"Michigan conservative Congressional hopefuls need to strap on the koohonies if they don't come naturally however.  About the ONLY WAY to stop this damaging process, is to A. Get elected, and B. Agree to DE-FUND the EPA in its entirety.  Take away its money 100%.  Eliminate its ability to survive and act. Destroy it."

Michigan's leadership/representation, with the noticeable exception of the wild-card Rick Snyder, isn't as much of a problem as it is other states.

Like I mentioned in the subject line before, this was promised back in '94 with the Contract with America.

Republicans were supposed to get voted in and clean house.

They got voted in alright, but what about the programs that were promised to be eliminated?

"The party that in 1994 would abolish the Department of Education now brags in response to Clinton's 2000 State of the Union Address that it is outspending the White House when it comes to education. My colleagues Stephen Moore and Stephen Slivinski found that the combined budgets of the 95 major programs that the Contract with America promised to eliminate have increased by 13%."

We're hearing the same talk this election with the Pledge to America.

Rep Boehner has recently reiterated dealing with one of the items contained in the pledge just yesterday, the repeal of Obamacare.

Myself, I'd like to see them go one step further.

On Page 33, the pledge states:

"For too long, Congress has ignored the proper limits imposed by the Constitution on the federal government. Further, it has too often drafted unclear and muddled laws, leaving to an unelected judiciary the power to interpret what the law means and by what authority the law stands. This lack of respect for the clear Constitutional limits and authorities has allowed Congress to create ineffective and costly programs that add to the massive deficit year after year. We will require each bill moving through Congress to include a clause citing the specific constitutional authority upon which the bill is justified."

By default, that includes ALL of the alphabet agencies.

EPA, DOT (good riddance Ray LaHood-rino), FCC, etc.

The GOP can take action to eliminate this problem as the first order of business when Congress reconvenes in Jan 2011. What Pres. B.O. does is obviously out of their hands, but will be an sure-fire indicator of whether or not he'll be bounced in '12.