Tag: Fox News

Florida’s Governor Headed Toward a Perfect Storm Over Oil?

Buck Banks

serve2preserve.jpgMaybe it’s all part of his ongoing effort to appear more macho — you know, “Oil Rigger Charlie” — but Florida Governor Charlie Crist’s about-face on drilling for oil off Florida’s coasts took most of us by surprise this week. See, it was just a year ago that Crist called his first climate control summit here in Miami. Pensito Review blogged live from the conference, and you can review our coverage here.

The timing of his announcement this week that he’ll do anything to be vice president … oh wait, I mean his announcement that he backs John McCain’s crazy plan to open our national coastline to the oil companies is odd. See, the guv’s second climate change summit is slated for next week — Tuesday and Wednesday, June 25-26. Pensito Review will be there again, live blogging and looking for interesting stories like “Bike Guy.”

Here’s the wording of the first press release for the 2008 event:

Building on the foundation for Florida’s energy future began at last year’s summit, the 2008 summit will focus on stimulating economic development in clean technologies as well as “greening” Florida’s business community.

“Florida’s businesses continue to demonstrate that there is gold in green, and climate-friendly energy sources – like ethanol and solar energy – are bringing new prospects for our state,” said Governor Charlie Crist. “Encouraging companies to do business the green way as well as building a strong market in renewable energy technologies in the Sunshine State will strengthen our energy and economic future and protect our natural environment for generations to come.”

Whoa, how things have changed since April 29, when the governor’s office issued the release. Here’s some more insights into Crist’s former position on the environment:

Building on the policy framework of the executive orders signed at the 2007 summit, this year’s summit focuses on developing Florida’s renewable and alternative energy industries. By encouraging companies to invest in our state’s energy future, Florida will transform its energy marketplace to enhance fuel diversity, lessen dependence on foreign sources of oil and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The 2008 summit will bring together industry leaders, policy makers, academics, scientists, environmentalists and the business community to explore opportunities for expanding Florida’s renewable and alternative energy marketplace and greening our business community.

Since last year’s summit, Florida’s “green” economy has grown significantly. Progress Energy along with Biomass Gas & Electric of Atlanta recently announced a partnership to build in North Florida the largest waste-wood biomass plant in the nation, converting waste wood to electricity. FPL Group, one of the largest utilities in the country, has a number of solar and wind energy projects across Florida, including a $2.4 billion investment in a 300 megawatt solar facility. Also, during the Governor’s trade mission to Brazil last year, a $183 million agreement was signed between Renewable Fuels of Tallahassee LLC and Controlsud International Group to build a system that converts trash into energy in Tallahassee.

I suppose Crist’s new position, let’s call it Willing to Be Drilling, does fit into his old position, which we’ll call Hell No, You Can’t Drill, in that it reduces our dependence on foreign fuel sources. And I guess scrapping his old position would provide more trash fuel for that energy plant in Tallahassee.

So, when Crist sits up in front of the media attending the summit next week, what can we expect? Tough questioning, probing for the truth behind Charlie’s conversion, hostility from the Fourth Estate?

Stay tuned.

The Hot Item at the Texas Republican Convention

Trish

The amazing part isn’t that the recent Texas Republican Convention featured a vendor selling a pin that said, “If Obama is President…will we still call it The White House?” No, the amazing thing is that someone had to explain to them why this wasn’t a good idea.

“It’s just been crazy,” said Jonathan Alcox, who runs republicanmarket.com and had buttons and other items for sale at the GOP gathering. “The point is we made a mistake. I realize that now. And I apologize.”

Well alrighty then. As long as he didn’t mean any harm, what’s the problem?

In a telephone interview from Florida, Mr. Alcox acknowledged the controversy but said it was unintentional…

Mr. Alcox said he made 12 of the pins after seeing a comic strip where Barack Obama was standing in front of a sign saying “The White House,” with the building behind him. Mr. Obama is depicted thinking, “That’s the first thing we’ll change.”

“We just changed it around a little bit and everyone went crazy. I was shocked,” Mr. Alcox said.

He said after having a conversation with a black man who called him about the blog post, he came to understand more about the nerve he had hit.

I’m glad Alcox was able to find an actual black person who could explain to him what the possible problem might be. Big “Oh-ey” there, Jonathan.

