YES, WE DID! We want to THANK ALL OF YOU, especially the LGBT & Allies, who we had the pleasure of directly working with over the past several weeks for your volunteerism and commitment to the Obama campaign in NH and around the country. Because of your efforts, WE have advanced the cause of equality in our country by accomplishing what some considered as impossible. WE have elected Barack Obama, as President of the United States.
OUR BEST,
Tom Malone & Sheila Healy,
NH LGBT & Allies Outreach Volunteer Co-Coordinators
That's right I've been supporter since the beggining. And tonight of all nights hope conquers cyncism. I saw the impossible happen. Motivated by the sheer idea that All americans can succeed in America, that idea now cemented in a reality that is now fact. It was really a war of fear versus hope, wasn't it. I am glad there are many Americans who could see that. I was amazed at the incredibe grateful and eloquent speech given by John McCain. I will give him credit for making probably the best concession speech of all time.
Now it's time for next impossible project. That's right president elect Obama, it's time to put me on in your executive committee. I can be the secretary of the people. The voice of the people that has a seat in the oval office. The voice that speak not in politics, but of those of the citizen.
Dear Readers:
I've decided that Barack has won. So I'm posting a great article from Boston.com about a website that helps organizations learn how to track engergy consumption. The hits on the website are growing expotentially each month, and a Vt. school system has launched an energy-saving challenge - with a prize of $5,000.00 going to the school that is the most successful in saving energy. Barack's environmental people should know about this. If you know his team, please forward this to them! Thanks! The site is called carbonrally.com, and here is the article about it:
Websites.....help..save energy
Whether it's to reduce energy bills or to combat global warming, more people are turning to Web-based tools to track their energy consumption and associated carbon emissions. And companies like Carbonrally in Cambridge hope to turn that interest into a business.
"I built the company with the idea that the Internet can connect people with similar goals and interests," said founder Jason Karas.
Carbonrally's website, carbonrally.com, maps the energy-saving activities of users nationwide. The site feeds off of people's tendency to be competitive by challenging them to take specific steps to conserve energy, Karas said.
For example, a recent challenge encouraged users to inflate automobile tires to the proper pressure. According to the site, about 1,600 people had done so, reducing their carbon emissions by 20.5 tons, "equal to turning off the electricity of 20 homes for about one month."
In August, Carbonrally challenges began appearing in environmental and energy-related articles on Yahoo. In October, the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources teamed up with Carbonrally to launch the six-month Vermont School Carbon Challenge, an effort to get all of the state's 391 public elementary, middle, and high schools to reduce carbon emissions by making simple changes.
Carbonrally is tracking every pound of carbon saved on its "rally machine," and the results are tallied in real time online. The winning school will receive $5,000 for an energy-efficiency project.
Vermont Governor Jim Douglas kicked off the competition by pledging to take two of Carbonrally's popular challenges: "Green Ham and Cheese," aimed at getting people to use less paper and plastic when preparing homemade lunches, and the two-minute "Power Shower."
According to Carbonrally, a typical lunch brought from home generates 65 pounds of garbage per child during a school year, and cutting a daily shower from eight to two minutes yields a carbon dioxide reduction of 15.3 pounds monthly.
Karas, who holds a master's degree in environmental economics and business from Duke University, took a circuitous route to starting Carbonrally. He began his career doing nonprofit work at Cambridge's Cultural Survival, a nonprofit organization that supports indigenous people worldwide, and spent a decade in telecommunications product management with such companies as GeoPartners Research Inc., Sapient Corp., and the European mobile operator Orange.
But in 2006, he said, he decided do something about climate change.
"I felt I could no longer sit on the sidelines," Karas said. "I needed to get back to where my interests were and apply my training to the problem."
Site traffic has doubled each quarter since Carbonrally was launched last November, with monthly visits averaging 15,000, Karas said. He self-funded the private company and is now raising capital to support its next stage of growth. He expects to turn a profit in another year.
Revenue comes from sponsors who underwrite challenges and position their brands and products within them. They include Soda Club Enterprises, an Israeli company that is the world's largest manufacturer of home soda makers and has been reducing plastic bottle and soda can use; and Gazelle, a Boston company that buys and sells used tech equipment.
Matthew Gilbride, green-project leader for Friendship Hospital for Animals in Washington, D.C., said Carbonrally helped him to motivate his 115 employees to participate in a program that gauges the hospital's energy use.
Other organizations that have become involved in tracking energy use online include:
Environmentalist and author Bill McKibben said Web-based environmental tools aren't a substitute for political action. "But if they serve as a kind of gateway 'drug' into really doing something about the climate," he said, "then I think they make sense."
Susan Chaityn Lebovits can be reached at lebovits@globe.com.
