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House Democrats to yield on offshore drilling By Jared Allen Posted: 09/06/08 11:18 AM [ET] House Democrats are ready to propose an expansion of offshore drilling as part of a broader energy bill they plan to introduce this month, according to a top Democrat. Democratic Caucus Vice Chairman John Larson (Conn.) said the majority is prepared to back “responsible” offshore drilling through a bill that could be brought to the floor as early as next week. But the Democratic energy bill will also include past provisions pushed by the party – but that failed to pass the House with the...

The Left has watched uneasily as power drains away daily from the CBS Newses and the Time magazines of the liberal mainstream media and flows toward a more politically pluralistic array of new media alternatives that range from (mostly) conservative talk radio to (Fox-dominated) cable news to the ceaselessly expanding (thoroughly bi-partisan) Internet. And make no mistake: liberals want to snuff out this exciting, democratic world of analysis and debate and return to the good old days, when you got up in the morning with The New York Times and had dinner with Dan Rather—and basically kept quiet while your...

Pelosi Statement on Comprehensive Energy Plan of New Direction CongressTue Sep 2, 5:43 PM ET **SNIP** WASHINGTON, Sept. 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement in response to President Bush's comments today on energy: "For too long, the President's and Republicans' 'drill only' energy policies have reflected the demands of Big Oil. "The New Direction Congress is crafting a comprehensive energy strategy that will provide relief for consumers, end our dependence on foreign oil, create millions of jobs and grow our economy. The Democratic plan will promote efficiency and invest in renewable sources of energy, responsibly increase...

We need to tell our Representatives and our Senators who are running for reelection this year we won't vote for them unless they vote to authorize drilling for oil in Alaska, off shore, in national parks and in my back yard. I doubt that anyone would want to drill for oil in my backyard, but Congress shouldn't prevent oil companies from drilling for oil where ever it may be. Drilling for new oil is part of the solution for the emerging fuel shortage. Another part is development of alternative biofuels. Backward Democrats oppose drilling for new oil because it might...

Be sure to READ THIS!!Please continue prayers for TrueblackmanPoll: 74% Support Drilling CONGRESSMAN MIKE PENCE Joins Bill Collier of DontGo on BTR!Today, Tuesday, August 26th at 4:30 pm EDT!DON'T MISS THIS SHOW!  Brokaw, Pelosi and Pickens"Media" Tries to Downplay Pelosi's Abuse of PowerBut the REAL Media Says "NOT SO FAST!"  DON'T STOP FOLKS!!JUST SAY NO TO GANGS!!Congressman John R Carter of Texas says Gang of 10 a "Bad Deal"Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed a total lack of our "Establishment Media/Misinformation Socialist Monarchy" reporting on the price of gas and food for the past 2 weeks?New FTC Rule Could Apply...

Aug 25, 2008 Several Politicians Named as Punishers of the Poor at Press Conference Denver, CO—A coalition of leaders from the African American, civil rights, faith-based and veteran communities this week blasted several Members of Congress as “Punishers of the Poor,” saying that they all scored a perfect zero on an affordable energy voting scorecard. The six politicians who earned top honors as the “worst of the worst” among those supporting higher energy prices—and who were memoralized in a Punishers of the Poor deck of playing cards—are these: Joker: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Joker: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Ace...

Be sure to READ THIS!!Please continue prayers for TrueblackmanCONGRESSMAN MIKE PENCE Joins Bill Collier of DontGo on BTR!Today, Tuesday, August 26th at 4:30 pm EDT!DON'T MISS THIS SHOW!  Brokaw, Pelosi and Pickens"Media" Tries to Downplay Pelosi's Abuse of PowerBut the REAL Media Says "NOT SO FAST!"  DON'T STOP FOLKS!!JUST SAY NO TO GANGS!!Congressman John R Carter of Texas says Gang of 10 a "Bad Deal"Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed a total lack of our "Establishment Media/Misinformation Socialist Monarchy" reporting on the price of gas and food for the past 2 weeks?New FTC Rule Could Apply To Pelosi After...

