Posted on 06/12/2008 6:31:07 PM PDT by Kaslin
The recent spike in oil prices and unemployment is dramatically changing this presidential campaign — virtually overnight. The near $20 jump in oil to $140 a barrel, the unexpected half-point increase in the jobless rate to 5.5% (the biggest monthly increase in 20 years) and the resulting 400-point plunge in stocks has created a new campaign issue right before our eyes.
Public worry No. 1 is now oil, jobs and the economy, with the inflationary woes of the U.S. dollar right underneath. The candidate who can connect with these issues will win in November. But so far neither Barack Obama nor John McCain is dealing with the new political reality.
In fact, it's all about oil right now. The price has doubled over the past year, while the economy has slumped.
But here's an eye-opener. Recent polling data from Gallup show that the percentage of voters blaming oil companies for skyrocketing gasoline prices has dropped from 34% to 20% over the past year. At the same time, support for more drilling in U.S. coastal and wilderness areas has increased to 57% from 41%.
And the candidates remain blind to these shifts.
Obama continues to lambaste oil companies, while congressional Democrats push for cap-and-trade. They're missing the point, big time. The public wants more energy and more fuel to cut high prices and spur economic growth. But the costly cap-and-trade plan would produce less fuel and less growth. It would only raise gas-pump prices while mounting a Gosplan-type taxing, spending and regulating program that would be the moral equivalent of Hillarycare on nationalized medicine.
(Excerpt) Read more at ibdeditorials.com ...
Looks like we’re gonna have along wait.
I remember when the Teamsters head told Chris Matthews that he had met with John Kerry and Kerry assured him that they would drill like never before.
LOL
The candidate doesn’t even have to drill. All he has to do is get the government the bleepin’ FReep out of the way of the oil companies, who will drill everywhere but my molars, with oil at these prices.
It simply has to be possible for us to educate McCain on this one; the rats are locked solid in their present state.
Rush is definitely right on this one. McCain can practically own this election by using domestic drilling as a campaign tool.
Absolutely. Doesn't it just make you want to beat your against the wall? He's not a stupid man, so what's his problem? Is he just too rich to care how much gas (and food) cost regular people?
That’s exactly what I was thinking when I heard it.
I guess drilling without drills is drilling like never before.
If McCain doest jump on this he is a FOOL!
At the risk of sounding like a complete moron, I thought a country’s borders ended about 12 miles from their shore. If that’s the case, why does an American oil company, or any oil company for that matter need the permission of the U.S. government to drill more than 12 miles offshore of Florida or any other state? Can someone help me out with this?
It almost makes you wonder if someone is paying him off...
I don’t know. It really seems crazy.
It's probably because of his baloney on all the Global Warming b.s. If he doesn't take a stand on this, that would have to be the reason. And no, I don't think Senator McCain gives a rat's behind about regular Americans.
So far, both Obama and McCain are keeping their eyes tightly shut lest they see some truth they don't want to deal with.
Maybe I should rethink his not being stupid ...
We are on our way to National Suicide and all Congress can do is fiddle. It won’t take 3 years, 2 years, or even 1 year. We will be in a full economic depression before the national elections in November.
The best one can do is get some gold, a good simple gun, and start reading the Bible. That is the only place you will find salvation.
I honestly don't think he's stupid. I just think he's been in Washington so long that he's lost touch with American reality. That's why I don't think he cares. It matters to him what the Beltway thinks. So, I guess, in that regard, he's stupid.
The candidate who will drill?...Good luck with that one! They all got dumped in the republican primaries!
The countries borders go out to 200 miles usually.So countries that have a coastline have all of that area under their countrol.
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