Hey Joe you forgot to read he was appointed in 2005 - Obama was elected in 2008 - I guess it's his fault he didn't transcend space and time back to 2005 - get a lifel if I recall Bush was in charge then

Barbara your reading comprehension is horrible. Joe is defending Obama. The fact that your post has been voted up twice to Joe's once shows that two other people can't read either.

somedude.... way to ...get'r done ...that thar was ...perfect...LOL

It's not Obama's fault, but, again, and again, it is his to fix... this and unemployment and Wall Street and the debt and Iraq and Afghanistan and regulations and health care and the middle class and the Middle East and China and Pakistan and carbon pollution and alternative energy and welfare fraud and food-stamp fraud and Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security and the budget and funding and this economy and the global economy and the Euro and his own staffing...

All with the best fillibustering front line the Republicans can muster...

All with a 24/7 billion-dollar all-media operation to discredit him, block him, and otherwise depose him at any cost, including "costing" this country...

All while the very party that created this fiasco claims they can fix it all for us...

no problem.

Who cares what year Jackazz was appointed. Bush been out of office for three years and whatever happens in DC tomorrow will be Bush's fault.

"The actions of these four commissioners since the Fukushima nuclear disaster has caused a regulatory meltdown that has left America's nuclear fleet and the general public at risk," said Markey, a Democrat and a long-time nuclear critic.......Jaczko was once an aide to Markey, and also worked as an aide to Nevada Senator Harry Reid, who successfully fought to stop the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump."

So basically, Jaczko is an anti-nuclear nut that was put in charge of the Commission, and he just wants to impede nuclear progress at every turn. That's not what we need at a time when we need alternatives to carbon emitting fossil fuels. How is it that we are blocked from getting more than about 20% of our electricity from Nuclear, while France (much more densely populated) manages to get about 80% of theirs from nuclear? This guy should go.

PS - It's nice to see that Democrats and Republicans can agree on SOMETHING.

LMarcT "All while the very party that created this fiasco claims they can fix it all for us..."

I presume you're talking about the Democrats, since they controlled Congress for two years before the financial collapse, and the last four years, including oversight of Wall Street and Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac.

We should give a special part of the blame to Chris Dodd and Barney Frank, chairmen of the financial oversight committees in the Senate and House.

In the four years prior to that, when Republicans controlled Congress and the Presidency, our economy (GDP) increased by 26% (6.5% per year) and unemployment averaged only 5.25%.

Oh, for the 'Good Old Days'.

Quite frankly I want someone in place to be even over cautious regarding our health concerns and nukes. If he has to be abrupt when dealing with the gang of four...so be it.

Roy, any economic expansion during those four previous years was on paper only. It was fueled by a hugely rising national and personal debt.

Interesting.....I was in the middle of typing and was just cut off.....

And Roy Wilson....I aint agreeing with you in the least! Didn't you learn ANYTHING with the Japanese meltdown?

and he just wants to impede nuclear progress at every turn.

Oh really? To be cautious is now called impeding? Where do you live Roy....let's call the DOE and have them build a plant right next to YOU. And then far be it from me to "impede" :)

krazymop "Roy, any economic expansion during those four previous years was on paper only. It was fueled by a hugely rising national and personal debt."

So you're saying that the $6.478 Trillion increase in GDP over those 4 years of Republican control are 'on paper only'? I suppose that Obama's increase in GDP of only $462 Billion over the last 3 years is 'on paper only' as well. Maybe the economic disaster that Obama continues to inflict upon us is 'on paper only' too, but the 6,298,000 fewer people working in 2010 than in 2008 (per the government's Bureau of Labor Statistics) might disagree - for them it's deeply personal.

And by the way - Bush's total Deficits for those 4 years were $1.35 Trillion, but Obama's Deficits for his 3 years have been $3.99 Trillion.

You right-wingers just can't stop with your BS. Jaczko is a Bush holdover. Let's just say that President Obama fires the guy. How many right-wingers complain it's because he's a Bush guy?

Now, let's just pretend that the President fires the guy because he is doing a bad job. Now, he has to fill the position. Of course, you can imagine that the Republicans are going to confirm his new appointment right away. We know that because the Republicans just can't confirm appointments fast enough, right? There's no secret holds. There's no refusal to confirm. In fact, there's not a record number of appointments waiting confirmation right now, right?