Early Voting for the entire state of Florida has just been extended.
Every Early Vote location in Florida will now be every day from 7am-7pm up through November 2.
Please pass along this great news to everyone you know who will be voting in Florida. Click here to find your nearest early vote location.
Here's the release:
GOVERNOR CRIST EXTENDS EARLY VOTING HOURS ~~ ~Ensures maximum number of Floridians can exercise right to vote~ ~~October 28, 2008Contact:GOVERNOR'S PRESS OFFICE(850) 488-5394TALLAHASSEE - Governor Charlie Crist today signed Executive Order 08-217, extending the hours for early voting during the current General Election. Effective immediately, early voting sites will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., through Friday, October 31, 2008, and for a total of 12 hours between 7:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 1, and 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 2, 2008. "I have spoken with the Secretary of State and members of the Florida Legislature and have concluded that it is always the right thing to do to give voters every opportunity to cast a ballot," Governor Crist said. "I have a responsibility to the voters of our state to ensure that the maximum number of citizens can participate in the electoral process, and that every person can exercise the right to vote." Prior to the 2008 General Election, Florida has seen historic numbers of Floridians registering to vote for the first time. In addition, record numbers of voters have chosen to cast a ballot during early voting. Early voting began on October 20 and runs through November 2. Current Florida law allows for early voting to be conducted eight hours per day on each weekday, and for a total of eight hours during both weekends during the early voting period. Floridians can contact their county's Supervisor of Elections for dates, times and locations of early voting. Florida voters can also request absentee ballots to be mailed to them until October 29. Please see the attached Executive Order 08-217. STATE OF FLORIDA OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR EXECUTIVE ORDER NUMBER 08-217 WHEREAS, early voting is scheduled to end November 2, 2008; and WHEREAS, early voting turnout has already reached record levels and is forecast to continue with record turnout. There are only 267 early voting sites throughout the state and long lines have formed at many of the early voting sites; and WHEREAS, a historic number of Floridians have registered to vote for the first time in this election; and WHEREAS, new voting equipment is being used in 15 Florida counties; WHEREAS, as a result of this unique combination of circumstances resulting from the historic voter turnout in this election, there is a possibility that election officials will be unable to conduct an orderly election, and thus residents in our state could be deprived of a meaningful opportunity to vote; andWHEREAS, because of the existing and continuing possibility of an emergency occurring before or during the regularly scheduled election, and in order to ensure maximum citizen participation in the electoral process, and provide a safe and orderly procedure for persons seeking to exercise their right to vote;NOW, THEREFORE, I, CHARLIE CRIST, as Governor of Florida, by virtue of the authority vested in me by Article IV, Section 1(a) of the Florida Constitution, by the Florida Elections Emergency Act, and by all other applicable laws, issue the following Executive Order, to take immediate effect:I hereby declare that, based on the above-described conditions, a state of emergency exists. It is hereby found and declared to be necessary to extend the voting hours during early voting. Accordingly, I order the Supervisors of Elections to open early voting sites from 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. through October 31, 2008 and open early voting sites for a total of twelve (12) hours between 7 a.m. November 1, 2008 and 7 p.m. November 2, 2008.IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of Florida to be affixed, at Tallahassee, the Capitol, this 28th day of October, 2008. GOVERNORATTEST:SECRETARY OF STATE
GOVERNOR CRIST EXTENDS EARLY VOTING HOURS
~~ ~Ensures maximum number of Floridians can exercise right to vote~ ~~
October 28, 2008
Contact:
GOVERNOR'S PRESS OFFICE(850) 488-5394
TALLAHASSEE - Governor Charlie Crist today signed Executive Order 08-217, extending the hours for early voting during the current General Election. Effective immediately, early voting sites will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., through Friday, October 31, 2008, and for a total of 12 hours between 7:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 1, and 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 2, 2008.
"I have spoken with the Secretary of State and members of the Florida Legislature and have concluded that it is always the right thing to do to give voters every opportunity to cast a ballot," Governor Crist said. "I have a responsibility to the voters of our state to ensure that the maximum number of citizens can participate in the electoral process, and that every person can exercise the right to vote."
Prior to the 2008 General Election, Florida has seen historic numbers of Floridians registering to vote for the first time. In addition, record numbers of voters have chosen to cast a ballot during early voting.
Early voting began on October 20 and runs through November 2. Current Florida law allows for early voting to be conducted eight hours per day on each weekday, and for a total of eight hours during both weekends during the early voting period. Floridians can contact their county's Supervisor of Elections for dates, times and locations of early voting.
Florida voters can also request absentee ballots to be mailed to them until October 29.
Please see the attached Executive Order 08-217.
