Contempt

"An administration that has no respect for Congress, the courts or the Constitution has been found in contempt for reissuing a drilling moratorium that a U.S. district judge found overly broad. The Obama administration's trouble with the courts has continued with a judge's ruling last week that the Interior Department's reinstating of a drilling moratorium followed by a de facto moratorium via an overly restrictive permitting process constituted contempt. The administration had issued a drilling moratorium in May in waters deeper than 500 feet after the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig off Louisiana that resulted in the spill of more than 4.1 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. In June, Martin Feldman of the Eastern District Court of Louisiana struck down Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's original moratorium, saying it was overkill based on flawed reasoning. ... So the administration went back, rearranged a few words and a few deck chairs, and reissued its moratorium. That one was officially lifted in October, although the permitting process, which mysteriously includes shallow-water wells, has had the effect of continuing the moratorium. Feldman was not amused.

'Each step the government took following the court's imposition of a preliminary injunction showcases its defiance,' the judge said in his ruling. 'Such dismissive conduct, viewed in tandem with the reimposition of a second moratorium ... provides this court with clear and convincing evidence of its contempt.' ...

It is not so much that the Obama administration differs with the law, but that it considers itself above it -- even above the Constitution." (emphasis added)--

Investor's Business Daily

10 Things Him Could Have Done, but Chose Not To

Hey Barack, You Should’ve Done This...

President Obama addressed the nation on the Gulf oil spill, and told the American people how he has been doing all he can to “plug the damn hole” and whose behind he might kick.

Since his strategy dealing with the spill seems lacking thus far, Redstate editor Erick Erickson has compiled a Top 10 list of things to alleviate the disaster that Obama could have done but didn’t.

1. Accepted help from the Netherlands when they offered it shortly after the accident. The Dutch, experienced in the oil business, offered prompt help for oil skimming booms and plans to create barriers to stop the oil from infiltrating into wetland areas.

2. Suspended the Jones Act, as President Bush did after Katrina, to allow foreign vessels into American waters to assist with recovery without having to swap ships and transfer equipment onto American flagged vessels.

3. Suspended the Davis-Bacon prevailing wage laws, as President Bush did after Katrina, to allow rapid deployment of new workers to help with containment efforts.

4. Suspended FEMA contracting and bidding rules, as President Bush did after Katrina, to allow a more rapid assignment of contracts to assist with the recovery effort.

5. Allowed coastal governors to immediately begin dredging to create barrier islands.

6. Talked to BP's CEO to establish initial metrics for progress to gauge BP's response so the federal government would have ascertainable metrics to determine when federal intervention was needed. Heck, he should have talked to BP's CEO period.

7. Not imposed a blanket deep water drilling moratorium, further crippling economies in coastal communities.

8. Talked to experts about how to fix the problem instead of trying to figure out whose "ass to kick."

9. Not waited to act lest he be seen as owning the situation. Guess what? He owns it now so why is he still on the golf course?

10. Not have wasted time trying to blame the accident on George Bush before diving in to take responsibility.

To Our Cousins Across the Pond

First off, while I cannot speak for everyone on this blog, I want to emphasize that I do not hold BP accountable for the blowout that allowed the oil to escape. Frankly, no one knows exactly what happened or why, and to assess blame on anyone this early in the process is either irresponsible or diabolical.

Second, please know that Bambi, aka Dr Utopia, no longer speaks for the majority of Americans. He does not like it when people make money and do not give it away to him. He was very happy taking campaign contributions from all sorts of companies and corporations, and now that he has what he wants, he no longer has a need for the capitalist system which generated those funds. He is a typical Marxist. Use whatever is needed to get the results and then do what you want.

He is also adamantly against any sort of free trade and free will. He is a snake oil salesman; a shyster; a con man. And whats up with those Dumbo ears? You ever see a set of ring hangers like that in your life? I bet he has to tape them back to keep his skinny little ass on the ground in a high wind.

I am not going to apologize for Dr Utopia's remarks concerning BP or Britain. I didn't vote for his leftist agenda and its not my fault; however we will do everything legally allowed to rid ourselves of this penis-head ASAP.

You can take that to the bank.

