But environmentalists say the proposal amounts to a needless delay. Even Democrats who argue the federal government should defer to states don't support the Republican legislation.
Gov. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., has warned against listing the bird and led a task force of Western governors who are trying to deal with the issue. A spokesman said Hickenlooper doesn't support the legislation because it lacks adequate bipartisan support.
Brian Rutledge, vice president of the Audubon Society's Rocky Mountain Region, said no one wants the bird to be listed but that the Endangered Species Act is working as intended in this case, to push local agencies to do conservation.
He was dismissive of the Republican proposal. "A lot of this," he said, "is just pandering."

___Online:
Greater sage grouse: http://www.fws.gov/greatersagegrouse
Western Governors Association: http://tinyurl.com/l4nunhs

© Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Close The VA System, The ONLY Way To Solve The Scandal Plagued Organization

The VA Scandal gets worse by the day. Although we would love to see Eric Shinseki removed, it will not solve the ingrained problems. Government control of any medical system will not work, it must be privatized and moved away from control by bureaucrats whose only motivation is to line their own pockets.

Each of  these VA hospitals is run on a basis of keeping the cost down (does that sound familiar?)  The hospital administrators are paid by the keeping expenses low while treating those who seek care. However, as we have seen in Phoenix (and we are sure many other VA facilities), the books have been cooked to make it look like they are meeting performance goals while Veterans are not seen for months, at best.If they go a good job with making up numbers, those in charge become eligible for big bonuses.

The fastest way to keep expenses down is to deny appointments. Without seeing a doctor, there are no appointment costs, no medication ordered, no tests ordered, no hospitalization required and no surgeries conducted. Magically, costs drop like a balloon filled with lead and the bonus money comes to those responsible for the hospital.

However, this is not what was expected when the edicts came down to lower costs, we call this unexpected outcomes.  Sarah Palin called it "death panels."  Those who died in line for care might have well been shot by an execution squad. However, this time it was done by medical malfeasance and incompetence rather than guns.

Montel Williams has it right. This is a travesty and no democracy, no country should EVER treat those who served in its military so callously.  Heck, we treat dogs and cats better!

Yes, fire Shenski but also close the VA System and give every veteran a VA Medical card so that he/she can seek care near his or her home from doctors and hospitals of their choice.

Conservative Tom

From: Capital Hill Daily: Last week, Floyd reported on the breaking scandal at the Department of Veterans Affairs, which involves hospitals fabricating medical treatment records to hide abysmal wait times. Unfortunately, since we first reported on the story, the situation has gone from bad to worse. The results of an investigation into the Phoenix, Arizona Veterans Affairs facility show a mind-boggling level of noncompliance, ineptitude and neglect. And now, the chorus of voices calling for the resignation of Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Eric Shinseki, has grown. This is a natural response to such a reprehensible situation... and it's the correct move. In fact, all of those responsible for denying care to our brave veterans - not just the man in charge - deserve whatever investigation and punishment is forthcoming. However, it's important that we don't get completely caught up in the search for who is responsible. In the midst of ongoing investigations, we can't forget the most important thing: There are literally thousands of underserved veterans out there who need immediate care. The Forgotten Heroes The Phoenix VA hospital staff claimed that veterans received care in no longer than two weeks. Yet an investigation by the Department of Veterans Affairs' internal watchdog reports that 84% of a statistical sample of veterans at the Phoenix VA waited longer than that for an appointment. What's more, The Washington Post reports that veterans at the Phoenix VA waited an average of 115 days for their first medical appointment. That's a whopping three months longer than the average wait time that was reported by the hospital. Worst of all, the internal watchdog discovered that at least 1,700 vets who are in need of care were never placed on the official waiting list at all! Luckily, the Inspector General's Office told Secretary Shinseki to take "immediate action" to provide care for these veterans, and Shinseki has ordered that they be immediately triaged at the Phoenix VA. This is at least a small silver lining. But if thousands of veterans in Phoenix alone were "at risk of being lost or forgotten," as the report put it, how many others across the country have been denied care or lost in the system? According to Rep. Jeff Miller, the Chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, "Wait time schemes and data manipulation are systemic throughout VA and are putting veterans at risk in Phoenix and across the country." It's extremely likely, therefore, that thousands of veterans outside of Phoenix are in need of immediate care. So while Jeff Miller, John McCain and Mark Udall aren't wrong to call for Secretary Shinseki's resignation, let's keep our priorities in order. First, we must take care of those in need. Then we can launch a criminal investigation and ultimately punish those responsible for neglecting the Americans who deserve our care the most. In Pursuit of the Truth, Christopher Eutaw