STATE OF FLORIDA
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
EXECUTIVE ORDER NUMBER 08-217
WHEREAS, early voting is scheduled to end November 2, 2008; and
WHEREAS, early voting turnout has already reached record levels and is forecast to continue with record turnout. There are only 267 early voting sites throughout the state and long lines have formed at many of the early voting sites; and
WHEREAS, a historic number of Floridians have registered to vote for the first time in this election; and
WHEREAS, new voting equipment is being used in 15 Florida counties;
WHEREAS, as a result of this unique combination of circumstances resulting from the historic voter turnout in this election, there is a possibility that election officials will be unable to conduct an orderly election, and thus residents in our state could be deprived of a meaningful opportunity to vote; and
WHEREAS, because of the existing and continuing possibility of an emergency occurring before or during the regularly scheduled election, and in order to ensure maximum citizen participation in the electoral process, and provide a safe and orderly procedure for persons seeking to exercise their right to vote;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, CHARLIE CRIST, as Governor of Florida, by virtue of the authority vested in me by Article IV, Section 1(a) of the Florida Constitution, by the Florida Elections Emergency Act, and by all other applicable laws, issue the following Executive Order, to take immediate effect:
I hereby declare that, based on the above-described conditions, a state of emergency exists. It is hereby found and declared to be necessary to extend the voting hours during early voting. Accordingly, I order the Supervisors of Elections to open early voting sites from 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. through October 31, 2008 and open early voting sites for a total of twelve (12) hours between 7 a.m. November 1, 2008 and 7 p.m. November 2, 2008.
IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of Florida to be affixed, at Tallahassee, the Capitol, this 28th day of October, 2008.
GOVERNOR
ATTEST:
SECRETARY OF STATE
It was the best of times and the worst of times....
The best of times because W.’s long Reign of Error is about to end.
The worst of times because, well, you know why.
In this season of darkness, as Charles Dickens described an earlier mob scene, I’m feeling as vengeful and bloodthirsty as Madame Defarge sharpening her knitting needles at the guillotine.
I even felt a little thrill go up my leg, as Chris Matthews would put it, when I heard that the Lehman Brothers C.E.O., Richard Fuld, got punched in the company gym after it was announced that the firm was going under.
I can’t wait to see the tumbrels rumble up and down Wall Street picking up the heedless and greedy financial aristocracy that plundered and sundered free-market capitalism.
Just when we thought executives of A.I.G., the insurance giant bailed out by taxpayers for $123 billion, had been shamed into stopping their post-bailout Marie Antoinette spa treatments, luxury sports suites, Vegas and California posh resort retreats, we were dumbfounded to learn that some A.I.G. execs were cavorting at a lavish shooting party at a British country manor.
London’s News of the World sent undercover reporters to hunt down the feckless financiers on their $86,000 partridge hunt as they tromped through the countryside in tweed knickers, and then later as they “slurped fine wine” and feasted on pigeon breast and halibut.
The paper reported that the A.I.G. revelers stayed at Plumber Manor — not the ancestral home of Joe the Plumber, a 17th-century country house in Dorset — and spent $17,500 for food and rooms. The private jet to get there cost another $17,500, and the limos added up to $8,000 more.
In an astonishing let-them-eat-cake moment, the A.I.G. big shot Sebastian Preil held court at the bar and told an undercover reporter, “The recession will go on until about 2011, but the shooting was great today and we are relaxing fine.”
There were at least three New Yorkers bagging birds — Jeffrey Malkovsky, a senior director at A.I.G.’s Manhattan office, Hilary James, the general manager of the Bristol Plaza Hotel, and her friend, John Roberts, an A.I.G. adviser.
Who are these looters of our loot? The New York Times should follow up the excellent Portraits of Grief it did after 9/11 with Portraits of Greed.
Payback doesn’t have to go as far as the French Revolution. The grifters shafting us don’t have to shed blood, but they do have to give the money back. As far as these self-serving corporate con men and short-selling traders are concerned, off with their headsets.
John McCain wasted his last-chance debate Wednesday by trying to stir up faux class rage against Barack Obama with Joe the Unvetted Plumber instead of tapping into the real class rage the country feels over bailing out ungrateful financiers who gambled away the life savings of working people.
’Tis a far, far better thing that New York’s attorney general, Andrew Cuomo, did when he demanded that A.I.G.’s former executives who were trying to abscond with many millions in severance payments, bonuses and golden parachutes surrender the swag. He set a good example for the feds, who slapped Mr. Fuld in the face with a subpoena.
Cuomo got A.I.G. to instantly reverse itself and cancel 160 conferences and other events that would have cost more than $8 million, as well as give up information on compensation, bonuses and other payments to determine whether they were fitting. (How could they be?)
