George Bush was vilified for not responding quicker to the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Well, just as it is with most things, the media tends to give the current administration a pass on an even worse response rate. Since Obama waited a full 9 days to even acknowledge the severity of the situation, he deserves to answer for his ineptitude.

Even more troubling is that the White House response has largely consisted of dispatching tort lawyers to New Orleans to start the wonderful process of making sure that lawsuits abound over the crisis.   Here’s an idea. Why don’t you worry about stopping the oil leak before you even think about legal actions?

Even worse is the fact that Obama is shutting down other rigs as a result of the tragedy that have absolutely nothing to do with the BP disaster. Equally infuriation is the fact that Obama announced on April 30th that he was outlawing new drilling in the gulf for the forseeable future. Yeah, lets harm our domestic oil output, putting more dependence on foreign oil imports from the middle east……that makes sense.

A timeline for the Obama response can be seen here in a great post by Doug Ross.

http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2010/05/obamas-katrina-illustrated-timeline.html

How Bad is the Gulf Oil Spill?

Let’s review this crisis, and the gravity of the situation that is facing the gulf coast. The best estimate is that the rig is leaking about 200,000 gallons of oil per day. If engineers have to drill down and install a relief well to stop the leak, the work will take about 90 days. Given estimates of what already has leaked, some estimate that could be three Exxon Valdez spills headed for the gulf coast and, in the worst case, South Florida. There has even been concern that the ocean currents could carry the spill as far as the Atlantic Ocean.

However bad the reports may be, lets try to put this spill in perspective.The New York Times puts it the best by comparing the worst spills in history to the current crisis.

“The ruptured well, currently pouring an estimated 210,000 gallons of oil a day into the gulf, could flow for years and still not begin to approach the 36 billion gallons of oil spilled by retreating Iraqi forces when they left Kuwait in 1991. It is not yet close to the magnitude of the Ixtoc I blowout in the Bay of Campeche in Mexico in 1979, which spilled an estimated 140 million gallons of crude before the gusher could be stopped.

And it will have to get much worse before it approaches the impact of the Exxon Valdez accident of 1989, which contaminated 1,300 miles of largely untouched shoreline and killed tens of thousands of seabirds, otters and seals along with 250 eagles and 22 killer whales.”

What does the future hold with the Gulf Oil Spill?

Lets hope that we stop politicizing things, and come up with a fix for the problem, instead of filing lawsuits. After all, BP announced today that they are going to pay for the clean up, and all associated costs with the disaster. And let’s hope and pray that the spill isn’t as severe as many fear.

Obama Stimulus Waste in North Carolina

Remember last year when we had to pass the stimulus package immediately, or unemployment would go to 8.5%? Well, unemployment peaked so far at over 10%, and the nearly 800 billion dollars that made up the stimulus has been used just like a typical big government spending spree.

I remember many ludicrous spending stories shortly after the stimulus plan was approved, but hadn’t heard of any recent transactions that bordered on the absurd. That is, until I happened across a blog from the John Pope Institute () that gave examples of the reckless stimulus spending in the state of North Carolina. Here is a “best of Obama Spending” list, as written by Brian Balfour of the Institute.

View this list as quasi-humorous, but please keep in mind that this type of spending is what may bring our county to its knees.

Stimulus Waste in the Great State of North Carolina

1. Study of monkeys using cocaine: $71,623
Wake Forest University was granted money to “study the effects of self-administering cocaine on the glutamate system on monkeys.” Well, at least the monkeys will be stimulated.

2. North Carolina Dance Theatre: $50,000
This grant is used to retain four professional dancers from the North Carolina Dance Theatre’s second company. Nice for them, but why are tax dollars financing what should be a privately-funded philanthropic organization?

3. Reducing hot flashes through yoga: $147,694
Funds granted to Wake Forest University to study “preliminary data on the efficacy of integral yoga for reducing menopausal hot flashes.” The President warned us that the stimulus plan was needed to avoid an economic “catastrophe.” How does this study help revive the economy?