The Republicans have done everything possible to destroy Obama's Presidency and if the country goes down with him, so what?

Need more? The letter Issa released was marked "not for public disclosure". So what does Issa - a partisan hack, liar, and cheat - do? Well of course, he puts it out in the public domain. Now, there's another Republican busy earning public trust.

There was a time the Republican Party stood for honor and integrity. My condolences to the few remaining honorable Republicans.

Does Obama walk on water? I never hear that anything is his fault. He MUST be the "Chosen One." Well, chosen by George Soros. Who should take responsibility for the horrible direction in which our country is heading? All is George Bush's fault? How juvenile.

Yes, President Bush appointed Gregory Jaczko. That was a time when the House, the Senate and the President generally communicated. In this case, President Bush needed Mr. Reid's support in other areas. So, this in a small way was Senator Reid's appointment. Generally a move to protect his state from any further nuclear involvement. What was "OK" at that time is no longer OK.

Lets deal with this -a person with a personal agenda. Too many of these in Washington now.

A little history

WASHINGTON -- Warming up for new political hardball, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., plans to block confirmation of a Republican to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission until he is able to extend the term of a Democrat at the same time, officials said Tuesday.

Kristine L. Svinicki appeared before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee as the nominee to fill a Republican vacancy on the commission that oversees safety operations at nuclear plants.

The five-member panel also might decide in the next four to five years whether a nuclear waste repository should be licensed at Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

But the Senate committee's chairman, Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said at the outset of the meeting that Svinicki's confirmation will be held up until the White House agrees to a new five-year term for Gregory Jaczko, a commissioner who once worked as Reid's science adviser and top aide on Yucca Mountain issues.

Jaczko's term expires June 30, 2008. In an April 10 letter to President Bush, Reid proposed that Bush renominate Jaczko to a new five-year term.

"Senator Reid has a great interest in what happens on the NRC," Boxer said. "He is particularly concerned about Yucca Mountain. He has been trying to get Greg Jaczko renominated since April."

Reid, a chief opponent of the Yucca Mountain Project, has a history of hardball when it comes to the NRC. In 2004, he blocked Senate action on more than 175 Bush appointments until the president agreed to place Jaczko on the nuclear panel.

rico-3714896

Life is full of risk tradeoffs. For example, the reason you're not living in a cave (I'm guessing here) is that we use those dirty fossil fuels to provide the energy we need for a modern society.

At least with nuclear we're not spewing dirty Carbon emissions into the atmosphere. I suspect that the number of people that have died from excess fossil fuel pollution over the last 60 years is greater than people who have died from nuclear power plants by a factor of millions to one.

What's YOUR suggestion for meeting our energy needs?

Roy:

How about this for a suggestion? The reason we have nuclear power today is because the United State Government poured untold amounts of money into this thing called the Manhattan Project. The guys who worked on that project took a theory - a theory that was barely three decades old - and turned it into the most powerful and destructive device in the history of the world.

From that government project came the nuclear power we use today. Here's that suggestion! The government invests whatever it takes to create new energy feedstocks, storage devices, and more efficient transmission facilities.

Surely, you wouldn't want to stand in the way of what might turn out to be another very wise investment in America's future, would you? You don't want to look like a Luddite, do you? You don't want to look like a Know-nothing, do you? Surely you want to be associated with minds that look ahead, don't you? Surely, you aren't going to be cowed by a failure or two along the way, are you?

Of course not. You want to move ahead. You don't want to be held captive by foreign countries. You want the United States to lead the way into the future. Good for you. I knew we could agree on something.

Mr. Warmth:

When you can show some sort of meaningful connection between George Soros and President Obama, I'm sure many of us would be glad to see it. No one has been able to do so, even after three years of the steady repetition of that BS. Repeating a lie ad nauseum won't make it a fact.

lee:

You're drooling on yourself again.

David Walker "Roy:Surely, you wouldn't want to stand in the way of what might turn out to be another very wise investment in America's future, would you?"

I'm all for 'investing' in energy research that could lead to better energy independence, with the government funding the research. That is a legitimate use of our resources, but I do object to the government spending massive amounts of money trying to pick individual company winners and losers, like Solyndra, which just happened to also benefit big campaign contributors to Obama.