The Dallas Morning News, which broke the story and whose reporter bought the pin so the world would know, also has a blog. One commenter said, “If I were a republican I would be ashamed. As it is I am merely disgusted.”

H/T to my friend Ray

Turf Change: Obama Packs Up DNC to Chicago

Trish

A recent move shows how breathtakingly different a Pres. Obama would be from the Current Occupant, or even the Current Occupant Wannabe. Obama is reorganizing the DNC. Hello, Chicago!

This is partly about ensuring that the Illinois Senator avoids the fate of John Kerry, whose 2004 presidential campaign was hampered by behind-the-scenes battles with the DNC

In a major shakeup at the Democratic National Committee — and a departure from tradition — large parts of the committee’s operations are relocating to Chicago to be fully integrated with the Obama campaign.

The DNC’s political department, housed in Washington, D.C., will be dramatically rebuilt, with staffers offered a choice of moving to Chicago, joining state operations, or staying in Washington, DNC spokeswoman Karen Finney said…

The move reflects Obama’s desire to maintain an unusually streamlined campaign, as well as his swift and complete takeover of a Democratic Party that isn’t always known for its unity. The move may also save the campaign money, as the Obama campaign can use DNC salaries and staff to pay for elements of its organizing campaign and avoid some of the duplication that has often dogged presidential efforts.

It could also help avoid the John Kerry-tastrophe of 2004.

…this is partly about ensuring that the Illinois Senator avoids the fate of John Kerry, whose 2004 presidential campaign was hampered by behind-the-scenes battles with the DNC.

You may recall that the DNC chair in 2004 was one Terry McAuliffe, and in his book, McAuliffe wrote about the back-stage infighting between the DNC and Kerry camps. McAuliffe said that Kerry’s aides had wanted to oust him; that relations were chilly throughout the campaign; and that the Kerry camp muzzled him when he wanted to assail George W. Bush’s military record.

By contrast, upon securing the nomination, Obama very quickly put out a statement showering praise on Howard Dean; is now moving to put staff in all 50-states, in concert with Dean’s approach; and is quite literally moving swaths of the DNC to Chicago to create a unified organization with the sort of party-wide message discipline that has eluded Dems in the past.

In the primary, the Obama campaign was famously devoid of (publicly visible) infighting and/or leaking, and clearly, he’s taking aggressive steps right now to ensure that this success is duplicated in the general.

If Obama can run a government the way he’s running his campaign, America’s future is looking better already.

Biggest War Scandal Yet – BBC Uncovers $23 Billion in Cash ‘Lost, Stolen’ in Iraq

Jon Ponder

You Won’t Hear About in U.S. Media Because Bush Has Imposed a Gag Order, According to the BBC

In October, we wrote about the $12 billion in cash — shrink-wrapped bricks of $100 bills — that the Bush Administration flew into Iraq on cargo pallets and then lost:
“It may well turn out to be the largest war profiteering in history.”
— Chairman Henry Waxman

In the year after the invasion of Iraq in 2003 nearly 281 million notes, weighing 363 tons, were sent from New York to Baghdad for disbursement to Iraqi ministries and US contractors. Using C-130 planes, the deliveries took place once or twice a month with the biggest of $2,401,600,000 on June 22, 2004, six days before the handover.

Now an investigation by the BBC has determined that as much as $23 billion may have been “lost, stolen or just not properly accounted for in Iraq”:

The BBC’s Panorama programme has used US and Iraqi government sources to research how much some private contractors have profited from the conflict and rebuilding.

The British television news service also says that the Bush administration has issued a “gagging order” on the subject, which means that reporting on what may be the most massive fraud in history will go unreported until Bush leaves office — or, theoretically after the presidency of his successor, if John McCain wins in November:

A US gagging order is preventing discussion of the allegations.

The order applies to 70 court cases against some of the top US companies.

While Presdient George W Bush remains in the White House, it is unlikely the gagging orders will be lifted.

To date, no major US contractor faces trial for fraud or mismanagement in Iraq.

The president’s Democratic opponents are keeping up the pressure over war profiteering in Iraq.

Henry Waxman, who chairs the House committee on oversight and government reform, said: “The money that’s gone into waste, fraud and abuse under these contracts is just so outrageous, it’s egregious.