“We stopped a $10 million severance payment to Stephen Bensinger, the chief financial officer,” Cuomo told me Friday. “Just look at the words chief financial officer. There’s a phenomenon when senior management sees the corporation deteriorating and they concoct a version of looting the company to take care of themselves.”
Even Cuomo, who has been locked in battle with A.I.G. for a long time, was stunned when he learned of the British hunting folly. At first he thought it could not be true.
“That was our partridge hunting trip,” he said. “The partridge paid the ultimate price, but the taxpayer came close.”
He is using a state “claw back” law, which he says allows him to recover contracts and rescind payments if there was unjust compensation.
Great. Now can he find the $123 billion lost by A.I.G. that we now have to plug with taxpayers’ money?
Let’s hope that if Barack Obama becomes president, the first thing he does is keep his promise to make the junketeers come to Washington (preferably by bus or carpooling) and write the U.S. Treasury a check, after which he will fire them on the spot.
Heads must roll.
I often wondered if the AARP (or American Association for Retired People) was an organization designed for those who were retired with great fortunes. Their magazine often shows famous individuals reaching maturity, and I wondered if they were more like an "investment club" for those with golden parachutes. I've discovered they offer much more than that, and they may be able to help team Obama obtain a good look at the details of the foreclosure situation on regular retirees. Some may blame reckless consumption for people losing their homes, but it appears that medical costs are the main reason that people are losing their homes. The article below gives an account of how many seniors were bamboozled into mortgages they couldn't afford and how the bandits who created the deceptive "packages" buried their work by selling the mortgage into the 'financial products' swamp created by the financial community during our recent run of deregulation. The following article not only reveals how the scam was done (last minute demands to sign documents without giving a senior a chance to read them) but also how it feels to be ripped off by such methods. In my humbled opinion, the exact same method was used on Congress for the bailout bill.
I asked Kim Richardson, who is 59 and lives in a modest ranch house in Rocky Mount, N.C., what she would do if a hearing next month goes against her and she loses her home to foreclosure.
After a long pause, she said, in a voice faint from worry, “I don’t know. I’ll be out on the street, I guess. I don’t have anywhere to go.”
Ms. Richardson, who lives on a pair of monthly disability checks, lies awake night after night, unable to fend off the frightening homeless scenarios that dominate her thoughts. “I never believed that anything like this could ever, ever happen to me,” she said.
If you believe Ms. Richardson’s account, and I do, she was fast-talked into a mortgage that would have been impossible to pay off with her fixed income. Foreclosure would have seemed inevitable. But Ms. Richardson and her current lawyer, Carlene McNulty of Raleigh, N.C., said the figures that would have made it obvious to Ms. Richardson that she couldn’t afford the mortgage were deliberately concealed.
While the news media have been focusing on the banks, brokerage houses and mega-millionaires being buffeted by the ill winds of the financial crisis, the millions of lower- and middle-income Americans sinking toward the protracted hell of destitution are getting very little attention.
Older Americans are taking a particularly wicked hit. Analysts at AARP have found that “Americans age 50 and over represent about 28 percent of all delinquencies and foreclosures in the current crisis.”
Losing a home to foreclosure is a disaster for anyone. It’s a catastrophe for older people. The AARP Public Policy Institute, in a recent report, poignantly explained: “For Americans age 50 and over, losing a house represents a loss from which there is limited time to recover, and for some, a recovery may be impossible given their age and limited incomes.”
When Ms. Richardson bought her house in December 2005, she tried to make it clear that she could not afford monthly payments much higher than $500. Fine, she was told. She closed the deal with the understanding that she had a fixed-rate mortgage with monthly payments of $537. Prudent and skeptical, she tried to find out if there were any economic bombs hidden in the confusing mass of paperwork that she was confronted with.
“I had all these stacks of papers at the closing,” she told me, “and they were just passing papers back and forth to me, back and forth, telling me to sign. And I kept saying, ‘Wait a minute. Wait a minute.’ ”
She was assured that nothing untoward was going on.
Ms. Richardson did not have a fixed-rate mortgage. Her monthly payment rose, and rose again, eventually passing $800, which she could not pay. There was also a balloon payment provision hidden in the welter of documents, along with other obligations that would not emerge until Ms. Richardson was waist-high in economic quicksand.
Ms. McNulty, the lawyer, is trying to forestall the foreclosure, while at the same time trying to locate those who, in her view, defrauded her client. Her attempt to hold anyone accountable has been maddeningly difficult. As she explained, the original deal “was securitized into one of these now infamous trusts.”
The distress calls from despondent men and women who believed until very recently that they were living the American dream are coming from all over the country. Tova Navarra of Atlantic Highlands, N.J., was waylaid by illness. “I will end up bankrupt, disabled and bereft of a career,” she told me. “I’m wondering if this will become a bankrupt society.”
