Dear Mr. Obama

We are the heads of a few of your largest constituents, including Dow, GE and DuPont. This letter represents our sentiments in wishing to express our gratitude for your and Ms. Pelosi’s efforts on our behalf. We thank you, our shareholders thank you, and certainly all of us look forward to contributing to your Presidential Library, once you leave office, if we did not sufficiently contribute already prior to the election.

We can appreciate that neither yourself nor your dear friends in Congress have had time to read the new Bill that opens: “A BILL – To create clean energy jobs, achieve energy independence, reduce global warming pollution and transition to a clean energy economy.” This Bill is very, very, very long and boring. It is also very complex. We conceived it and structured it in such way that the fewer the readers, the less editing would take place. We therefore anticipate that its passage will be swift. The sooner that train leaves the station, the more impossible its progress will be to reverse. It would also not be advantageous if the irrationality, and fear surrounding humanity’s hand in the process of global warming were to subside. Now, is an opportune time to strike.

Attaching the name “Cap and Trade” to this whole business has been a stroke of genius. No one really understands what it all means, and the media believes everything you tell them, so keep plugging it, and keep promoting the “reduction in CO2” stuff. That works really well in LA. Have you seen the air out there? Terrible. Terrible, or “turbull” as Charles Barkley would say. We are all thrilled that you have successfully reconstructed the original intent of CO2 reduction, into an energy consumption reduction program. We knew you could do it.

The impact on consumption reduction will, in our view, be minimal, and fortunately, that is not our objective. We wish you much luck in managing this monster, and in building an administration capable of verifying such things as the veracity of corporately claimed offsets. This Bill is so complex that it will provide endless possibilities for abuse and excesses, and we can smell the fraud stinking up the air already. As you know, a transparent system such as a simple graduated carbon tax, paralleled with targeted caps on emissions, would not have been as financially beneficial for us. Not even close.

We are well aware that most of our smaller brethren in the business will get put out to pasture as a result of their inability to move off-shore quickly enough, or by the fact that they will not be able to afford the carbon pollution permits. We, on the other hand, already have unregulated facilities around the world to which we can reallocate resources at a moment’s notice. Our competitors will also not have our advantage of receiving significant Cap and Trade credits based on our being able to provide all necessary products supporting this bill, from solar panels to wind mills in the sky. Our smaller competitors will also be unable to sustain the sheer costs of managing the government’s bureaucratic intrusion into their affairs, as it deploys armies of newly hired climate science experts to distribute and oversee capping and trading of carbon dioxide emissions.

We anticipate much higher costs in the manufacture of many alternate energy sources, such as solar energy absorption cells, and this will impact the expansion of solar cell farms, but well, we have no choice.

The Bill will be very effective in rendering the cost of any carbon-based energy unaffordable through overwhelming taxation. That should help you refill the government coffers somewhat, although the hole you are digging for American taxpayers is becoming rather considerable. Households across the country will bear the brunt of the costs, through higher product prices and a heavier tax burden, but most people seem very accepting of a “price” for reducing climate change. Even if most don’t believe that they impact climate, they still feel that the air needs cleaning. We are unsure, however, how taxpayers will feel about being mandated into financing the adoption of efficient technologies overseas. They will probably not be thrilled with paying to prevent the clear-cutting of the Amazon, for example, at a time when many households are barely paying their food bills. We, on the other hand, will not be affected, whatever reactions surface on that front, although a couple of us feel bad for our buddies running operations like aluminum, or steel mills. They are in for some tough times.

We note that some of our other friends on Wall Street are very preoccupied, as we write this letter, coming up with new and extremely creative financial tools which they expect to launch upon the Bill’s passing. Those boys have amazing ways of getting in on any game with the potential of throwing off billions in cash. They look forward to a whole new set of opportunities opening up for them, replacing the ones eclipsed by the recent devastating financial compression. Listening to some of them, one might conclude that they have been holding séances with Jeffrey Skilling of Enron fame.

We are anxious to be in receipt of our free Trade Allowances, but most of all, we are excited with the anticipation of enjoying astronomical growth for many years. In passing, we should thank you for having allowed, and fuelled with cash, firms like Goldman Sachs or Morgan Stanley to become even bigger, and more powerful than they were before the financial down-turn. This action set a tremendous precedent we look forward to duplicating in our industries. If you thought “too big to fail” applied to these giants before the crash, wait until you see how big a few of us get in the next five years.

We have one last request if we can be so bold. Could you repeat as often as possible to the Nation that this Bill will not cost over $3,000 per household each year, and that much like the national objective of being carbon neutral, so too the cost will be, … “neutral.” Explain to America that it is just a methodology for keeping track of excessive energy consumers, and polluters. Perfect, don’t you think? They’ll all buy it. The media will promote that theme for you.