Let the Ass Whooping Begin

I have the list. The top five spots are occupied by His Holiness the Annointed One, "I've been involved since it started to rain...I stood in the rain before the talking heads got their umbrellas".
I'm still not convinced this was "just an industrial accident", and if I were the Governor of a Gulf Coast state, I'd be cleaning my beaches, and telling the MUCC, the COE, and the Bambi Administration to go pound sand. I'd rather seek forgiveness than ask permission.

How the White House is Making Oil Recovery Harder
Five weeks ago Escambia County officials requested permission from the Mobile Unified Command Center to use a sand skimmer, a device pulled behind a tractor that removes oil and tar from the top three feet of sand, to help clean up Pensacola's beaches. County officials still haven't heard anything back. Santa Rosa Island Authority Buck Lee told The Daily Caller why: "Escambia County sends a request to the Mobile, Ala., Unified Command Center. Then, it’s reviewed by BP, the federal government, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Coast Guard. If they don’t like it, they don’t tell us anything.

"Keeping local governments in the dark is just one reason why the frustration of residents in the Gulf is so palpable. State and local governments know their geography, people, economic impacts and needs far better than the federal government does. Contrary to popular belief, the federal government has actually been playing a bigger and bigger role in running natural disaster responses. And as Heritage fellow Matt Mayer has documented, the results have gotten worse, not better.

And when the federal government isn't sapping the initiative and expertise of local governments, it has been preventing foreign governments from helping. Just three days after the Deepwater Horizon explosion, the Dutch government offered to provide ships outfitted with oil-skimming booms and proposed a plan for building sand barriers to protect sensitive marshlands. LA Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) supported the idea, but the Obama administration refused the help. All told, thirteen countries have offered to help us clean up the Gulf, and the Obama administration has turned them all down.

According to one Dutch newspaper, European firms could complete the oil spill clean up by themselves in just four months, and three months if they work with the United States, which is much faster than the estimated nine months it would take the Obama administration to go it alone. The major stumbling block is a protectionist piece of legislation called the Jones Act which requires that all goods transported by water between U.S. ports be carried in U.S.-flag ships, constructed in the United States, owned by U.S. citizens, and crewed by U.S. citizens. But in an emergency this law can be temporarily waived as DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff did after Katrina. Each day our European allies are prevented from helping us speed up the clean up is another day that Gulf fishing and tourism jobs die.

And then there are the energy jobs that the Obama administration is killing with its over-expansive ban on offshore energy development. Experts--who were consulted by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar before he issued his May 27 report recommending a six-month moratorium on all ongoing drilling in waters deeper than 500 feet--now tell The New Orleans Times-Picayune that they only supported a six-month ban on new drilling in waters deeper than 1,000 feet. A letter from the experts protesting the use of their names to support a ban they actually oppose reads: "A blanket moratorium is not the answer. It will not measurably reduce risk further and it will have a lasting impact on the nation's economy which may be greater than that of the oil spill. We do not believe punishing the innocent is the right thing to do."

And just how many innocent jobs is Obama's oil ban killing? An earlier Times-Picayune report estimated the moratorium could cost Louisiana $2.97 billion in revenue and 7,590 jobs directly related to the oil industry. President Obama still has the power to save many of the jobs. He could reverse his decision and lift the ban. But political considerations make that impossible.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the President was the largest single recipient of campaign contributions from BP and its employees over the past twenty years. Therefore, the President has to put distance between himself and BP, which may be why President Obama has not spoken with BP CEO Tony Hayward one single time since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in April. The problem is, vilifying BP's corporate leadership does nothing to stop the spill or quicken the cleanup.

After the Obama administration refused help from the Netherlands, Geert Visser, the consul general for the Netherlands in Houston, told Loren Steffy: "Let's forget about politics; let's get it done." It's sound advice, Mr. President. Let's free local governments to clean up their shores, waive protectionist laws that keep out foreign help, and let the oil workers who can safely do so get back to work. Let's get it done.

Here's the thing...they DON'T WANT TO CLEAN IT UP!!! They need this crisis to further their agenda. How would it look if it only took a few months to get this fixed? Why, people would say, "We can fix anything. Keep drilling, but be careful this time."