After a series of medical setbacks forced her to stop working, Ms. Navarra, 60, watched her standard of living deteriorate step by agonizing step to the point where she was forced to leave her condominium and move into a senior citizens’ residence that she currently cannot afford. The condo is in foreclosure, and she is staring at a future with no upside.
“The first time you realize that you can’t pay the mortgage — that’s the beginning of a very keen panic,” said Ms. Navarra. “The medical bills pile up and that’s when people start deliberately skipping doses to try to make the medicine stretch out a little more.
“You find yourself gradually climbing down the economic ladder, and you start thinking, ‘How am I going to survive, and where am I going to go?’ I said to myself, ‘Oh, my God. I’m going to end up sleeping in my car.’ ”
Real people. Real suffering. We may be fascinated by Wall Street, and bogus yarns like Joe the Plumber’s. But the real story in this country right now is the increasingly dire plight of those heading toward the bottom of that ladder that Ms. Navarra was talking about.
Greetings;
The third debate at Hofstra was more exciting than the last debate. Barack did a great job, and now it's Joe Biden's turn to be proud - of Barack.
I've discovered that listening to the debate by radio - or reading the transcript - allows one to detect fear and incoherence that might have been missed when watching the debate. When listening via radio, I found that McCain sounded afraid. His voice was very shaky.
In addition, a look at the transcript suggests McCain couldn't (or wouldn't) answer the first question which was: Why is your economic plan better than [your opponents]? Here is the transcript from that question and McCain's response:
Shieffer: We will ask both of you: Why is your plan better than his?
Sen. McCain, you go first.
McCain: Well, let -- let me say, Bob, thank you.
And thanks to Hofstra.
And, by the way, our beloved Nancy Reagan is in the hospital tonight, so our thoughts and prayers are going with you.
It's good to see you again, Sen. Obama.
Americans are hurting right now, and they're angry. They're hurting, and they're angry. They're innocent victims of greed and excess on Wall Street and as well as Washington, D.C. And they're angry, and they have every reason to be angry.
And they want this country to go in a new direction. And there are elements of my proposal that you just outlined which I won't repeat.
But we also have to have a short-term fix, in my view, and long- term fixes.
Let me just talk to you about one of the short-term fixes.
The catalyst for this housing crisis was the Fannie and Freddie Mae that caused subprime lending situation that now caused the housing market in America to collapse.
I am convinced that, until we reverse this continued decline in home ownership and put a floor under it, and so that people have not only the hope and belief they can stay in their homes and realize the American dream, but that value will come up.
Now, we have allocated $750 billion. Let's take 300 of that billion and go in and buy those home loan mortgages and negotiate with those people in their homes, 11 million homes or more, so that they can afford to pay the mortgage, stay in their home.
Now, I know the criticism of this.
Well, what about the citizen that stayed in their homes? That paid their mortgage payments? It doesn't help that person in their home if the next door neighbor's house is abandoned. And so we've got to reverse this. We ought to put the homeowners first. And I am disappointed that Secretary Paulson and others have not made that their first priority.
DID MCCAIN MENTION: A) A PLAN - as opposed to a single point in the plan -and B) WHY HIS WOULD BE BETTER THAN BARACK'S? (Thereby showing the world that he actually read Barack's plan)? Compare to Obama's response:
Schieffer: All right. Sen. Obama?
Obama: Well, first of all, I want to thank Hofstra University and the people of New York for hosting us tonight and it's wonderful to join Sen. McCain again, and thank you, Bob.
I think everybody understands at this point that we are experiencing the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. And the financial rescue plan that Sen. McCain and I supported is an important first step. And I pushed for some core principles: making sure that taxpayer can get their money back if they're putting money up. Making sure that CEOs are not enriching themselves through this process.
And I think that it's going to take some time to work itself out. But what we haven't yet seen is a rescue package for the middle class. Because the fundamentals of the economy were weak even before this latest crisis. So I've proposed four specific things that I think can help.
Number one, let's focus on jobs. I want to end the tax breaks for companies that are shipping jobs overseas and provide a tax credit for every company that's creating a job right here in America.
Number two, let's help families right away by providing them a tax cut -- a middle-class tax cut for people making less than $200,000, and let's allow them to access their IRA accounts without penalty if they're experiencing a crisis.
Now Sen. McCain and I agree with your idea that we've got to help homeowners. That's why we included in the financial package a proposal to get homeowners in a position where they can renegotiate their mortgages.
I disagree with Sen. McCain in how to do it, because the way Sen. McCain has designed his plan, it could be a giveaway to banks if we're buying full price for mortgages that now are worth a lot less. And we don't want to waste taxpayer money. And we've got to get the financial package working much quicker than it has been working.
