Dems Fake Fold on Drilling

• Author: Ben Keeler
• Filed under: Congress, Energy
• Date: Sep 24,2008

AP: Democrats have decided to allow a quarter-century ban on drilling for oil off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to expire next week, conceding defeat in a months-long battle with the White House and Republicans set off by $4 a gallon gasoline prices this summer.

(Pictured: Betty Sutton apparently celebrating high gas prices with constituents)

More to it than just the actual AP story.

Democrats aren't stupid (well they are sometimes) and they didn't want to keep fighting this issue in the public arena. Democrats also didn’t have the votes they needed despite their majority so they "decided to allow" something that was going to pass if they actually let a vote happen (which they were never going to do and lose). How nice. Wouldn't mind seeing the RNC and/or McCain running ads on this saying how the GOP sided with the people and the Nancy Pelosi majority in the House had to fold.

Short term, it is a good energy victory I guess. Long term, an energy policy that isn't just drill only or inflate your tires has to be developed. But this latest news can all be reversed by a new executive order. It can potentially be signed on January 20, 2009 by the man who didn't care that gas prices went up, just that they went up too fast. That is what the House Democrats are banking on. They know he will come through for them.

Don't be fooled…Democrats like Nancy Pelosi and Betty Sutton are just kicking this down the road. They just want this issue off the table for now to protect The One. They don't really intend for any new off-shore drilling areas to be opened up.

Energy is Still an Issue…..

• Author: Ben Keeler
• Filed under: Energy, Sutton / Potter
• Date: Sep 9,2008

….despite Democrats hoping otherwise. Speaking of energy:

I was recently alerted to a new PAC that is just getting started - Energy Rally for America. The group is trying to get members of Congress to agree to do the following:

*Vote in favor of The American Energy Act (House Resolution 6566)
*Add no Earmarks to the legislation
*Send it to the President for signing, before Congress adjourns prior to the November elections

This seems to me like something that politicians would want to be on board with, even with gas at around "only $3.50." The House resolution, of course, does include ANWR and off-shore drilling, but also items such as setting up a trust fund for renewable and alternative energy, calling for tax credits for electric cars. and creating funding for a $500 million prize for the first automobile manufacturer to commercially sell 50,000 mid sized cars capable of attaining 100 miles per gallon.

From what I can tell, they will be holding rallies on the 19th of this month at the offices of Representatives who won't sign the pledge. My question. Will they be visiting Betty Sutton's office? Even if they do, she may busy barricading herself in her office thinking of new ideas like "air dry your dishes."

I don't usually publish stuff like this, but I think this group is on the right track.

Sutton Energy Plan: No Drilling

• Author: Ben Keeler
• Filed under: Energy, Sutton / Potter
• Date: Aug 14,2008

CNN Money: "Weaning ourselves off oil is the answer." - Representative Betty Sutton, Democrat, 13th District, May 7, 2008.

Betty Sutton, as class president of the freshman 2006 House Democrats, is making her boss Speaker Pelosi proud. She recently sent two mailers to district residents that touted her energy "accomplishments." The mailers were paid for by taxpayers as part of the incumbency protection program. (4 individual links in this post can be clicked on to see the mailings I am describing; may take a few seconds to load.)

In her August mailer Sutton said: "As your voice in the United States Congress, your priorities are my priorities. From working to lower gas prices to keeping good paying jobs in our communities, I have been fighting for the issues that are most important to you." That sounds good. One of my priorities is indeed lowering gas prices. I just wish Sutton was actually doing something and not just following her party line.

On a separate page of the mailer, you can read what Sutton had to say under "Fighting to lower the price of energy." Nothing in there about drilling.

Sutton also sent out a piece about a month before that, touting her support of the "Energy Independence and Security Act." Guess what? Nothing about drilling. There was what you would expect - biofuels, green energy, blah blah blah. It was signed into law on December 19, 2007. Energy really plummeted in price after that, right Congresswoman? (This waste of money also included such great ideas as "air dry dishes instead of using your dishwasher's drying cycle," and "install a programmable thermostat that is compatibale with your heating and cooling system.")

Sutton sends out these pieces with no mention of drilling. People all across America, and in her district, want lower gas prices and for America to start exploring resources here at home. Maybe Sutton is fine with gas around $3.70 a gallon as long as people are using the new kind of light bulbs and only using the washing machine for full loads. Surprising she didn't ask us to wash clothes in a bucket of water and soap and then use a clothesline for drying.

