Bob Schmetzer – 2/28/17

This page was last updated on March 7, 2017.

Federal agencies provide protections we need ; Bob Schmetzer (BS); Beaver County Times; February 28, 2017.

Previously, BS wrote five consecutive anti-Marcellus letters (here, here, here, here, and here). and settle for advising you to check BS’ “facts” with credible sources. Note, the BCT and “kissing cousins” like ShaleReporter.com don’t count as credible sources.

I advise you to visit Mr. Schmetzer’s Facebook page as part of your due-diligence when it comes to assessing his credibility on any topic.

The BC Democrats website used to list Robert Schmetzer as the local town chair for South Heights, but that page no longer exists as of this writing.

According to his Facebook page as of 2/28/17, BS is “Democrat Chairman of South Heights” and Vice President of PA 12th CD Chapter of ~~Communist~~Progressive Democrats of America. The PDA-PA12 website is Beaver County Reds. Why doesn’t the BCT mention these associations in an editor’s note when it publishes BS’ letters?

I critiqued 22 previous Schmetzer letters and they are usually broken records. Mr. Schmetzer’s last letter was entitled “Those concerned with Shell plant are protectors.” You can find more Schmetzer letters in the archives (2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2004).

Mr. Schmetzer is a flamethrower when he thinks he’s “preaching to the choir.” For example, in reference to Pennsylvania House Bill 1077 (2011-2012 session) (“Women’s Right-to-Know Act”), Mr. Schmetzer bashed Catholic priests on his Facebook wall (February 24, 2012) when he wrote, “70 year old virgin men who wear dresses to work are telling the pa legislature what laws to pass for women to live by. The supreme court said through settled law that womens rights were violated. When is this harrassment going to stop. Take their tax deduction away if they want to be a political lobby or profit agency.” In fairness, it appears Mr. Schmetzer lifted the “70 year old virgin men …” comment from Bill Maher. You may recall a previous Schmetzer letter was nearly word-for-word plagiarism of an op-ed piece written by one of Mr. Schmetzer’s fellow leftists.

On another website, Mr. Schmetzer wrote (February 29, 2012) of Rick Santorum, “DUMPRICK should be the campaign motto in this election. Pittsburghs real pollution comes out of Santorums mouth to where the EPA should shut him down. He does not represent catholics, but a radical group Opis Dei.They wrap themselves in barbed wire. Now he is drinking frack water. Plays with dead babys. Home schools his kids in Virginia and billed the Pa school districts. Did not live in Pa while US Senator. Hates women and wants to return to the past where women were legally designated NON-PERSONS. Life begings at orgasim. Supports protecting priest who break the law to keep the church from prosecution. This guy needs to go back to catacism, confession, do severe penance, and become a human being.”

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“Missing in action is U.S Rep. Keith Rothfus, R-12, Sewickley. When the government summons the people, they show up. When the people summon their representative and senators, they do not show up.

“We pay them, they do not pay us. We don’t ask a lot from them, but they ask a lot from us. The people not only have a right, but an obligation to inform our representatives of our needs before they vote and spend our money.”

[RWC] BS appears to be referring to “town hall” meetings scheduled by lefty organizations. The idea is to ambush the rep/sen with an opposition mob. For example, one of these faux “town halls” was “Hosted by SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania.”

For the reps/sens, it’s a no-win situation. If you don’t attend, you’re afraid to face your constituents and the mob conducts an “empty chair” meeting anyway. If you attend, the mob tries to embarrass you. While some people can handle this kind of situation, I suspect most normal people and politicians can’t. This tactic is what someone does when they don’t want a real discussion.

“Today, Steve Bannon, the chief adviser to President Donald Trump provided a glimpse of the future. The cabinet choices are known for despising and attacking the very agencies they are to lead. Bannon said that they weren’t appointed to lead these agencies, (but to destroy them). He called this action ‘deconstruction of the administrative state.’”