Last point I want to make, though. We've got some long-term challenges in this economy that have to be dealt with. We've got to fix our energy policy that's giving our wealth away. We've got to fix our health care system and we've got to invest in our education system for every young person to be able to learn.
What a difference? Even though Barack didn't get to explain all four of his points, he tried to go through his points as quickly as possible, and he succeeded in mentioning how his plan stands in relation to McCain's plan. The transcript seems to show how crisp Barack's reply was when compared to McCain's response. This pattern is oft repeated in the transcript of the remainder of the debate. The rest of the transcript can be found at Cnn.com or nytimes.com. Keep up the good work for team Obama!
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Bobby Maxwell, a long-time auditor of the oil industry, says his former agency is corrupt "top to bottom."
"I believe the management we were under was showing favoritism to the oil industry," Maxwell told CNN.
Maxwell is referring to a tiny agency within the Department of the Interior called the Minerals Management Service, which manages the nation's natural gas, oil and other mineral resources on federal lands.
A report, conducted by the Interior Department's inspector general and released earlier this month, found that employees at the agency received improper gifts from energy industry officials and engaged with them in illegal drug use and inappropriate sexual relations. It looked at activities at the agency from 2003 through 2006.
Maxwell said the report doesn't surprise him. The agency, he said, is corrupt "top to bottom." Watch a failure to "protect America's interests" »
"It sounds like they forgot they work for the government," he said. "It's disgusting. ... There's no excuse for that. Those people should not be working in those positions at all.
"They crossed a lot of lines that should never have been crossed," he said. "They lost all objectivity."
Maxwell was in charge of keeping track of the millions in royalty payments owed taxpayers by oil and gas companies who explored and found oil on U.S. government lands.
He estimates he and his team were responsible for saving the government close to $500 million in royalties, either underpaid or somehow skipped by oil and gas companies, over the years.
He received the Interior Department's highest award in 2003 for his work. But not long afterward, his job was killed.
He believes it was retribution for his cracking down on Big Oil and blowing the whistle on what he believes was a "cult of corruption" within the agency. The Interior Department denies that, saying his job was reorganized as part of routine restructuring.
Just before he lost his job, he said, one of his superiors in Washington ordered him not to investigate why Shell Oil had raised its oil transportation costs. Maxwell said it jumped from 90 cents to $3 a barrel without adequate explanation. The government paid Shell to transport oil from offshore platforms.
When asked why a government worker would tell an auditor not to investigate, he said: "I believe it started from the top down," he said.
Shell Oil told CNN it "pays the same rate any shipper does" and that it has "never engaged in fraudulent transactions or entered into sham contracts as Mr. Maxwell alleges."
Maxwell, a registered independent, said the shift in attitude at the agency began about seven or eight years ago, about the time the Bush administration came into power. He said he was discouraged from aggressively auditing oil companies.
"Laws and regulations were not applied, also not enforced," he said.
The inspector general's 27-page summary says that nearly a third of the roughly 60 people in Maxwell's former office received gifts and gratuities from oil industry executives.
Two received improper, if not illegal, gifts at least 135 times, the report says. It goes on to describe a wild atmosphere in which some staff members admitted using cocaine and marijuana.
In addition, two female workers at the Minerals Management Service were known as the "MMS chicks" and both told investigators they had sex with oil industry officials they were supposed to be auditing.
One e-mail from a pipeline company representative invited government workers to a tailgating party: "Have you and the girls meet at my place at 6 a.m. for bubble baths and final prep ... Just kidding."
Inspector General Earl Devaney said in a letter to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne accompanying the report that it details "a textbook example of improperly receiving gifts from prohibited sources."
Maxwell is now retired from the government and teaches at the University of Hawaii. He said it was just a matter of time until the agency's behavior was exposed. He feels vindicated now in the wake of the inspector general's report, but is still disgusted by what he was happening at the Minerals Management Service.
"Their job is to protect United States taxpayers' interest. It's like they completely forgot that, like they just became part of the oil companies," he said.
The Interior Department said it could not comment on Maxwell's specific allegations or removal, saying his former supervisor no longer works for the Interior Department either.
Kempthorne said he was "outraged" by the disclosures in the inspector general's report and that the actions "of a few has cast a shadow on the entire agency."
But the department said there is no evidence taxpayers lost money as a result of unethical behavior between government workers and the oil and gas industry.
Maxwell doubts that.
The former auditor said he'd love to put all the government royalty records under his magnifying glass.
"I think the government should be transparent. We are for the people, by the people. This is the government. We're here to serve," he said.
Maxwell has filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the Kerr-McGee Corp., an energy company involved in oil and gas exploration. In it, he claims the company defrauded taxpayers out of millions in oil royalty payments.
