Just days after the astonishing admission by Global Warming Guru Al Gore that his early support of ethanol was based up his desire to gain votes, not scientific evidence, we again see a prominent member of the Democratic Party issue yet another job killing decision as the country remains mired deep in an economic morass.
Barack Obama, supposedly leading our country as president, an office assumed to be held by those who place the safety and well-being of the country over special interests or personal gain has once again flip flopped on an earlier decision to lift the ban on off shore exploration and drilling of our own energy resources. Undoubtedly, the move not only keeps our country heavily dependent upon foreign oil sources that are often hostile to us, but the potential tens of thousands of jobs, many that will be needed for our country to ever recover from this deep, deep recession will no longer be created.
Jack Gerard, CEO of the American Petroleum Institute released a Statement December 1, 2010 saying,
“As our country looks for ways out of the hole of lackluster economic growth and job creation, today’s decision shows that this administration would rather keep digging than take the ladder to increased economic prosperity offered by developing our nation’s domestic energy resources.
“The oil and natural gas industry is a reliable vehicle for growing the economy and creating good-paying jobs. This decision shuts the door on new development off our nation’s coasts and effectively ensures that new American jobs will not be realized. It will stifle investment, deny billions in revenue for critical government services and increase our dependence on foreign energy sources.
“The oil and natural gas industry is committed to safe and environmentally responsible operations, and both the industry and regulators have added new safeguards to ensure such operations. This reversal on new lease sales off America’s coasts comes on top of a de facto moratorium, which has all but stopped new drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.”
At a time of unprecedented unemployment benefits, how hypocritical is it that Democrats now cry the blues about extending those benefits even longer while doing what they can to kill job creation in a viable industry that not only stands to create much needed jobs for tens of thousands of Americans, but pays Billions of dollars in tax and lease revenues to the government and would lessen our dependence upon foreign energy sources.
Michigan Democrat Sander Levin, House Ways and Means committee chair claims,
“Ensuring that millions of Americans looking for work receive the benefits they depend on to put food on the table should be a bipartisan effort. I wonder, if the two million people who are going to lose their benefits by the end of the year were brought to the House Floor, would anyone look them in the face and vote no?”
Austan Goolsbee, Council of Economic Advisers Chairman chimed in with,
“Extending this support to those hardest hit by this crisis is not only the right thing to do, it's the right economic policy. Letting millions more Americans fall into hardship will hurt our economy at this critical point in our recovery and immediately undermine consumer spending.”
White House, Dems urge extension of unemployment benefits
Apparently, it escapes Levin and Goolsbee both that the real path to recovery and return to prosperity will be by private sector job creation for those millions of citizens, not continued dependence on what crumbs government allows to fall from the tables for struggling families.
Jay Timmons, Executive Vice President of the National Association of Manufacturers sees what is necessary for America to thrive once again. In a Statement released Dec. 1 states,
“Manufacturers are angered that the Administration is reversing its policy and will not open the Eastern Gulf, the Atlantic or the Pacific to offshore drilling.”
“By failing to open these areas to drilling, our nation will be forced to rely even more heavily on foreign producers, which will only discourage investment in new projects. Lower energy costs are key to helping spur job creation, and failing to open additional areas to drilling stifles job growth.”
“Our nation already faces a high unemployment rate, and the American people are looking for answers and certainty from Washington. This reversal in policy only adds to the uncertainty and shows that the Administration is failing to listen to the American people on this important economic issue.”
Margie Alt, executive director of the left wing advocacy group Environment America says,
“Today, anyone who loves our beaches, who fishes in the ocean or who depends on a healthy coastal economy can thank the Obama administration for protecting the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and the west coast of Florida from oil drilling.”
As my friend Jane Van Ryan, also of API points out,
“that begs the question: With these areas being placed off-limits for at least another seven years, how many Americans will be able to drive to the beaches to enjoy them?”
I will add, just how does Ms. Alt expect those “who fishes in the ocean” to continue to do so, by rowing boats out into the ocean? Does she not realize that fishing boats, ships and such require the use of the very product she is overjoyed seeing barred to operate?
Does it escape her that even our Navy and Air Force, in order to respond to disasters world wide as we always do, petroleum is required to Fuel the Fleet? The very petroleum she is overjoyed will not be drilled and made available for their use?