[RWC] This paragraph is mostly plagiarism of a DailyChaos article entitled “Bannon Admits Trump’s Cabinet Nominees Were Selected To Destroy Their Agencies.”

This is the first time I heard the term “administrative state.” The “administrative state” refers to the ability of government agencies, departments, and so on to act unilaterally without the approval of the legislature and the governor/president. These departments get to write their rules (laws), enforce those laws, and act as judge, jury, and “executioner.” It turns out I’ve been writing about this topic since at least 2013.

Here’s what Steve Bannon (SB) said according to The New York Times:

“The third, broadly, line of work is deconstruction of the administrative state. ... If you look at these cabinet appointees, they were selected for a reason and that is the deconstruction. The way the progressive left runs, is if they can’t get it passed, they’re just going to put in some sort of regulation in an agency. That’s all going to be deconstructed and I think that that’s why this regulatory thing is so important.”

Here’s an example of the “administrative state:”

“Boston University law professor Gary Lawson describes how this works in the case of, for instance, the Federal Trade Commission: ‘The Commission promulgates substantive rules of conduct. The Commission then considers whether to authorize investigations into whether the Commission’s rules have been violated. If the Commission authorizes an investigation, the investigation is conducted by the Commission, which reports its findings to the Commission. If the Commission thinks that the Commission’s findings warrant an enforcement action, the Commission issues a complaint. The Commission’s complaint that a Commission rule has been violated is then prosecuted by the Commission and adjudicated by the Commission.’”

As you can see, BS is employing the straw man tactic. That is, BS bashes SB for something he didn’t say. BS knows “deconstruction of the administrative state” of an agency is not about destroying that agency. It’s about returning control to Congress.

“As a taxpayer, I feel that the crippling or wholesale elimination of federal agencies that ensure we receive such things as clean air, clean water, fair labor laws, fair housing standards, anti-discrimination laws, financial protections, food and drug safety, national education standards, etc., would take us in the wrong direction.”

[RWC] BS alleged he’s “a taxpayer,” but didn’t mention he is “Democrat Chairman of South Heights” and Vice President of PA 12th CD Chapter of ~~Communist~~Progressive Democrats of America.

“There is no realistic substitute for these federal agencies. The extreme right wing has been working to allow corporations and industry the absolute right to do whatever they want, regardless of its harmful impact on American citizens.”

[RWC] “No realistic substitute for these federal agencies?” Wrong. Somehow, we managed to get along without the Department of Education until 1979 during the Jimmy Carter regime.

By law, the feds can’t tell schools what to do beyond the limited power granted by the Constitution. That’s why the feds must resort to the blackmail route, which itself is unconstitutional. If the feds thought they had the constitutional power to impose their bathroom rules, they wouldn’t try blackmail. When a school, state, municipality, etc. doesn’t take money from federal taxpayers, the feds are limited by the Constitution.

As for proof the feds have no constitutional power over education, all the mandates include language stating their rules apply only if the school accepts federal funding of some kind. That’s because the 10th Amendment states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved for the States respectively, or to the people.”

Grove City College (GCC) showed the way more than 30 years ago. The feds made receiving federal funding contingent upon GCC signing a Title 9 compliance form and GCC refused. Ultimately, the Supreme Court ruled GCC must comply even if it didn’t accept fed funding directly but did accept students who received fed grants, scholarships, etc. Rather than sell out, GCC “does not participate in federal financial aid programs, many state grant and scholarship programs can be used to assist students of the College. Students should check with their high school guidance office or the State Higher Education Assistance Agency or the Board of Regents in their state concerning state aid that may be available. Any state grants that are funded with federal funds are not accepted at Grove City College.”

BS writes of “the extreme right wing” but doesn’t define it. Keep in mind BS and his Beaver County Reds pals are so far left they think fascism is on the right.

“This action by the majority party, including Rothfus, is promoting corporate enforced slavery, aided and abetted by a Congress corrupted by corporate largeness and unlimited amounts of campaign contributions.”

[RWC] I’m sure omitting labor union management largesse was an honest oversight <g>.”