More Marxist Style Politics

BP paid workers $12-per-hour to show up for Obama visit, be props for the photo ops
By: Mark Tapscott

Has it really come to this? Yahoo News' Brett Michael Dykes reports that BP paid busloads of temporary cleanup workers to show up as stage props for President Obama's visit to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill cleanup operations on Grand Isle.

Dykes quoted Jefferson Parish councilman Chris Roberts who said "the overnight contingent of workers was there mainly to furnish a Potemkin-style backdrop for the event — while also making it appear that BP was firmly in command of spill cleanup efforts. New Orleans NBC affiliate WDSU reports that the workers were paid $12 an hour and came mostly from neighboring Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes."

For more, go here.

Obama was enjoying a bit of a recovery in the presidential approval numbers earlier in the week, after hitting the lowest point of his presidency. You think BP also paid those four percentage points to show up for the president in the latest Rasmussen polling?

HT: Examiner contributor Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit.com.

Read more at the Washington Examiner:

Just Throwing This Out For Consideration

Because I am the original cynical paranoid SOB..(Sweet Ole Bob)..and I don't believe in coincidences.

Hard on the heels of Dr Utopia announcing that offshore drilling would be "explored", comes a disastrous drill platform explosion and fire that releases millions of gallons of crude into the Gulf.

We won't know exactly what happened for weeks, probably months, if ever, and trusting the source of whatever information the media releases is marginal.

I believe we are facing a turning point in American history. The wealthiest nation on the planet, in terms of freedom and the ability to further ones own economic and social standing simply by working hard, is facing a crisis of monumental proportions due primarily to the politicians now in power.

Politicians who crave power the way a crack head craves their next hit. They are addicts. They are addicted to the power, and like crack heads, I believe they are capable of almost anything to further their agenda and keep/increase their power.

I also believe the socialist, marxist, communist, progressive (whatever) movement, specifically the people behind it, are capable of orchestrating and creating conditions and events that will further their agenda. I know from history that communists have killed people to maintain control. I know Karl Marx wrote that the ends always justify the means, no matter what.

So the questions are:
Was this drill rig accident just an "accident" or a convenient incident?

Why is Homeland Security involved in a petroleum "accident"?

Were there any new employees or recent arrivals on this platform?

What type of security is enabled on an offshore rig? (I mean the SOB is in the midde of the Gulf, its not like you can sneak up on it.)

Just asking.

As soon as I am satisfied that this was just a horrible industrial accident with very serious environmental issues, I'll go back to my cave, continue beating my kids, plot global domination and world peace, and be paranoid and cynical, like a good Southern redneck should.

Until then....maybe we need to ask some questions.

This Is What I'm Warning Ya'll About

By now you probably know that a GOP fundraiser and her boyfriend were beaten Staurday night in New Orleans. The immediate story was that they were wearing Palin pins and that is what precipitated the attack.

The Brennan’s Beatdown: Piecing Together A Story (Updated, 8:47 p.m)

.....the author of a post on the Iron Rail blog boasting about vandalizing three banks in the French Quarter. Don’t hit the link if profanity bothers you; what you need to know about it is this:

We also did this for New Orleans, in the initial phase of our project to expel capital from our beautiful home.This ain’t no fall trend. Increasingly, righteously bad behavior becomes a part of our everyday routine. Thinking, talking, making – these things are insufficient in a society that co-opts any and everything except that which attacks directly.There is no reason to be scared. You, too, can fight.

First, Jindal spokesman Kyle Plotkin tells us that Alle Bautsch was not wearing a Palin pin. And neither was Joe Brown. So that’s an allegation which has been disputed.

Second, as far as the Jindal administration is concerned they do not have evidence at this time that the attack on Bautsch and Brown was directly related to the protest. We have a report, as you’ll see below, that the attack was politically motivated, and we’re looking forward to full confirmation of that fact. But the two are not necessarily at odds; our understanding is that Bautsch and Brown remained at Brennan’s after the fundraiser was over and by the time they left there wasn’t much of a protest going on – so if we’ve given the impression that the attack occurred as a result of fundraiser attendees having to run a gauntlet of Democrats upon leaving the restaurant we’d like to correct that right now; that is not our understanding.