The 'cost curve' for renewable energy sources like Solar is dropping significantly, and it will only be a few years before it will be competitive with fossil fuels, at which time it will make sense to make a dramatic switch, but we are not yet there. We are in the 'transition stage' to cleaner energy sources, and I look forward to a 'brighter, cleaner' future. In fact, I recently purchased 1 KW of solar cells to meet some of my energy needs (as a learning experience) for a very good price ($0.38 per Watt - before the $0.35 per Watt rebate from California), and I'm looking forward to the experiment.

Gotta go now, I have an appointment. Bye

Roy, I have to laugh at you when you spout budget amounts. If Obama would have done like your hero, and had never included the cost of the two wars in the budget, his amount would be way smaller. Use your gray matter, if you have any before you spout Faux Noise talking points.

SallyAnn

Those APPROVED Wars were and still are funded by Overseas Contingency Bills. These Bills are passed by Congress to FUND the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars. So since they are SPENDING BILLS they count to the Deficit. Look up Off Budget and see what that term means in Accounting circles.I almost forgot. The Democrats could have CUT the funding for those Wars anytime they chose in 2007 2008 2009 and 2010.

SallyAnn-4595694 "Roy, I have to laugh at you when you spout budget amounts. If Obama would have done like your hero, and had never included the cost of the two wars in the budget, his amount would be way smaller."

You might want to brush up on how the government works. Every penny spend on the wars under Bush was 'Budgeted' and authorized. In fact, the President is not allowed to spend ANY money that has not been authorized and budgeted by Congress, and that includes the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The idea that Bush spent money that was not authorized (and thus budgeted) by Congress is one of those 'urban myths' that seem to be popular today.

What i do know , because i did work at a nuclear power plant, that some reg are stupid and over bearing, rewriting a procedure 5 x to make it grammerical correct is not cost effective. I often thought that green peace was part of NRC or IMPO, trying to destroy the nuclear Industry from within.?

It doesn't matter one whit who was in office when this Markeyite was put on the NRC, he needs to be dumped and shouldn't have been there to begin with !!! Any friend of Markey is no friend of the USA!

Roy Wilson-

I agree, we should go nuclear. That way when we cause an earthquake by fracking in a normally quiet seismic area, the local reactor can go all Japan on us.

Yaa monkeyman like fracking is really really dangerous man, not !

Fire Gregory Jaczko, we have enough problems and don't need him to add to them.

primate guy "Roy Wilson- I agree, we should go nuclear. That way when we cause an earthquake by fracking"

Might I recommend that you take a Geology 101 class. You will then find the true cause of earthquakes, and 'fracking' is not one of them.

You probably also think that an accident at a nuclear power plant would blow up the entire World or cause the Earth to disintegrate. Let's not be 'melodramatic'.

primate guy:

Last time I checked (and I was in the Nuclear Power business) there was NO fracking involved in Nuclear Power.

Thanks for playing...

You guys got me. It was a over the top post, and meant as such.

Some geologists have, however, proposed fracking as a contributor in seismic activity. The theory goes that the oil and gas pockets act as cushions, much as a shock absorber, and that the fracturing, with quick removal causes activity. Recent unusual earthquakes in Illinois, Oklahoma, and Colorado all occurred in areas of recent fracking. In Colorado, the earthquake epicenter was directly under an active frack well. That would be a huge coincidence. Roy Wilson, wait until Geology 401, and you may become aware of some areas of developing research.

Aye carumba. Dense dense dense. Yes, every penny allocated to the Wars on Terror have been proposed and voted on and are officially part of the debt. BUT, W and his gang that couldn't shoot straight NEVER included the line items in their "official" budgets sent to Congress. They used "continued funding resolutions" since they had no way of knowing (as if) what it was going to cost to have their fun in the sun. Obama ended that little charade to show the country exactly what this fiasco is costing us. Subtract what this admin. has added for war $ and Obama's numbers are WAYYYYYY better than W's ever were.

Yep. How can he be the judge of whether or not the work enviroment is "chilled"? I'm no bully and I'll kick anyone's a$$ that says I am!

If the supervisor is that bad, then maybe a little "WORKPLACE VIOLENCE' is in order......but that takes backbone. If they don't have it then they need to find someone to hire to hanndle it for them...but HANDLE IT and stop whining....

Um, Art? These are professionals here, not some labor thug.

