The Louisiana wetlands of Plaquemines Parrish are dying as a result of suspected malfeasance at the Deep Water Horizon oil platform that has caused what might go down in history as the worst ecological disaster.

Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser is the voice of American frustration. On Wednesday, his voice was one of several as James Carville and Mary Matalin toured the area in an airboat. Nungesser said, "The same oil that’s been out there two weeks ago is still out there, and nothing is being done. The marsh is dying. It’s dead."

Nungesser is clinging to hope that President Barack Obama’s visit to the region on May 28 (tomorrow) will result in much needed changes. He said he wants the President to support plans wanted by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal for the Environmental Protection Agency to issue dredging permits so that a berm can be constructed to protect the state’s threatened marshlands.

Anderson Cooper’s coverage of the Louisiana wetlands that aired Wednesday night should be a wake up call to America and to Congress, in particular. It’s time to quit squawking about the spill itself and get on with the clean up. British Petroleum is dragging its feet on providing sufficient resources, and its time for the President to read them the riot act. (continued below)

What Needs to Happen

Billy Nungesser and Bobby Jindall need to be given authority to hire whoever is necessary to do whatever is necessary to protect the wetlands from further damage and also to begin an earnest effort to clean what can be cleaned.

British Petroleum is responsible to pay for everything, so turn Nungesser and Jindall loose. For the time being, forget environmental studies. Those Louisiana guys don’t need anyone telling them how to clean their backyard. Just get out of their way, and let them get it done.

Republicans Need to Step Up

Republicans need to stop blocking legislation that would force British Petroleum to pay for everything – regardless of how much it costs. They need to realize this is one of America’s great resources and, for just a few moments, climb out of Big Business’s bed and do what’s right for the American people.

Voters Need to Pay Attention

This is serious stuff. It’s time to REALLY take names and kick a few butts. Any member of Congress who stands in the way of resolving this issue and who causes a delay of one minute more than what has already happened needs to be voted out of office, no matter what!

I don’t care if your Congressman or Senator stops by to wash your car and mow your yard, if the dude or dudette stands in the way of making the Gulf Coast whole again, and as quickly as humanly possible, bring ‘em home. Period.

James Carville told Anderson Cooper of CNN that he hoped President Obama would look BP in the eye and say, "I’m yore daddy," right before he tells them what will be done. Well, it is our responsibility as American citizens to look at our politicians and follow Carville’s advice.

All together now, "Who’s your daddy?" "I’m yore daddy, and this is what I expect you to do."

Uncle Brice Supporters

Say Hey to the Good Folks that make this blog possible:

Online Little Rock.com is where Uncle Brice got his start. There’s a ton of information on this site about Arkansas, Little Rock, dining, dancing, shopping (and shopping online). It’s also a high-trafficked Civil War information site. You can even find out stuff about all the colleges and universities of Arkansas.

Home Business Opportunities is a site that has never been more in demand. You can find legitimate ways to earn money from home as well as a lot of information about Internet marketing, writing, building traffic for your website, and more.

The owners of Online Little Rock have a mission in life to teach everyone about brain injury. They have two websites that have hundreds of pages of information, including visitor-submitted Brain Injury Stories. The sites are Brain Injury Online and Brain Injury Guide.

Beth’s Brain Injury Blog is a favorite in the brain injury community. She writes about the good, the bad and the ugly of brain injury and how you must maintain a sense of humor to live successfully whether you are the victim or a caregiver.

The Platinum Award for having one’s head planted firmly up one’s ass goes to Republican Congressman Todd Akin of Missouri. He does a DIS-service to his party and his nation by insisting the taxpayers of the United States spend $485 million dollars for an unwanted piece of equipment for the military.

For four years, the Pentagon has been trying to get rid of this program. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he would urge President Obama to veto any bill that extends the competitive engine program.

Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary, said this piece of equiment "is an unnecessary luxury we simply cannot afford, especially in our current fiscal condition."

The Problem for Everyone Else

Congressman Akin and his cohorts in crime on the House Armed Services Committee added this $485 million boondoggle to the Defense Spending Bill. Now, exactly how many members of Congress do you suppose will vote against defense spending? I can see it now: Republicans bash Democrats and President Obama for being soft on defending our nation. (more below)

The committee also decided to give a no-bid contract to Pratt and Whitney, a United Technologies Corporation unit, providing them with a ten-year monopoly on the airplane engine market. Being the good guys and gals that they truly must be, they also decided to give the Pentagon thirty F/A 18 Super Hornet fighter plans, eight more than they wanted.