There is nothing wrong with one changing or evolving her position (she hasn't) when events warrant (and they do in this case), but in my eyes this is worse than a blatant flip flop, it's a distortion in a taxpayer paid communication. Sutton is not fighting to lower gas prices. Fighting to try and sue OPEC maybe. But that is about it. Don't forget, she was in the Democratic majority who voted 213-212 to adjourn for the summer without addressing gas prices. I would love to hear Sutton debate her opponent Dave Potter on drilling and energy and why she voted to leave Washington without doing anything. Probably a debate she would run and hide from. I am sure the phone polling she has been doing around the district on the issue lately tells her as much.

So in conclusion, while Betty Sutton tries to impress Henry Waxman with her sham oil executives hearings and talks about "market manipulation," 13th District residents can read her mailer that they helped pay for while paying about double the price to fill up their cars as compared to when Betty Sutton was elected in November 2006………..

Weekend Daily Part IV

• Author: Ben Keeler
• Filed under: Boccieri / Schuring, Congress, Energy, Ohio, Weekend Daily
• Date: Aug 3,2008

48 hours after telling us peasants to fill up our tires and suck it up, Obama reverses course on off-shore drilling. There is nothing he won't change his position on - and then tell us that we are wrong, that his position never actually changed, we just didn't understand it the first time. No wonder he won't agree to any townhall debates with McCain before the real debates. He doesn't want to be exposed.

CNN: Obama says offshore drilling stance nothing new. Key excerpt: But on Saturday morning, Obama said this "wasn't really a new position."

Obama did reverse course, but his fellow Democratic senator, Ken Salazar from Colorado sure didn't. Salazar said $10 gallon gas won't make him change his mind………………….

Great scene yesterday on the House floor where Republicans kept talking about energy even after Speaker Pelosi shut off the lights and turned off the microphones and TV cameras. One Democrat did stay and watch for a little while - Dennis Kucinich. Regardless, it was the most attention garnered by the Republicans since the 2006 loss of control. For a great write up on this, check out what Da King wrote about it.

Late last week, we did interviews with both Kirk Schuring (me) and John Boccieri (Kyle). Expect to see them here early this week.

Stevens Sinks: A new Ivan Moore Research poll in Alaska shows Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich (D) leading Sen. Ted Stevens, 56% to 35%. However, even though Stevens faces six opponents in the Aug. 26 Republican primary, he still holds a huge lead over chief rival Dave Cuddy (R), 59% to 19%. Meanwhile, a new Rasmussen Reports poll shows Begich leading Stevens, 50% to 37%. Alaska Republican primary voters need to wake up. Now.

OH-3: Jane Mitakides, Democratic challenger to Mike Turner, puts out a release saying that 70% of her funds raised have come from inside the district. Interesting, because around 45% of her total contributions have come from her own household. Over 43% of the total amount raised to date was contributed by the candidate to herself - $140,789.45. Seems a little dishonest and deceptive if you ask me. Turner has over 4x the cash on hand than does Mitakides. The quarterly filing of Mitakides here.

Jesse Jackson Jr. would be interested in Obama's junior senator of Illinois slot if it becomes available. I wonder if he is appointed if he would be fortunate enough to see his primary opponent and general election opponent self destruct and then get to face Alan Keyes in his first defense of the seat. Probably not.

Kyle beat me to the punch putting up the newest McCain ad two posts below. I love it. I like both of the new ones. Democrats do not. They are starting their typical crying about the GOP running smears and negative campaigns. These are smears? Kyle tried to use some sarcasm but he knows it hits right to the core of Obama. McCain is getting more aggressive and putting out better ads right now than is Obama.

Buckeye Punditeers said it this way: Obama may still go ahead and win this election. However, the seeds have been planted for a 100 day assault on him that his campaign may not be able to survive. August is the time to start the assault on Obama's record and past statements.

I would be nervous too if I was them………

Citizens of America: Inflate Your Tires

• Author: Ben Keeler
• Filed under: Energy, Obama
• Date: Jul 30,2008

Citizen of the world, Barack Obama, today in Missouri:

Here is the text of the video: There are things you can do individually, though, to save energy. Making sure your tires are properly inflated — simple thing. But we could save all the oil that they’re talking about getting off drilling — if everybody was just inflating their tires? And getting regular tune-ups? You’d actually save just as much!

Get back on the teleprompter!! The crowd didn't seem too enthused by Obama's answer. Nice energy plan. Powerline does the math: So, on the above assumptions, it would take only 11,308 years of proper tire inflation to equal "all the oil that they're talking about getting off drilling."