Pelosi Sunday on Meet the Press : "We have to look after the consumer, we have to increase the supply" ..."Just because they made a political point doesn’t mean we have to follow that"... “If you drill offshore today you wont see any change in the price at the pump for 10 years"... "Releasing oil from the petroleum reserve will bring down the price in 10 days" ... "So this is a fight we have to make , popular or not, so we have to .. ..to the consumer, but not fold because they are not misrepresenting what will happen...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Sunday that expanded oil drilling in federal waters could be included in a broader energy bill if advocates can prove its viability as a solution to America's energy problems. Pelosi, a California Democrat who reversed her outright opposition to expanded offshore drilling earlier this month, said the oil industry and its allies in Congress must also agree to royalties on oil profits to fund the development of renewable energy resources. She criticized President George W. Bush and other Republicans for presenting offshore drilling as an answer to the...

Be sure to READ THIS!!Please continue prayers for Trueblackman Brokaw, Pelosi and Pickens"Media" Tries to Downplay Pelosi's Abuse of PowerBut the REAL Media Says "NOT SO FAST!"  DON'T STOP FOLKS!!JUST SAY NO TO GANGS!!Congressman John R Carter of Texas says Gang of 10 a "Bad Deal"Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed a total lack of our "Establishment Media/Misinformation Socialist Monarchy" reporting on the price of gas and food for the past 2 weeks?New FTC Rule Could Apply To Pelosi After reading this post I decided to pull up her financial disclosure report and look for any other natural gas producers....

I had an epiphany this morning. I was trying to figure a way to explain American Politics and the U.S. Federal Government to the lay person. While pondering these things, I believe I stumbled on to an apt example. Let’s say that The United States of America is an automobile (a car for those of you with a government education). If America is that car, then the American people are the engine in that car. That engine at time roars with raw power and at other times is at idol. The engine oil in that car would then be the...

Energy: Russia's invasion of neighboring Georgia has revealed the West's major weakness: Our dependence on questionable governments around the world for oil, the very lifeblood of our prosperity. So what do we do?Rather than shrugging, as Congress' defeatist Democrats would have us do, or groveling, as much of Western Europe seems content to do, America should seize its energy future now — by opening drilling not just in a few selected areas off our coasts, but everywhere there might be oil. Offshore, onshore, in the Arctic, in the Caribbean, in the oil-rich waters off California, deep in the mountain shale...

Be sure to READ THIS!!Please continue prayers for Trueblackman"Media" Tries to Downplay Pelosi's Abuse of PowerBut the REAL Media Says "NOT SO FAST!"  DON'T STOP FOLKS!!JUST SAY NO TO GANGS!!Congressman John R Carter of Texas says Gang of 10 a "Bad Deal"Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed a total lack of our "Establishment Media/Misinformation Socialist Monarchy" reporting on the price of gas and food for the past 2 weeks?New FTC Rule Could Apply To Pelosi After reading this post I decided to pull up her financial disclosure report and look for any other natural gas producers. On 11/8/07,...

Be sure to READ THIS!!Please continue prayers for Trueblackman  DON'T STOP FOLKS!!JUST SAY NO TO GANGS!!Congressman John R Carter of Texas says Gang of 10 a "Bad Deal"Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed a total lack of our "Establishment Media/Misinformation Socialist Monarchy" reporting on the price of gas and food for the past 2 weeks?New FTC Rule Could Apply To Pelosi After reading this post I decided to pull up her financial disclosure report and look for any other natural gas producers. On 11/8/07, she purchased between $250,001 and $500,000 of Quest Energy Partners, LP. (see pages 12...