Third, since the attack itself appears to have come from assailants who apparently either followed the victims (which we think is most reasonable, given that Brennan’s is located half a block from a police station) or happened upon them and decided to express displeasure with Republican politics in an unacceptably demonstrable fashion, a facet of this we’re actively looking into is the nature of the protest itself. As we noted in the original post here, a group of self-described “anarchists” claim to have disrupted the event and there are snippets of information – or were – following the event in which people holding themselves out as protestors bragged about confrontations with evil Republicans they’d had on Friday.

Jump over to the Hayride and read the whole thing. Michelle has a post up encouraging us to hold off on assuming that the attack was politically motivated, but Gateway Pundit has some more info, and The Hayride is standing by the Palin pin report.

Kristinn has posted some good info here.

I love that the blog is called the Hayride. The Louisisana Hayride, for all you toddlers out there, was a country music radio show that featured Hank Williams. He'd sign off saying, "Put the biscuits on, I'll be home soon, Bocephus."

Morning Must Reads from DCExaminer

New York Times -- In Health Vote, Democrats Weigh Success vs. Survival
The number of real undecideds on Obamacare is probably down to five, and since Democrats only need to get three of them, party leaders are feeling good.
But now is the time when you have to start calling people off the fence, and the shifts must be well choreographed. Because like kids at Christmas, House Democrats will want to know why someone else got something better.
If some freshman who’s probably going to lose anyway is getting to stay on the no side, why should a venerable moderate from a Republican district have to switch to pass?
The speaker will bring in several more fake maybes today in an effort to show momentum, but those will mostly be yeses who stay yeses.
Writer Jeff Zeleny looks at the political math that drives the question of who is allowed to save their own skin and who is forced to drink the poison draught.
“But inside the speaker’s suite of offices on the West Front of the Capitol where Democrats are filing in for face-to-face discussions with party leaders, there is a pecking order for vulnerable lawmakers that helps determine the degree of arm-twisting and pressure imposed on them.
Who won by the smallest margin? Which districts have smaller black populations, a traditionally reliable vote? Who voted for the somewhat different version of the legislation in November and is going to be attacked by Republicans for that vote regardless of what they do this weekend? And who stands the best chance to persevere through a roiling political year and by November have at least a decent shot of winning?”

Wall Street Journal -- Health Showdown Is Set
Writers Greg Hitt and Janet Adamy look at the astonishing details of the final push to passage in the House.
Even before they get to the legislative end run that relies on procedural trickery in both houses of Congress, Democrats are engaging in a wild, desperate surge.
One deal was set up to tempt Earl Pomeroy, a yes vote who is suddenly facing a tough re-election in the wake of Sen. Byron Dorgan’s retirement.
“Senate Republicans complained in a press release about the ‘Bismarck Bank Job,’ a provision preserving a state-owned North Dakota bank's participation in the government's student-loan program. A spokesman for Sen. Kent Conrad (D., N.D.) said the senator has asked the provision be removed.”

Washington Post -- Congressional Budget Office's sunny forecast carries big uncertainties
Writer Neil Irwin points out that the numbers released by the CBO that made Democrats “absolutely giddy” are really estimates of estimates, not hard predictions.
The economists at CBO have been scoring and rescoring Obamacare for weeks, haggling with lawmakers over how to tally the costs, savings and disruptions to the economy.
There will be a more complete score today or Saturday now that the actual legislation is in place. We can expect to see more detail on issues like how adding a 3 percent tax on investment income will shrink the economy, etc.
“If Congress were considering, say, a 20-cent increase in the gasoline tax, the CBO could easily analyze how that would affect gas consumption and do some simple math to calculate how much money it would raise. The same goes for figuring out the cost of legislation that offers a new benefit, such as an expansion of food stamps.
But the proposal on the table contains sweeping changes that would touch almost all corners of the health-care system, and the changes interrelate in hard-to-predict ways. For example, the legislation contains subsidies for those who would not be able to afford health coverage on their own -- but the cost of those subsidies could vary a lot depending on how much other elements of the legislation change the price of health insurance, such as through provisions requiring minimum coverage levels.”

