Breaking: Judge rules against Obamatorium on drilling; link to decision added; Interior Secy Salazar roasted
News just coming in on judge’s decision in drilling case. Stand by.
Via Bloomberg:
A New Orleans federal judge lifted the six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling imposed by President Barack Obama following the largest oil spill in U.S. history.
Obama temporarily halted all drilling in waters deeper than 500 feet on May 27 to give a presidential commission time to study improvements in the safety of offshore operations. Government lawyers told U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman that the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon rig off the Louisiana coast in April was a “game changer’’ that exposed the risks of offshore oil exploration.
“We need to make sure deepwater drilling is as safe as we thought it was the day before this incident,’’ Brian Collins, a lawyer for the government, told Feldman in a court hearing June 21. “It is crucial to take the time because to fail to do so would be to gamble with the long-term future of this region.’’
More than a dozen Louisiana offshore service and supply companies sued U.S. regulators to lift the ban. State officials claim 20,000 Louisiana jobs are in jeopardy if the deepwater drilling suspension lasts 18 months…
…Lawyers for the drilling companies told Feldman the moratorium illegally sidesteps a required industry comment period. They also said regulators failed to tell Obama that all active deepwater rigs passed an immediate re-inspection after the Deepwater Horizon exploded and sank, with only two rigs reporting minor violations and the rest getting approval to continue operations.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal asked Feldman on June 20 to lift the ban in 30 days after the judge imposes more stringent safety and oversight procedures. Such rules would incorporate the results of several ongoing drilling safety studies, including that of the presidential commission, Jindal and Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell wrote in court papers.
White House says it will appeal the injunction. Headed to 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Hill has quotes from WH spokesman Robert Gibbs.
You can read the decision here (hat tip: Jamie Dupree).
Judge Feldman homes in on blatant lies incorporated into Deepwater report by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. His head should roll:
In the Executive Summary to the Report, the Secretary [Salazar] recommends “a six-month moratorium on permits for new wells being drilled using floating rigs.” He also recommends “an immediate halt to drilling operations on the 33 permitted wells, not including relief wells currently being drilled by BP, that are currently being drilled using floating rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.”
Much to the government’s discomfort and this Court’s uneasiness, the Summary also states that “the recommendations contained in this report have been peer-reviewed by seven experts identified by the National Academy of Engineering.” As the plaintiffs, and the experts themselves, pointedly observe, this statement was misleading. The experts charge it was a “misrepresentation.” It was factually incorrect. Although the experts agreed with the safety recommendations contained in the body of the main Report, five of the National Academy experts and three of the other experts have publicly stated that they “do not agree with the six month blanket moratorium” on floating drilling.
Takeaway from decision: “After reviewing the Secretary’s Report, the Moratorium Memorandum, and the Notice to Lessees, the Court is unable to divine or fathom a relationship between the findings and the immense scope of the moratorium. The Report, invoked by the Secretary, describes the offshore oil industry in the Gulf and offers many compelling recommendations to improve safety. But it offers no time line for implementation, though many of the proposed changes are represented to be implemented immediately. The Report patently lacks any analysis of the asserted fear of threat of irreparable injury or safety hazards posed by the thirty-three permitted rigs also reached by the moratorium.”
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It’s not shaping up as a good day for Obama. Maybe he needs to fit in a round of golf to clear his head.
Oh…. snap…
Obama over reaches his legal authority, and gets slapped…
Luv it… but it needs to happen more often.
Generals and judges and bears, oh my.
Considering that the “moratorium” was based on a “recommendation” that was itself a bald-faced lie by the Hope-a-Dope regime, this is good news. So far, at least.
We’ll see what Eric “A Nation of Cowards!”(TM) Holder has up his sleeve when he no doubt appeals the decision.
This is just the latest in a string of court fights the Obama administration will be involved in for many years.
While Obama has no interest in the rule of law, the PEOPLE of the United States DO!
This is just the best thing I have read all day! This bho has not had a good day. I bet mo will be a tiny bit ‘cool’ in the wh bedroom tonight! A gotta get away for some golf should help!
