Tastes Like Carter

Courtesy of conservativedailynews.com

Tastes Like Carter

Obama Re-thinking Job Killing Regs

International Business Times - The U.S. President, Barack Obama, has shelved the controversial plan to tighten air-quality rule on Friday, said the officials. The rule designed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was aimed to reduce emission of health-threatening smog, but irked the congressional Republicans and businesses in the U.S. Businessmen and Republicans welcomed Obama's decision of abandoning the "job-killing" smog rule saying it showed his growing sensitiveness toward the presently decimated American economy, whereas environmentalists criticized the decision describing it "unfortunate" and a "new low for President Obama."

They have accused him of being defeated by the corporate polluters, and the American Lung Association said they are preparing to take legal action against Obama. "This is a huge win for corporate polluters and huge loss for public health," said the dismayed Gene Karpinski, the President of League of Conservation Voters. However, the administration defended their decision saying it was based on merits and certainly not forced by the industry pressure. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Obama Re-thinking Job Killing Regs

EPA Setting Stage for Electricity Blackouts in Texas....too

Four Corners Power Plant

Fort Worth Star-Telegram -The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, operator of the state's power grid, said in a report today that a new federal environmental regulation would reduce generating capacity and put the grid "at increasing risk of emergency events," including rotating power outages. The Jan. 1 implementation date for the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, designed to curb air pollution from power plants, leaves ERCOT with "an extremely truncated period" in which to assess the impact of the rule and "no realistic opportunity to take steps that could even partially offset the substantial losses of available operating capacity," it said. The report outlined three scenarios, with even the "best-case scenario" expected to result in the loss of an estimated 1,200 to 1,400 megawatts of generating capacity during peak consumption periods, ERCOT said.

"Had this incremental reduction been in place in 2011, ERCOT would have experienced rotating outages during days in August," the report said. Rotating power outages are implemented as an emergency measure when electricity demand is close to exceeding power supplies from generators. Peak power consumption hit record levels that exceeded 65,000 megawatts on several days of exceptionally high temperatures in August, causing ERCOT to implement initial emergency measures and putting it close to instituting rotating outages. The Environmental Protection Agency, in a statement responding to the ERCOT report, said Texas "has an ample range of cost-effective emission reductions options" for complying with the rule "without threatening electricity reliability or the continued operation of coal-burning units." Read full story here: News New Mexico

EPA Setting Stage for Electricity Blackouts in Texas....too

Jemez Off Reservation Casino Dealt a Major Blow by Interior Department Ruling

Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs Larry Echo Hawk today issued decisions on four tribal gaming applications in California and New Mexico, determining that two of the proposed gaming sites meet the legal and regulatory requirements and two do not. “Our responsibility under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act is clear: we must review each application on a case by case basis and determine whether it meets the standards outlined in law and regulation,” said Echo Hawk. The Assistant Secretary issued a negative decision on other tribal gaming applications for the Pueblo of Jemez, in New Mexico. The Pueblo of Jemez is located northwest of Albuquerque, and was seeking to develop a class III gaming facility nearly 300 miles away in Doña Ana County, near the New Mexico-Texas border.

Larry Echo Hawk

Hawk said the department had "closely reviewed the proposal" from the Pueblo of Jemez and determined that it "does not meet the requirements under the law necessary for approval. With the Pueblo of Jemez, we had significant concerns about the Tribe’s ability to effectively exercise jurisdiction over a parcel nearly 300 miles from its existing reservation.” The Pueblo of Jemez was seeking to develop its gaming facility under the Secretarial Determination exception. The Department did not issue a determination on whether the proposed gaming facility would be in the best interest of the Tribe, and not detrimental to the surrounding community. Instead, the Department notified the Tribe that it would not acquire the land in trust because of concerns about the Tribe’s ability to effectively exercise jurisdiction on the proposed gaming site.

Jemez Off Reservation Casino Dealt a Major Blow by Interior Department Ruling

Emails Show Senior Obama Officials Snagged in Fast and Furious Scandal

Eric Holder

Daily Caller - The heated Congressional investigation into the botched Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives program Operation Fast and Furious reached a whole new level on Friday. New emails obtained by the Los Angeles Times appear to show senior Obama administration and White House officials were briefed on the gun-walking operation. The three White House officials implicated by the LA Times’ reporting are Kevin M. O’Reilly, the director of North American Affairs for the White House national security staff; Dan Restrepo, the president’s senior Latin American advisor; and Greg Gatjanis, a White House national security official. The emails were sent between July 2010 and February 2011, before the scandalous ATF program was exposed, according the LA Times.