I'm guessing you've been fired a bunch of times in the past, right?

Well there is certainly a problem if, as it appears, the other commissioners don't respect him. I'm not saying it's his fault either. But either there is a problem with him or there is a problem with them. This problem needs to be fixed if the NRC is to do it job properly.

It is pretty clear that this man has to go! When 4 of a panel of 5 are complaining about the same person, something is wrong with that person. He is definitely the problem and not with the program.

No wonder though. He is supported of this slacker Reid. Anything coming from this Reid clown is antiquated and ridiculous.

It appears the issue here is regulations, again, and the cost these regulations would entail. It would be interesting to dig a little deeper and see who is at the base of very little or no safety regulations. Just from the reports issued these last few months on issues: mercury producing coal into the environment; the catastrophic Massey mines (since sold to avoid criminal prosecution) - where two sets of books were kept to avoid disclosure of complete disregard of safety regs.; the tar sands fracking issue that has been proven to NOT increase the number of employment as stated in the report, but very damaging to the environment, etc., the base is the profit-at-all-costs mentality, whether human or environmentally, that would be generated. As a country, we appear to be shortsighted again, as we were post WWII, and too long on generating profit for a select few.

Earthgirl,

I like your take on this, and I appreciate the good information you provide. This situation strikes me as another example of our country's internal political war: republicans fighting for fewer regulations, far more willing to risk worker safety and environmental catastrophes, while the democrats are fighting for worker safety and the protection of the environment.

Profit and greed vs. safety and moderation. The 1% have the money, but the 99% have the votes. What we need is to galvanize the people into a 21st century-style "French Revolution", but instead of heads rolling, republicans voted out of office and into obscurity. They should be broken into fragmented parties that bicker like the current crop of GOP candidates.

Vote Democratic Nov.2012 - Put an end to the madness.

takenaka - you're answer to everything - shut them down? What about fixing it - Geez you get a flat tire abandon the car - what a non-thinking human being you are - don't like it shut them down

Barbara, I think takenaka was being sarcastic. Don't take everything so literally.

Careful, you sound a little self-righteous yourself......and bitter.

Actually, most companies who become majorly successful do so precisely because the boss has an air of authoritarianism. The boss has to have an absolute vision and not waver on principles. For example, many who worked for him would describe Steve Jobs as authoritarian. And Apple has him to thank for their success.

Which one in that group instigated the reprisal? Is it possible that Jaczko is not guilty as charged? That the leader of the uprising has their own personal agenda? Sounds more like a fiasco of immature blowhards, incapable of adult behavior, as is needed in leading this important issue.

Actually Better Careful has a good point even if just in and of itself.

It just needs to be further qualified because it all depends on if the executive knows what he is doing or not, ie., if he is the founder, owner, and the rocket scientist who understands the development of computers himself. The difference lies in the fact that he IS the inventor. Now that is an innovative creative happening exciting motivated cool bosso wosso I would love to be on the team with because focus is so much on the mission, not on petty crap.

On the other hand, you may have a son who inherited an operation from a father and he feels trapped with no real interest or role except for being a figurehead, much of that happened back in the days of kings too and they just sat there letting the stewards take over everything. Now we understand the psychology of resentment and rebellious sons. This could be a problem in an empire. Rome burns while some fatcat fiddles and makes really stupid decisions shocking the bahooty out of everyone. They ask, "how on earth could loftier-than-thou mess up so badly!!??", as they are running amok and going down the tubes as a result of being overly star struckingly fooled. One man on a post he cannot handle can be like some kid playing with something way beyond his ability to even understand and who can make a wrong move in the higher circle causing lots of big bad things to fly off the handle that is spinning wildly out of control - just thought of that scene in Fantasia with the Sorcerers Apprentice - Mickey Mouse with the buckets of water. Ha!!!

As pertains to the above article, read carefully and thoroughly. Unfortunately many are misreading the title of the article which is shortened and not clear...it should read Bullying the Nuke Chief...

unlicensed #7,

The present status of Yucca Mountain is nothing less than shady political favors. Feel free to do a few internet searches on nuclear testing, both above & below ground. You will see that both types occurred in that area. Harry Reid was more than happy to take federal money for all the testing for that site, but when it was time to implement the site he pulled the plug on this. Typical wasting of our tax dollars, not to mention, that our spent nuclear fuel is not secured as much as it should be.

