President Biden Pauses Oil and Gas Leasing On Federal Lands

 The President announced his executive order on Wednesday concerning Oil and Gas leasing in line with his policy of addressing climate change.  The pause or moratorium as some call it is intended to allow time for officials to review the impact of Oil and Gas drilling on the environment and climate.  The announcement was quickly attacked by the industry, those related to it and especially in Louisiana by the same political leaders who attacked President Obama's moratorium after the BP blow out in the Gulf of Mexico that killed 11 rig workers and damaged the environment to the tune of billions of dollars.

Their talking points are old news, jobs will be lost, Louisiana will suffer, its a threat to national security, energy cost will be much more expensive, etc, etc, and etc.  They disregarded the life of those 11 rig workers and their families and said the moratorium would be a disaster.  But the fact is the Obama administration got it right and on his watch the U.S. became the worlds leading oil producer.  The Oil and Gas industry did not miss a beat  As published in a New Orleans Advocate article dated 1/27 by Timothy Boone, his chart shows the industry employment has been greater on the democratic watch of Clinton and Obama since 1990 and the lowest employment took place on the republican watch of Donald Trump and the employment drop on Trump's watch has been dramatic according to the chart.

And to those who are still trying to sell the fairy tale that the current huge drop in activity and employment in the industry is due to the pandemic is full of it.  The price Louisiana and its oil and gas workers are paying for the present slump is due to several reasons.  (1) The U.S. recession that officially began in February 2020, before the pandemic.  (2) Oil prices collapsed  because of a drop in demand.  (3) A surplus of oil and gas in the world market.  (4) increased production.  (5) A miscalculation by the industry because of greed and (6) New energy technology that came on stream.  The meltdown began on Trump's watch and he and his administration had no economic plan or policy to create jobs or keep the economy working.  In fact Trump himself took credit for the drop in the price of oil.

President Biden's plan is to create jobs like all democratic administrations do.  And the oil and gas industry does better on their watch than on the republican watch, especially oil and gas workers in Louisiana.  The oil  and gas industry and its workers did better on Obama's watch even with the BP moratorium.  And Trump revised or eliminated a good many regulations put into effect after the BP blow out which Trump said would spur more drilling and production.  Yeah, right.  The scare tactics by the industry and Louisiana's political representatives have been proven to be just that, scare tactics.

The industry, Trump and Louisiana's elected officials should answer for the industry slow down that has lost thousands of Louisiana jobs over the past 4 years.  Biden's plan is being attacked in its infancy so a judgement of its success or failure will be known at a later date.  Mean while what the industry and their allies never tell the public is at this very moment, the industry has thousands of acreage on leases they have never fully developed yet and the Biden pause does not even affect future drilling on those leases.

Trump left office with the worst job creating record since the great depression of 1928 and oil  and gas industry jobs are not the only jobs lost.  The sad fact is Trump and his party had no economic plan or policy to keep the economy moving forward.  All they had was a tax plan that gave corporations like the oil and gas industry a 14% reduction in their corporate tax rate.  And that does not include the $40 billion given to them as subsidy.  Does any one really think they are deserving of that?

And that really says it all.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Note:  View my previous commentary  dated 7/22/2011 titled, Drilling Offshore Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico: Facts And Nothing But the Facts.  It tells the facts of how the industry and its workers do better under democratic administrations.  

  

 

Tom Brady Led Tampa Bay Wins NFC Championship, Beating Green Bay 31-26.

Tampa Bay won their conference championship on Sunday beating Green Bay and will play in Super Bowl 55 on February 7.  It will be the very first time the Super Bowl will be played in one of the teams home stadium.  The Bucs won the right to Super Bowl 55 the hard way, as a wild card that played and won all three play off games on the road.  And they deserved to be there finishing the season strong winning their last 8 straight road games.

Brady, playing for the first time on a new team proved he can still get the job done even though retirement is closing in on his long and successful career.  The Bucs came together, especially on defense and in their last two play off games handled the Saints and Packers offense in a dominate way.  But this Tampa Bay team is a complete team and it showed down the stretch.

The Super Bowl between the Bucs and the Chiefs should be a good one as both teams match up well.  Both teams also have LSU players in key positions.  And both head coaches take chances with plays considered out side the box.  It will be a game this writer believes the fans will not enjoy seeing either of the teams lose because both teams are very popular.  But there is a story line to the game.  The Chiefs will be trying to repeat its world championship, something few teams have accomplished.  And the Bucs will be playing in their first Super Bowl since their win in 2002, 19 years ago, a long dry spell.