L
.
He will sue the judge for interfering with the one’s agenda….
Oil companies better get to work before Obummer tries to stop them again.
There is no justification for shutting down most or all of drilling in the Gulf because the track records and designs can be reviewed without shutting down any wells. It is only that particular design that is suspect compounded by BP’s atrocious safety record. The problem isn’t “everyone and everything”. The moratorium is a capricious political act that can clearly be linked to a very obvious agenda.
I hope the appeal process is accelerated.
Go, Jindal,go!
I am so glad someone in govt is for us. Hope this lasts a while. Now get the rest of those idle skimmers to the coast. Get the Coast Guard to help us, not hinder us.
It is about time the rule of law is enforced in America.
Bankrupting 33 oil rig companies for the sake of political correctness was insanity.
I think it’s great to see Marty Feldman in action again. Those crazy eyes!
What? Oh. Sorry.
Excellent.
Wow! It’s a snowy forecast for Hades today. Unbelievable!
(Blizzard conditions in Hell if the Vikings ever win a Super Bowl)
Smack down!!!! May Az be the next winner followed by the states against Obamacare.
HA HA!
/Milhouse
Let’s hope this stays away from the 9th Circus Court..
I am thinking the Apolocapyse will be upon us if the Chicago Cubbies win another World Series
GSP
Ima gonna sue for you usin’ my joke without attribution, Hangfire!
On the topic at hand – all that needed to be done was a thorough inspection of any similar rigs that Obama might claim to be worried about. If they pass inspection, let people go back to work. If not, fix what’s wrong and then let people go back to work.
But since this isn’t about safety at all but rather Obama’s political agenda, common sense doesn’t even come into play.
good news is it will go to the 5th circuit which I believe is down in Florida.
The destruction of our legal system cannot be allowed to continue by this two bit tin pot wanna be.
Thank God!
I hope it sticks. We can not afford to lose these jobs.
Does the Judge realize that Barack H. Obama, President of the United States, has a Nobel Prize? Does he know that Obama once was a community organizer? Does he not realize that Obama, prior to becoming a politician, was a very-good college instructor?
Does the Judge realize that Steven Chu, Secretary of Energy for the United States, has a Nobel Prize?
Does he realize that Joe Biden can properly pronounce words like “econometrics” and can even spell “spaghetti” properly?
DOES HE REALIZE THAT AL GORE, INVENTOR OF THE INTERNET AND ALL THAT IS GOOD IN THIS WORLD HAS A NOBEL PRIZE? HOW ABOUT JAMES EARL CARTER, FORMER PRESIDENT OF WAL-MART, OR SOMETHING, AND A NOBEL PRIZE WINNER?
Da-yum, this judge don’t know nuthin. Clearly Obama and his pals are way WAY smarter than everyone else.
I say we make everyone stop working for six months until President Chauncey Gardener figures out what each and every one of us should be doing with our time, when not voting for him and throwing rocks at that mean’ol Rush Limbaugh.
Off topic, but it looks like Obama may try to use an executive order to give a blanket amnesty bypassing Congress completely:
Several Senators have learned of a possible plan by the Obama Administration that would provide a mass Amnesty for the nation’s 11-18 million illegal aliens. Led by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), eight Senators addressed a letter to the President asking for answers to questions about a plan that would allow DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano to provide an amnesty if they can’t secure enough votes for a bill in the Senate.
Also, Mexico files suit against Arizona over the immigration law:
This administrations “peer review” also includes the Dear Leader’s daily bathroom chat with daughters as one of the experts (plug the hole,Daddy). His reasons for destroying the oil industry are political. No one is fooled.
Meanwhile,here is another example of delay in helping the people on the Gulf Coast—please note the contrast of how President Bush responded with the Jones Act:
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/06/21/robert-bluey-gulf-spill-katrina-jones-act-waive-obama/
Nope, fifth circuit is in New Orleans, and it is made up of mostly republican appointees. This judge was a Reagan appointee.