We will continue to postulate assertively on the need for battling global warming, and look forward to your persistent oratory on getting this momentous Bill passed into law.

Sincerely.
Your Friendly Benefactors

Crossposted from The Pacific Gate Post

The unfortunate lesson is that you don’t need to win the vote on Election Day as long as your lawyers are creative enough to have enough new or disqualified ballots counted after the fact.

Mr. Franken trailed Mr. Coleman by 725 votes after the initial count on election night, and 215 after the first canvass. The Democrat’s strategy from the start was to manipulate the recount in a way that would discover votes that could add to his total.

Not a whole lot to be happy about with this win by Franken but at least now they own everything. They have a filibuster proof Senate. Either everything they have whined about for the last eight years gets fixed or they are outright liars. Scott said it best in the comments:

DEMS OWN IT NOW.

What’s it?

IT is EVERYTHING.

2010 midterms:

• if unemployment is still worse than when Obama took office, it’s their fault
• if GDP is still falling it’s Democrats’ fault
• if every American-EVERY SINGLE AMERICAN and most illegal aliens-don’t have the same high-quality/free medical coverage as Barack Obama…it’s their fault
• if Iran has nukes or is still pursuing them…it’s the Democrats’ fault
• if Pakistan is still on the brink…it’s the Democrats’ fault
• if Mexico is still on the brink…it’s the Democrat’s fault
• if there is still war in Afghanistan…it’s the Democrats’ fault
• if American troops are still in Iraq FOUR YEARS after promising to end the war…it’s the Democrats’ fault
• if there is a budget deficit…it’s the Democrats’ fault
• if there is a single pork spending program in ANY bill…it’s the Democrats’ fault
• if America is still dependent on foreign oil…it’s the Democrat’s fault

the list goes on. We can debate who caused what and how (and it’s ALWAYS a bi-partisan source), but the fact is that Democrats have unchecked power now, and should be able to do everything they’ve promised. If not, it’s their fault for misleading, and their supporters’ fault for believing the people who have lied and misled this nation and the world so grossly since 2002.

Call me crazy but me thinks once they fail at all of the above their fellow Democrats will make excuses for it all as Obama has done everyday since he has been in office.

62 million Americans now have absolutely no voice in the way our country is being governed. No say in the quadrupling of our debt or in the onerous taxes being piled on top of record unemployment. They have no say in the pending trillion dollar health care ‘reform’ or the more costly ‘cap and trade’ legislation steadily making its way through Congress.

With Democrats firmly in control of the White House and the House of Representatives, and most likely the Senate, the left has found no need for bipartisanship. After all, ‘Obama won.’ Case closed.

Should any pesky Republican complain, the voice goes unheard – kinda like a tree falling in a forest. Did it really fall if no one heard it? The right is reduced to pondering questions like these as the left continues implementing radical change at breakneck speed. Changes that affect every segment of our society and every single American. Changes that are being implemented without the requisite ‘national conversation’. Why hold a conversation?

The left is in control and there is no need to consult with the people they were elected to govern. The politicians and the experts know best. And should the GOP try to halt this tsunami of ‘change’, a quick change of the filibuster rule to 51 instead of 60 is put in place. That’ll teach em.

Under the guise of fighting the non-crisis of global warming, the EPA has declared the very air we breathe to be dangerous. Not to worry. Uncle Sam will save us. Here comes cap and trade. It will only cost $3,100 extra in energy costs per family.

Under the guise of universal health care, our government is preparing to take over app. 17% of our economy by nationalizing health care. Not to worry, they are consulting with the policymakers in Canada responsible for the sterling healthcare in that country. The very same government health care that forces Canadians to come to the US to get their medical needs taken care of. 

Under the guise of saving the economy, the feds have taken over banks, insurance companies and car companies, prompting even thug dictator Chavez to joke, “Hey, Obama has just nationalized nothing more and nothing less than General Motors. Comrade Obama! Fidel, careful or we are going to end up to his right.”  

Under the guise of saving us from those nasty capitalists, Obama has appointed a new Pay Czar to make sure no-one is paid more than the politicians deem they are worth. At least those who are unfortunate to work for companies that have received bailout funds. And in one case, the formerly sovereign state of South Carolina has actually been forced to take bailout funds, and accept all the strings that come with it.

Consent of the governed is being ignored as the Obama administration hijacks ever more power to the federal government, in direct contravention of the 10th amendment and the Constitution. And 62 million Americans can do nothing except marvel at the audacity.

