I am becoming a disgruntled Obama supporter

[ugabuga]

Your source, please.

My source is from AP Associated Press
The Associated Press: Judge who nixed drilling ban has oil investments

 

[30A Skunkape]

The Federal Judge who ruled against the 6-month moratorium on deep water drilling benefited financially from that ruling: he had stock in several oil & oil services companies.

It is possible that he made the correct ruling on the law, irrespective of the fact that he benefited financially from his ruling. However, this sort of situation erodes the people's confidence in the judicial system. It seems to me he should have recused himself to avoid any possible appearance of impropriety.

I know the decision has been appealed, but does anyone know whether a higher court might call for a retrial just based on the Judge's possible bias?

Here is the full scoop. I don't think this is that big of a deal, as there is no evidence the judge was raking in the moolah from his petroleum stock. I have no idea what is in my portfolio other than large categories such as 'foreign capital', etc. Maybe he didn't, either. Judge Martin Feldman releases investment report, raising more questions | NOLA.com

 

[30A Skunkape]

I understand what you are saying about oil drilling and domestic production, but IMO both the Gulf Coast and the overall US economy will greatly benefit in the long run by embracing green jobs and opportunities instead of continuing to cling to the petroleum industry.

Even if we are too dumb to learn anything from the current disaster and clamor to drill everywhere there is oil, the day will still come (as it has before) when we are facing an economic or energy crisis because we are dependent on dwindling oil and have no feasible options.

Heavily polluting industries that continue to shed jobs as they get too big to fail are not the future. Green collar jobs that improve our communities, health, and bank accounts are.

Define 'embrace'. I am all for embracing green technology, ie, research and development, with the given that we are at least a generation or two from large scale weaning from oil. I heard a piece about some people who were having some success somehow or the other extracting petroleum products out of algae utilizing much of the same refining technology we currently use. The perfected process is, of course, years away. But there is this myth that somehow we can just turn off the oil spigot, slap up some solar panels and windmills, unroll the suppressed plans for the electric car and away we would go. Not gonna happen like that.

 

[ugabuga]

Here is the full scoop. I don't think this is that big of a deal, as there is no evidence the judge was raking in the moolah from his petroleum stock. I have no idea what is in my portfolio other than large categories such as 'foreign capital', etc. Maybe he didn't, either. Judge Martin Feldman releases investment report, raising more questions | NOLA.com

Here's a quote from the NOLA article Skunkape cites:

Judges have lots of discretion in when to recuse themselves, and at least six judges in federal court in New Orleans have voluntarily removed themselves from hearing oil cases because of conflicts of stock ownership or family members' employment.

The law governing judicial recusal says that judges shall recuse themselves when they have a "financial interest in the subject matter in controversy" and calls upon a judge to "inform himself about his personal and fiduciary financial interests" so as to avoid problems.

 

[lazin&drinkin]

Had the conservatives been as honest in their feelings as liberals are being we wouldn't have had to suffer through the continuing damage of GW's second term.

There are parallel universes. Which one do you frequent? Feelings? Honest in them? Check out Doonesberry in today's (7/4) paper or online. Trudeau is liberal and he's apparently being honest with his feelings. Bush's second term was bad enough, but Obama's first is the all-time worst. Honest feelings elected this idealogue, and we're going to suffer for it for many years.

 

[AlphaCrab]

There are parallel universes. Which one do you frequent? Feelings? Honest in them? Check out Doonesberry in today's (7/4) paper or online. Trudeau is liberal and he's apparently being honest with his feelings. Bush's second term was bad enough, but Obama's first is the all-time worst. Honest feelings elected this idealogue, and we're going to suffer for it for many years.

I think not, under the circumstances of what was thrown at him after the innauguration.

Lazin n' drinkin'--what would you have had him do differently?

 

[Lisa Ruby]

It will be difficult to have any environmental cases tried, as they should be, on their merits, as long as judges are in the pockets of big oil:

Appeals court can't rehear Katrina greenhouse-gas suit because of judges' recusals | NOLA.com

 

[LuciferSam]

Define 'embrace'. I am all for embracing green technology, ie, research and development, with the given that we are at least a generation or two from large scale weaning from oil. I heard a piece about some people who were having some success somehow or the other extracting petroleum products out of algae utilizing much of the same refining technology we currently use. The perfected process is, of course, years away. But there is this myth that somehow we can just turn off the oil spigot, slap up some solar panels and windmills, unroll the suppressed plans for the electric car and away we would go. Not gonna happen like that.

No, not like that. We'll follow the lead of some other country who gets there before we do.

 

[Jdarg]

Define 'embrace'. I am all for embracing green technology, ie, research and development, with the given that we are at least a generation or two from large scale weaning from oil. I heard a piece about some people who were having some success somehow or the other extracting petroleum products out of algae utilizing much of the same refining technology we currently use. The perfected process is, of course, years away. But there is this myth that somehow we can just turn off the oil spigot, slap up some solar panels and windmills, unroll the suppressed plans for the electric car and away we would go. Not gonna happen like that.

I don't know anyone who expects that. Most discussions I hear and read involve the widespread use of cleaner fuel sources within 20 years- that is the goal.

 

[Yzarctoo]

I think Rita what they were really saying and thinking was " WTH (your words) we
have a live one here. She is not your normal same old
same old candidate."