The last few days have seen left wing anti-energy Democrats scrambling to find a survivable position. When we first launched the Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less petition drive at American Solutions, left wing anti-energy Democrats were deeply and decisively opposed. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced that she was "saving the planet" by stopping drilling. Senator Obama made fun of drilling and announced that inflating your tires would increase energy availability as much as drilling. Congressman Mark Udall (D-CO), a hard line environmental extremist and anti-energy Democrat (and the author in the House of the ban on developing oil...

Politics, not principles, behind Pelosi's turnabout on oil drillingBy Dan K. Thomasson Scripps Howard News Service Published: Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2008 12:45 a.m. MDT WASHINGTON — Never let it be said that Nancy Pelosi isn't principled. Actually, her main principle seems to be that when politics dictate, give up the principles and go with the politics. So the speaker of the House has decided that a vote on drilling off the nation's coasts might have to happen despite her year of adamant opposition that was still in place only a few weeks ago before Congress left for its August recess....

Members of Congress Love a Good Resolution; Watermelons and Undertakers Fit the Bill WASHINGTON -- The 110th Congress, whose term officially ends in January, hasn't passed any spending bills or attacked high gasoline prices. But it has used its powers to celebrate watermelons and to decree the origins of the word "baseball." Barring a burst of legislative activity after Labor Day, this group of 535 men and women will have accomplished a rare feat. In two decades of record keeping, no sitting Congress has passed fewer public laws at this point in the session -- 294 so far -- than...

One major problem with politics -- as we've all probably figured out by now -- is that politicians view every human challenge as political in nature, meaning, particularly these last few years. Objective No. 1 in the political trade is sticking to it The Other Party. What else could explain Democratic obstinacy and obfuscation over offshore oil drilling? The national interest certainly couldn't explain it. A basic principle of oil exploration is that you look for oil where it is, instead of where you'd like it to be. Assuming, in the Democrats' case, there's any place they would like it...

THE PRESIDENT: I want to thank members of the Coalition for Affordable American Energy for joining me today. We just had a very interesting and informative discussion. I heard from businesses, large and small. They -- these folks are representing a lot of workers, people who are really concerned about the energy situation here in America, a lot of people wondering why their government is not doing something about the supply of crude oil. One of the things that came out in this discussion was there's a lot of folks in our country who understand we could be doing something...

Still Blocking Vote on the American Energy Act, Speaker Pelosi Crafts “No Energy” Bill Loaded With Poison Pills Dow Jones News: Instead Of Allowing Vote on All-of-the-Above Energy Reforms, Speaker to Load Bill With Killer Provisions “Dooming the Election-Year Effort to Failure” Washington, Aug 18 - All year long, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has blocked a meaningful vote on the “all of the above” energy reforms the American people want – and she’s still blocking one. Congress’ five-week summer break continues to drag on – and there’s been no indication from the Speaker that she will allow an honest...

We're almost through the summer driving season - with no relief in sight since the Democratic majority in Congress left Washington, D.C. for a five-week break. Still, as gas prices remain high and home heating costs expected to soar this fall and winter, I remain hopeful that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., will finally allow a vote on the American Energy Act, which is the House Republicans' plan to lower gas prices by increasing production of American energy, promoting more conservation and efficiency, and encouraging more use of alternative and renewable fuels. Along with the vast majority of Americans, I...

Republicans lambasted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) energy plan Saturday advising her to “get out of the way” if she was not going to accept GOP solutions to the energy crisis. In her Saturday radio address Pelosi announced that Democrats would consider opening up parts of the outer continental shelf for drilling as a part of a broad new energy plan that will be unveiled in the coming weeks. The Democratic initiative will also seek to release oil from the 700 million barrel Strategic Petroleum Reserve, require oil companies to pay billions of dollars Democrats believe they owe to invest...

There's something about the oil business that turns even intelligent people into frothmouthed loons: they're raping the planet, shafting Joe Sixpack or, from the other side, insisting that the drill in every back yard is the very definition of America. I realise that in the middle of an election that the small still voice of reason isn't going to get much airplay but let's give it the old school try anyway.