So if we all inflate our tires, the problem is solved according to Obama. Maybe President-elect Obama can set up a plan to have police checkpoints to monitor everyone's tire pressure. I am going to head to a gas station as soon as this post is done and do my part. Then I won't have to worry about gas prices or oil anymore. But really, that is fine. I am not against inflated tires. But I am against that being your idea to avoid having to drill. No word if this just applies to Americans or also to people overseas.

No wonder Senate Democrats don't want any energy votes to come to the floor. Obama would have to vote on things like more drilling. I really think that is what the games in the upper chamber are all about at this point. Protection of Obama.

The House Democrats did their part today to avoid voting on drilling. By a vote of 213-212 they voted to adjourn Friday for their summer recess. Every single Republican who cast a vote voted to stay. They were joined by 17 Democrats. Not included in that 17: Stephanie Tubbs Jones, Marcy Kaptur, Betty Sutton, Dennis Kucinich, Tim Ryan, Zack Space, and Charlie Wilson. That is every Democrat in the House that represents Ohio. This must be part of that grand plan I heard so much about in 2006 that Nancy Pelosi and her crew said they had to bring down gas prices if we elected them (that have now basically doubled).

Also, I watched the first 2 minutes of this speech on TV today, just enough to see Claire McCaskill of Missouri introduce His Highness. I still can't believe McCaskill beat Jim Talent in 2006 for that Senate seat. She is terrible.

Drill Here, Drill Now. "Yes We Can!"

• Author: Ben Keeler
• Filed under: Energy, McCain, National Landscape 2008
• Date: Jun 18,2008

When gas prices starting really jumping, I was very fearful of the repercussions for the GOP. For better or worse, that is pretty much how I look at everything. In a Rasmussen Reports poll released Tuesday, 67% of respondents said they favored off shore oil drilling. Even among liberals, more exploration was favored by a 46-37% margin. When you look at Congress, Republicans want to drill. Democrats do not want to. Using simple logic, that means Democrats are happy with recent price increases. By increasing our own supply, we can make life a little easier for millions of hardworking Americans. In general, Democrats and specifically one running for President of the United States are against that.

On Tuesday Senator McCain announced his support for the lifting of the federal moratorium on states being allowed to explore off their coasts for oil and gas deposits. The Outer Shelf Moratorium was passed in 1981 by Congress. Obama is not for drilling. John McCain is starting to come around, but not enough yet. It can't be too far around the corner as he seems to realize that $4 gas is the tipping point where people are starting to take a deeper look into why prices are so high. Every minute he waits and talks about global warming he is wasting time in this campaign. This is an issue people are really looking hard at. It is a no-brainer. The liberal left has nowhere to go. Obama and the Left are too beholden to the far left to take the side of the people here. Average people like me are fed up with being held hostage by the militant environmentalists. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her House Democrats like Betty Sutton promised us all solution to rising gas prices if America swept our Republicans. If they meant "higher prices for all" and "thinking of policies to make prices rise more" then they have achieved that campaign promise.

I am not against hybrid cars or clean energy or windmills or whatever Al Gore is talking about today. But none of that helps in the near term. And I don't want to pay $20 for 3 and a half gallons of gas. I am not alone. Drilling more at home will not solve the problem by itself, but exploring for and bringing more oil to market definitely helps drive prices down. More drilling needs to be combined with the alternative energy that is emerging. Barack Obama, fan of $4 gas, only likes the latter half of that last statement. The sound bite from that link alone would make a devastating commercial against Obama. RNC, Use it! (You have to because McCain is going to run a noble campaign). Use it if you want to win, Senator McCain, and I assume you do because you are running in spite of the coronation of Barack Obama. Probable Obama statement soon: "This sort of divisive politics should be beneath the dignity of a presidential candidate."

Now, if McCain would just decide he wanted to open up to drilling that mosquito infested wasteland part of ANWR we would be getting somewhere. It would be a flip flop, but it would be a flip flop people would look past. He just needs to simply say, "circumstances have changed," because they have. Go there and make your announcement (leave Ted Stevens in Washington). Oh, and if there is somewhere where we can't drill, what about nuclear?

Ohio blogger Matt Hurley of WMD got some recent attention with his thoughts on gas prices and the potential for it to be a Republican winner come this fall. He wrote, in part: 95% of the American people are very concerned or somewhat concerned about the the price of gasoline. That Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats continue to turn a deaf ear to this issue is amazing. Well Matt, they do have hearings and threaten sham windfall profits taxes that would just be based on to consumers. That has shown to really be helpful.

If it seems I write about this topic a lot, it is probably because I do.
Video: Myth, We are running out of oil.
Sign the petition: Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less.