What the sports media should take and understand from the Bucs successful season is it was never about Brees vs. Brady like they promote every time the two compete against each other.  Its a no brainer because Brees will never accomplish for the Saints what Brady has accomplished for his teams over their careers.  Not even close.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio 

 

Joe Biden: The 46th President of The United States

The voters of America passed the democratic torch to a new President in a record vote to lead the United States for the next 4 years.  It was a vote of confidence to change the direction of America with a democratic controlled congress to aid President Biden's campaign agenda.  The message was loud and clear in opposition to the Trump administration and the GOP's agenda of the past 4 years.  And as fate would have it, the Biden/Harris administration faces the same economic recession and other major problems the Obama/Biden administration faced 12 years ago that the Bush 43 administration left them with.

But the people can rest assured that the Biden administration will have the democratic "fate" on their side and bring America and its people back and have policy, plans and precedent to make it happen.  President Biden has already done more to address the pandemic problem than the previous administration and there should be no doubt the Biden administration will follow through.  The people will continue to hear the lies by the GOP and visually see their obstruction to Biden's agenda.  They will also keep up their personal attacks that began with the Newt Gingrich era.  And unfortunately the country does not have a news media willing to express how republicans are the administrations of economic recessions, minimal job creation and increasing debt.

The democratic past tells us that Biden will succeed and so will the country and its people.  And it will take place in a civil and honorable way.  The magnitude of the problems the President has inherited will not be reversed quickly, but rest assured, the change for the better will take place.  So take heart America, the future under President Biden's administration will not be like the failed past 4 years.  Man's "fate" on earth is decreed by man's own hands, and there lie the secret to man's success.  And yes, understanding the mistakes of the failed past, are the key and secret to a better future.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

 

Tampa Bay 30 The New Orleans Saints 20

 The Tampa Bay Bucs defeated the New Orleans Saints on Sunday,  ending the Saints play offs for the fourth straight year.  It was the third time both teams met this season with the Saints winning the two regular season games.  But the Bucs saved their best for the game that counted the most and defeated the Saints with a defense that not only pressured Brees but gave no separation to the Saints receivers.  

The Saints top receiver and record holder Michael Thomas caught ZERO passes and the Bucs defense played the Saint's receivers tight as a glove, something the Saint's are not accustomed to because there are so many poorly coached teams in the NFL.  Brees' three interceptions were a key factor in the Saint's loss along with a fumble by a receiver that was recovered by the Bucs.  The sports media tried to make the game a Brees vs. Brady thing but was pure myth.  It was the Saints vs. the Bucs.  A Saints team the sports media talked about as a Super Bowl favorite even though the Saints beat only one team this year with a winning record.

The Saints ended the season losing 3 of their last 6 games.  And Brees has not played well in the last 4 play off years and the Saints as a team have not lived up to the hype of the sports media who lack objectivity in evaluating the team.  They are hung up on Brees personal records and Payton's so called prolific offensive mind.  but as this writer has commented on numerous times, Payton should hang up the cheat sheet, let his offensive co-ordinator call the plays and pay more attention to what is taking place on the field.

One of the hosts on "Sports Talk" a WWL radio show said the Saints were the best team in the NFL in comments a few weeks ago.  A silly judgement call for a team that had beaten only one team with a winning record.  Then we have a sports commentary on WWL-TV sports that during the week commented with screen displays how great the Saint's defense was in beating the Bears the previous Sunday.  Never mind that the Bears were a 8 - 8 football team with a less than average quarterback and offensive team.

This writer's comment in a previous commentary dated January 5, said that no one really knew how good the Saints really are and that the play offs would tell the story.  Well its history now and Sunday's game against the Bucs and their exit from the play off the previous 3 years, tells this writer that the sports media have over rated them for years because they lack being objective.  As for the Brees vs. Brady hype, Brady, in his first year with the Bucs has once again taken his team farther than Brees has taken his team

The comparison of what each has done for his team in team accomplishments through their years is not even close.  It is Brady, by a mile.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Opinion Writer Froma Harrop Suggest Republicans Start A New Party

 In a opinion column in the New Orleans Advocate dated 1/11/21 titled, "The madness of King Donald and his GOP" Froma suggest it is time for the republicans to start a new party because the present one committed to Trump can not be saved.  A noble idea but Froma goes off the rails to suggest there are enough true conservatives in the present republican party to make the change.

