Move Your Money: A New Year's Resolution

H/T to George at Urbansurvival - from the Huffington Post:

Last week, over a pre-Christmas dinner, the two of us, along with political strategist Alexis McGill, filmmaker/author Eugene Jarecki, and Nick Penniman of the HuffPost Investigative Fund, began talking about the huge, growing chasm between the fortunes of Wall Street banks and Main Street banks, and started discussing what concrete steps individuals could take to help create a better financial system. Before long, the conversation turned practical, and with some help from friends in the world of bank analysis, a video and website were produced devoted to a simple idea: Move Your Money.

The big banks on Wall Street, propped up by taxpayer money and government guarantees, have had a record year, making record profits while returning to the highly leveraged activities that brought our economy to the brink of disaster. In a slap in the face to taxpayers, they have also cut back on the money they are lending, even though the need to get credit flowing again was one of the main points used in selling the public the bank bailout. But since April, the Big Four banks -- JP Morgan/Chase, Citibank, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo -- all of which took billions in taxpayer money, have cut lending to businesses by $100 billion.

Meanwhile, America's Main Street community banks -- the vast majority of which avoided the banquet of greed and corruption that created the toxic economic swamp we are still fighting to get ourselves out of -- are struggling. Many of them have closed down (or been taken over by the FDIC) over the last 12 months. The government policy of protecting the Too Big and Politically Connected to Fail is badly hurting the small banks, which are having a much harder time competing in the financial marketplace. As a result, a system which was already dangerously concentrated at the top has only become more so.

We talked about the outrage of big, bailed-out banks turning around and spending millions of dollars on lobbying to gut or kill financial reform -- including "too big to fail" legislation and regulation of the derivatives that played such a huge part in the meltdown. And as we contrasted that with the efforts of local banks to show that you can both be profitable and have a positive impact on the community, an idea took hold: why don't we take our money out of these big banks and put them into community banks? And what, we asked ourselves, would happen if lots of people around America decided to do the same thing? Our money has been used to make the system worse -- what if we used it to make the system better?

Everyone around the table quickly got excited (granted we are an excitable group), and began tossing out suggestions for how to get this idea circulating.

Eugene, the filmmaker among us, remarked that the contrast between the big banks and the community banks we were talking about was very much like the story in the classic Frank Capra film It's a Wonderful Life, where community banker George Bailey helps the people of Bedford Falls escape the grip of the rapacious and predatory banker Mr. Potter.

It was a lightbulb moment. And, unlike the vast majority of dinner conversations, the excitement over this idea didn't end with dessert. It actually led to something -- thanks in great part to Eugene and his remarkable team, who got to work and, in record time, created a brilliant, powerful, and inspiring video playing off the It's a Wonderful Life concept. Watch it below.

Within a few days, the rest of the pieces fell into place, including an agreement with top financial analysts Chris Whalen and Dennis Santiago, who gave us access to their IRA (Institutional Risk Analytics) database. Using this tool, everyone will be able to plug in their zip code and quickly get a list of the small, solvent Main Street banks operating in their community.

The idea is simple: If enough people who have money in one of the big four banks move it into smaller, more local, more traditional community banks, then collectively we, the people, will have taken a big step toward re-rigging the financial system so it becomes again the productive, stable engine for growth it's meant to be. It's neither Left nor Right -- it's populism at its best. Consider it a withdrawal tax on the big banks for the negative service they provide by consistently ignoring the public interest. It's time for Americans to move their money out of these reckless behemoths. And you don't have to worry, there is zero risk: deposit insurance is just as good at small banks -- and unlike the big banks they don't provide the toxic dividend of derivatives trading in a heads-they-win, tails-we-lose fashion.

Think of the message it will send to Wall Street -- and to the White House. That we have had enough of the high-flying, no-limits-casino banking culture that continues to dominate Wall Street and Capitol Hill. That we won't wait on Washington to act, because we know that Washington has, in fact, been a part of the problem from the start. We simply can't count on Congress to fix things. We have to do it ourselves -- and the big banks are the core of the problem. We need to return to the stable, reliable, people-oriented approach of America's community banks.

So watch Eugene's amazing video, then go to www.moveyourmoney.info to learn more about how easy it is to move your money. And pass the idea on to your friends (help make this video -- and this idea -- go viral!).

JP Morgan/Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America may be "too big to fail" -- but they are not too big to feel the impact of hundreds of thousands of people taking action to change a broken financial and political system. Let them gamble with their own money, not yours. Let's turn big banks into smaller banks. We'll all be better off -- and safer -- as a result.

