Oil leaks are a sticky business

I’m afraid it’s time for me to criticize my President. The President whom I have campaigned for, supported and loved since he became a candidate.

The Deep Horizon Oil Spill fiasco is completely out of control. This morning the situation was not compared to Bush’s Katrina but to Carter’s Embassy Hostage Crisis. The difference is not subtle.

While Bush demonstrated that he didn’t have an interest helping New Orleans during Katrina. He appeared to be lazy and didn’t care, like it wasn’t his job to do anything. When he did finally figure out that it was his job, he was totally ineffectual and incompetent.

Jimmy Carter on the other hand didn’t have any control over what happened to the hostages in Iran. He made the struggle with Iran his only concern after the revolution. He didn’t have the resources to negotiate with a regime of this kind that the world had never had to deal with before. He was destined to fail we see in hind sight, and he owned it. The problem is when a President of these United States says he’s going to do something; the people expect and demand action.

President Obama’s issue is that, besides the federal government not having the expertise or equipment to stop the oil leak, it’s beginning to appear that we also don’t have the resources, capacity, or command structure to keep the oil off the beaches.

The fact that BP, a major contributor of the president’s presidential campaign, can tell the EPA that they plan to continue using a dispersant that the EPA has ordered them to cease using gives me pause. Is BP an example of a corporation with its hooks into the federal government so-far that they have rendered the government ineffective? Like a bystander? A proverbial man leaning on a shovel watching other people work? I’m afraid that is the impression we’re beginning to get. It certainly isn’t what I had in mind.

The Government is giving the orders and BP must follow them.

My advice for the government is two fold. One, get a court order to stop BP from using any more dispersants, or at least unapproved ones. Two, the federal government should start hiring those out-of-work fishermen (and anybody else) to start stringing boom, skimming oil, let them get involved in the clean-up.

Another thought is that I don’t like about the whole idea of dispersants. Isn’t the idea to clean this thing up? Not to hide the problem, but to actually retrieve the oil from the water. Instead of trying to disperse the oil, we should be trying to collect it into one place. Dispersants are old thinking that the “solution to pollution is dilution”. Not so. We have to REALLY clean this up. We should be mixing the oil with straw, or any kind of biomass to soak-up the oil. That would make it easier to pick-up and dispose of it. I also think it could be more effective and easier to do.

In the end, President Obama has been a good president. He has done a lot of good for this country. He’s smart, engaged and has some great ideas. I just wish he’s think out of the box on this issue and start kicking BP in the ass some more.

Tell Republicans to GET TO WORK!!!

If I were a Republican I would be ashamed of my party right now. They are trying to prevent the Dems from doing anything, so much for being the loyal opposition. The Democratic government was elected to fix all the wrongs of the Bush era. But between Health Care and Jim Bunning’s recent standoff, to financial sector regulation, energy and environment legislation, deficit reduction and of course any job bill, they are all held back by Republicans.

Why do Republicans want the job if they won’t want to do any work?

In health care reform, The President has bent over backward to include republican ideas. He has included some ideas from Republicans that aren’t very good in my opinion and dismissed ideas that should be included (like the public option) in order to gain their support. At every committee level the Democrats invited Republicans to offer input and more than half of their amendments were included into the bill. The bill has most of their ideas in it including tort reform and a national exchange where insurance can be sold across state lines, but they still won’t vote for it.

The reason for the attempt at bipartisanship is that Democrats did not want to treat Republicans like they were treated when Republicans controlled both bodies of congress. Shut out.

Republicans are working for the short run. In a myopic strategy they are only working for the next election. They don’t see the long term. If they want the right to govern again they have to have the long term in mind.

In spite of all the bluster over the deficit, I believe if they were in control again they would run up the deficit again as they did under, George W. Bush and Reagan/Bush. History is not an ally to Republicans. Citizens remember that Democrats and Bill Clinton were the only recent government to end deficit spending and begin to re-pay the debit.

If you are a Republican please encourage your representatives to GET TO WORK! We need to get health care done and then energy/environment, jobs and banking regulation. Please stop holding up progress and get to work!!!

Why the health care bill should pass.

What I think has not been said enough and/or really misrepresented is that health care reform is the first step in trying to contain our national debit. The bill according to the CBO will reduce spending by 100 billion dollars over 10 years. Teabaggers say they are concerned about government spending and the national debit and in the same breath say they don’t want any changes to Medicare. Republicans have been trying to gut Medicare for 40 years. I don’t understand why they don’t take this opportunity to do what they have wanted to do. Medicaid & Medicare are in hard financial straits. They will not be collecting enough money to support their obligations in a few years. If we don’t do something soon both programs will need emergency funding or leave millions of seniors and disadvantaged to suffer in the streets.

I believe this president will get our financial house in order but health care is the elephant in the room (excuse the pun). It has to be tamed because it is the largest entitlement program the US operates and is loosing money the fastest. If we can’t get health care under control everything else is window dressing? It has to get done!

The sooner we get past this issue the faster we can get to jobs and banking regulation. Americans need to get these two tasks done. They are angry and frustrated that they haven’t been dealt with. Banking and Health Care are two issues that business leaders are waiting to see what the future holds. They can’t react until something is done and the longer these issues hang in the public eye, the more they wait to do anything, including investment and hiring.

Besides, I think everyone is sick of just hearing about it any more. I know I am. The problem is Republicans are already talking about ditching the bill entirely. The selfish bastards have an issue in the short run. But it may come to bite them in the ass if they continue to stonewall. If Dems ask them again publicly and loudly for constructive input and they refuse to support any health care bill while the democrats are in the majority then they are again only working for their political gain and not for the American people.

Introduction

This is a little therapy for me to write about what makes me pull my hair out when I watch TV talking heads who's only aim is to win for themselves, their party, or their industry. I'm a news junkie, mostly a political junkie. I am an unabashed Liberal. I am so happy we have elected a true liberal to the presidency that I have begun to believe that the American people had perhaps paid a little attention in 6th grade social studies after all.

My father always said "All things being equal people will do the right thing" I believe with my whole heart that American Citizens are good, hard working, smart people who just want to make the world a better place for their children and our country.

As I write my rant. The Minnesota Vikings are playing the Dallas Cowboys. Every Minnesotan is brought up to have two favorite teams, the Vikings and whoever is playing the Cowboys. This resentment is not from the Cowboys beating us more often than not, which they have. The real reason is That back in the '80s someone asked "Why is there a hole in Texas Stadium?" the reply from a Dallas linebacker was "So God can watch his favorite team play". I believe this was repeated by Tom Landry, the Dallas coach. This and the "Americas Team" moniker just demonstrates the kind of smug immodest bragging that is unbecoming for anyone, especially if they're from Scandinavian stock.

This is one reason that today's Republicans drive me crazy. The arrogance and hubris is only exceeded by the incompetence. They are trying to stop Democrats from moving this country forward. After more than eight years of "Freedom Fries" and Defense of Marriage bullshit that has wasted the valuable time of the American people, to live up-to the pledge of our forefathers to make this country the "City on the Hill" that everyone else can aspire to.

We all want to make this country the best it can be for everyone. So when you hear some talking head saying or implying that he's so American, patriotic or religious. Is he really trying to say someone else isn't? When some middle aged guy starts crying on TV because he thinks the government has lost its way, is he really being outrageous to attract more viewers? If anything I would want readers of my amateur spewing to become critical consumers of infotainment and to demand better opinion & news coverage. And to help me do the same.

Thank you, Gary.