But the facts tell us there are no real republican conservatives in congress since the Newt Gingrich era.  It has all been documented in PolitiDose commentary for the past 9 years.  Opinion writers have promoted the self serving statements by republicans that they are conservative for years even though the evidence is overwhelming they are not.  The facts tells us the democratic party has been the more fiscal party and on political and legislative matters the most productive.  Froma's statement that America needs a center-right party to rein in democratic excesses is a fairy tale.  The excesses over the past 40 years has taken place on the republican watch and that includes the last 4 years.

And once again onJanuary 20, it will fall to a democratic President Joe Biden to bring the country out of the economic recession and virus pandemic of a republican administration and its excesses.  It is nothing new of course because every republican administration has presided over an economic recession in the past 100 years.  If that is conservatism at work, the fairy tale lives on.  But the democratic party continues to be the American party who believes in the constitution, the rule of law, the democratic process and elections free from manipulation from those who believe in undermining and over turning the American voters will.

The republican party in congress and conservatism does not exist.  Its been highjacked by the party itself.  And that really says it all.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

The Job Numbers and Unemployment For December 2020.

The U.S. Labor Department reported the economy lost 140,000 jobs in December and the unemployment rate came in at 6.7%.  It was the first negative jobs report since April and the sixth straight month of falling job creation.  The unemployment rate of 6.7% was the same as November.  Over 9 million jobs have still not returned to the economy since the economic recession which began in February and the pandemic the following month in March 2020.

So as of December 31, 2020 counting the number of jobs created and lost during Trump's administration the economy has lost approximately 2.7 million jobs which represents the worst job creation record since the great republican depression of 1929 under President Herbert Hoover.  And Trump only has January to turn that record around.  Unemployment on Trump's watch increased 2% as of December 31.  It was 4.7% when President Obama left office.  The unemployment rate on Obama's watch fell 3.1%.

Trump's job creation record follows the pattern of weak job creation of past republican administrations and the precedent they have set over the past 90 plus years.  Trump said he would create 25 million jobs and his tax cuts would be the primer but even before the economic recession and following pandemic began his job creation record fell far behind that of President Obama's job creation record in his last 3 years in office.

Trump's problem like past republican administrations, never really had a real economic policy or plan for creating jobs and keeping the economy stimulated.  Their idea of tax cuts for those that need them the least was voo-do economics from the very beginning.  As a result, the country's economic future under the Trump administration was like the failed past of previous republican administrations.

And yes my fellow Americans, understanding the past is still the key to a better future.  And the Biden administration understands that.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

Another One Of Trump's Traitorous Acts Takes Place As His Rioter Mobs Over Run The U.S. Capitol.

President Donald Trump's rioters are the deplorables Hillary Clinton told America about during the 2016 Presidential campaign.  She was proved right of course along with her conclusion that Trump was unfit for office.  Trump's rioters are connected to his brain because they can not think for themselves.  As a result, they allow trump to pull their string in any direction he wants even to the point of insurrection, destroying public property and a disrespect for the rule of law.

Trump's egging on of his mob rioters is nothing new.  Its been part of his policies to divide and conquer all along.  It goes back to the campaign of 2016 when he said at one of his campaign rallies he could go out and shoot some one and his supporters would not care.  Well his party in congress, the GOP, has not cared for the past 4 years.  They even looked the other way at his impeachment trial.  The democratic controlled House upheld their oath of office and impeached Trump for good reason and even noted that Trump would continue to violate his oath of office if the republican Senate looked the other way.  The prediction came true and Trump has committed too many traitorous acts since then and that has culminated in his mob rioters at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Trump's actions in encouraging the rioters to go to D.C. and intimidate congress to overturn the election was another impeachable act like so many others.  The best course of action would  be to impeach Trump now, on the spot and let in be written in the history books, no President is above the law.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

   

The Democratic Blue Wave Voters Rolls Again In Georgia and Gives The Democratic Party Control Of The U.S. Senate.

Democratic U.S. Senate candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock defeated republican incumbents David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler for Georgia's two U.S. Senate seats with another democratic blue wave vote turn out. The victory added to President elect Joe Biden's victory on November 3 and added more democratic blue to the once all red state of Georgia.