New York Times -- Coburn Warns Vote-Switchers on Health Care
One of the downsides to destroying the remaining collegiality in Congress through employing nuclear options to pass Obamacare in both the Senate and House is that now Democrats have to watch their backs. The courtesy that protected them, like the strained cordiality between feuding neighbors, is gone.
That’s particularly good news for Sen. Tom Coburn, who didn’t think to highly of all that butt covering anyway.
There are three retiring House Democrats who might make the switch from “no” to “yes” and many more who may opt to switch and will lose this fall as a result. There are dozens more who have demanded goodies as a condition of keeping their yeses as yeses.
Coburn’s promise: If you’re counting on a golden parachute in an administration job or to patch things up with voters with a big dose of pork, you’ve got a problem.
Individual senators can block presidential nominations and hold up appropriations, which Coburn already does, but he’s ot the backing of the Senate GOP to start an earmark detective squad to scour every appropriations bill and earmark for anything that might benefit a switcher. And since Coburn doesn’t care how often Democrats decry him as Dr. No, he’ll likely stop the pork and shame them for taking a bribe.
Writer Carl Hulse tells us about it:
“‘If you think you can cut a deal now and it not come out until after the election, I want to tell you that isn’t going to happen and be prepared to defend selling your vote in the House,’ Mr. Coburn warned those making up their minds across the rotunda.”

New York Times -- After a Bitter Campaign, Forging an Alliance
In what is ostensibly an article about the growing alliance between President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, writers Mark Landler and Helene Cooper were really producing a note of warning to the president from the secretary of state. Clinton has fired a few shots across Obama’s bow – stampeding him into offering domestic benefits for gay partners, expressing public doubts about the Copenhagen summit, etc.
This story, featuring an interview with Clinton and choice blind quotes, suggests that while the former first lady is glad they’ve managed to work out a professional rapport, it’s time for Obama to give her more operational space and control over foreign policy. “It would be a shame to see anything happen to this nice publicity you’ve got here, Mr. President.”
It’s not going to happen for the very reason that Obama has only been able to offer a cold fish friendship to Clinton. He still doesn’t trust her.
“While their underlings at times grouse about one another — some Clinton supporters call White House officials ‘The Cardinals’ (to suggest that they are too controlling), and some Obama staff members refer to the State Department as ‘Hillaryland’ (the campaign’s leftover name for the enemy camp) — Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton both have compelling reasons to make their relationship work.”

Expect More of This In the Next Week or Two

I am shocked, SHOCKED, that anyone would compare Chicago politicians to gangsters.
Wait, thats redundant, isn't it?

Final 'reform' push: twisting arms

President Obama's attempts to ram health- care reform through an increasingly reluctant Congress are starting to resemble a really eventful episode of "The Sopranos." Whether or not you believe former Rep. Eric Massa's bizarre accusations of locker-room confrontations and conspiracies to drive him from office, there is no doubt that the Obama administration and its congressional allies are willing to use every trick in the book to get this bill passed.

They've already bought votes with pork and special deals -- the "Louisiana purchase" ($300 million to bolster that state's Medicaid program, which swayed Sen. Mary Landrieu); the "Cornhusker kickback" ($100 million to Medicaid there, sweetening the pot for Sen. Ben Nelson), and Florida's "Gator Aid" (a Medicare deal potentially worth $5 billion, a hefty price for Sen. Bill Nelson's vote). Plus the millions for Connecticut hospitals, Montana asbestos abatement and so on.

Nor were the Obamans willing to let a little thing like election laws stand in the way. They rewrote Massachusetts law to allow for an appointed senator to hold office for several months, hoping to get the bill through before the special election that Scott Brown ultimately won. Their plans spoiled, they even considered holding up Brown's seating to let the appointed senator continue to vote on health care -- until public outrage forced them to back down.

And, of course, there has been an unprecedented willingness to ignore congressional rules -- from the failure to appoint a "conference committee" to negotiate differences between the House and Senate bills, to their current plans to use the reconciliation process to bypass a Republican filibuster.

Expect the tactics to get even dirtier now.

Those who support the president can expect favors. No sooner had Rep Jim Matheson (D-Utah) suggested that he might be willing to switch his vote and support the latest version of ObamaCare than his brother was nominated for a federal judgeship.

Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.) is also on the undecided list. And, purely by coincidence no doubt, the Justice Department just announced that it is dropping an FBI investigation that has been swirling about the congressman. Gosh, if only Charlie Rangel were one of the undecideds.

Those who oppose the president can expect the political equivalent of a horse head between their sheets.

Read more:

The Hammer-Weekly Standard Blog

MKH has a great article in Townhall Magazine this month.
The title is cool:

"Sell Crazy Someplace Else", and discusses the media's portrayal of conservatives as insane unbalanced and ignorant; but we all know its not the Right that has problems with tolerance or diversity or inbalance.

Meanwhile, just two hours ago, MK was busy posting this about the greedy little beeeatch Senator from LA.

I give this a 20 lb splitting maul rating.

The Audacity of Buy-Offs
Mary Landrieu was awfully upfront about her $100 million vote in Senate debate Saturday:
“I will correct something. It’s not $100 million, it’s $300 million, and I’m proud of it and will keep fighting for it,” Landrieu told reporters after her floor speech. “But that is not why I started this health care debate; I started this health care debate for all the reasons I just mentioned in my statement” on the floor.

She blamed "very partisan, Republican bloggers" for reporting on that section of the bill, but it was first reported by the well-known, right-wing outlet, ABC. The nerve of any of us to insinuate she could be bought for a measly $100 million.

Hey, thank God for algore.

Landrieu's justification for the extra money for Louisiana is that federal emergency aid surrounding Katrina had incorrectly inflated Louisiana's per-capita income for a short time, thus leading to insufficient Medicaid funds for the state, due to the federal government's calculation based on per-capita income.

She followed up with another odd assertion:
"Our state is still as poor as it was, if not poorer."
Perhaps not the thing to highlight so dramatically, when you're a senator who's been serving for 12 years.

Landrieu said her yes vote Saturday, to proceed to debate on Reid's health-care bill, should not be construed as a vote of support for the bill in its current form.

Sen. Mary Landrieu said that Reid wouldn't have 60 votes unless Democrats agree to weaken the government plan so that it is triggered if private insurers don't reach certain benchmarks.

Smoke Detectors or Crack Pipes?

Firefighters don't need money, they have all those bake sales and stuff.

Firefighters lose large U.S. grant to ACORN
Sen. Vitter wants $1 million returned to Homeland Security

Nearly $1 million in Homeland Security funding typically earmarked for fire departments has been awarded to ACORN, despite a clear signal from Congress that it intends to cut off federal funding to the embattled group.

The grant to ACORN's Louisiana office became public on Oct. 2, less than three weeks after the House and Senate voted to cut off ACORN funding after employees were caught on video advising a fake prostitute and pimp on scams.

It was one of only three such grants issued to the state and made up almost 80 percent of the firefighting money earmarked for Louisiana, prompting one of the U.S. senators from the state to demand that the funds be taken back.

"I request that you rescind this grant based on a history of abuse of federal dollars by ACORN and their clear lack of expertise in this area," said Sen. David Vitter, Louisiana Republican.

The group has headquarters in Louisiana.

When asked how the money would be spent, ACORN spokesman Brian Kettenring issued a statement criticizing the senator, who confessed in the past to having used an escort service.

"Senator Vitter knows a lot more about prostitution rings than anyone here does, so we'll defer to him on any matters pertaining to the videos attacking ACORN," the statement read. It did not explain how the group plans to spend the Federal Emergency Management Agency grant.

Mr. Vitter, who was routinely notified of the grant before it became public, sent his letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Sept. 22, saying the money should be given "to a more deserving group of first responders."

One such group might have been the St. Tammany Parish Fire District No. 3, which applied for a $120,000 grant to purchase smoke alarms for low-income families after a January fire killed four childrenin a home that had no working detectors.

ACORN IN LA and OK

Now will Congress investigate ACORN?
Examiner Editorial October 4, 2009

Evidence continues to accumulate from far and wide that the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now is lousy with corruption. The latest revelations come from Louisiana and Oklahoma. In the former, the local ACORN Housing Corp. office received contracts worth a combined $625,000 from the City of New Orleans for repairing existing low-income housing and developing new units in poor neighborhoods. The contracts were paid for with funds from federal Community Development Block Grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. An investigation by the Pelican Institute think tank of New Orleans, however, found that no work was actually performed to fulfill the contracts. Worse, Pelican couldn't talk to the ACORN official managing the contracts because he had left the organization months ago. One more thing: The office address listed on the contracts for ACORN turned out to be a vacant lot, although new plumbing connections indicated a trailer had recently been located on the site.

