THE JOB KILLING OBAMA ADMINISTRATION? Obama’s EPA is killing the economy with costly rules. “Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., asked the EPA inspector general to review the agency’s permitting process for surface mining permit applications in the Appalachian region over the last two years. The EPA IG found that of the 185 permit applications it identified, only 56, or less than one-third of the total, had been approved. Almost half of the 185 required at least 731 days for EPA to complete its evaluations. That compares with the 144 days EPA claims is its average evaluation period for all mining permit applications. At least a third of the 185 were simply withdrawn from consideration, presumably because the applicants despaired of ever getting a response from EPA. . . . Because 40 percent of the electricity that Americans depend on daily is generated by power plants fueled by coal — much of which comes from Appalachia — sluggardly permit processing by EPA should concern everybody. And let’s not forget that Jackson works for a president who before he was elected promised that his environmental policies would ‘necessarily cause electricity prices to skyrocket.'”