There is Power, Power, Wondrous Working Power ......

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama will ask Congress on Friday for greater power to shrink the federal government, and he would start by trying to merge six major trade and commerce agencies whose overlapping programs can be baffling to businesses, the White House said Friday.

The Commerce Department would be among those that would cease to exist.

In an election year and a political atmosphere of tighter spending, Obama's motivation is about improving a giant bureaucracy, but that is hardly all of it.

To voters sick of dysfunction, Obama wants to show some action on making Washington work better. Politically, his plan would allow him to do so by putting the onus on Congress and in particular his Republican critics in the House of Representatieves and the Senate, to show why they would be against the pursuit of a leaner government.

Obama will ask Congress to give him a type of reorganizational power last held by a president when Ronald Reagan was in office in the early 1980s.

The Obama version would be a so-called consolidation authority allowing him to propose mergers that promise to save money and help consumers.

The deal would entitle him to an up-or-down vote from Congress in 90 days.

It would be up to lawmakers, therefore, to grant Obama this fast-track authority and then decide whether to approve any of his specific ideas.

Historic October Storm Slams Tri-State, Hundreds of Thousands Without Power

A freak October Nor'Easter thrashed the tri-state with heavy snow and wild wind gusts, stranding motorists, downing trees and causing outages for more than 1 million tri-state residents. Hundreds of thousands were still without power Sunday, and officials are warning it could be days before many see electricity restored.

Some schools are closed Monday.
West Milford, N.J. reported 19 inches of snow, New York's Orange County had 16 inches in Harriman and New York City had 6 inches in the Bronx and 2 in south Brooklyn, according to the National Weather Service. Armonk in Westchester had 12.5, while Milbrook in Dutchess County saw 21 inches. The storm began with a chilly rain in most places, but soon began switching to snow by late Saturday morning.

The snow caused delays and cancellations at area airports, and slick conditions on roads made driving dangerous. Several deaths across the Northeast are being attributed to the storm.

About 2.9 inches fell in Central Park, shattering previous October snow records, both for the entire month and daily snowfall. An inch has never been recorded in October; the last two times measurable snow fell there was 1952 with half an inch, and in 1925 with eight-tenths of an inch."I think Mother Nature played a trick on us," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a news conference Sunday afternoon, on the eve of Halloween.

Fallen trees, power outages and blocked roads were the main post-storm problems and points of focus for crews across the state, the governor said. Cuomo declared a state of emergency for 13 counties in New York, including Orange, Putnam, Sullivan, Ulster, Richmond, and Westchester counties. Staten Island (Richmond County) was the only borough in New York City to be declared in a state of emergency by Cuomo.

New York City parks were re-opened by noon Sunday, but officials advised New Yorkers to be cautious because heavy snow was still weighing down tree limbs. Crews are continuing to work citywide to address tree damage. Nearly 1,000 trees in Central Park were lost in the storm, according to the Central Park Conservancy.

Granlund Cartoon

Nuff Said....................................