Congress Gets A Taste Of The CIA/NSA Monitoring For Which It Found Few Issues! Maybe Feinstein Will Not Be So Cavalier About Spying On Us.

Reid asks for computer examination in CIA dispute

Thursday, March 20th 2014, 12:19 pm

Donna Cassata - Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has instructed the Senate's chief law enforcement officer to examine the Intelligence Committee's computers amid an escalating fight between the CIA and lawmakers over access to secret documents about the agency's interrogation tactics during the Bush administration.

In a letter dated Wednesday to CIA Director John Brennan, Reid challenged the spy agency head's complaints that committee staff improperly accessed the agency's computers to obtain the documents, calling the allegation "patently absurd."

Last week, the head of the committee, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, questioned whether the agency broke the law and violated the Constitution in searching a computer network exclusively established for the committee.

Brennan has dismissed Feinstein's complaints.

Determined to resolve the fight, Reid said he had "instructed the Senate Sergeant-at-Arms (Terrance W. Gainer) to initiate a forensic examination of the computers and computer network assigned for exclusive (committee) use, in order to determine how the 'Panetta review' entered into the (committee) network."

The committee is close to completing a 6,000-page report on the CIA's brutal interrogation tactics, including waterboarding, at secret sites after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The CIA had established an exclusive computer network for committee staff in northern Virginia. In the course of the panel's investigation, the committee staff obtained documents from a review ordered by former CIA Director Leon Panetta and apparently took those documents to the Capitol.

"I understand that you have alleged that Senate Committee staff illicitly accessed classified CIA networks to obtain a document — the so-called 'Panetta Review' — which appears to corroborate the findings and conclusions of the committee's study and to contradict the CIA's own official response to the study," Reid wrote Brennan. "To my knowledge, the CIA has produced no evidence to support its claims that Senate committee staff who have no technical training somehow hacked into the CIA's highly secure classified networks, an allegation that appears on its face to be patently absurd."

Reid cited Brennan's Jan. 27 letter to Feinstein in which he said he would welcome an independent review. Reid asked Brennan to ensure that CIA personnel refrain from further interaction with committee staff on the issue, with the exception of the sergeant-at-arms staff. Reid also requested the appropriate security clearances for Gainer.

Gainer oversees Capitol security, heading a force of about 1,000.

Reid commented briefly on the dispute last week. The instructions to Gainer and the notification to Brennan ratcheted up a clash that pits Senate Democrats, led by Feinstein, against President Barack Obama's head of the spy agency.

In a war of words between the agency and the Senate, the acting general counsel of the CIA has referred the matter to the Justice Department. The CIA's independent inspector general also has referred the issue to Justice.

Holder said Wednesday the department is reviewing the referrals.

Reid sent a separate letter to Attorney General Eric Holder in which he challenged the credibility of Brennan's claims. He also echoed Feinstein in raising conflict-of-interest concerns about the CIA's acting general counsel filing a criminal referral with Justice. The general counsel was mentioned by name 1,600 times in the committee's study of the interrogation program.

Troubled by the CIA's actions, Reid wrote to Holder, "Left unchallenged, they call into question Congress' ability to carry out its core constitutional duties and risk the possibility of an unaccountable intelligence community run amok."

Feinstein's dispute was sparked by fighting between Senate investigators and the CIA over a committee report on harsh interrogations. The report, which is still classified, concludes the CIA's use of coercive questioning was torture and produced little useful intelligence. The CIA argues the methods yielded important intelligence leads.