In November 2006, Pelosi explained the significance behind the record voter turnout that helped shift the balance of power in Washington for the first time in 12 years. “People voted for change and they voted for Democrats who will take our country in a new direction,” Pelosi said during a victory speech in San Francisco on Nov. 8, 2006. But Pelosi, who became House Speaker, never managed to exact the change she promised. She explained that she and her colleagues tried vigorously to pass legislation to end the war in Iraq. "The public doesn’t want to know about process and...

Thursday’s report on consumer inflation helps to confirm what many American households have suspected for months — that rising prices are forcing consumers to lower their standard of living to make ends meet. U.S. consumer prices shot up faster than expected in July, fueling the biggest year-over-year jump in more than 17 years, according to the latest government data. Prices were 5.6 percent higher in July than they were a year earlier. Energy prices were up 29.3 percent for the year and food costs were 6 percent higher. Excluding volatile food and energy items, the so-called core CPI rose 0.3...

U.S. Inflation Hits 17-Year High As Increases Move Beyond Food, Oil By BRIAN BLACKSTONE August 14, 2008 9:15 a.m. WASHINGTON -- U.S. inflation soared to a 17-year-high annual rate in July, a government report showed, led by gains in food, energy, airline fares and apparel. Separately, the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell slightly as expected last week but remained at high levels consistent with a rapid erosion in labor markets.

Six out of 10 Americans (61%) say Congress should return to Washington immediately to vote on lifting the ban on offshore oil drilling, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. But voters overwhelmingly expect Congress to adjourn this year without taking action. Even more (67%) recognize that Republicans are the ones pushing for offshore drilling, and 77% say the issue is important to them in terms of how they will vote for Congress this November. Forty-five percent (45%) of voters say it is Very Important. Voters see a clear difference between the political parties on this issue as...

In the showdown between House Republicans and Speaker Nancy Pelosi over an up-or-down vote on increasing American oil supply by opening up offshore drilling, Pelosi blinked before a national TV audience on Larry King Live Monday night. When asked by King about bringing Congress back into session for a vote, Pelosi responded in part, “[Republicans] have this thing that says drill offshore in the protected areas. Well, we can do that. We can have a vote on that.” Before her book tour flopped, Pelosi haughtily informed Republicans that they needed to “imagine” a vote. As monumental as that capitulation to...

Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi painted the outcome of this November's election in irrational, apocalyptic terms during a book tour appearance in Los Angeles last night.Pelosi was interviewed by Rabbi Robert Wexler of the American School of Judaism in West Los Angeles before a sometimes hostile crowd of leftist agitators who harangued her for her failure to end the war in Iraq and impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney.Speaking about the upcoming presidential election between leading candidates Republican John McCain and Democratic Barack Obama, Pelosi let loose with what is may well become her 'Dean scream' moment...

The mantra from Barack Obama and congressional Democrat leaders is that they represent "change" - and when it comes to gas prices, they certainly have a point. The cost to heat and air-condition American homes is certainly "changing" in very negative ways for the American consumer, as is the cost of getting to work or taking a trip with the family.    Regular readers of this column know that I have been critical of Republicans' performance on many issues. But on energy today, the GOP on Capitol Hill has shown that it understands that oil supply must be increased, and...

TV commercials touting a new clean energy strategy and an environmental ballot measure in California both have one thing in common: if they succeed, they'll make investors – from "big oil" to the U.S. Capitol – a lot of money. The ads champion Texas oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens' "Pickens Plan" to move our nation from foreign oil dependence to domestically produced wind power and natural gas fuel for automobiles. The plan is touted as a cleaner, more eco-friendly alternative to our current reliance on coal power and gasoline. The ballot initiative is California's Proposition 10, known as the California...

When House Speaker Pelosi abruptly and literally turned off the lights in Congress on August 1st and sent the members on a five-week vacation, she thought she was doing something clever. C-SPAN can only broadcast Congress while Congress is in session. If there was no session, there would be no cameras to cover the debate over providing relief to American families from historically high gas prices. If there were no C-SPAN, Americans would never get to see the Speaker and the anti-energy left's stubborn refusal to lift the ban on offshore drilling, refusal to lift the ban on drilling in...