Make it your New Year's resolution to move your money. We can't think of a better way to start 2010.

Here is the link to the video. Watch it! We have been meaning to move our funds and now is the time.

http://moveyourmoney.info/


Pickdog
III

PATRIOTS ISSUE THE FINAL WARNING: LISTEN WASHINGTON!

PATRIOTS ISSUE THE FINAL WARNING: LISTEN WASHINGTON!


By Greg Evensen - December 24, 2009


From the top of virtually every flag staff in our country flies the emblem of The United States of America. Our national flag is a moving symbol of what we believe the country has stood for since our victory against the British. It has flown as the rallying cry for men and women in combat. It has been seen by some as the single sacred goal for refugees in hostile lands who were literally crawling for the protection of its embassy or a U.S. Marine detachment protecting the soil on which it flies. And for still others, it has flown border to border and coast to coast as our “guardian angel” spreading its majestic colors for the world to see and know that America stood for something greater than self, a visual picture to all who see it from a distance, that the might and glory of her history was truly something to cherish and die for if necessary.

I believe with all that is within me that we still have an unassailable claim to the unbendable and unshakable rule of law found in the Articles of Confederation and to a lesser degree the Constitution itself, for which “old glory” perpetually stands in silent honor. Before that flag flew for the first time, the Declaration of Independence was written by imperfect, flawed men who sought a Republic in which to chart their own and others—destinies. We may argue vociferously about whether or not our founding generation was Christians, atheists, deists, or cultists. It matters only in that we may VERY soon have the opportunity to do it right again—or perhaps for the first time.

To our ultimate shame and utmost agony, we are now a mere shadow of that symbolized greatness. We have become a pathetic caricature of the strong, independent and “righteous” embodiment of liberty, freedom and justice for every citizen. No longer are there patriotic and moving renditions of our national anthem. Sousa marches are heard once or twice a year at service academy graduations or on Memorial Day. Veterans are shunned. People complain about service honor guards use of “real guns” to volley for the deceased. A flag draped casket is a symbol of foreign intrusion and reckless use of force by our military and that may indeed be true.

What has driven us to such a deep trench of despair and an ongoing sense of detachment from who we are, why we knew our duty and were not afraid to hold others accountable if they strayed from the well worn path of common sense, honest lawmaking, courage and devotion to freedom?

Patriots, real, honest to goodness uncompromising stalwarts of a national treasure held in the hearts of men and women, are now faced with the most vicious pack of rabid beasts to ever walk within the district limits of Washington, D.C. This putrid pack of evil human beings deserve hell fire so hot as to burn the guts out of our own sun. What they have done to this nation’s hopes and aspirations for generations yet unborn (if the child survives the womb) is a war crime against humanity if there ever was one defined. They have legislated for the corrupt. They have labored to provide safe haven for criminals and perverts. They have stolen from the people and created an island of slavery so vast and inescapable that even suicide seems sweet to those entombed in its grip.

We have been constant witnesses to the mutated process that is called government in Washington and in many of our states as well. Layer upon layer of bureaucrats have taught each other the ropes in a game of how much can we do to the citizens before they roll over in their fast food haze of stupidity and pass some gas. Real pretty picture isn’t it?

And up on that flag staff? Fifty stars have fallen onto the dirt and the red and white stripes have entwined themselves into a sickly anemic pink more to the liking of the sodomizers among us than men and women who still believe that the “stars and stripes” have promise and mean something more virtuous than a sold out America battered by lecherous politicians writing demonic law and calling it “change we can live with.”

It is far too late in the game to cover the reasons why we are where we are. If you don’t know, then find out. If you don’t care, then get out of my way. As Sam Adams said, “……let posterity know that you were never my countryman.” Be gone, be silent and hide. You will not fair well in what is coming. Abortionists deserve what they give out to the innocent. Sodomizers need radical surgery where it counts. Politicians deserve a bunk in a FEMA camp. Bankers need 20 years of living in a dumpster. Corrupt business leaders require 12 hours a day in the heat of the south picking strawberries while the former mistreated workers relax in the Virgin Islands.

To some, what I have described is NBC’s version of a “right wing fanatic and his rantings that are a danger to this socialized bastard democracy.” To millions of freshly educated, formerly dead on their ass liberals and entitlement vampires, truth just went up a notch or two.

