Do you know who is VERY excited at prospect of a Romney presidency? Lobbyists!

Courtesy of Politico:

President Barack Obama’s gone further than any president to keep lobbyists out of the White House — even signing executive orders to do it. 

But the mood on K Street is brightening. 

Industry insiders believe that Mitt Romney will unshackle the revolving door and give lobbyists a shot at the government jobs their Democratic counterparts have been denied for the past four years, a dozen Republican lobbyists said in conversations with POLITICO. 

"I've heard they are likely not to black ball anybody from any particular sector," said Republican lobbyist Sam Geduldig at Clark, Lytle & Geduldig. "I assume, everyone is welcome to apply. I'm sure they are interested in getting the best people possible." 

Allowing lobbyists back into the White House could be a PR nightmare early on in a new administration, some Republicans fear. Romney would have to toss out Obama’s orders, which shook up how President George W. Bush did business and let Obama claim his agenda wouldn’t be hijacked by special interests. 

Sources close to Romney’s campaign say there has been no official word from the campaign on what the rules about lobbyists in the administration will be. And Romney himself has said nothing definitive on the trail about the issue. 

But there are clear signs that lobbyists could be back in the executive branch. 

Come on, there is NO doubt that Romney will fill his administration with lobbyists, and big business types. Who else does he even know?

If Romney wins the American people will have virtually NO say in the policy decisions that come out of his administration, and it will be like Disneyland for the 1%.

Essentially he will be like George W. Bush on steroids, and we can kiss social policies that help everyday Americans goodbye, while watching corporate raiders ride roughshod over now impotent regulators like something out of a B movie western.

I CANNOT believe that this asshole is still polling as well as he is!

BP oil spill may not be plugged until Christmas.

From Guardian.co.uk:

One of the world's leading authorities on oil well management has warned it could take until Christmas to cap the Gulf of Mexico spill that is devastating the southern coast of America – and BP's reputation.

Nansen Saleri, a Gulf drilling expert, said he hoped BP would meet its August timetable for capping the blown-out well, but made it clear success was not certain.

"I know it is a frightening assessment but everyone should be prepared for a worst-case scenario, and that could mean a Christmas timeframe," said Saleri, chief executive of the consultancy group Quantum Reservoir Impact. "The probable outcome is much better but the technological challenges … are enormous."

The futures of BP and of wildlife around the Gulf of Mexico are largely dependent on the rapid success of two "relief" wells that are being drilled in an attempt to halt anywhere between 20,000 and 40,000 barrels of oil a day that is flowing out of the stricken Macondo subsea hole.

Saleri, who dealt personally with four blowouts during a career with Saudi Aramco and Chevron, said the BP fire and spill was the worst he had seen. He believes it may cause more damage than the Ixtoc I blowout 30 years ago, which is regarded as the most damaging of its kind.

Just when you cannot believe that the news about this spill could get any worse.

I was trying to imagine HOW this tragedy might affect the elections in November if it is still unresolved, and to be honest I have no idea if this hurts the Democrats more than the Republicans, the other way around, or if EVERYBODY gets smeared by the spill.

It seems that the person who may suffer the biggest backlash will surely be the President, and we can all be thankful that HE is not up for re-election right now.  I absolutely do not believe that is fair, but he is the face of government, and government surely does not have control of this situation.

Obama is trying to get some things in place to help the people affected by the spill however.  For one thing he is getting ready to force BP to set aside 20 billion dollars for clean up and damages, as well as preparing for the long term effects this spill might have on our country.

“In the same way that our view of our vulnerabilities and our foreign policy was shaped profoundly by 9/11,” the president said in an Oval Office interview on Friday, "I think this disaster is going to shape how we think about the environment and energy for many years to come.”

But with all of this focus on President Obama, and his administration's response to this calamity, I think we need to be reminded as to just how we came to be in this predicament in the first place.