REFLECTIONS

In this issue: 1. Correction 2. Shakedown
3. Barton 4. Barges 5. Usibelli 6. DISCLOSE

Howdy all, a few Interesting Items for your information. Enjoy –

1. Correction. Last week, I inadvertently conflated locations for wolf attacks on humans on the Alaska Peninsula. The teacher was killed in Chignik Lake; not False Pass. On the other hand, both locations have significant problems with out of control wolf populations. Thanks to a valued correspondent for picking up the error.

2. Shakedown. The Obama Regime conducted a shakedown operation of BP last week. The initial down payment will be $20 billion. Ed Markey (D, MA) noted in a House committee hearing that this was just a start. As BP does not have that amount of cash on hand, they will be providing a lien against their property here in the US, giving the Obama Regime the opportunity to seize the company when they are unable or unwilling to come up with the vigorish in a timely manner. The new slush fund for greasing palms of democrats and union thugs was supposed to pay for damages from the oil spill. Instead, it will be paid to whatever the WH or the loudest non-Red State congresscritter wants it paid to. By weeks’ end, they were talking about using it for health care funding and for paying newly out of work oil rig workers in the Gulf due to Obama’s outrageous drilling shutdown. This is all very, very bad stuff, as this money has been extorted from BP by an out of control, thuggish government. This is not being done by the rule of law, as there is a $75 million upper limit on damages. It is not being done throughout the legal civil torts system. It is not being done with any constitutional authority at all. Sadly, it is being supported by most democrat members of congress. Even our Boy Senator, Mark Begich (D, AK) called for and supports such a fund. Make no mistake, once this starts, there will be no end to it. One of the things that this does is take BP off the hook for dealing directly with the residents of the Gulf States on claims after the spill, which may help explain why they went along with it. This is the same sort of logic that the airlines used when they handed off passenger and baggage screening to the feds after 9-11. It generally backfires on everyone concerned by putting the feds in charge of things that rightfully belong in the open marketplace. When this hits the courts, do not expect BP to take full blame for oil hitting the beach. Granted their actions put the oil into the Gulf. However, they did get federal approval for the well, the well design, well operation, approval to drill, cement, and shut down the well, which they were in the process of doing when it blew. Additionally, the feds have been complicit in allowing the oil to hit the beaches by not getting out of the way so the locals could save their way of life. Obama and Salazar both in public over the course of the last 60 days said that federal mistakes had caused oil to hit the beach. The feds have a piece of this action, and have arguably caused the problem to get worse. BP could have won some serious victories in federal court because of federal inaction, mismanagement, turf wars, and malfeasance, for the feds screwed up just as badly on this one as BP did. The irony of the situation is that BP made a corporate decision some years ago to cozy up to the feds, the greens and the left here in the US. They were the largest donor to Obama among the oil companies. They have fully embraced the green energy claptrap. They got very cozy with democrats in power at all levels. This worked for while. But they are now expendable.

3. Barton. Joe Barton (R, TX) committed truth Thursday in a House Committee hearing on the oil spill. As ranking minority member of this committee, he personally apologized to BP executives testifying at the hearing for the WH shakedown. After that statement, everyone acted predictably. Democrats instantly had their “Macaca Moment” for this election. Expect an incessant series of “gotcha” campaign ads against Republicans this fall. House Republicans tucked their tails between their legs and headed for their favorite hiding holes. House leadership threatened Barton with loss of his committee unless he apologized for the comment. So Friday, Barton apologized for the apology. The blogosphere and talk show guys were all jumping up and down yelling “right on!” Conservative print and cable commentators opined on the political idiocy of the comment. Note that nobody – nobody – involved other than the Obama WH took exception with the accuracy of the $20 being the product of a shakedown.

4. Barges. Obama’s Coast Guard shut down Bobby Jindal’s oil skimming barges last week. Jindal ordered the barges into the water on June 8. They had been busily skimming oil on the top of the water, separating it from the water skimmed, and put into barrels for disposal. The Coast Guard shut down this successful wetland protection operation for 24 hours. The excuse given by the Coasties was that they needed to make sure all the ownership and licensing paperwork of the barge owners and operators were in order and that they had enough life jackets for the crew. Whether orders for this came directly from the WH or was the result of bureaucratic incompetence and turf protection by the parties involved is irrelevant. If orders to shut down the state-operated skimmers came from the WH, it confirms what we all have come to expect from this group of goons, thugs and other neer-do-wells. If on the other hand, it came as the result of bureaucratic infighting and inter-agency rice bowl protection, we have another problem. When you have an interagency operation like this spill cleanup, someone has to be in charge – and that someone is the President or his designated representative. His job is to play whack-a-mole with the bureaucracy throughout the cleanup operation, and kick it back into play when they lose track of the reason they are down there. Hint: it isn’t to inspect barge paperwork and count life jackets while those barges are skimming oil out of the Gulf. If the bureaucracy is this incompetent and non-mission oriented, perhaps it is time to shut those agencies down and return the power and money to the many states so that they can contract those services out.

5. Usibelli. The very left-leaning and green MatSu Borough Assembly approved public access across Borough land for Usibelli Coal’s Wishbone Hill mine. The vote was a surprising 6-1 in favor. The Assembly threw a bone to local NIMBYs and greens by requiring Usibelli to do a few things with their trucks that they would not normally do. This is the first pro-business action by the MatSu Borough Assembly in years. And it is the first pro-mining action in the Valley in decades. Congratulations to all involved. Now if Usibelli can keep disgruntled NIMBYs out of state and federal court, they will be in business. ADN, Thurs.

6. DISCLOSE. House Speaker pulled the DISCLOSE Act from House consideration. This legislation is intended to overturn the SCOTUS decision allowing corporations the ability to donate to political campaigns. That decision was bitterly denounced by democrats nationwide because it tends to level the fundraising playing field between those on the right and the left wing groups like unions, greens, non-profits and lawyers. The unions decided that the legislation would harm their ability to donate to political campaigns and expressed their displeasure to Pelosi who promptly pulled the legislation. The NRA managed to get themselves involved by reportedly striking a deal with House demcorats to support the legislation as long as they got a specific exemption for NRA activities. This story hit the second amendment crowd midweek and they predictably went nuts. Listened to NRA Executive VP Wayne LaPierre spent a while on Laura Ingraham Tuesday morning defending his actions. He claimed it was not a sellout, but a defensive tactic that helped kill the legislation. I don’t know precisely what they did, as inside baseball during the legislative process with this House leadership is problematic at best. But at this point the legislation is (mostly) dead. Note to the NRA: don’t get too cute, as your membership does not trust congressional democrats at all. If you are viewed as cutting deals with them, you will quickly lose what little credibility that you may still have. Hot Air, Fri.

More later — AG

“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.”
- Samuel Adams, speech at the Philadelphia State House, August 1, 1776.

Note: Interesting Items can be found also at the following locations: MatSu Valley News and the home page. Rod Martin’s The Vanguard site is also a long-time supporter of this column. Alex Gimarc is a long-time member of the previous Town Hall Conservative group.