Posted on 02/26/2012 6:09:17 PM PST by Graybeard58
As he kicks his re-election campaign into high gear, President Obama has sought to portray himself and his Democratic allies as the champions of the common person against Republicans who couldn't give a hoot about non-millionaires. While this might seem like a winning talking point, Democrats have failed average Americans in a big way.
Their party's adherence to the environmental lobby has resulted in missed opportunities for oil and gas exploration. Had Democrats been tethered to reality, Americans struggling with unemployment and increased gasoline prices would be in better shape today.
In his Jan. 24 State of the Union address, Mr. Obama said his administration has been hospitable to oil and gas exploration. His record suggests otherwise. As we pointed out in our Oct. 13 editorial "President blind to opportunity," Continental Resources, the 14th-largest U.S. oil company, discovered and initiated drilling in the Bakken oil fields of Montana and North Dakota, generating jobs and tax revenue in those states. Harold Hamm, Continental's CEO, said he got a chilly reception when he told the president of his company's success and pushed for further exploration. Mr. Obama said policy should be geared toward "green" energy development. (Like Solyndra?)
The Obama administration has obstructed Keystone/XL pipeline construction. This project would bring hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil into the United States each day from Canada, and create thousands of short- and long-term jobs.
The administration's lethargic pace in lifting the moratorium on drilling in the Gulf of Mexico after the 2010 oil spill resulted in the loss of hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil each day, and billions of dollars in lost wages. In late 2010, the president imposed a seven-year ban on on drilling in the vast Outer Continental Shelf, leaving an estimated 86 billion barrels of oil and 420 trillion cubic feet of natural gas untapped. Then-President George W. Bush had allowed limited drilling there in July 2008.
Then there is Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The refuge is estimated to contain 5.7 to 16 billion barrels of oil. According to ANWR's Web site, opening it to drilling would create 250,000 to 735,000 jobs and, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated, would generate $2.5 billion in new revenue for the federal government over the next decade.
Yet it long has been a badge of honor in Democratic circles to take a "hands-off" stance on ANWR, even though only 1.5 million of the refuge's 19 million acres would be considered for exploration.
In 1995, then-President Bill Clinton vetoed a measure pushed by the GOP-controlled Congress that would have opened ANWR to oil and gas drilling, saying, "I want to protect this biologically rich wilderness permanently." Seven years later, Senate Democrats killed a proposal by Mr. Bush to open ANWR, arguing that even if it were opened immediately, oil wouldn't be produced for nearly a decade. (So much for thinking about the future.)
In 2008, the eight major candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination, including Mr. Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, opposed ANWR drilling, saying that going forward with it would, among other things, fail to reduce dependence on foreign oil, contribute to global warming, decimate the environment and remove incentive for developing "green" energy. Additionally, the two most influential Democrats in Congress today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California, are longtime opponents of ANWR exploration.
CBS News (not exactly a conservative outlet) reported the current average cost of gasoline, $3.58 cents per gallon, is a record high for this time of year, and there is speculation that it could reach $5 by summer. As Americans struggle with the cost, as well as the still-high unemployment rate, they should keep in mind which party has a history of opposing energy proposals that would keep the cost to a minimum and supply working Americans with job opportunities.
Corn is one of those plants that “multitasks”. You can eat it, and you can use the corncob.
I also was quick tempered and apologise for being thin skinned and questioning your integrity...
'no harm, no foul'
Many Blessings to you and yours ...
You can even make a pipe out of the cob and smoke the silk... But you have to decide which you want to do first...
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