The company denies the accusation. If Maxwell wins, the government would recieve about $40 million in additonal revenue and Maxwell would be entitled to about a third of that.
Today Senator Sheldon Whitehouse from RI visited with a little group of Obama supporters in NH to thank them for their volunteer efforts on behalf of Barack. We had a nice visit.
He made some comments, and one of the most interesting was that he now has a sense of how angry the American people are about our financial mess - but he fears that the cast of characters running the financial institutions in Washington may not realize how Americans feel. Senator Whitehouse is correct - people are really angry. The invoice that is currently floating around the internet - from the junket enjoyed by AIG employees (amounting to around $400,000.00) - didn't help matters either.
I asked him if he felt comfortable with the bailout text as he saw it - and he felt comfortable with it. He didn't feel that the final version was a 'bait and switch' situation (which I suspected because so many towns across America have run into the business of having one proposal presented to the public while another one exists that is actually followed. Selectmen and citizens have been ignored in several towns causing the towns to spend money in such a way that by the time they discover the bamboozlement - they are in debt beyond belief. Several communities in California have had to declare bankruptcy.
On another topic: I came across this article (below) which is critcal of Barack Obama and his team. i thought they might like to see it. I don't know that cause for Barack being late - or leaving reporters waiting for hours - but I do know that if it's intentional because of a cultural need to 'keep people waiting' as a show of authority (as is sometimes done in Asia), Barack needs to know that not only will Americans figure him out, some will find ways to pay him back for the inconvenience. I saw this happen at an ivy league University where some Prof's thought they could keep people waiting (and subsequently hold up major functions). In very subtle ways, those inconvenienced by what seems to be senseless waiting sometimes found ways to get even, and the chronically late person was also sometimes mocked behind their back. The result was a lack of communication and no productive work getting done. Fortunately, it wasn't a big problem - but it can sure hurt team efforts! Here's the article:.
Being a student at the University of New Hampshire, I know of how it seems that a lot of the students seem to favor Barack Obama for President versus John McCain. I certainly understand why they feel the way they feel. This is not a typical election year where the older voters are more conservative and the younger voters are more liberal than the average voter. This election season seems to grouped us all into the same kettle of fish, not because we are all Americans that love our country, but because of shear reality that we have been placed here because of the policies of of soon to be former President. No matter what issue that you care about; whether it is the environment, energy issues-gas prices, endanged species, gun-2nd admendment, business-economy or what ever your issue is, there is a clear and distinct line in the sand between Barack Obama's policies and John McCain's/ George W. Bush's policies.
We all have our own reasons for wanting our candidate for President, but I think there is at least on major reason that we all have in common and that is we want CHANGE.Even the Republican want change. Democrats, Independents, Republicans and all of the small third parties are all advocating for change from our present situation in our economy, our environmental problems, our foriegn policy disaster and any ethic issues coming from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. There is a problem for John McCain's campaign on their declaration that they want change- they need proof they can bring change. McCain has admitted that he has voted with George Bush's policies and bills around 90% of the time. McCain has also stated that he has a reputation as a mavarick. He may have earne that nick name and reputation from the past but it doesn't seem that he is a mavarick any longer. He seem to George Bush's lapdog. When we are talking about which candidate would bring true change, McCain voting record in the last eight years speaks for itself. Nothing will change dramatically under McCain.
Now, John McCain has earned my respect for a number of years. I sincerely think he is a man that truely loves his country as does Barack Obama, they just have different ways of showing their love, no one way nesecarrily better than the other. Each man has his own way.
My point is directed to the high school and college students out there eligible to vote this election. You make up a strong voice in Obamas support and he needs you now and on November 4th, 2008- election day. If you are not registered or any of your friends are not registerd, please go today and registered. That goes for anyone but this message is directed at the 18-24 age group. Also make sure you go and vote on Novemeber 4th. If you know right now you won't be able to vote on 11/4/08, because of some reason like not being at home because of school or maybe class schedule, request an absentee ballot from your home town, and make sure you send it back soon enough to ensure your ballot gets there before November 3rd. That will guarentee that your ballot will be counted. Thank you everyone and now lets get to work.
Dear Barack and Joe:
The following is a lobbyist-free letter. Not only will you gain honest information from this document, but it will serve as a good exercise in getting you used to dealing with regular Americans.
This letter lets you know that it is technologically safe to let the now available white spaces in the airwaves be used for bringing the internet to millions of people - at a fraction of the cost once expected. The use of "white spaces' would be the use of publicly-owned space - hence no need for lobbyists and corporate interference. Feel free to copy info. from this letter and distribute it as needed to help you with your mission to bring the internet to millions. Here's the letter:
Millions of Americans are still on the wrong side of the digital divide -- sidelined in a nation that increasingly demands high-speed Internet access to engage socially, politically and economically.
