New rule stirs up Waters of the U.S. debate

Lucas said the rule “ensures lengthy litigation surrounding the scope of federal regulatory authority of our nation’s waterways.”

The WOTUS rule essentially determines which lakes, rivers, streams, ponds, puddles and rivulets are subject to the Clean Water Act.

Many businesses, including agriculture, construction and extraction industries, want the definition to be as narrow as possible.

Conservationists and others more concerned with water quality than industrial and agricultural output want the definition as broad as possible.

Friday’s rule is largely a reset to 2015, before the Obama-era definition was adopted. It comes as the U.S. Supreme Court contemplates its decision in case that could shrink the Clean Water Act’s scope and thus again muddy the Waters of the U.S.

The 118th: A new Congress, the 118th in the history of the U.S., convenes in Washington on Tuesday with the incoming Republican majority in the House of Representatives promising to cut spending, seal up the southern border and investigate the Democrats and the Biden administration.

Fourth District Congressman Tom Cole, who will be chairman of the Rules Committee in the new Congress, told constituents what to expect.

First on Cole’s list: The border with Mexico, which Cole says Biden and the Democrats “have almost completely abandoned.”

Second: Inflation, which Cole blames on government spending and energy policy.

Third: Accountability, Republicans bringing “oversight and accountability back to Congress” in the form of investigations of the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan and the origins of COVID-19.

While those may be topics worthy of investigation, Congress has a tendency to devolve into partisan table-pounding. House Republicans spent years chasing Hillary Clinton down rabbit holes the last time they were in the majority, but studiously avoided substantive inquiries into such things as the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capital and attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

Democrats’ investigations of the fossil fuel industries seemed to contribute more greenhouse gases than understanding of how the world can clean up the atmosphere without collapsing the economy.

“Members of Congress will certainly have much to work on this Congress,” Cole said. “However, the new Republican House majority is ready to put the American people first and I look forward to working with my colleagues on the issues affecting every American.”

Speaker: Separately, Cole seemed to dismiss the attempt by a small group of Republican House members to deny GOP leader Kevin McCarthy the Speaker’s gavel.

“The people that are supportive of Kevin, which are far more numerous than his critics, are dug in at least as deep as his critics are,” Cole told The Daily Beast. “The pressure won’t be on them. It’s gonna’ be on the people that brought down the whole edifice — for what? For what purpose? What end?”

TikTok Not: Senator-elect Markwayne Mullin is among those who believe the social media app TikTok is dangerous.

“A lot of people look at this and go, ‘Why is TikTok dangerous? It’s a social media site.’ It’s because they start learning your behaviors,” Mullin told Newsmax.

For some time, cybersecurity experts have warned that the app includes features that allow it to gather information on users. That’s not unusual for social media apps, but the difference with TikTok is that it is owned by a company with close ties to the Chinese government and the Communist Party that controls it.

“There’s two things that the Chinese Communist Party is trying to get done,” Mullin said. “We’re a very diverse, ethnic group inside the United States and so we have vast different interests. So, with the young people, they’re trying to figure out what is the common thread, and what is it they can do to distract, because once they can find a common thread and distract you, that’s where propaganda comes in.”

The app can also be used to access passcodes and other sensitive material, including highly sensitive systems.

“TikTok is truly not just a social media site,” Mullin said. “It is a tracking device that the CCP has put on our devices, and we’ve sucked it in.”

The public must be vigilant because “the government doesn’t control the web” in the U.S. — and shouldn’t, Mullin said.

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