4. Collecting, researching and reporting on the stimulus act: $115,000; $150,000; $227,940
Total: $492,940
Nearly half a million taxpayer dollars will go toward funding more propaganda selling the “benefits” of the stimulus plan. The federal government created the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, while North Carolina established the Office of Economic Recovery & Investment for these very purposes. Apparently, that’s just not enough propaganda.

5. Create interactive dance performance technology: $762,372
This grant to UNC-Charlotte will fund the development of computer technology to digitally record the dance moves of performers. The recorded movements can then be reviewed and manipulated by a computer program. Although creating virtual-reality type technology for dance movements may be interesting to those involved, how does this serve to “protect the education of our children”? At an average salary of roughly $47,000, this money could have saved 16 North Carolina teacher jobs.

6. American Dance Festival, Inc.: $50,000
A graphic designer and archivist will retain their jobs thanks to this grant. The American Dance Festival hosts dance classes, workshops and engages in other charitable activities to help support dancers. How will this help reverse a major international financial crisis, exactly?

7. Construction of a new Town Hall in Bladenboro: $200,000; $100,000
Total: $300,000
Why are taxpayers from across the country forced to finance construction of a local government office? This is a classic case of earmark pork spending.

8. North Carolina Folk Life Institute:$25,000
With the help of this grant, the Institute was able to retain its executive director. Will this help “provide relief to North Carolina’s families”?

9. Preservation of an insect collection at North Carolina State: $253,123
We were promised that the stimulus was going to “save jobs.” We were never told it would also help preserve dead bugs.

10. Greensboro Symphony Orchestra: $50,000
These funds are used to retain the GSO’s director of marketing and education manager. More bailouts of what should be a privately-funded organization.

Click here for A full list of the Obama Stimulus Expenditures

Barack Obama is continuing to trample on the free market system on Monday by announcing  yet more government regulations targeting lenders and banks. Since people obviously can’t be held accountable for over extending themselves on their mortgages, the good ole government is coming to the rescue yet again. I find it discouraging that this trend continues since the Obama administration can’t continue to bail everyone out indefinitely.

1st TARP, and then HARP

The Home Affordable Refinance Programs rolled out new government refinancing options that became available to a large sector of borrowers. HARP is part of the Obama mortgage plan that helps Americans reduce their loan payments or alter their current mortgage to be able to stay in their home and avoid foreclosure.

In the latest move to bolster its $75 billion foreclosure-prevention plan, the Obama administration on Monday will outline new efforts designed to increase the number of borrowers who receive mortgage relief.

The Treasury Department on Monday will announce plans to appoint officials to monitor the actions of the largest mortgage servicing companies on a daily basis. It also will announce it is requiring mortgage companies to develop and report to the administration their plans to increase the number of completed modifications, a Treasury spokeswoman said.

The U.S. Treasury Department will step up public pressure on lenders to finish modifying more home loans to troubled borrowers under a $75 billion campaign against the record tide of foreclosures.

More than 650,994 loan revisions had been started through the Obama administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program as of last month, from about 487,081 as of September, according to the Treasury. None of the trial modifications through October had been converted to permanent repayment plans, the Treasury data showed. That failure is getting the administration’s attention.

The Mortgage Bankers Association, the industry’s largest trade group, predicts foreclosures won’t peak until after unemployment rates crest, some time in the second half of next year.

Cash Incentive

The administration’s initiative provides a cash incentive of $1,000 to the mortgage servicer once a loan is converted from a trial to a permanent modification plus annual payments of $1,000 for as long as three years provided the loan remains in good standing.

Eligible Loans

Eligible loans under the program are at least 60 days past due, in foreclosure or bankruptcy, and originated before 2009. The underlying property must be owner-occupied and conform to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan limits, which can be as high as $729,750 in some areas. The data excludes Federal Housing Administration and Veterans Affairs loans. A borrower’s mortgage payment must be 31 percent or more of their gross monthly income to qualify.