"Gangster government" Obama water grab threatens jobs, farmers and small businesses; puts EPA bureaucrats in YOUR back yard   SUNNYSIDE (4-23-10)--Barak Obama's "gangster government" has made a grab for yet another vital segment of the American economy--its water.   Michelle Bachman (R-Minnesota) recently termed the present Democrat regime a "gangster government" for it's massive intrusion into the American economy and people's lives. Now the beast wants control over everyone's water. Doc Hastings, Washington State's Fourth District Congressman, said today "Central Washingtonians know that clean, available water is vitally important to our economy and our region. Whether it's to maintain the health of the Columbia River, to keep the irrigation flowing to our farms, or just to pipe into our homes for daily use, clean water is truly the economic lifeblood of Central Washington."   Democrats have proposed legislation to dramatically expand the scope of the Clean Water Act, bringing nearly every body of water--from irrigation canals, to small ponds, to seasonal mud-puddles--under the unlimited jurisdiction of the federal government.   The 1972 Clean Water Act allowed the federal government, working with states, to help maintain water quality.   Over time, however, the Clean Water Act has been the subject of much abuse by those who would use it for their own special interests, including the suppression of private property rights and economic development.)   The Supreme Court has ruled that the federal government can only regulate "navigable waters." These rulings make it clear that states control and regulate waters within their boundaries, and it acknowledges that local governments are fully capable of ensuring the protection of the environment while respecting private property rights.   Democrat legislation would remove the word "navigable" from the current definition of the Clean Water Act, effectively giving the federal government control over virtually all waters and making them subject to new and sweeping federal regulations and "permitting" (you need a federal license to do this or that in your yard).   "Sending EPA bureaucrats into our backyards and onto our farms extends the tentacles of the federal government where they do not belong," Hastings said.   "This bill is nothing more than another dramatic expansion of federal government control over Americans' livelihoods and their private property.   "If this bill were to become law, every body of water in America would be at risk of job-killing federal regulation--from farmers' irrigation canals to backyard ponds and streams to mud-puddles left by rainstorms. If passed, it could cost thousands of jobs throughout Central Washington and the rural Western United States.   Said Hastings, "The bottom line is that, just like with health care and banks, this expansion of the Clean Water Act is another step by the federal government to take control of segments of our economy. Jobs and the very viability of farms and small businesses across rural America will be put at risk if this massive power grab succeeds."