Meanwhile, in Oklahoma City, documents found in a recently vacated ACORN office included a detailed memo titled "Power Plan" for a five-year effort to elect supportive legislators and transform Oklahoma to a progressive state "in the way it was 100 years ago." The man in charge of the office left town without paying back rent or utility bills, according to OklahmaWatchdog.org. Also found in the documents was a script for a Houston ACORN-directed recruiting campaign for "hiring Outreach Workers to remind people to get out and vote for Barack Obama in the upcoming election." As a tax-exempt nonprofit, ACORN is barred from participating in partisan election activities, and its national spokesmen have insisted throughout the 2008 presidential race that their organization was not working to elect Obama.

Flood Insurance

Since it seems to be a topic of discussion. Like I said, you can purchase insurance for anything, if you can afford the premium.

Did you know most home and business insurance policies don't cover flood losses? If your community is a participant in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), you're eligible for federally sponsored Flood Insurance coverage for your home or business.

Allstate Participates in the National Flood Insurance Program

Allstate is an active participant in the NFIP.
By selecting National Flood Insurance coverage through a reliable company like Allstate, you can have peace of mind knowing you'll receive a high level of customer service when you need it most.

Excess Flood Insurance Coverage May Be Available
In some states, if you purchase National Flood Insurance through Allstate and find you need more coverage than the maximum limit provided by the NFIP program, you may be eligible to purchase additional coverage through an Excess Flood Insurance* Policy from your Allstate agent.

Contact a local Allstate agent to learn more about your eligibility for Flood Insurance protection.

The Chosen One Explained

I wish I knew who wrote this so I could give some attribution, but no one is claiming credit yet. I take exception to the reference to Sarah Palin. I have no issues with anything else.

1. Mr. Obama is a very intellectual, charming individual. He is not to be underestimated. He is a cool customer who doesn't show his emotions. It's very hard to know what's behind the mask. Taking down the Clinton dynasty from a political neophyte was an amazing accomplishment. The Clintons still do not understand what hit them. Obama was in the perfect place at the perfect time.

2. Obama has political skills comparable to Reagan and Clinton. He has a way of making you think he's on your side, agreeing with your position, while doing the opposite. Pay no attention to what he SAYS; rather, watch what he DOES!

3. Obama has a ruthless quest for power. He didn't come to Washington to make something out of himself, but rather to change everything, including dismantling capitalism. He can't be straightforward on his ambitions, as the public would not go along. He has a heavy hand, and wants to level the playing field with income redistribution and punishment to the achievers of society. He would like to model the USA to Great Britain or Canada .

4. His three main goals are to control ENERGY, PUBLIC EDUCATION, AND NATIONAL HEALTH CARE by the Federal government. He doesn't care about the auto or financial services industries, but got them as an early bonus. The cap and trade will add costs to everything and stifle growth. Paying for FREE college education is his goal. Most scary is his healthcare program, because if you make it FREE and add 46,000,000 people to a Medicare-type single-payer system, the costs will go through the roof. The only way to control costs is with massive RATIONING of services, like in Canada. God forbid.

5. He has surrounded himself with mostly far-left academic types. No one around him has ever even run a candy store. But they are going to try and run the auto, financial, banking and other industries. This obviously can't work in the long run. Obama is not a socialist; rather he's a far-left secular progressive bent on nothing short of revolution. He ran as a moderate, but will govern from the hard left. Again, watch what he does, not what he says.

6. Obama doesn't really see himself as President of the United States , but more as a ruler over the world. He sees himself above it all, trying to orchestrate and coordinate various countries and their agendas. He sees moral equivalency in all cultures. His apology tour in Germany and England was a prime example of how he sees America, as an imperialist nation that has been arrogant, rather than a great noble nation that has at times made errors. This is the first President ever who has chastised our allies and appeased our enemies!

