On his radio show today, Glenn Beck explained to his audience that he had obtained - via an e-mail - information on an “executive order” purportedly issued by President Obama on July 7. According to Beck, the order would do no less than “reconstruct” the economy of the Gulf Coast region. Even worse, Beck explained that by discussing “tribal councils” in the “executive order” it meant that some purported “debt” would be paid to Native American tribes.

Would you be shocked to find out that none of this is accurate? Because it isn't. First of all, there hasn't been a presidential executive order issued since July 2 (if you're curious, it was about securing biological agents and toxins). What Beck was apparently referring to is a “Memorandum from the President” issued on June 30 and placed in the Federal Register on July 6.

Beck claimed the document heralded some radical change to the Gulf Coast, but the memo is far less menacing:

As I announced on June 15, 2010, and pursuant to the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, I assign to the Secretary of the Navy (Secretary) the responsibility to lead the effort to create a plan of Federal support for the long-term economic and environmental restoration of the Gulf Coast region, in coordination with States, local communities, tribes, people whose livelihoods depend on the Gulf, businesses, conservationists, scientists, and other entities and persons as he deems necessary. In addition to working with these stakeholders, the Secretary shall coordinate, as appropriate, with the heads of executive departments and agencies, as well as offices within the Executive Office of the President (collectively, executive branch components).

Meaning, the President has tasked the Secretary of the Navy to work with local officials on a plan to restore the gulf region to its condition before the oil spill. That's it. Nothing more. Regardless of where you are on the political spectrum, does anyone oppose the gulf region being restored to its pre-spill condition? This is a pretty innocuous run-of-the-mill document as far as memos at this level go.

But what about Beck's theory about why a reference was made to tribal councils? Well, there are two federally recognized Native American tribes in the gulf region of Florida - Micosukee and Seminole, as well as the Poarch Creek Indians in Alabama, the Chitimacha tribe in Louisiana, and the Kickapoo tribe in Texas. It doesn't take a grand conspiracy to assume that tribal communities in the Gulf Coast region would be affected by a giant oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and that an attempt to assess those communities' needs should involve those communities.

And finally, for a document presented by Beck as an “executive order” (a legally binding document) the memorandum acknowledges its own limitations:

This memorandum is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person. Nothing in this memorandum shall relieve or otherwise affect the obligations of any responsible party under the Oil Pollution Act or other applicable law.

In other words, as usual, everything Glenn Beck said about it is not true.