Brian Terry

The LA Times says a senior administration official denies that the emails which lead Fast and Furious ATF agent Brian Newell sent to O’Reilly — who later briefed Restrepo and Gatjanis –included details on “investigative tactics” used in the program. By “investigative tactics,” the White House means how ATF agents facilitated the sale of firearms to drug cartels via “straw purchasers,” or people who could legally buy guns in the U.S. but did so with the intention of selling them to individuals who would traffic them to Mexico. Those emails apparently show Newell and O’Reilly discussing how the program was affecting Mexico. Another explosive new detail that emerged on Thursday was a set of documents showing senior officials in Phoenix attempting to cover up a connection between Fast and Furious weapons and U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry’s death.
 Read full story here: News New Mexico

Emails Show Senior Obama Officials Snagged in Fast and Furious Scandal

Chavez: Clean Energy Crash-and-Burn

Linda Chavez

Townhall - The biggest star in the Obama firmament of green-jobs companies has just imploded. Solyndra, a California-based firm that produced solar panels, declared bankruptcy this week, putting more than a thousand additional workers on the unemployment line. The Solyndra story tells you all you need to know about President Obama's ability to "create" jobs -- green or otherwise. Solyndra was no ordinary startup. When the company broke ground on its plant, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and California's then-governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, used a golden shovel to dig the first hole. And it wasn't just the shovel that was gold-plated. The company received over half a billion dollars in federal loan guarantees for the project. But U.S. taxpayers will likely never see a dime repaid now that the company has gone into Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The loan guarantees were controversial from the outset. The chief investor in Solyndra was George Kaiser, a major Obama fundraiser. The guarantees were part of a $90 billion federal program, but Solyndra was first in line to receive the largesse. House Republicans have subpoenaed White House documents and are now investigating whether Solyndra received favorable treatment because of its political ties. There seems to be more than a whiff of old-fashioned corruption here, but only a thorough investigation will tell.
One thing is certain: The president and secretary of energy made repeated trips to Solyndra's Silicon Valley plant over the last couple of years, using the facility as a backdrop to deliver clean-energy agitprop. The president's most recent trip there occurred in May 2010, not long after a government audit questioned whether the company could even survive. Read full column here: News New Mexico

Chavez: Clean Energy Crash-and-Burn

Miller: Redistricting causes some political deaths

Jay Miller

Inside the Capitol - SANTA FE -- Get ready for a slam-bang legislative session beginning tomorrow. Redistricting sessions are especially brutal. At least one political death always occurs. As usual, the Albuquerque metropolitan area is set to devour a few more legislative seats from the rest of the state. The size of New Mexico's legislature is set by law. So high growth in one region means seats will be lost in areas of slower growth. But isn't there a way that districts can be redrawn so that no legislator loses a seat? Yes, there is, but the Legislature's redistricting consultant, Brian Sanderoff, says the map would be good only for comic relief.  Read full story here: News New Mexico

Miller: Redistricting causes some political deaths

Another Bad Jobs Report

MSN - Employment growth ground to a halt in August, as sagging consumer confidence discouraged already skittish U.S. businesses from hiring, keeping pressure on the Federal Reserve to provide more monetary stimulus to aid the struggling economy. Nonfarm payrolls were unchanged last month, the Labor Department said Friday. It was the first time since 1945 that the government has reported a net monthly job change of zero. The August payrolls report was the worst since September 2010, while nonfarm employment for June and July was revised to show 58,000 fewer jobs. “The bottom line is this is bad,” Diane Swonk, chief economist with financial services firm Mesirow Financial, told CNBC Friday. Read full story here: News New Mexico

Another Bad Jobs Report

DOJ Attack on Gibson

Courtesy of conservativedailynews.com

DOJ Attack on Gibson

Recusal of NM regulators sought in emissions case

From the Santa Fe New Mexican.com - ALBUQUERQUE — An environmental group is asking that three New Mexico regulators recuse themselves from the debate over whether the state should uphold its rules for managing greenhouse gas emissions. New Energy Economy filed a pair of motions with the board this week. One challenges whether Environmental Improvement Board members James Casciano, Greg Fulfer and Deborah Peacock would be fair and impartial as the board considers petitions aimed at overturning the rules. The other motion asks for remaining board members to disclose their past and current relationships with the electric utilities, oil and natural gas developers and others who have petitioned to have the rules repealed. "We're not trying to ambush them. We're giving them an opportunity to explain themselves," said Mariel Nanasi, executive director of New Energy Economy. "We just want the law to be followed, and we want a fair hearing." The seven-member board meets Friday, but it will likely be October before the recusal matter is considered. Read more

Recusal of NM regulators sought in emissions case