The left is rejoicing at finally being able to implement utopia here on earth. A utopian vision that has consistently failed whenever it has been foisted upon a populace, either through charisma or brute force. But never mind. Obama’s utopia will work, experts assure us.

The experts who now hold us hostage are first and foremost, political beings, having been appointed ‘czars’ on the basis of political connections as opposed to merit. They are thoroughly steeped in theory and liberal orthodoxy and severely lacking in real world experience.

These unelected czars (15 at last count) now have control of our tax dollars and the regulatory bureaucracy that enables them to enforce their whims. Whims which are based more on political expediency than the rule of law. They will never be held accountable when their theories are tested and fail. And fail they must, as history has taught the 62 million people who didn’t vote for Obama.

As we speak, the left, with the willing compliance of an adoring media, are kowtowing to our enemies while demonizing and penalizing capitalists, the very wealth creators whose money now allows the government to implement an agenda anti ethical to the American way of life.

The Obama administration, under the guise of tolerance, inclusion, multiculturalism, empathy and concern for the disenfranchised, are destroying jobs though regulation and taxation. A total of 2.19 million jobs have been lost since Obama became President. (The news that Wal-Mart will be adding 22,000 jobs this year is ignored, as they did it without unions or government help.)

The Democrats are enacting legislation that makes it impossible for America to become energy independent, while at the same time, partnering with Arab countries to help them develop nuclear energy.

Our ‘leaders’ are burdening America with an unsustainable level of debt while at the same time, continuing to send our tax dollars ($106 Billion) to the IMF to bail out the world. And sending $200 million more to Pakistan to help out with their refugees.

The Left, with Obama as its messiah, believing that all cultures and countries should be equal, are systematically reducing America to third world status. A level playing field at last. Whew.

Meanwhile, the 62 million people who didn’t vote for Obama wait in vain for their own elected representatives to stand up and say STOP. Alas, aside from a handful of Republicans like Sarah Palin, Mark Sanford, Jim DeMint, Rick Perry and Dick Cheney, the silence from the Republicans is deafening.

62 million Americans are watching America squander its greatness on the altar of catchy, unproven, politically correct notions. And this American is wondering if the destructive policies that are being foisted upon us without our consent and without debate, are being enacted through stupidity or design.

During her visit she visited different historical and not so historical sites and met the residents of Auburn: (h/t to Conservative 4 Palin)

Bistro One got a very last-minute reservation request Thursday. But this was one they wanted to make room for.

Former vice-presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin participated in a breakfast event Friday morning at the Auburn restaurant. The event, which was attended by area supporters, kicked off a day of activities for the Republican governor at various local businesses, parks and organizations.

