House Democrats Vote To Kill More Jobs

I don’t know why this would surprise anyone, but once again, the Democrat led House of Representatives has chosen to push through legislation to send to the Senate that is another obvious job killer.

Under the guise of improving safety on offshore oil drilling, referring to the Deepwater Horizon accident 3 months ago, Democrats in the House have pushed through a bill to Overhaul System of Offshore Drilling .

The bill passed the House by a 209-193 vote and sent on to the Senate, where it “faces an uncertain future.”

Congressional Republicans and Oil-state Democrats all are “warning that the bill will put independent oil and gas producers out of business,” in an area already reeling with high unemployment and no recovery in sight.

A contentious portion of the bill will eliminate the cap on economic damages should another spill occur. Small oil companies say they will not be able to purchase insurance on their operations and insurance companies have already said, “they will not offer offshore-drilling insurance without a cap on damage claims.”

Barry Russell, president of the Independent Petroleum Association of America says,

“While trying to punish 'Big Oil,' Congress is actually harming small, independent companies who produce the majority of America's natural gas and oil.”

At a time of severe economic recession coupled with rising energy costs, the Democrats and the Obama administration are rushing headlong with measures that can only further hurt the country’s well-being and our ability to survive, not to mention making us even more dependent upon foreign oil sources.

In fast-tracking the bill through the House, West Virginia Democrat and head of the House Natural Resources Committee, Nick Rahall said,

“This will ensure that oil and gas development on federal waters is done in a safe, fiscal and environmentally sound manner.”

The American Petroleum Institutes president, Jack Gerard said prior to the bill passing,

“Majority Leader Reid suggests his bill will create 150,000 new jobs, but our analysis indicates that failing to develop in the deepwater of the Gulf of Mexico will cost more than that - 175,000 jobs, the majority of them in already hard-hit Gulf Coast communities.”

Upon hearing the bill passed, Gerard released a statement,

“The House bill passed today will kill jobs, threaten our fragile economic recovery and place our energy security at risk. This is an anti-jobs, anti-consumer and anti-energy bill. Instead of addressing the risks of offshore development by improving safety and establishing a robust system for covering the costs of possible future accidents, this bill effectively bans development and sends thousands of workers in offshore communities to the unemployment lines.”

“The unlimited liability provisions will drive the vast majority of American companies out of U.S. waters because they will not be able to obtain insurance coverage. Those remaining will be subject to huge cost hikes, reducing energy production, economic growth, American jobs and government revenues.”

“While the House recognized that the deepwater moratorium is a jobs killer, we need real action and call on the administration to lift the moratorium to allow our people to get back to work. The inability to develop in the deepwater of the Gulf of Mexico, whether through an explicit moratorium or through policies that creates a de-facto moratorium, will cost more than 175,000 jobs a year, the majority of them in already hard-hit Gulf Coast communities.”

“Americans want and deserve improvements in offshore safety and this can be accomplished without putting thousands of people out of work and increasing the nation’s reliance on foreign sources of energy.”

We need energy sources as much as any other nation, nations that are being pressed upon to accept such sub-standard representation from government. We are constantly told how “big-oil” is our enemy, but they at least supply jobs, pay massive taxes and improve our living standards.

Big government appears more to be the enemy as more and more in every walk of our lives; they tighten the stranglehold on the American people, now through energy.

Alternative sources and so-called “green energy” sources are years away from being perfected or supply the amount of energy available from petroleum products and none are as economical as petroleum. Other countries that thought “green energy” was going to create jobs have discovered that it actually costs jobs.

See Spanish Study Sparks Skepticism About Green Jobs and The Fallacy of 'Green Jobs.'

In 2006 Nancy Pelosi campaigned on a platform of “A New Direction for America.” She made the promise of,

“The New Direction for America advances the right priorities – to make our nation safer and our economy fairer; to make health care and college more affordable; to energize America with energy independence; and to guarantee a dignified retirement for all Americans.”

In 2008, Barack Obama campaigned on “Hope and Change” and now tells us that “we cannot go back to the failed policies of the Bush administration.”

I don’t know about you, but I enjoyed a much better living standard under those “failed policies of the Bush administration.”

We must wrest control of the country from Barack Obama and the Democratic cartel running rough shod over America. Personally, I cannot afford any more “Hope and Change” and Pelosi’s “New Direction for America” is not one that has benefitted anyone but the left-winged elite.

We need to elect people this November that will practice sound energy policies and allow us the opportunity to utilize our own energy resources, while we work towards the alternatives. Once viable, the free market will provide for our energy needs, as it always has, without having to grant massive subsidies in order to have it.

As Barry Russell quoted above also said,

“Members of Congress who vote for this bill will have a lot to explain when they leave Washington this weekend for the congressional August recess.”

It’s up to us. This November, vote every one of these job killing Democrats out, for good!