“It may well turn out to be the largest war profiteering in history.”

In the run-up to the invasion, one of the most senior officials in charge of procurement in the Pentagon objected to a contract potentially worth $7bn that was given to Halliburton, a Texan company which used to be run by Dick Cheney before he became vice-president.

Unusually only Halliburton got to bid – and won.

RNC Launches Lame Anti-Obama Site

Trish

Let the games begin, I suppose. The Republican National Committee has launched MeetBarackObama.com, a site with such features as:

  • The Rezko Judgement, which takes you to a YouTube video put together by no more objective a source than, yes, the RNC
  • Barack Obama’s Resume, which features another video produced by the RNC and deriding Obama’s experience.
  • A poll you where you choose which of the following is Obama’s greatest weakness: a) lack of political experience, b) he’s out of touch with the American family, or c) liberal policy positions. Now there’s a fairly worded poll if I ever saw one!
  • Can We Ask, a page to upload your own YouTube video of you asking a question of Obama. The first question is posed by Grover Norquist, or just “Grover” as it lists him in the credits. All of the remaining questions have been posed by men in Washington, D.C. or Arlington, Va. except possibly for the ones asked by someone named “Anonymous,” who has posted about half of them so far, and whom I suspect to be Karl Rove.
  • A time clock that counts down the days, hours, minutes, and seconds since Barack Obama last visited Iraq. Plus, there’s a downloadable widget so you can add the clock to your own right-wing web site.
  • “Newsfeed” which does not take you to actual news stories, but just to pages assembled by the RNC on topics like “Why Obama Must Go To Iraq,” “Sen. Hillary Clinton on Obama`s Rezko Connections,” “Obama Must Answer Questions so the American People Can Decide,” “DNC Committeeman and Top Clinton Adviser Harold Ickes on Barack Obama`s Electability” and more.
  • Many, many opportunities to donate to the Republican party and to join their email lists.

Visit if you must but it’s a bit of a snoozer. If this is the best they can do, our team should have a pretty easy time of it this fall.

Obama to Retain Dean as DNC Chair

Jon Ponder

Barack Obama is now the head of the Democratic Party, and the chairman of the DNC serves at his discretion. Officially, at least, he has decided to let Howard Dean stay on as chairman. Here is a statement from the Obama campaign:

“Senator Obama appreciates the hard work that Chairman Dean has done to grow our party at the grassroots level and looks forward to working with him as the chairman of the Democratic Party as we go forward.”

Dr. Dean is reviled by many Floridians because of the hamfisted way the DNC handled the Republicans’ manipulation of the primary date earlier this year. Greg Sargant at Talking Points Memo suggests that Obama is retaining Dean because “Dean has a power base built up among state party chairs across the country who love his 50-state strategy of investing in them.”

But when a presumptive nominee is not happy with a DNC chair’s performance, the nominee will retain the chairman while sending in a loyalist to run things. Sargent notes that Obama has “installed his man Paul Tewes to serve as his eyes and ears at the organization, a sign that Obama is moving quickly to re-shape the party in his own image. Obama’s party, it turns out, will include Dean at the top of the DNC.”

Or so it seems.

Obama Does Have Other VP Choices

Buck Banks

Mother Jones magazine is running an interesting article that explores Barack Obama’s other potential vice president candidates. It notes quite accurately that Hillary Clinton’s potential has been discussed ad nauseum.
vpseal.jpg
The essential question the article poses is whether Obama will “double-down” on his strengths and choose a youthful reform-minded political outsider or whether he’ll choose a running mate who compensates for some of his weaknesses, someone older, more experienced in the ways of Washington and perhaps from an important swing state.

I’m just supplying a list here. Go to the article for the thinking behind each one:

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D-Kan.), 60
Gov. Ted Strickland (D-Ohio), 66
Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.), 62
Gov. Ed Rendell (D-Pa.), 64
Gov. Bill Richardson (D-N.M.), 60
Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), 61
Gen. Wesley Clark (US Army, retired), 63
Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.), 69
Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), 52
Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.), 65
Gov. Janet Napolitano (D-Ariz.), 50
Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.), 54
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), 55

Clinton Says She Would Accept V.P. Nod – Unity Ticket Could Be Strongest Since JFK-LBJ

Jon Ponder

Clinton and Obama supporters have bruised each other up pretty badly over the past few months, but the surest path to a Democratic victory in November may well be a unity ticket:

Hillary Rodham Clinton has told congressional colleagues she would be open to becoming Barack Obama’s vice-presidential nominee, saying she would consider it if it would help Democrats win the White House.