Senate aides reviewing classified computer files overseen by the agency have accused the CIA of monitoring their searches and withdrawing hundreds of internal documents without explanation. CIA officials blamed the aides for improperly accessing and mishandling classified files.

Both sides have claimed laws were broken. Brennan warned Feinstein in the January letter of a security breach caused by the aides; Feinstein accused the CIA last week of "a potential effort to intimidate this staff."

The committee is planning to vote next week on declassifying a 400-page summary of its report on harsh interrogations used during the war on terror, according to a government official. If approved, a CIA unit dedicated to line-by-line declassification will review the document, a process that also will involve lawyers from the CIA general counsel's office.

The committee is pressing for White House involvement and oversight of the process to ensure that any CIA official who was part of the interrogation unit doesn't have a say in what is declassified.

The official was not authorized to discuss the private talks and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Since Feinstein's remarkable broadside against the agency last week, the committee and the spy agency have continued contacts, focusing mostly on the declassification process.

Separately, Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., a member of the committee, sent a letter to Obama on Thursday pressing for declassification of the committee's study of the CIA detention and interrogation program as soon as possible in an effort to "move past this dark chapter in our history."

The Associated Press obtained a copy of Reid's letter to Brennan.

Republicans Should NOT Assume Jolly Victory And ObamaCrapCare Will Provide Victory In November. Only If They Stop Their Internal Fighting!

Democrats Realize Lies, Distraction, Hiding Can’t Save Them From Obamacare In 2014

March 14, 2014 by Sam Rolley 

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Following a crushing loss in a Florida special election on Tuesday, Democrats facing elections in 2014 are trying to figure out if the defeat was a referendum on Obamacare. And unable to agree on a unified messaging plan, members of the party’s leadership are publicly doubling down on support for Obamacare, as vulnerable Democrats facing November elections duck for cover.

On Thursday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) used her press briefing as an opportunity to make excuses for Republican David Jolly’s win over Democrat Alex Sink in Florida this week.

“The fact that it is an off-year election — in other words, a non-presidential year — and a special election is like a double-whammy in terms of reducing turnout,” she said.

In November, according to Pelosi, Democrats are counting on turnout from a broader swath of the American public who likely support Obamacare.

“We feel confident about the fuller participation in November, and what that will mean for that election,” she said.

While Pelosi told a reporter that Democrats should “absolutely not” shy away from conversations on Obamacare leading up to the elections, she said that the President’s healthcare law isn’t going to provide fodder for Republicans.

“I think the Republicans are wasting their time using that as their electoral issue, and they will find that out,” she said.

Pelosi said that Obamacare is a waste of time for the GOP because Americans will further embrace the law as they fully recognize the benefits.

Some observers, however, have noted that the Democrats are also testing a plan to take the focus off of Obamacare. By making public attempts to shift focus to tired memes like the GOP “war on women” and holding sideshow events like the phony climate change filibuster earlier this week in the Senate, some Democrats hope to bring out more pet issue voters for 2014.

Those who aren’t running distraction for the Democratic Party seem to be spending much of their time running from reporters.

In a POLITICO piece earlier this week, reporters revealed the lengths to which some Democrats are going to avoid Obamacare:

Vulnerable members of the president’s party appeared to run from questions about it Wednesday.

Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) — one of the Senate’s most vulnerable incumbents — twice waved off a reporter’s questions. Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), who will likely face GOP Rep. Cory Gardner in November, said he would prefer to answer a reporter’s question by phone to offer a “coherent” response. But his aides did not later make him available for an interview.

Party leaders continue to advise Democratic candidates to go against their better judgment, saying that defending the President and running on Obamacare is a winning strategy. Meanwhile, even pundit Chris Mathews has lost the tingle in his leg.

“It’s going to be very hard to hold the Senate — I think the Senate goes,” he said on “Morning Joe” Thursday. “I think we heard from the Ghost of Christmas Future this week; they’re going to lose the Senate.”