Now, let me be very clear. Americans have been brutalized by tyrannical government long enough. Soviet style law making must be ended by any means necessary. The politicians responsible for our economic, military and banking catastrophes must be arrested, tried and sentenced for their crimes—without exception and everywhere they have ruled. Nazi style security, surveillance, cameras and satellite GPS census systems must be located and destroyed. Lawless judges, police officials, and rogue military personnel must themselves be brought to justice for the violations of their oath of office and the corruption left in their wake.

I cannot emphasize enough that this all needs to be done in a quick, peaceful and dignified manner and done so immediately. Forget the damned feel good “tea party” speeches that these scurrilous bastards laugh at and do something real. You, who complain that writers like me outline problems and offer no solutions and you want action paths, then convene Grand Juries in every county of America, WITH OR WITHOUT THE “CONSENT” OF THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM. Failing that, recall elections should be run against every targeted elected official that holds office. Finally failing the previously peaceful two options, hundreds of thousands of people must leave the comfort of their homes and mass around every state capital building in the 50 states. Hundreds of thousands of others must do the same around the capital in Washington, D.C. Voices from these crowds must drown out all other sounds and it must continue for many minutes. Utter silence must then replace the noise with one well spoken citizen in each location rising to read a brief demand. It must be the same in all the states and in D.C. It should read something like this:

“On behalf of the citizens of this republic representing the Constitution of this nation and of the individual states, we hereby claim our right of SUPERIORITY and final AUTHORITY over this place and those who are inside. We have fired you from your office by common consent and demand that you leave this city immediately never to return. You have one hour to vacate.”

Then all who have come to make the final plea must leave the area.

When the expected failure to comply has been duly noted, the military should be notified to arrest, detain and try each former legislator.

At this point you are processing my suggestions and have come to the inescapable conclusion that this is pointless and cannot succeed. First of all do not be so sure that any one of these suggestions may not be possible.

What follows this potential plan of action is all that would be left and that is open, outright, and undeterred rebellion against the wickedness in high places. To continue “business as usual” with the corrupt government entities would be unthinkable and you would be part of the corruption. Working “within” the system would be siding with the enemy and your lot would have been cast with the devil himself.

Make no mistake. Whether it is the smallest most corrupt nation in Africa, Asia, South America, or the United States of America, rebellion is the choice of last resort. Outcomes are tenuous and the path to victory is a tragic admission that government tyranny ALWAYS results in civilian misery. Fighting for one’s country then carries a new and deeper meaning.

We are just moments and one horrible piece of corrupted law from facing that choice. The people who will determine this nation’s fate are neither in uniform nor in plush power soaked suites on Capital Hill. They are you and live in your communities. You will choose the means by which this nation lives out its historic future, or you will preside over its ultimate death. That choice is in your hands and is quickly going to be pushed into your gut. If your gut is soft, you will collapse with your breath taken away and the fight will be over. You WILL be taken away in shame and agony.

However, if your strength of conviction is equal to the task, then you will be able to speak softly these words, while preparing to do battle against these usurpers of freedom with fellow heroes yet to be named.



“ O thus be it ever, when free men shall stand, between their loved

homes and the war’s desolation. Blest with vict’ry and peace, may

the Heaven rescued land, praise the power that hath made, and

preserved us a nation………



Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, and this be our

Motto, “In God is Our Trust.” May the Star Spangled Banner, in

triumph forever wave. O’er the land of the FREE and the home of

THE BRAVE.!” *

Our flag may once again fly proudly over us, having witnessed courageous people doing great things in desperate times. For the indicted traitors among us, it is a time to count the cost of your betrayal. For many the ultimate choice for crimes so great will be dishonor and prison or the wall. For the patriotic heroes of the American Revolution of 2010, whatever form our struggle will ultimately take, our posterity will be able say, “Thank God Almighty, the Patriots of 21st Century America were Forever our Countrymen.” …………Steady boys, steady as she goes………….

*Final verse of the Star Spangled Banner by Francis Scott Key.





By Greg Evensen, author of “America: Fall from Grace and Power” copyright 2009.
__________________________________________________


I was moved to tears. May the coming pain see a renewal of the American spirit. May God Bless Us All!!

Pickdog
III

Merry Christmas!

May God Bless Us All.

Pickdog
III

TEA PARTIES NEED TEETH

By Dr. Edwin Vieira, Jr., Ph.D., J.D.
November 17, 2009

NewsWithViews.com

[The following is the full text of an address presented to the National Heritage Center for Constitutional Studies at its 2009 Constitution Day conference.]

