*There’s little praise for Obama’s proposed plan to expand offshore drilling and gas development, says The Daily Beast.
The plan, which Obama designed to attract bipartisan support, has garnered wide enthusiasm from the oil industry, business groups, and some Republicans, and denunciation from environmental groups and some Democrats, The New York Times reports.
While the bill contains geographical provisions designed to appeal to certain senators, such as a coastal buffer zone off the coast of Florida to placate Sen. Bill Nelson, it has gained ire from New Jersey Sens. Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez for opening the mid-Atlantic region to drilling, and thus, environmental degradation.
What’s more troubling is that it’s unclear what oil is actually lurking off the American coast; some of the existing data are based on 30-year-old studies, and even if the high end of government estimates is correct, the new oil will only account for a small component of U.S. energy use.
The Daily Beast’s Eric Alterman says Obama’s proposal is more proof that he’s not a liberal like many of his supporters.
Read more HERE.
Study: Homeowner Program Favoring White Borrowers
A new survey from the National Community Reinvestment Coalition has raised new questions about the Obama administration’s $75 billion Home Affordable Modification Program. The survey found white homeowners are almost 50 percent more likely to receive a loan modification under the mortgage program than African Americans or Latinos. Meanwhile, loan servicers foreclose on delinquent African American borrowers more quickly than white or Latino borrowers.
Judge: NSA Wiretapping Program Illegal
A federal judge has ruled the National Security Agency’s warrantless surveillance program was illegal and in violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Both the Bush and Obama administrations had tried to dismiss the suit claiming a trial could result in the release of state secrets. But Judge Walker rejected the state secrets argument. Attorney Jon Eisenberg said the ruling marks an “implicit repudiation of the Bush-Cheney theory of executive power.”