Unlicensed "white spaces" -- vacant portions of the TV spectrum -- are perfectly suited to fix this problem. The Federal Communications Commission has concluded extensive testing that demonstrates the feasibility of using these public airwaves to provide powerful high-speed Internet services, bringing affordable broadband to Americans now left off the grid.
I'm writing to urge your support for the opening of white spaces spectrum for unlicensed, mobile use. Washington cannot afford to ignore this massive opportunity to connect millions of people -- especially in rural and low-income communities.
Making this spectrum available on an unlicensed, mobile basis fosters innovation and is crucial to restoring America's place as a world Internet leader. Please consider use of these white spaces in plans to bring the internet to millions of people. Please forward this to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin to inform him that Americans are aware of this opportunity.
Thank you for your time and consideration of this matter.
To Mr. Paulson:
Here's a tip for you from Barack Obama's book, Change We Can Believe in:"Staff the Govt. based on Talent, Not Political Loyalties" (149).
Look around the Treasury and ask yourself "Do the people I see represent a cross section of America?" Do I see African American faces? Asian faces? Native Americans? Descendants of the Scots? Irish? Russians? Polish? etc.? Do I see Unitarians, Protestants, Catholics, Jehovah Witnesses, Jews, etc? What needs balancing around here (other than the books)?
Go to college recruitment centers (outside of elite campuses) and ask for resumes. Ask for a list of alums and grab mature talent currently working but not affiliated with Washington DC (with expertise in accounting, accountability functions, and mortgage lending). THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE OUTSIDE THE WASHINGTON CIRCLE OF FRIENDS WHO LOVE THEIR COUNTRY, AND WHO WOULD WILLINGLY WORK (for under 1 million a year, too). TO HELP RESOLVE THIS SITUATION.
Eliminate the 'pay to play' system. That keeps community-college and state-school educated individuals out of the loop, and the loss of talent is yours for ignoring their offerings.
On another topic: HI ETHYL (KENNEDY). Thanks for coming to NH to help Barack out!
Someone stole my Obama sign. I placed it on the side of a very steep hill (after cutting brush to clear a spot for it). It was a large sign, and it read: Obama - the Dream Deferred (and the word 'Deferred' was crossed out). I purchased the sign from Cafe Press, and my plan was to give it to the town historical society when I was done with it - as this is a historic election.
The thieves took my little Obama/Biden sign too.
Is this happening to you? Comment so we can get a sense of how bad this problem is. Now I know why the distribution of signs has been slow and why so many homemade "Obama" signs are appearing.
I am thinking about solving this the rural way. As luck would have it, I had to take the large plank covering my septic tank off of the tank this year because it was starting to rot. (I placed a new one down). I'm thinking of spraying that giant, smelly board with the word 'OBAMA' and then risking life and limb (once again) to set it up as a sign out on the hill out back.
The way I figure it - any thief loading that plank up into his (or her) vehicle is in for one stinky ride. My sense of justice is just tickled when I imagine the thief placing it in a warm garage to 'hide' it. Well...this idea sounds good in my imagination, anyway. ha!
Oh...congrats on making NH lean Obama in the polls! Now we need to tip it all the way over! HA!
Joe did a great job on the debate. Barack was "proud of him", and he should be.
Joe's experience is the only ray of confidence currently shining on on our entire govt at the moment. phew!
Unfortunately, the newly-passed version of the bailout is "lipstick on a bailout". (Sorry Barack, I just couldn't resist). If the bailout turns the Sec. of the Treasury into a dictator, and the actions followed are not those listed in the agreement that lawmakers (and the Pres.) sign, then all this effort has amounted to little more than an exercise in futility.
If you do not believe that the document presented to our lawmakers and the public may not be what is followed, take note of what happened with Citigroup and Wachovia. Citigroup thought it had an 'exclusive' agreement to buy Wachovia - by a written agreement made last week. THE REAL DEAL, THOUGH, WAS TO HAVE ANOTHER INSTITUTION BUY WACHOVIA (wells fargo I think). Surprise! Citigroup - you just ran into an experience shared by many, many, many, towns across America.
Gov. Schwartzeneger, arriving with a budget bleeding red, can probably give the good folks in Washington a nice lecture on this. (It'll cost them, though - just kidding).
You have been warned. Six months from now our leaders will be wondering 'what the ???' when an entirely different response to the budget crisis appears than the one they agreed to. Sorry I'm so cynical. Perhaps Joe and Barack will stand up for the public version. We'll see.
I believe the American people still have some good leaders still in Washington. I hope their voices are still respected.