The Tenth-Amendment Resolutions from State Legislatures, the Tea Parties, the Town Hall Meetings, and other manifestations of WE THE PEOPLE’S feedupidness with monkey-business as usual in the Disgrace of Columbia—even the massive congregation on the Mall last September—are some of the most enlightening, encouraging, and energizing developments that American patriots have witnessed in a long time. For these events are all premised on the idea: “We don’t want you!”—that WE THE PEOPLE do not want any more, indeed they demand a great deal less, interference in their lives from rogue public officials in the General Government.

These events notwithstanding, the problem remains that too many among WE THE PEOPLE will start but then stop right there, with “We don’t want you!” That is not enough.

The complaint “We don’t want you!” needs to go further, to the resolve, “We won’t have you!” — that WE THE PEOPLE intend to rid themselves of the General Government’s interference.

And to make this resolve effective, WE THE PEOPLE need to design and put into effect remedial action, so that they can say with finality: “We don’t need you!”

The sequence must be—

(i) We don’t NEED you!” which makes it realistic to say:

(ii) We don’t WANT you!” which combined with the ability to make WE THE PEOPLE’S wants effective will lead to the necessary and sufficient action:

(iii) We won’t HAVE you!” and finally will yield the desired result:

(iv) We are RID of you!”

If WE THE PEOPLE have the ability they can give “teeth” to the desire, take the necessary action, and thereby accomplish their goal.

But what will all of this require?

• WE THE PEOPLE need to create actual workable institutions that take advantage of the political and legal position THE PEOPLE hold—i.e., as the ultimate sovereigns.

• WE THE PEOPLE need to create actual workable institutions that take advantage of the economic resources THE PEOPLE command—that THE PEOPLE are the true source of all real wealth in this country, and are in actual physical possession of most of it.

True enough, the Establishment holds bundles of paper claims to wealth, many (if not most) of them generated through the unconstitutional Federal Reserve System. But the insuperable problem for the Establishment will be how to collect on those claims if WE THE PEOPLE simply refuse to honor them. Anyone in the paper-currency racket who doubts that these claims can be declared unenforceable should read the Supreme Court’s decision in Craig v. Missouri, 29 U.S. (4 Peters) 410 (1830).


• WE THE PEOPLE need to create actual workable institutions that are politically, economically, and legally independent of the General Government:

Institutions that can compete with the faulty and fraudulent mechanisms that rogue officials in the General Government have foisted on this country in the key areas of economic and political control, particularly in the areas of (i) money and banking and (ii) what is called “homeland security”.
Institutions that can replace these fraudulent control-mechanisms with proper means to “establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity”. And

Institutions that will enable WE THE PEOPLE to defend themselves against retaliation from rogue officials in the General Government and from the private centers of multinational economic power.

In sum, WE THE PEOPLE must combine their economic resources and abilities with political and legal authority in large-scale organizations that will reflect the power inherent in numbers.

This cannot be done by or through the General Government at the present time, because the General Government is the main locus of this country’s problem, not the source of any solution for them.

It cannot be done through political parties, because parties (along with other factions and special-interest groups) are the control-mechanisms in the “divide and conquer” strategy the Establishment employs to prevent WE THE PEOPLE from asserting their political sovereignty in their own interest.

It cannot be done by individuals or private groups alone, primarily because: (i) private individuals and groups enjoy no independent legal authority; and (ii) there is probably no way to create a sufficiently large and effective private operation in any State, let alone throughout the entire country, in time.

It cannot be done by the State governments alone, because it is not simply a political question of governmental finance and administration, but will require a revamping of the entire private economies in each State, too.

Therefore, it will require both (i) participation by the State governments, because they have the legal authority and the ability to mobilize people in sufficient numbers, and (ii) mass action by WE THE PEOPLE as a whole.

The only establishment or institution that combines all of these elements is “the Militia of the several States”, the “well regulated Militia” that the Second Amendment tells us are “necessary to the security of a free State”.

But a true constitutional “well regulated Militia” exists in not one State in this Union today.

So, WE THE PEOPLE need to revitalize “the Militia of the several States” in order to regain and retain popular control over State governments, and through them to regain and retain control over the two fundamental powers of sovereignty: (i) the Power of the Purse—i.e., currency and credit, and (ii) the Power of the Sword—i.e., community self-defense.

Revitalization of the Militia will enable WE THE PEOPLE to exercise community self-reliance and ultimately true self-government in “a free State” with a sound free-market economy.