This is shaping up to be fun…
Wonder if the BHO admin even cares, now that they’ve done their shakedown …
On the bright side, Pres Obama finally found someone’s ass to kick!!!
That joke is older than Madonna’s training bra.
If you wish to claim credit for it, so be it, Gramps. Ha!
That is even better news then. Thanks for the correction.
I’m willing to bet good money (pre-Obama admin. money) that investigations will show that BP and probably other oil companies have been getting by with whatever short-cuts they can, because they throw a LOT of money politicians way.
We need to clean up corporate America, not by capping executive salaries, but by an overhaul of the tax code and limits on campaign contributions.
Can they bring the suit against the ‘individual mandate’ in the HealthsCare Bill to this judge?
How about the government buying private companies and dictating the hiring and firing and compensation of executives?
Article II, Section 1 eligibility?
Appointing ‘Czars’ to get around Senate ‘Advice and Consent’?
…
What a neat way of saying one of barry hussien’s cronies LIED LIED AND LIED!!!
Like master, like minion…
On June 22nd, 2010 at 2:30 pm, nlebou said:
+1
We also cannot afford to lose that oil. Unless, of course, this economy can withstand $7/gallon gasoline.
True. Only three Clintonites and one Carter. Majority are Reagan, Bush41, and Bush43 appointees.
And the supervising justice at SCOTUS for emergency appeals from the Fifth Circuit is…..Scalia!
The 5th Circuit is in New Orleans. I don’t like Onutjob’s chances.
Obama: How come we don’t control the 5th circuit?
Emanuel: Give it time your highness. In your second term , we will fix that.
Obama: You better or I’ll kick your @ss.
They might be a room full of smart guys, but at least the Gulf wasn’t polluted when the “idiots” were in power.
Obama loses—-USA, Louisiana WINS. On to round #2!
If this reaches the Supreme Court, I’d like to see the following issue incorporated and resolved:
Is Obama even Constitutionally eligible to hold the office of President?
If he’s not eligible to hold the office, then he never had authority to declare the moratorium in the first place.
Even Michelle Malkin admitted that there could be a legitimate Constitutional issue here.
The “natural born Citizen” issue must be resolved, once and for all.
Ha! Obowmao just got drilled by a high hard one!
Errah, so will these oil rig jobs be tallied on Obama’s Stimulus Jobs for being either created or saved??!!
Off topic: mexihole to sue AZ in federal court saying they must protect the “rights” of “their” citizens…well gee how about this?? recall your citizens and there won’t be a problem eh??
oops forgot to add…mexihole shouldn’t have “standing” in a U.S. court to sue a State. Megyn Kelly says they don’t and so did her guest. We’ll see…
So the White House committed perjury to further its power grab.
And once again the media is silent.
Another day, another FAIL for this administration.
I loved Gov. Jindal’s response to the WH wanting to appeal:
“the fact that the federal government can’t do their job, shouldn’t cost thousands of Louisianans our jobs.”
Gov. Jindal
Liberal lies getting the third degree by a Judge, with predictable results. No liberal hyperbole can stand the scrutiny of an unbiased pair of eyes.
spacycakes…Governor Jindal is a leader. I wish he would run in 2012 for President. Thanks for the link.
We’re probably financing the suit and DOJ is no doubt offering legal advice and assistance.
I would love to see a Christie/Jindal, Jindal/Brewer, Christie/Brewer ticket in 2012. Any combination above would be awesome!
Eat it, Barry.
America needs CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP to remind leftists why the government can’t take action denied to it by the US Constitution.
We live in a Constitutional Republic with strict limits placed upon the federal government. All too many denizens of Washington, DC have forgotten this.
We, the people, need to remind them of this at every opportunity.
I like Jindal, but he is not eligible to hold the office of President. He is not a natural born citizen. His parents were not U.S. citizens at the time of his birth.
Anybody know what the 5th US Circuit looks like, politically? And politics is what it’s all about, Chicago-style. This first strike is just the opening round, I’m afraid. But good for the judge for pointing out what a hick Salazar is.
