Scientists watch for environmental effects of Gulf oil spill

 ECONOMICS, PRESIDENT  No Responses »
Apr 302010
 

By David A. Fahrenthold and Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post, May 1, 2010

The cord-grass marshes of south Louisiana are nurseries for baby shrimp, stalking grounds for blue crabs, and barriers that slow down waves before they bite off more of the mainland. On Friday, they were becoming defenseless sponges for sticky, dark oil.

The locals said the foul-smelling mass had the goopy look of chocolate mousse. The scientists said the enormous slick had the potential to bring environmental ruin to this treasured coastline.

The oil is spilling out of the seafloor at 5,000 barrels a day, or maybe much more, from a well about 50 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico, and it could soon eclipse the volume of the infamous Exxon Valdex spill in 1989. That disaster spilled oil onto rocky Alaskan beaches, but it is at least possible to wash oil off a rock. In the Gulf, the oil is floating into wetlands that could hold on to its toxins for years to come. Continue reading »

White House hits reverse on off-shore drilling after Gulf spill

 ECONOMICS, PRESIDENT  No Responses »
Apr 302010
 

by Ed Morrissey
HotAir.com, April 30, 2010

I’d borrow the AP’s favorite adverb on economic data, but this is so completely not unexpected that this development probably won’t get much play otherwise.  Facing a backlash on the Left already over his mildly encouraging earlier statement on offshore drilling, the White House moved quickly to assure everyone after the ongoing Gulf of Mexico spill that Barack Obama only meant that in the hypothetical sense. David Axelrod made the obligatory backpedal on Good Morning America today: Continue reading »

Is Uncle Sam Bankrupt?

 ECONOMICS, NEW AMERICA  No Responses »
Jan 292010
 

by Laurence J. Kotlikoff
NCPA, January 29, 2010

When it comes to nondisclosure, the United States government is the father of all financial malfeasants.  Indeed, Uncle Sam has been misrepresenting the nation’s finances for decades.  In the process, he has run up an undisclosed bill that makes the financial bailout and economic stimulus spending look paltry.

Federal Financial Obligations. According to David M. Walker, former chief comptroller general of the United States, the federal government’s current liabilities to Medicare, Social Security and the federal debt total $56.4 trillion.  To put this in perspective:

  • The average Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid benefit payment per retiree is currently $30,250 – or about 80 percent of per capita U.S. gross domestic product (GDP). Continue reading »

Obama and the White House Chicago Boys

 NEW AMERICA, PRESIDENT  No Responses »
Jan 082010
 

By Ed Lasky
January 8, 2010
American Thinker

Barack Obama has a problem. His polls numbers are dropping and his policies are fueling an angry backlash across America. The Democratic party is held in disrepute, and congressional Democrats are dropping like flies. This imperils Obama’s radical agenda and his own 2012 prospects. What to do? Game the system and rig the future elections. That is how things are done in the streets of Chicago. Continue reading »