In the name of protecting the environment from increased gas consumption, Democratic leaders oppose the price-cutting strategy of more off-shore drilling while concurrently arguing that OPEC should do it for us. Doesn't this neutralize the very environmental protection they're hoping to secure by opposing domestic drilling?

This morning, Republicans will return to the dimmed floor of the House of Representatives to continue to fight on behalf of American families hurting from high gas prices. It has now been ten days since House Democrats turned off the lights and breezed out of Washington for a paid vacation without any meaningful action to bring down energy costs. For months, the American people have demanded more energy production, yet this Democrat majority found the pleas of their constituents just a petty annoyance. But as Speaker Pelosi - off on her self-promoting book tour - has found, when House Republicans...

10. Two years ago, you said, “Democrats have a common-sense plan to lower gas prices.” Since you took over as Speaker of the House fuel prices have nearly doubled, which is punishing American families. Will you be releasing that common-sense plan anytime soon? 9. So far, your Democratic House of Representatives has done nothing but propose gimmicks. Your first energy gimmick was to pass a law that allows America to sue OPEC, apparently so we can become more dependent upon Middle East oil. This is puzzling to most Americans. Remind us again what that accomplishes? 8. Your second gimmick was...

Pelosi’s Reichstag Fire or Liberum Veto? On August 1, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi dissolved Congress to prevent debate, let alone a vote, on repeal of laws against offshore oil exploration. Was Pelosi’s motive to deliberately damage the U.S. economy, destroy jobs, and perpetuate hardships (like high gasoline prices and high food prices) for the American middle class to get desperate Americans to vote for “change,” much as desperate Germans voted for “change” in the early 1930s?It is well known that a bad economy works against the incumbent party. Even though Herbert Hoover did not cause the Great Depression–this was the...

As we close up a week wherein Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, on the stump and in a TV ad accused rival Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., of being "in the pocket of big oil," and doing the industry's bidding -- not to mention a week during which the Democratic National Committee launched an Exxon-McCain '08 website to drive home this Democratic talking point -- the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics points out that the issue is a bit more complicated than it first would appear. McCain has received three times more money from the oil industry in general -- $1.3 million...

Well, no sooner did I write a column envisioning it than we almost had the real thing. Last Friday, about 40 House Republicans staged a spontaneous protest on the floor of the chamber, when Speaker Nancy “Nine Percent Approval Rating” Pelosi forcibly adjourned the House for a five-week vacation to avoid taking any vote on domestic energy drilling – precisely because she would lose it. Pelosi was caught between a political rock and a hard place: Allow the vote, watch a good number of Democrats defect so as to protect themselves in an election year, and see the enviro-wacko lobby...

WASHINGTON -- Let's see: housing meltdown, credit crunch, oil shock not seen since the 1970s. The economy is slowing, unemployment growing and inflation increasing. It's the sixth year of a highly unpopular war and the president's approval rating is at 30 percent. The Italian Communist Party could win this election. The American Democratic Party is trying its best to lose it. Democrats have the advantage on just about every domestic issue from health care to education. However, Americans' greatest concern is the economy, and their greatest economic concern is energy (by a significant margin: 37 percent to 21 percent for...

As I have pondered Nancy Pelosi's words and her positions, I have come up with some very important questions. As, I understand it, she opposes more drilling because of the potential damage to the enviornment. However, by taking that position she is in essence saying that she would rather continue to import our oil from foreign sources, sources in which we have NO environmental oversight. So Madam Speaker, it is now your position that the planet is better left in the hands of the Saudis than the United States? And how about your votes in creating No Drill zones in...