In fact, I’m beginning to wonder if I got enough awards to go around ’cause there seems to be a whole lot of folks in the House of Not-Really-Representing-Citizens who have their heads firmly stuffed deep. So, with that said, here are YOUR Congressmen and Congresswomen:

House Armed Services Committee Members

Sixty-one members of the House of Representatives on one committee? Reckon there’s any back scratching going on there? With Republican Akin and the Democratic committee chairman both from the Show Me state of Missouri, should it be any wonder this would be the Show Me the Money Committee?

I mean, in other action taken by the committee, they made plans to spend $10.3 BILLION for ballistic missile defenses, which is $361.6 million more than requested by President Obama. But Rhode Island Congressman Langevin explained that the extra funds would strengthen our defenses against "the most immediate threats from nations such as Iran and North Korea." What immediate threat is he talking about? Can either of those countries launch a missile capable of reaching the United States? I think he just read the headlines in the newspaper and found a couple of countries he could throw in as a justification for overfunding the President’s request. Boy, it’s a good thing Australia didn’t invade Antartica!

Oh, the committee did come up with one money-saving idea. Rather than funding the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System with the requested $352 million, they cut out $300 million. One of the functions of the NPOESS is to provide information to the military about weather conditions so they’ll know whether or not to fly those planes they don’t want.

The NPOESS website says, "The NPOESS will circle the Earth approximately once every 100 minutes. [It] will be able to monitor the entire planet and provide data for long-range weather and climate forecasts. The data gathered by the NPOESS will aid in reducing the potential loss of human life and property by allowing more efficient disaster planning and response to severe weather conditions such as tornadoes and floods. Military users will benefit from the NPOESS as well, tactically and strategically. The NPOESS will permit the military to capitalize on favorable weather conditions or avoid harsh weather conditions that could hinder maneuverability."

Then, again, I guess ocean-monitoring is not on anyone’s agenda. After all, what could possibly happen out in the ocean that could affect the citizens of the United States?

Uncle Brice Supporters

Say Hey to the Good Folks that make this blog possible:

Online Little Rock.com is where Uncle Brice got his start. There’s a ton of information on this site about Arkansas, Little Rock, dining, dancing, shopping (and shopping online). It’s also a high-trafficked Civil War information site. You can even find out stuff about all the colleges and universities of Arkansas. Keep up with Arkansas Elections 2010.

Home Business Opportunities is a site that has never been more in demand. You can find legitimate ways to earn money from home as well as a lot of information about Internet marketing, writing, building traffic for your website, and more.

The owners of Online Little Rock have a mission in life to teach everyone about brain injury. They have two websites that have hundreds of pages of information, including visitor-submitted Brain Injury Stories. The sites are Brain Injury Online and Brain Injury Guide.

Beth’s Brain Injury Blog is a favorite in the brain injury community. She writes about the good, the bad and the ugly of brain injury and how you must maintain a sense of humor to live successfully whether you are the victim or a caregiver.

Dr. Jocelyn Elders, former Surgeon General of the United States, favors the legalization of marijuana. She said, "I have been speaking out about it for a long time. I’m a member of the board of advisors of a medical marijuana group. To me, it’s not nearly as toxic for our bodies as tobacco or alcohol. It should be legalized. As far as we know, it doesn’t cause lung cancer, it doesn’t cause people to go out and drive drunk and commit crimes. If it helps reduce the nausea and vomiting and reduce leg cramps, make patients feel better, what’s wrong with that? We should make it available to people who need it. I feel if people want marijuana, they could get a prescription. Then we can tax it and know who is getting it. I don’t think it is a drug that is doing harm to this country. By arresting people, putting them in jail for crimes related to marijuana, we’re spending millions on drug enforcement and it causes more problems. Young people are convicted of a crime, they can’t get money to go to school, we have over 2 million prisoners a years and many related to drug use—it is a vicious cycle and one we created." (interview with Annette Fuentes posted online August 3, 2009)

Republican Congressman Mark Souder (yes, the same one who recently resigned for having an affair with one of his Congressional employees) authored a bill in 1998 that revoked student aid for any student caught possessing marijuana. By 2006, over 200,000 students had been denied aid. In February 2006, Congress softened the law so that it would affect only those who were convicted of possessing or selling drugs while they were in college and receiving aid.

Taxing Marijuana Sales

Imagine legal marijuana sales being taxed like cigarettes. The federal cigarette tax is a fraction over five cents per cigarette. While there is a large variance in state taxes on cigarettes, the average is about 50% higher than the federal tax. In other words, with an average tax of over twelve cents per joint, how much revenue could be raised in the United States?