Clinton, a New York senator, made the comment during a conference call with other New York legislators today.

The word comes from one of the participants on the call.

Clinton’s remarks were in response to a question from Democratic Representative Nydia Velazquez.

She said she believed the best way for Obama to win over key voting blocs, including Hispanics, would be for him to choose Clinton as his running mate.

Clinton replied that she is “open to it” if it would help the party’s prospects in November.

Successful unity tickets have come out of bitter rivalries before. Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush joined forces after a hard fought primary campaign in 1980, for example. But the race that may be the most instructive today is the 1960 race when Sen. John F. Kennedy, a young wealthy Yankee insurgent, usurped the Democratic nomination from the powerful Senate Majority Leader, Lyndon Johnson of Texas, and then had the audacity to offer Johnson the vice presidency to Johnson.

[…]

Signs Clinton Might End It Tomorrow

Trish

Camp Clinton is showing signs of folding, according to the big guns.

HufPo:

Hillary Clinton has summoned top donors and backers to attend her New York speech tomorrow night in an unusual move that is being widely interpreted to mean she plans to suspend her campaign and endorse Barack Obama – if not that night, within a day or two.

Obama and Clinton spoke Sunday night and agreed that their staffs should begin negotiations over post-primary activities, according to reliable sources. In addition to seeking Obama’s help in raising money to pay off some $20 million-plus in debts, Clinton is known to want Obama to assist black officials who endorsed her and who are now taking constituent heat…

“This has never happened before,” one donor said, referring to the personalized request by email to attend the event in New York Tuesday night…

In an afternoon conference call today with about two dozen top fundraisers, Clinton strategist Harold Ickes spoke in very conciliatory terms about Obama, in contrast to his tougher rhetoric in public and on television, according to sources. He told the participants that Clinton wants to “significantly” help Obama, but he did not go so far as saying that she will announce withdrawal — that is the prerogative of the candidate.

Politico:

Members of Hillary Clinton’s advance staff received calls and emails this evening from headquarters summoning them to New York City Tuesday night, and telling them their roles on the campaign are ending, two Clinton staffers tell my colleague Amie Parnes.

The advance staffers — most of them now in Puerto Rico, South Dakota, and Montana — are being given the options of going to New York for a final day Tuesday, or going home, the aides said. The move is a sign that the campaign is beginning to shed — at least — some of its staff…

UPDATE: Clinton spokesman Mo Elleithee says the advance staffers haven’t been let go or told to find other jobs, just sent home. They aren’t typically paid for off days. “We just haven’t figured out our schedule past Tuesday,” he said.

DNC Rules Committee Is a Toothless Tiger – Nominee Will Restore Votes to Florida, Michigan

Jon Ponder

Except to deliver a public scolding to Democrats in Florida and Michigan — and to expend a lot of hot air — it is hard to see what good came out of the day long meeting of the DNC Rules Committee on Saturday. In fact, it was much like watching a toothless tiger picking his teeth.
The seating of delegates is the prerogative of the nominee. Both Obama and Clinton have told Sen. Levin that they would seat the full delegations from Florida and Michigan.
The Rules Committee rules don’t matter. It’s up to the presumptive nominee — when we get one — to decide who gets seated at the Democratic Convention:

[It] seems that even though the committee voted to give the delegates from Michigan and Florida only half a vote each at the convention, they will end up getting full votes.

That is the prerogative of the nominee. Senator Carl Levin of Michigan says that both Senator Barack Obama and Mrs. Clinton have told him that if they were nominated they would give the delegates full voting strength.

“We’re assured we’re going to get a full vote,” Mr. Levin said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

He added: “And both candidates have said that they want Michigan’s delegation to have a full vote. She said that yesterday and Senator Obama has said that he can guarantee that the Michigan delegation will be seated and they’ll have a full voice at the convention, when he has enough delegates to know that he’s the nominee.”

This raises some interesting questions — like whether the rules matter.

So what is really going on here?

[…]