Roy Wilson - France and Germany are discontinuing all Nuclear power! Also, the 102nd Congress to the 110 Congress created the largest GOVERNMENT in the History of the United States of America. These were Republican controlled House of Representatives, Senate and presidency. They are responsible for 83.3% of the National Debt! They nearly sewnt the world into a global depression, something that is not settled yet. If it hadn't been for President Obama and his fantastic team, we all might have been in a soup line. Also, Barney Frank was appointed by Bush to salvage Fannie May, in 2005!

Also Mr. Wilson, don't fail to warn us about "Weapons of Mass Destruction", "The Republican Party"!!!!

Hey Roy, you didn't tell them that "Bush" listed the cost of he wars as "Emergency Spending", therefore not reflected in any budget. As soon as President Obama took over he stated that wars of 6yrs and 7yrs in length are not considered "EMERGENCY'S" and immediately included the cost in the budget!

Under Republican rule in the House no TAX CUTS had to been payed for: 2001, 2003 and 2010! Why does the extension of the "Payday Tax Holiday" have to be payed for?

Maybe if you actually read the whole article instead of just skimming it....Jaczkco is the one being more proactive about the issues...its the other four that are trying to sweep things under the rug and push through projects that are going to cause more harm than good.

"Jaczko was once an aide to Markey, and also worked as an aide to Nevada Senator Harry Reid, who successfully fought to stop the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump.

Markey said NRC commissioners engaged in a "concerted effort" to "undermine" the NRC task force that studied and proposed new safety steps for the U.S. nuclear power industry, "conspired" to delay the release of task force findings and worked to block the new safety recommendations."

Such common sense so early in the day. Thank you.

As a person involved (steamfitter/x-ray certified welder) in dry cask storage the answer would be to encase fuel rods and then move to some secure location after reprocessing to eliminate as much bulk as possible.

Before I retired I did some design work on a dry storage facility and visited some that were in operation. I found the designs to be much better than the 'storage pool' design - safe (strong and well shielded, efficient (air cooled natural circulation) and well protected (usually within the 'Protected Area' of an existing plant).

Thank you for an experienced and knowledgeable response. As a steamfitter and X-ray certified welder I have worked in five nukes in the last twelve years and in containment at three of those sites doing steam generator change outs. Dry cask storage is the best system with the least variables for future problems and the reprocessing would eliminate so much bulk. Engineering should lead the way, not politicians.Now if we could just find an even better way to produce power in large scale. That too should be a priority.

You didn't work on that replacement at Crystal River 3 where they broke their containment did you?

Bin Laden

hey failin palin, is that you?

I can't find my crayon, besides as hopeless as I know it is, I was going to try to draw pictures so you might understand. What am I doing, you can"t read this, you're incapable!

Jack -

FYI - Bin Laden was taken down by US Navy Seals following standing orders from the Bush years. The Navy had already put a set of orders into play to circumvent the indecision that Obama showed during the Somali pirate situation right after he got into office that caused what should have been a standard operation into something that very nearly failed entirely - and all because Obama couldn't decide to allow the Navy snipers to take out the pirates because he might 'offend' someone.

Tammy, as I recall, the Somalian region has many incidents, which one are you referring to? I remember one where the Navy seal snipers killed the pirates to save the captain. The hostage was saved. There have, unfortunately, been some unsuccessful incidents on private yaghts in international waters since then.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/13/world/africa/13pirates.html?pagewanted=all

BCOhio...what about Kasich, he is destroying Ohio literally.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GAS_DRILLING_OHIO_OHOL-?SITE=WCMHTV&SECTION=US&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-12-11-14-08-43

You asked for one and I gave it.

His record was compared to obamas and he passed with flying colors. Those being Red, White, and Blue. Besides, don't you trust Californicators?

that where crooks go

duh

liberalnews.......bitter much?

Thank God we have the most open and transparent administration in history - just think how bad it would have been if the Republicans had won.

The ad hominem argument style of the pseudo-Left , where if your opponent thinks he has identified a character defect, he is quite certain that he had isolated ones essential personality. This vulgar method, which is now the norm and the standard in much non-Left journalism as well, is designed to have the effect of making any noisy moron into a master analyst. (with apologies to Christopher Hitchens)