Create Marijuana Jobs

What if the legalization applied to marijuana grown ONLY in the United States? There could be production and quality standards for U.S. grown marijuana. Do you think we might see marijuana farms? Marijuana production facilities? Jobs?

Refocus the War on Drugs

First, this would greatly reduce the demand for marijuana grown in other countries. Then we would simply increase the penalties for non-U.S. grown marijuana use and sales to something very prohibitive…very, very prohibitive. Exactly how much savings would eventually be generated for law enforcement agencies?

Other Sources of Information about Marijuana

NORML – Working to Reform Marijuana Laws

New Poll: 49% of Colorado Voters Support Taxing and Regulating Marijuana

NORML Blog

Washington, Wonkheads and Willy-Nilly politicians simply don’t get it. Americans are tired of do-nothing political parties. The Democratic Party and the Republican Party have failed to produce a government of the people, by the people and, especially, FOR THE PEOPLE.

The latest example: Americans are tired of deficits. We tried it using credit cards and got our ass burned by big banks. Now, we don’t really appreciate Washingtonians running around building higher and higher deficits by spending money we don’t have or cutting taxes for the richest among us.

Republican Jon Kyl and Democrat (DINO) Blanche Lincoln want to cut about $250 million in estate taxes for the richest Americans. This is $250 million more than what was done during the Bush Years. Now is not the time to cut these taxes.

It’s Time to Pay the Bills

We know that America has long had a deficit that must be paid sometime. We know that the Clinton Administration left office with a budget surplus (taking in more than was being spent). We know the Bush Administration ran wild by cutting taxes and spending billions of unfunded dollars. (continued below)

An unfunded dollar is like using a credit card when you don’t have the money and really don’t know how you’re going to pay the bill when it comes due. Perhaps it’s time to do something none of us really wants to do – Pay the Bill. It will help when the tax cut for the rich comes to an end later this year, but we don’t need Senators Kyl and Lincoln giving them another cut.

People quickly talk about cutting Social Security and Medicare. It would not be morally right to do that with so many people having made plans based on those programs being available. More importantly, there are a great number of people who have been forced into factoring those programs into their future because of personal tragedies in the financial industry.

As bad as it hurts our feelings, Congress needs to increase the Medicare withholding tax by at least one percent (1%). While they’re at it, they need to increase the FICA tax by one percent (1%) as well. For those of you making $500 per week, those taxes would cost you $10. Ten bucks to help stabilize Social Security and Medicare is not a bad deal, and it would reduce the burden on our children in the future.

It’s Time to Pay for the Unfunded War

Yes, it’s important to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to stem the flow of dollars, but we need to pay for what has already been spent. Let’s increase the severance tax on oil being taken from our reserves by corporations not incorporated in the United States. This would include all three of the ones involved in the Gulf Oil Spill: BP, Halliburton and Transocean. Oh, you thought only American companies were drilling in the Gulf?

Part Two of this would be termination of Halliburton contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan. They can’t, or won’t, tell us where the money is going, so stop giving it to them!!!

It’s time to end the tax benefits for companies sending American jobs overseas. This should be a no-brainer. After all, why is the government subsidizing the reduction of our tax base? Let me put this a bit more plainly. We are currently spending money to lower our income. Is there a school in America that teaches the value of increased expenses and reduced income? Those of you who are Capitalism Hawks ought to be jumping on this with both feet.

Hey Washington -

We’re tired of listening to you blame one another for getting nothing done. Either get it done, or come home. Oh, wait a minute – we’re going to take care of that for you, I hope. I took part in early voting the other day and, though I really did not plan it this way, I walked away not having voted for a single incumbent.

I do not belong to the Tea Party movement. I’m just a pissed off American citizen.

Uncle Brice Supporters

Say Hey to the Good Folks that make this blog possible:

Online Little Rock.com is where Uncle Brice got his start. There’s a ton of information on this site about Arkansas, Little Rock, dining, dancing, shopping (and shopping online). It’s also a high-trafficked Civil War information site. You can even find out stuff about all the colleges and universities of Arkansas.

Home Business Opportunities is a site that has never been more in demand. You can find legitimate ways to earn money from home as well as a lot of information about Internet marketing, writing, building traffic for your website, and more.

The owners of Online Little Rock have a mission in life to teach everyone about brain injury. They have two websites that have hundreds of pages of information, including visitor-submitted Brain Injury Stories. The sites are Brain Injury Online and Brain Injury Guide.

Beth’s Brain Injury Blog is a favorite in the brain injury community. She writes about the good, the bad and the ugly of brain injury and how you must maintain a sense of humor to live successfully whether you are the victim or a caregiver.