The Washington Post provides a stunning quote from Obama’s Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar as he indicates that the Obama administration is less concerned about the well-being of American citizens and more about his political agenda as they state,
“he [Salazar] hinted that political factors affected the decision, especially in connection with the eastern gulf, which is still subject to a congressional drilling moratorium. If lawmakers are interested in opening up that area to energy exploration, Salazar said, the administration ‘is willing to entertain a discussion only if it is part of a balanced package that includes other energy priorities of the president’.”
Obviously, jobs for struggling Americans take a back seat to Obama’s “priorities.” He and his family enjoy multi-million dollar vacations wherever they feel like on our dime, so our struggles are of little concern to him or his fellow Democrat cronies.
Washington State Republican, Doc Hastings accuses the Obama administration of
“taking the wrong approach in responding to the BP spill and creating energy and energy jobs in this country. The answer isn't to give up and say, ‘America can’t figure it out. We’ll rely on other countries to produce our energy’.”
Hastings, poised to chair the House Resources Committee has indicated that he will do “whatever it takes... to expand our current oil and gas drilling offshore in a safe manner,” and undoubtedly begin the road to real recovery with jobs that stand to be created and filled by hard working Americans.
While getting American taxpayers back to working is tantamount, we cannot forget that we currently have our Troops committed to battle fighting against those, who after decades of terrorist attacks against our interests, murdered 3,000 innocent civilians on September 11, 2001.
Our Troops equipment relies on the very petroleum we are denying the oil companies access to, making them more dependent upon the very regions they are fighting terrorists in to fuel their equipment.
We Americans have experienced harsh times before and once again, we will recover from this one, provided our political leaders stop using struggling families as a political football to gain points and impose misguided political agendas.
All too often maligned by the left, the Petroleum Industry is poised to not only provide the energy needs we require to maintain our lifestyle, but to put tens of thousands of unemployed workers back to work, earning good wages and replenishing a depleted treasury with their taxes paid in.
They are as committed to protecting the environment as anyone else, if our elected representatives will allow them to.
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6 comments:
Hey Lew! Dropping by for that cold beer, lol. On a serious note, this horsepucky from dear komrade and his co-hort, Salazar have put lots of us down here on the Gulf Coast in a major financial nine line bind.
Hang in there bro. Merry Christmas too!
garryowen!
Just received e-mail from office yesterday, all overtime is suspended pending further notice. That results in 50k less on my AGI. The next step is cutting regular time by 1/3, to accommodate employees of off-contract equipment. That will equal 82k less on my AGI. That is just my pay, multiply that by the 3,000+ employees at this company, now figure what the amount of lost tax revenue on the local, state, and federal level will be, this is just one company of many in this situation. This is being done as a purely political play by the present administration. This move will reduce the tax revenue on the local, state, and federal level at a time when the goverment is already beyond broke. I just don't understand the rational being used by the administration. They believe this action is a political freebie, because there has been no mass lay-offs at this time. If the permit process is not rectified soon, the lay-offs are coming soon. Our only hope at this point is that lower production levels create a substantial spike in the oil and gas prices to force a change in the thinking in the Capital.
The asinine decision on the part of Barry and his minions like Salazar to ban offshore drilling again will further accelerate the decline of our already fragile economy. I feel sorry for the hard working folks in the oil industry who are located in the gulf region, for they are the ones who will feel the impact of that MORONIC BAN FIRST. Left wing environmental types like Margie Alt should stop drinking the coolaid, and do Real Americans a favor by leaving the country, along with the illegal aliens, but I digress. I hope the Oil industry fights those fools tooth and nail over this stupidity. We must prevail over the arrogance of the current administration, as well as what I regard as environmental extremism (aka tyranny).
This ban will spread out to all of the supportive industries and others who might service the Petroleum Industry. It will hurt everyone.
I am sure the oil industry is doing what it can, but we must help too. We have to contact elected officials and demand that we be allowed the use of our own resources and the industries that can, be allowed to create the jobs we need.
The true ignorance of it all is that the taxes that would be paid into the treasury by both the oil companies and workers will not be paid either.
It is rank stupidity, in my opinion.
This is now in the category of giving aid and comfort to our enemies.
Otherwise known as treason.
Yes, I agree that we should contact our elected officials and demand that we be allowed to use our own ample resources-Peak Oil is a bloody myth no doubt created by the left wing environmental nut jobs out there. The ban is indeed rank stupidity and we have got to ultimately triumph over the left, as well as the RINOS who aid and abet them. Of course, it can be rather frustrating when it comes to contacting our elected officials. In my case, I have a Congressman who is to the LEFT OF LENIN, but I will still continue to make myself heard. Your blog is excellent, Sir. Keep up the good work.
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