Americans need to combine all of the following elements in a single plan for mass action:

1. Revitalization of “the Militia of the several States”.

·The Second Amendment instructs every American that “[a] well regulated Militia” is “necessary to the security of a free State”—not just “useful”, and certainly not “optional”, but “necessary”. And not “necessary” in only some general sense, but specifically with respect to “the security of a free State”—which means that, according to “the supreme Law of the Land” itself, the very survival of constitutional freedom in this country depends upon the Militia.

The Constitution identifies no other establishment, institution, or entity as “necessary” for this vital purpose, or for any other purpose.


So why is not revitalization of the Militia, immediately if not sooner, “job one” on the agenda of every constitutionalist? How can patriots continue to deny in their actions what the Constitution tells them is “necessary” for the maintenance of constitutional government? Americans may say that they have faith in the Constitution—but faith without works is dead; and the Constitution is not self-executing.

·The purpose of revitalizing the Militia is to combine all the elements of each State’s “homeland security”—including police, emergency response, and so on—under the Militia, in order to obviate “top down” control by the police-state apparatus being set up through the Department of Homeland Security in Washington, D.C., and its various satellites, transmission-belts, and fellow travelers around the country. Revitalization of the Militia will return control to whom it belongs, in the hands of WE THE PEOPLE directly, with:

(i) total organizing, arming, disciplining, and training of THE PEOPLE to handle any emergency;
(ii) State production and provision of arms, ammunition, and accoutrements for the Militia—with all individuals to possess their arms and ammunition, whenever obtained from whatever source, as part of their Militia service—thus ending all of the General Government’s oppressive “gun control”; and, perhaps of most immediate importance,

(iii) assignment to the Militia of oversight over all new institutions of “economic homeland security” within the State.

2. Adoption of an alternative currency.

This is an idea which began in New Hampshire, and subsequently spread to other States, including Indiana, Colorado, and Montana. An alternative-currency bill has yet to be reported out of committee in any State legislature. But as the national economy melts down, the pressure for serious consideration and then passage of such a bill will become overwhelming, simply because there is no workable alternative consistent with the maintenance of America’s national economic sovereignty that can be put into operation in time.

The alternative-currency system will require not just the State to participate through its own public financial operations, but also will require every individual member of the Militia—that is, every able-bodied adult man and women—to participate in his or her own private economic transactions, in order to move both the State’s government and the State’s private economy as quickly as possible out from under the control of the Federal Reserve System and the rotten financial power-structure of the New York City-Washington, D.C. axis of fraud.

The actual silver and gold will be held: (i) in a State vault controlled by the Militia, and (ii) in the hands of Militiamen (the private holding of silver and gold will be as important as the private possession of arms). And,

Experts drawn from and subject to supervision by the Militia will be in charge of or will provide oversight for the system.

3. Establishment of a State Credit Exchange.

This Exchange will deal solely in so-called “real bills” financed with actual deposits of the alternative currency (no “fractional reserves”). This will be necessary in order to protect the State’s private economy from retaliation by the multinational financial power-structure, which will doubtlessly attempt to cut off credit to the State’s businessmen, farmers, and others, so as to sabotage the alternative-currency system.

Experts drawn from and subject to supervision by the Militia will be in charge of or will provide oversight for this Exchange, too.

4. Additional areas of concern and action could include:

Food independence and security through the suppression of multinational corporate agribusinesses.

Energy independence and security through mobilization of local resources and radical innovation in the provision of energy.

Assertion of local control over land and water usage, and other natural resources.

...et cetera...

All of these arrangements will be statutorily structured as functions of the State government and thereby extensions of direct popular sovereignty, and will be administered through the Militia, thus coming under the Second and Tenth Amendments’ guarantees of reserved powers to the States and the people.

5. Considerations for the selection of an initial State in which to bring this project to fruition.

In the nature of things, the necessary legislation will have to be drafted one State at a time. (No “one size fits all” bill is possible). Inevitably, therefore, this work will require the commitment of a great deal of time, effort, and expertise. Before such a commitment can be expected, let alone requested, of anyone, adequate groundwork must be laid:

There must be an extensive local grass-roots “freedom movement” in existence in that State and prepared specifically to promote the reform legislation.

There must be a solid legislative caucus in existence in that State’s legislature, preferably in each house (where a bicameral legislature exists).

There must be a workable plan, ready to implement and adequately funded, for mobilizing large numbers of activists from across the country to work in the targeted State to promote the reform legislation.

It is too late for parochialism on this subject: Everyone throughout this country has an interest in seeing this project succeed in the first State that undertakes it, because that State will be the exemplar for the others.

