Bad Deeds for 4/26/2010

 

Spill, Baby, Spill; Oil May Affect Louisiana Coast – Oil is leaking from the ruptured well of a large rig that exploded, burnt and sank in the Gulf of Mexico earlier this week, the US Coast Guard said Saturday.

The Coast Guard estimated that up to 1,000 of barrels of oil, or 42,000 gallons (158,987 liters) were spewing each day from a riser and a drill pipe, prompting further concerns of damage to Louisiana’s fragile ecosystem, already stressed by hurricanes and coastal erosion. Officials confirmed the discovery a day after the Coast Guard said that no oil appeared to be leaking from the well head.

The best case scenario is sealing off the pipe ruptures in a few days; the worst case scenario is a matter of months. The Coast Guard said it would take several days before they determine how to stop the pipe leaks 5,000 feet (1,525 meters) down in the Gulf waters. Petty Officer Connie Terrell told AFP the oil sheen was now 20 miles (32 kilometers) in diameter about 40 miles (64 km) off the Louisiana coast.

 

Senate Republicans Fighting To Keep Wall Street Negotiations Secret – For the better part of a year, the GOP has blasted Democrats for legislating “behind closed doors” and making “secret deals.” On Monday afternoon, the Senate will vote on a motion to proceed to debate Wall Street reform in public on the Senate floor.

Yet Republicans say their 41 members are united and will oppose the motion, in order to encourage Democrats to continue negotiating with them behind closed doors.

 

The Arizona of 2010 is the Soviet Union of 1963 – A new Arizona law requires that all police officers with a reasonable suspicion that an individual might not be in our country legally, must demand to see that person’s papers.

It also requires that each person who has immigrated carry those papers at all times or be in violation of the law themselves.

It even creates a private right of action that allows anyone, from an ordinary citizen to the Minutemen, to file suit against individual law enforcement officers who they believe are refusing to enforce the new act.

The new law makes anyone with brown skin, anyone who looks like he might be from Eastern Europe, the Irish guy who works behind the bar at a pub, anyone with an accent – frankly anyone who looks the least bit like they might be an immigrant – subject to the demand: “Papers please.”
That phrase — “papers please” – is something that the authorities asked you in the old Soviet Union or Nazi Germany. It has never been something we ever expected to hear uttered in the United States of America. It is as un-American as jack boots. Unless this law is stopped, thousands of people – many of them perfectly legal American citizens – will begin to hear it regularly in the state of Arizona.

 

South Carolina Lt. Gov., Blames ‘Flat-Out Lazy’ People For Immigration Problems – South Carolina Lt. Governor Andre Bauer (R-S.C.) introduced a new line of reasoning into the contentious immigration debate last week, blaming “flat-out lazy” people for allowing illegal immigrants to thrive in his state.

“The real problem is the work force,” Bauer said during the first Republican gubernatorial debate on Friday. “The problem is we have a give-away system that is so strong that people would rather sit home and do nothing than do these jobs.”

“Laziness is not a disability,” Bauer continued. “There are a lot of people that are flat-out lazy and they are using up the goods and services we have in this state.”

Lt. Governor Bauer received national attention earlier this year when he compared people receiving public assistance to stray animals, and then delivered a half-hearted apology.

 

Republican Newsletter Insults Women – A statement published in the Medina County Republican Newsletter aimed at the Democratic female incumbent stated, “Take Betty Sutton out of the House and put her back in the kitchen.” The statement reflects a callous dismissal of the millions of ways women add value to our society and our country, whether they work within the home or outside the home.

Regards,

Jim