7. He is now handing out goodies. He hopes that the bill (and pain) will not come due until after he is re-elected in 2012. He would like to blame all problems on Bush from the past, and hopefully his successor in the future. He has a huge ego, and he is a narcissist.

8. Republicans are in the wilderness for a while, but will emerge strong. We're pining for another Reagan, but there will never be another like him. Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty and Bobby Jindahl (except for his terrible speech in February) are the future of the party. Newt Gingrich is brilliant, but has baggage. Sarah Palin is sincere and intelligent, but needs to really be seriously boning up on facts and info if she is to be a serious candidate in the future. We need to return to the party of lower taxes, smaller government, personal responsibility, strong national defense, and state's rights.

9. The current level of spending is irresponsible and outrageous. We are spending trillions that we don't have. This could lead to hyper-inflation, depression or worse. No country has ever spent themselves into rosperity. The media is giving Obama, Reid and Pelosi a pass because they love their agenda. But eventually the bill will come due and people will realize the huge bail outs didn't work, nor will the stimulus package. These were trillion-dollar payoffs to Obama's allies, unions and the Congress to placate the left, so he can get support for #4 above.

10. The election was over in mid-September when Lehman brothers failed, fear and panic swept in, we had an unpopular President, and the war was grinding on indefinitely without a clear outcome. The people are in pain, and the mantra of change caused people to act emotionally. Any Dem would have won this election; it was surprising it was as close as it was.

11. In 2012, if the unemployment rate is over 10%, Republicans will be swept back into power. If it's under 8%, the Dems continue to roll. If it's between 8-10%, it will be a dogfight. It will all be about the economy. I hope this gets you really thinking about what's happening in Washington and Congress. There is a left-wing revolution going on, we need to keep the faith and join the loyal resistance. The work will be hard, but we're right on most issues and can reclaim our country, before it's far too late.

Do yourself a long term favor, send this to all who will listen to an intelligent assessment of the big picture. All our futures and children's futures depend on our good understanding of what is really going on in DC!!!! And our action pursuant to that understanding!!! It really IS up to each of us to take individual action!!!

Start with educating your friends and neighbors!!! "

Louisiana Man Stopped and Detained For Bumper Sticker

DC Protest Warrior: LA Man Stopped and Detained For Bumper Sticker

Another Good Example for Having Multiple Sources

Gustav has literally shut down the petroleum industry in the Gulf for the next three to four weeks, depending on how bad this thing really gets.

It may only affect it for a few days, but no doubt it is having an affect.

Suppose we had ANWR or the Babbin(?) Field in Montana online and pumping. Ain't no hurricaines in Montana or Alaska, that I know of. This wouldn't even have been a bump in the supply system. They fly all the workers from the Gulf to the north fields, and double production for the duration of the emergency.

National Weather Service Alert

ATTENTION TO THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN AND AROUND THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS. HURRICANE GUSTAV IS ABOUT A WEEK OUT FROM MAKING LANDFALL SOMEWHERE NEAR YOUR CITY.
PLEASE BE ADVISED... THE REST OF AMERICA INCLUDING FEMA SHOULD NOT BE BLAMED IN THE CASE THAT YOU CHOOSE NOT TO LEAVE.
BELIEVE IT OR NOT PRESIDENT BUSH DOES NOT CONTROL THE WEATHER AND NO ONE IS BEING RACIST TOWARD YOU IF YOU MAKE THE DECISION TO STAY IN HARMS WAY.
WE AS COUNTRY DO NOT WANT YOU TO BRING YOUR VIOLENCE TO OUR CITIES AS YOU SEEK REFUGE FROM A VIOLENT STORM.
YOU ARE WELCOME IN OUR CITIES, TOWNS, VILLAGES, ETC. BUT PLEASE LEAVE YOUR BAGGAGE FOR THE HURRICANE TO DESTROY.
ONCE AGAIN, THERE IS A HURRICANE HEADED IN YOUR GENERAL DIRECTION!
I WOULD SUGGEST LEAVING NOW!
PLEASE FORWARD THIS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW SO THAT AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE RECEIVE THIS MESSAGE BEFORE THE STORM MAKES LANDFALL!