Biden's win coupled with the democratic victory for Georgia's two U.S. Senate seats was a complete rejection of the Trump  administration and his party's failure to lead at a time of an economic recession and virus pandemic that has savaged the economy and the job market.  And to make matters worse, Trump and his party were still trying to over turn the election of Joe Biden instead of doing their job of addressing the real issues and problems.

So when Biden takes office on January 20 the democratic party will control the Presidency and both houses of congress.  The republicans will continue to try and obstruct because that is all they have and a part of their ideology.  Democratic administrations have a record of better leadership and governing and President Biden and the democratic controlled congress will engage the real issues that the country and its people face after 4 dark years of Trump and his party's failures.  The country and its people will do better, precedent and past performance tells us so.  And it has all been written down in PolitiDose commentary the past 9 years.

The democratic party had a very good election year.  They won the Presidency, retained controlled of the U.S. House and regained control of the U.S. Senate.  And hopefully there will be many more Stacy Abrams for years to come to continue to roll out the blue wave democratic vote on a sustained level.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio

 

The New Orleans Saints are Playoff Bound

Another NFL regular season comes to an end and the New Orleans Saints are once again in the play offs for the fourth straight year.  But very little has changed for the NFL or the Saints.  The regular season ends with only 13 teams with a winning record out of the 32 total teams.  The NFL is still the non-competitive league year in and year out. Two of the playoff teams, Washington and Chicago do not have winning records.  In fact no team in Washington's division has a winning record.  

The Saints during the regular season beat only one team with a winning record, Tampa Bay.  So no one really knows how good the Saints really are despite the hype of the sports media, especially the local sports media.  The sports page in Mondays New Orleans Advocate after the game with Carolina read, "PICKED APART" like the Saints beat a really good team.  But Carolina won a total of only 5 games this season and are a poor team who  are poorly coached.  

But people who  are objective know that the good teams who know how to play good defense and not allow Saint receivers to run wild unprotected, expose the Saints weakness.  That is one reason why the Saints have been eliminated from the last three playoffs.  So now the Saints have another opportunity to show how good they really are.  Their first opponent is Chicago who finished the season at 8-8.  Just another opponent without a winning record.

This  commentary written by Joe Lorio

Food for thought:  There are too many teams in the NFL and too little talent to go around player wise and coaching wise.  The result, few teams with winning records, too many with losing records.  A competitive league would be around 20-24 teams at the most.  

 

President Trump Commits Another Impeachable Act.

The impeachment of President Donald Trump in December 2019 by the U.S. House of Representatives was justified by the evidence given under sworn testimony by qualified witnesses.  The House performed its sworn duty to uphold the constitution and the rule of law that holds the President accountable for impeachable acts.  During the impeachment procedure democratic representative Adam Schiff noted the President must be held accountable in the Senate trial or he would continue to lie, obstruct and repeat his impeachable acts.  The republican controlled Senate made up its mind weeks before the evidence was presented they would vote to acquit Trump and did so.

Now, a year later, once again Trump has committed an impeachable act by asking Georgia's Secretary of State to find enough votes to over turn the November 3 election that Joe Biden won.  He did so even though there were three recounts of the votes and all three confirmed Biden's win.  The pressure by Trump on the Secretary of State to change the outcome of the election and the will of the people is a flagrant violation of the law and a impeachable act.  Trump's attempt to reverse the outcome of a democratic election is more than just a traitorous act against America and its people.  Trump's phone conversation with the Secretary of State was taped and made public, so Trump's impeachable act has been confirmed.  Federal and state laws may also have been violated.

The republicans in congress knew Adam Schiff was right about what Trump would do again but it did not matter to them because they and Trump are one and the same.  The latest Trump impeachable act will be brushed off by the GOP like they have done for the past four years concerning Trump's flaunting the laws.  And the GOP still plan to try and over turn the election when the electoral college meet to confirm Biden's vote on January 6.  

Forty six percent of the American people in 2016 elected the most corrupt, traitorous, disrespectful, dishonest and Un-American President in memory.  Coupled with the most "do nothing" republican controlled Senate resulted in a disaster of four years for the country and its people.  The GOP's embrace of Trump's violations as President should be unacceptable by all Americans who believe in the constitution, the rule of law and democracy itself.  

On January 20, this dark four year chapter in American history will come to an end.  The darkness of Trump with the GOP's support should never be repeated again.  The future of America and its people are bright, but can only take place if the future is not like the failed past.

This commentary written by Joe Lorio