Bastiat

The Environmental Protection Agency has decided that it doesn't need congressional direction, nevermind constitutional authority, to dictate energy standards to the several states in order to reduce greenhouse gases. The EPA's power grab is so stunning it even has confirmed leftists like Harvard Law Prof.

In the streets, crowds gather to protest oppression by government authorities. The economy, which recently had shown signs of growth, was stumbling. The government itself is weakened by corruption and in the intellectual salons of the capital, socialism is seen as a likely outcome of the unrest. And many of them welcomed its arrival.