I think there’s precedent… just sayin’.
To the contrary, Bobby Jindal was born in the United States, and has a birth certificate to prove it. Therefore, he is eligible to be president. As of now, the courts have held that people born here, even if their parents are flat-out illegal, are legal residents and citizens. I know Arizona wants to challenge that, but their is a minority view right now.
I wonder if there are links supporting that…
On a happier note, the 5th Circuit has been one of the best in the nation. I dunno who is on it currently, but it has a strong tradition of sound rulings.
The judge today did what was rational…as opposed to what THE ONE wanted.
I wonder when OBlame-o will say that the 5th US Circuit Court acted stupidly…
Is that allowed in judicial circles? I mean, I know it is RARE…
On June 22nd, 2010 at 5:30 pm, WarEagle82 said:
I’d like to take exception…but the courts are still pretty good. There are very notorious and sad exceptions. This was a good day….
How optimistic of you…
I guess we most often hear of the worst decisions like Kelo. Still, for the sake of my children, I hope you are right…
Oilbama the Drilltator discovers the rule of law…
On June 22nd, 2010 at 5:23 pm, babiesgrandma said:
That’s why this must be resolved now. We must support and defend the founders’ intent of Article II Section 1. We cannot allow a new precedent to be set.
On June 22nd, 2010 at 5:23 pm, Ron said:
To the contrary, Bobby Jindal was born in the United States, and has a birth certificate to prove it. Therefore, he is eligible to be president. As of now, the courts have held that people born here, even if their parents are flat-out illegal, are legal residents and citizens. I know Arizona wants to challenge that, but their is a minority view right now.
I never said Jindal wasn’t born in the U.S.
He was.
I never said Jindal wasn’t born a Citizen.
What I said is the Jindal wasn’t born a natural born Citizen.
There is a difference.
The founders often referenced Vattel, and Vattel defined “natural born Citizen” as follows:
For more, see my post:
Are you saying he was born by C section instead of natural childbirth or that there was something unnatural about his birth, or that his parents were not citizens (of a different country)?
There is an appeal pending, so I’ll wait and see. It wouldn’t surprise me to see them line up a judge sympathetic to the government to rule on the appeal. In other words, I don’t trust them. Obama is trying hard to be a “one-man government” where what he says…goes. Forcing BP to pay for losses is also unconstitutional: due process of law is needed. You can’t issue an executive order granting ammesty either. What’s next? President for life?
Far be it for me to challenge a know-it-all lawyer but the logic doesn’t need attribution. There is NO evidence implicating ALL designs are suspect since this well only used ONE design. Follow that? What link would help you follow that?
As to BP’s safety record, it has been established over and over again. So at worst, the government could only rationalize a moratorium on BP rigs using that particular design.
You have a serious, serious ego problem dude. You need to get a handle on the difference between well-versed on a subject versus being a qualified expert. I am very well-versed on the oil industry but I have no qualifications that would make me an expert. Same as you. No one would ever call either of us in as “expert witnesses” in a trial. Get over yourself.
T-Bone,
Jindal was born in the country, but his parents were not citizens at the time of his birth. Therefore, he was not born a “natural born citizen”.
Natural born citizens are at least second-generation citizens.
The Founders fully intended that restriction, and had to include a grandfather clause (citizen at the time of the adoption of the Constitution), since the oldest natural born citizens in 1787 would have been only 11 years old.
Then establish it. Should be a walk-over, right?
Sorry, but that’s just stupid. If a full-tilt safety inspection found problems, only BP projects using long-string (like you really know what that means) design should be shut down???
Everything else you say is just projection.
14th amendment:
Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside
There is also U.S. vs Wong Kim Ark.
So who enforces the natural born citizen requirement and what are the remedies if they fail to do so?
Sounds to me like another one of those laws that we ignore if we don’t like it. Kinda like our immigration laws. People, including the executive branch, rationalize why we shouldn’t enforce it but its still a law.
In fact, the executive branch is suing Arizona because they don’t want to enforce it. They are actively undermining the federal law.