A series of new MoveOn.org radio advertisements looks like they could backfire, big-time. The liberal group is up with ads against six House Republicans attacking them for their support of offshore drilling. Problem is: most of the targets represent energy-rich districts where drilling is viewed favorably, to put it mildly. One target, Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas), represents a west Texas district where the discovery of oil in the 1940s created wealth throughout the region, and the energy industry has since dominated the region’s economy. And four of the six GOP targets hold heavily Republican seats and aren’t even facing credible...

There has been much discussion (and justifiably so) the last few days regarding the energy crisis, namely the efficacy of drilling versus tire inflation.Indeed, over-inflated tires do help with fuel economy (as McCain has noted on numerous occasions), however it is no substitute for an “all of the above,” cumulative energy agenda – one combining sensible off-shore drilling, nuclear power, clean coal, wind, etc.House Democrats, evidently, have even less to offer than Obama’s “tire gauge” approach. While Democrats remain on their five-week, tax-payer funded vacations, their Republican counterparts stayed on the House floor (in the dark, thanks to Madame Speaker)...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wr7dhQcPyWo&eurl=http://www.freedomswatch.org/

Gingrich: GOP ready to shut government down over drillingBy Lisa Desjardins CNN Radio updated 1 hour, 26 minutes ago WASHINGTON (CNN) -- He led Republicans into government shutdowns in the 1990s, and now, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich indicates his party is seriously considering another shutdown threat to force a vote on offshore oil drilling in September. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is drawing attention to a Republican call for offshore oil drilling. House Republicans brought Gingrich to the Capitol on Wednesday, partly to revive media coverage of their speech-making protest in the chamber, now in its fourth day. The...

Newt Gingrich criticizes Nancy Pelosi and the Democrat Congress on their refusal to allow an up or down vote on drilling for oil in the US. Gingrich praises House Republicans for keeping the drilling issue front and center.

How Obama and the Democrats Screwed Up on Drillingby Steve Kornacki August 6, 2008 The Democrats are supposed to own the issue of energy, if only because they've mastered the art of tarring Republicans as the party of Big Oil. It's a caricature that the G.O.P., with its mocking scorn for conservation, addiction to corporate tax cuts and unkickable habit of nominating oil men for national office, has done nothing to refute. Of course, the Democrats are also (supposedly) the masters of the blown political save, experts at devising new and ever more elaborate means of snatching electoral defeat from...

After forty years of Democrat led legislative blockades on domestic oil exploration and production, why are Americans shocked to find their country 70% dependent upon foreign oil and why are they still listening to Democrats who promise to make matters even worse? The self-proclaimed Messiah of Hope and Change, Barack Obama, is scrambling to come up with a marketable energy policy that will calm the nerves of American voters, while providing cover for fellow Democrats responsible for creating the crisis over the last forty years. Following the Marxist lead of Speaker Pelosi and Senate leader Reid, he is proposing that...

WSJ - REVIEW & OUTLOOK What Is a 'Windfall' Profit? August 4, 2008; Page A12 The "windfall profits" tax is back, with Barack Obama stumping again to apply it to a handful of big oil companies. Which raises a few questions: What is a "windfall" profit anyway? How does it differ from your everyday, run of the mill profit? Is it some absolute number, a matter of return on equity or sales -- or does it merely depend on who earns it? Enquiring entrepreneurs want to know. Unfortunately, Mr. Obama's "emergency" plan, announced on Friday, doesn't offer any clarity. To...

WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she is not impressed by Republican efforts at reducing energy prices, or their attempts to publicize them. Several GOP House lawmakers this week have taken the chamber by storm as Congress is officially on a five-week break and Democrats are out of town. The show continued Wednesday, its fourth day, with an appearance by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. The GOP members say it is to bring attention to Democrats' blocking a vote on offshore oil drilling legislation, an issue Republicans say would be a winner if it actually made it to a...

Americans rate price gouging by the oil companies, price gouging by foreign oil producers, and a lack of effective action by Congress as the most important reasons why the price of gasoline is so high -- essentially equating congressional inaction with price gouging.