Pruitt's Waging His War on the EPA... All the Way Down to Epic Changes to Agency's Stationery
There is an old saying along the lines of “if you are catching flak that means you’re over the target,” and without a doubt the anti-overregulation bomber that is Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt has all of the anti-aircraft guns of the liberal media trained on him.
As Pruitt has gone about the business of cutting restrictive and unnecessary regulations at the EPA to help implement President Donald Trump’s business-friendly pro-growth agenda, he has increasingly been hit with “scandal” after scandal from the media in a bid to derail his efforts and see him removed from office.
The Daily Caller reported on the latest unsubstantiated allegations lodged against Pruitt by the liberal media, this time in regard to his efforts at dismantling and reducing the influence of the agency he oversees, and to say the allegations are a bit ridiculous and petty would be an understatement.
Sources within the EPA have reported that Pruitt attempted to have the EPA logo removed from agency office supplies and stationary, as well as a special commemorative “challenge” coin, which he allegedly wanted to feature an image of a Buffalo — to represent his home state of Oklahoma — his own name and an unspecified Bible verse, instead of the usual logo.
We can already hear the “separation of church and state” screeches from the atheists on the left in regard to that allegation.
Though the report could very well be true, it’s worth noting it originated from The New York Times, which cited two anonymous agency employees and Ronald Slotkin, a former career employee who retired earlier this year from the EPA.
Slotkin claimed he and other senior EPA officials took issue with Pruitt’s proposed changes to the challenge coin — redesigned coins have yet to be ordered — which they allege he wanted to make less about the agency and more about himself. They also alleged that Pruitt wanted to do away with the EPA logo — a stylized flower with four leaves — as it bore too close of a resemblance to a marijuana leaf.
The current commemorative coin, which was designed by former President Barack Obama’s first EPA administrator, Lisa Jackson, featured her own name and the agency seal on one side with an image of the globe held up by numerous hands on the other.
Pruitt was also accused of wanting to completely remove the EPA logo from all office supplies ordered by the agency — such as notebooks, pens and stationary — to be replaced prominently by his own name. In the end, the ordered office supplies still bore the agency emblem, albeit smaller and less prominent than before.
Readers should consider these assertions put forward by The Times in light of the fact that Pruitt has been hit with several “scandals” over the past couple of months which range from complaints about travel expenses to allegations he received a below-market-rate condo rental in Washington from a friend during his first few months working in the capitol.
In an interview with the Washington Examiner in early April, Pruitt pushed back against the “scandals” he had been hit with and revealed the real truth of the matter — his effectiveness at undoing the progressive agenda of the bureaucratic nightmare that is the EPA was the real reason he was being targeted.
“There are people that have long in this town done business a different way and this agency has been the poster child of it,” Pruitt said. “And so do I think that because we are leading on this agenda that there are some who want to keep that from happening? Absolutely. And do I think that they will resort to anything to achieve that? Yes.”
“It’s toxic here in that regard,” Pruitt added, as he explained the circumstances surrounding his use of a condo when he first arrived in D.C. — which has been deemed “reasonable” by the EPA general counsel and ethics division — as well as the fact his travel expenses were in line with prior administrators.
His higher-than-normal security expenses are due to the inordinate number of death threats he and his family have received from deranged leftists angered over his rolling back of regulations which has resulted in the savings of billions of dollars.
“This president’s courage and commitment to make those things happen and him empowering his teammates in each of these respective agencies to say go forth and get results and get accountability, it’s happening,” Pruitt said. “It’s happening here, it’s happening elsewhere. And do I think that is something that some folks don’t like? Absolutely. And do I think they’ll use any means to (stop) it? Absolutely. And it’s frustrating.”
These latest allegations put forward against Pruitt may or may not have merit, but the fact that career EPA employees are fearful he will do away with their agency — even to point of getting rid of their logo — is fantastic. And the thought of liberal heads exploding at a Bible verse being placed on a government agency commemorative coin is nothing short of enjoyable.
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