Anarchy and dictatorship is NOT what the founding fathers had in mind.
And Gen McC is bactracking on his statements because he knows they are against the “law”. eg court martial. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t believe what he said.
T-bone;
If he could not respect them…and I can certainly relate…he was honor-bound to bring his well-founded contempt to the American people AFTER stepping down. We need to hear from this man, but now we need to hear from him outside his role as war-fighter.
On June 22nd, 2010 at 7:20 pm, T-Bone said:
Congress has the Constitutional authority and responsibility to enforce the “natural born citizen” requirement and qualify the President-elect and Vice-President-elect chosen by the Electoral College.
See section 3 of the 20th Amendment.
1) Legislative Branch – The “certification” of the Electoral college vote was not performed according to the the specific instructions of the US Code of Federal Regulations Title 3, Chapter 1, Section 15:
Cheney did not call for objections.
If 1 Representative and 1 Senator stand up now to support the Constitution and the Rule of Law, I believe they could object to the certification of the Electoral College vote.
2) Judicial Branch – Legal challenges
2a) After the “certification”, but before swearing in:
Kerchner v Obama & Congress
2b) After swearing in: Quo Warranto. Expect Leo Donofrio and Steve Pidgeon to file a Quo Warranto case after they complete the Chrysler Bankruptcy case.
Thanks Rags. I was looking for a link to the Rolling Stones article. I read it. Ridiculous journalism. Making lots of unfounded assumptions but trying to come as as know it alls about the war etc. Took all the stuff service men do such as vulgar language and put it front and center, obviously to create a negative reaction. What a crock, but thats what I should have expected from a left wing magazine like that.
You know, if the strategy isn’t working, you get one that will. You don’t just give up. The quitters don’t think about what will happen then. Mass murder, growing strength of our enemies. Note they won’t quit. They see current bad stuff and think it will all disappear if we just quit. The have no idea. Instead of the world against Islamic terror, its the US against Islamic terror. Fight on.
And Salazar has re instituted the ban. But it’s got new language, so it’s legal.
/still trying to think what planet these people live on
A Strategy that has worked well for our young nation is to demand complete and unconditional surrender. After complete victory, you appoint an American General to run the country until it can come up with its own constitution and legislative bodies, and then leave.
That works well with nations, but not against tribes and factions. But you have to have a formal declaration of war against a whole nation, and it has to be done by both Senate and House. The last time THAT occurred was December 8, 1941.
Getting Afghanistan to allow us to enter their country and clean up the mess that has been allowed to accumulate is not a workable strategy. We show weakness in our collaboration.
How about a Quo Warranto case filed by the oil workers whose jobs are impacted by this moratorium?
By what authority (Quo Warranto) does Obama institute this ban?
The Interior Department is depending upon an expert report where the experts have complained that the recommendation was written after they wrote their contribution. The moratorium was not suggested by the experts.
Salazar’s “reload” is pathetic.
I expect the judge will issue another injunction as soon as Jindal and the other can file it. Hell, maybe before…
Was today the dawning of the Day Of The Courts?
The Kos Kidz talking point is that the judge had “financial interests” in oil companies, i.e. it was in his retirement portfolio or whatever. Yeah, I’m sure he consulted his portfolio instead of his law books and stuff before rendering his decision.
He should enter a contempt of court motion against Salazar.
The Obami have been having it all their way for some time now. Many of us have been wondering when the courts would assert some control. That day may finally have arrived.
Now *that* was a good a$$kicking!
Oops, I don’t think this is what B. Hussein Obama had in mind…
Oil companies, financial service companies and municipal bonds are in almost all large portfolios-index funds; this is the same lie that the Kos Kidz used to slam scientist exposing global warming scams.
Next the Kos Kidz will tell us the judge has a conflict because he puts oil and gasoline in his car. But that is the Kos Kidz-throwing tantrums after all these years.
===
Let your sidearm be like Master Card:
Don’t Leave home without it
Never let a crisis go to waste, and if you can perpetuate the crisis, do so.
This is nothing more than tacit martial law.