McClatchy reports that the Feds lift moratorium on deepwater offshore oil drilling

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration Tuesday lifted a moratorium it imposed on deepwater offshore oil drilling in July during the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, saying that new rules should make it safer.

While all work isn’t expected to resume immediately, the timing of the announcement — six weeks ahead of schedule and three weeks before congressional and state elections — could give Democrats a boost at the polls.

The moratorium has been blamed for thousands of lost jobs in an already damaged economy and posed a potential drag on some Democrats’ election prospects.

First off, when they checked at the Louisiana unemployment office they discovered that the number of workers affected by the moratorium was in the dozens, not the thousands, and was background noise compared to what happened to people in the tourism and seafood industries because of the Well from Hell.

Second, the oil industry still isn’t prepared to deal with a major spill, and won’t be for months or years, because they haven’t bothered to look at the problem, much less solutions.

The only “Democrats” affected by the moratorium are Blue Dogs, and they don’t vote with their leaders often enough to be worth the effort of keeping them.

The White House keeps generating reasons for the Democratic base to stay home in November.

So bad that even CNBC has noticed: Diana Olick – Foreclosure Fraud: It’s Worse Than You Think.

Via CBS: Alain Sherter Why Rampant Foreclosure Fraud Was Inevitable.

Barry Ritholtz on Why Foreclosure Fraud Is So Dangerous To Property Rights.

And, of course, politics raises its ugly head as Moe Tkacik tells of 5 Things David Axelrod Must Have Missed About The Foreclosure Thing.

Digby looks at the White House blowing another campaign issue in Foreclosure Strategy.

Barry Ritholtz with an oldie explaining that while people have a “moral obligation” to pay their underwater mortgages, the Mortgage Bankers Association dumped their DC headquarters when its value tanked.

Position: 19.9N 86.0W [10 PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: North [355°] near 9 mph [15 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 100 mph [160 kph].
Wind Gusts: 120 mph [195 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 60 miles [ 95 km].
Hurricane Wind Radius: 15 miles [ 25 km].
Minimum central pressure: 981 mb.

Currently about 70 miles [115 km] Southeast of Cozumel, Mexico.

It now looks like the storm will just graze the Mexican coast and then head into the Yucatan Channel. Currently it is forecast to turn to the East and hit Cuba.

A Hurricane Warning is in effect for the coast of Mexico from Punta Allen northward to Cabo Catoche including Cozumel and the province of Pinar del Rio, Cuba.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for the coast of Mexico from Cabo Catoche to San Felipe.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]