No one can deny that a crisis of overwhelming proportions is overtaking this country at an ever-accelerating speed. And each day appears darker than the one before it. But that in itself is a cause for hope—because, as the old saying goes, it is always darkest just before the dawn.

© 2009 Edwin Vieira, Jr. - All Rights Reserved


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Edwin Vieira, Jr., holds four degrees from Harvard: A.B. (Harvard College), A.M. and Ph.D. (Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences), and J.D. (Harvard Law School).

For more than thirty years he has practiced law, with emphasis on constitutional issues. In the Supreme Court of the United States he successfully argued or briefed the cases leading to the landmark decisions Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, Chicago Teachers Union v. Hudson, and Communications Workers of America v. Beck, which established constitutional and statutory limitations on the uses to which labor unions, in both the private and the public sectors, may apply fees extracted from nonunion workers as a condition of their employment.

He has written numerous monographs and articles in scholarly journals, and lectured throughout the county. His most recent work on money and banking is the two-volume Pieces of Eight: The Monetary Powers and Disabilities of the United States Constitution (2002), the most comprehensive study in existence of American monetary law and history viewed from a constitutional perspective. www.piecesofeight.us

He is also the co-author (under a nom de plume) of the political novel CRA$HMAKER: A Federal Affaire (2000), a not-so-fictional story of an engineered crash of the Federal Reserve System, and the political upheaval it causes. www.crashmaker.com

His latest book is: "How To Dethrone the Imperial Judiciary" ... and Constitutional "Homeland Security," Volume One, The Nation in Arms...

He can be reached at his new address:
52 Stonegate Court
Front Royal, VA 22630.

Free downloadable Medical Books

Hat tip to Mr. Rawles at survivialblog.com

http://freebooks4doctors.com/index.htm

An end around to violation

EPA: Greenhouse gases endanger human health

By DINA CAPPIELLO and H. JOSEF HEBERT, Associated Press Writer Dina Cappiello And H. Josef Hebert, Associated Press Writer 1 hr 39 mins ago

WASHINGTON – The Environmental Protection Agency has concluded greenhouse gases are endangering people's health and must be regulated, signaling that the Obama administration is prepared to contain global warming without congressional action if necessary.

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson scheduled a news conference for later Monday to announce the so-called endangerment finding, officials told The Associated Press, speaking privately because the announcement had not been made.

The finding is timed to boost the administration's arguments at an international climate conference — beginning this week — that the United States is aggressively taking actions to combat global warming, even though Congress has yet to act on climate legislation.

Under a Supreme Court ruling, the so-called endangerment finding is needed before the EPA can regulate carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases released from power plants, factories and automobiles under the federal Clean Air Act.

The EPA signaled last April that it was inclined to view heat-trapping pollution as a threat to public health and welfare and began to take public comments under a formal rulemaking. The action marked a reversal from the Bush administration, which had declined to aggressively pursue the issue.

Business groups have strongly argued against tackling global warming through the regulatory process of the Clean Air Act. Any such regulations are likely to spawn lawsuits and lengthy legal fights.

The EPA and the White House have said regulations on greenhouse gases will not be imminent even after an endangerment finding, saying that the administration would prefer that Congress act to limit such pollution through an economy-wide cap on carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

Nevertheless, the EPA has begun the early stages of developing permit requirements on carbon dioxide pollution from large emitters such as power plants. The administration also has said it will require automobile fuel economy to increase to a fleet average of 35 miles per gallon by 2016, another push to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

The EPA's readiness to tackle climate change is expected to give a boost to U.S. arguments at the climate conference opening in Copenhagen this week that the United States is making broad commitments to reduce greenhouse gases.

While the House has approved climate legislation that would cut emissions by 17 percent by 2020 and about 80 percent by mid-century, the Senate has yet to take up the measure amid strong Republican opposition and reluctance by some centrist Democrats.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., lead author of the Senate bill, has argued that if Congress doesn't act, the EPA will require greenhouse gas emissions. He has called EPA regulation a "blunt instrument" that would pose a bigger problem for industry than legislation crafted to mitigate some of the costs of shifting away from carbon emitting fossil fuels.

The way was opened for the EPA to use the Clean Air Act to cut climate-changing emissions by the Supreme Court in 2007, when the court declared that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are pollutants under the Act. But the court said the EPA must determine if these pollutants pose a danger to public health and welfare before it can regulate them.

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Pickdog comment. It is getting to be time to start obtaining rope.