Her tour of the area precedes today’s first-ever Founders Day, which celebrates local history. During the Auburn festival, Palin will take part in a parade, speak at the city hall and attend a fundraiser luncheon at the Seward House.

~~~

One of about 40 in attendance at the breakfast was state Assemblyman Gary Finch. Finch said Palin gave a nonpolitical talk, and she expressed gratitude to the local community for inviting her.

Finch said that Palin, who brought her husband, Todd, daughter, Willow, her sister and nephew along, made sure to speak individually with each person at the event.

“She certainly conveyed to everyone that she is very glad to be here,” said Finch, who will also participate in Saturday’s festivities.

“She was very real, very genuine,” Finch said.

She also visited the Harriet Tubman Home:

At 10:15 a.m., a black SUV took her to the Tubman House for an unannounced tour away from the media pool. Palin’s family was shown through Tubman’s Home for the Aged, and site manager Paul Carter pointed out a print of a guardian angel leading a child. Carter said it reminded him that Tubman was “the guardian angel of us all.”

“That’s beautiful,” Palin said. “That says it all.”

In the Tubman visitor center, after hearing about Tubman’s resilience as she fought slavery, Palin called over her nephew Karcher, who is autistic, and said, “This is something for you, anytime you go through something tough. Keep going.”

And the Women’s Rights National Historic Park and the National Women’s Hall of Fame:

Shortly before noon, Palin’s party was led to the National Women’s Hall of Fame by Executive Director Christine Moulton. Moulton pointed out a number of inductees (including Ruth Colvin, founder of Literacy Volunteers in Syracuse) who had made great contributions to society after raising a family.

“That’s very hopeful for a lot of young moms today, who have to put things on hold,” said Palin, whose 18-year-old daughter, Bristol, is raising a child.

At the Hall of Fame, Palin — wearing a Blue Star Mom pin and bracelet for her son Track serving in Iraq, and showing red toenails in open shoes — posed for pictures.

Moulton gave Palin flowers. Nozzolio gave Palin a DVD of Ken Burns’ series on Anthony and Stanton (”Not for Ourselves Alone”). Palin congratulated Seneca Falls Mayor Smith for being “a good mommy mayor” and “setting an example for young women who want to affect positive change.”

At one point, Palin said she shared with Susan B. Anthony a desire for the protection of women. “For me, that includes our youngest sisters, girls in the womb,” she said.

And one reaction from a resident needs to be repeated:

Adams and his daughter, Erin, got up at 5:30 a.m. to be in Auburn this morning. By 9 a.m., they were seated in folding chairs and talking with other Palin fans. John Adams likes Palin’s politics.

“She makes me think of Ronald Reagan,” John Adams said.

“For the first time since Reagan, I’ve found a candidate that … sounds like Reagan and that has some Reaganesque qualities,” said Adams, 56. “She’s not the speaker Reagan was, but she believes the same things Reagan believed and talk that way, and that inspires me.”

Later she led a parade through Auburn where 20,000 people showed up to cheer her on and gave a speech which definitely contained some red meat. As she reached the podium you can hear people yell “run Sarah run.” The video’s of the speech is below but a few spots of interest, at about the 2:20 mark in part 1:

We never need to fear that though we’re not a perfect nation, that we must apologize for being proud of ourselves.

Later in part 1 she honors a few Auburn son’s who gave the ultimate sacrifice fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq asking them to join her in “promising the gold star moms that our soldiers deaths are not in vain and we will continue to fight for our security, our democracy, our freedom.”

And she takes on those who criticized her for not taking the strings attached stimulus money from the federal government (part 4 below):

I recently turned down, or vetoed, stimulus dollars that were tied to implementing…some mandates from the federal government trying to take away more control of our local governments, and our families, and our businesses. In this case, implementing universal energy building codes that some claimed after I vetoed the money “oh, she’s just trying to make a political statement.” And, no, I’m actually trying to use some common sense here, and some may be uncomfortable with that, but it is the right thing to do.

You know the response I got when I vetoed these dollars? “Girl, are you crazy, the federal government is handing out free money and if you don’t take it another state’s going to spend it.” Oh this borrowed, debt ridden, government growing money – it is not free money, and taking it takes away anything that is free.

So many in Congress warned the states about the ramifications of accepting the money, and most legislators went around governors who didn’t want to take all the money, and they resolved via resolutions to take the money anyway. But opportunity for development and local control, that is what’s taken away when all of these dollars are accepted without questioning them, because, believe it or not, there are fat strings attached to this borrowed money. See that attitude of free money is wrong.

Finally I have just conceded, I’ve said ok, I just won’t claim that there are strings attached. I won’t use that term anymore. Because the more we dig into these mandates, these connections that the money would have that we would spend coming from the federal government, including the string attached to these dizzying federal debts that we are handing to our kids and to their kids to pay off for us – I can’t say strings attached anymore, now I say they are ropes…They are debt building, binding, controlling ropes and it is bigger government that ultimately will take away our opportunities and our freedoms.

And now precedent says government will bail you out, depending on the decisions that you’ve made if you’re not prudent with your business dollars. Government will buy you out. Anyone need a car? And this is a problem because we cannot afford this government largess and control and unrestrained spending. I don’t think that’s what Seward had in mind. And I do not believe it’s the will of the people.

Lastly she also speaks about the part Alaska plays in our national defense (part 5 below). Watch them all, great speech and a great lady.

THEN READ UP ON IT

Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled that Senator Obama is finally getting national security briefings, reading up on the dangers in the world by reading 4yr old books about 20yr old subjects. I’m really thrilled. I’d of course prefer he read MY BOOKS, but maybe he’ll get around to it. More than anything, I really would have loved-I MEAN LOVED(!!!!) to have been a fly on the wall at the first NatSec briefing of his cabinet appointees. Oh MAN that had to be a conundrum!

“We have to leave Iraq 18 months from now per the campaign pledge, but the DoD says they can’t do it logistically. Hillary Clinton at State says it’d ’cause chaos and force a third invasion of Iraq (OUCH, tough sell to the DNC base!). Intel guys are saying that 1) AQ was in Iraq before the invasion, 2) AQ chose to make Iraq the central front in the gwot (not Bush), 3) AQ is being decimated by Bush’s Surge so leaving now let’s AQ revive in an oil-rich/money rich country. They also tell me that Iran’s gonna be making 40+nukes a month starting in January, India is moving troops to border w Pakistan & both sides are on their bi-annual brink-of-nuclear-war escapade. Oh, and despite the speech in Germany…ain’t nobody in the world gonna stop the anarchy in Africa or SE Asia.”

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE!

Suggestion: Appoint Dennis Kucinich to form a Dept of Peace and abolish the DoD. Yeah, that’s the ticket!

Poor Obama. He honestly had no clue & actually believed the leftist rhetoric. He followed Kos and Huffpo instead of the Milblogs and Flopping Aces. If he HAD been reading FA, then he wouldn’t need to be such a “voracious” reader of dated books. I’m only shocked he’s not skipping to the Cliff’s Notes.

Ya mean the man w ZERO experience is really just sizzle and no steak? Amazing! Whodathunkit?

Liberals are growing increasingly nervous – and some just flat-out angry – that President-elect Barack Obama seems to be stiffing them on Cabinet jobs and policy choices.

Obama has reversed pledges to immediately repeal tax cuts for the wealthy and take on Big Oil. He’s hedged his call for a quick drawdown in Iraq. And he’s stocking his White House with anything but stalwarts of the left.

Now some are shedding a reluctance to puncture the liberal euphoria at being rid of President George W. Bush to say, in effect, that the new boss looks like the old boss.

“He has confirmed what our suspicions were by surrounding himself with a centrist to right cabinet. But we do hope that before it’s all over we can get at least one authentic progressive appointment,” said Tim Carpenter, national director of the Progressive Democrats of America.

OpenLeft blogger Chris Bowers went so far as to issue this plaintive plea: “Isn’t there ever a point when we can get an actual Democratic administration?”

Even supporters make clear they’re on the lookout for backsliding. “There’s a concern that he keep his basic promises and people are going to watch him,” said Roger Hickey, a co-founder of Campaign for America’s Future.

Obama insists he hasn’t abandoned the goals that made him feel to some like a liberal savior. But the left’s bill of particulars against Obama is long, and growing.

link

color me shocked-SHOCKED I SAY!

CHICAGO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President-elect Barack Obama is not planning to implement a windfall profit tax on oil companies because prices have dropped below $80 a barrel, an aide said on Tuesday.

“President-elect Obama announced the policy during the campaign because oil prices were above $80 per barrel,” an aide on Obama’s transition team said. “They are currently below that now and expected to stay below that.”

Oil prices have fallen from a record $147 a barrel in July to under $50 this week.

Obama, who signaled early in his campaign for the White House that he would take an active approach to oil markets as president, had planned to use the revenue from a windfall profits tax to fund a tax rebate for low- and middle-income families struggling with high energy prices.

link

Terrific round up of data on the Obama plan to flush the US economy completely down the toilet. With an illustrious group of 537 (so far) bipartisan economists throwing their support to McCain and his tax plan, the word is eeking out to some of the MSM that all is not well in Obama-topia.

Economists for McCain is not affiliated, nor donors to the McCain campaign… despite what their name implies. What their name *does* imply is that after evaluation of both plans, 375 of them have put their names to condemning the Obama tax proposals.

Their official statement on Obama’s tax plan warn of a high risk of throwing the economy into a deep recession.

It was exactly such misguided tax hikes and protectionism, enacted when the U.S. economy was weak in the early 1930s, that greatly increased the severity of the Great Depression.

Also of great concern is Obama’s increasingly protectionist stance on foreign trade agreements such as NAFTA, GATT and the pending CAFTA.

Exports from the United States to other countries create jobs for Americans. Imports make goods available to Americans at lower prices and are a particular benefit to families and individuals with low incomes. International trade is also a powerful source of strength in a weak economy. In the second quarter of this year, for example, increased international trade did far more to stimulate the U.S. economy than the federal government’s “stimulus” package.

They chastise Obama and the DNCs entertainment of yet another stimulus package which would, of course, do nothing to grow the economy. From the increased taxes on oil to the dividends, labor income, investments, income and payroll, there was little these economists could praise.

We are equally concerned with his proposals to increase tax rates on labor income and investment. His dividend and capital gains tax increases would reduce investment and cut into the savings of millions of Americans. His proposals to increase income and payroll tax rates would discourage the formation and expansion of small businesses and reduce employment and take-home pay, as would his mandates on firms to provide expensive health insurance.

After hearing such economic criticism of his proposals, Barack Obama has apparently suggested to some people that he might postpone his tax increases, perhaps to 2010. But it is a mistake to think that postponing such tax increases would prevent their harmful effect on the economy today. The prospect of such tax rate increases in 2010 is already a drag on the economy. Businesses considering whether to hire workers today and expand their operations have time horizons longer than a year or two, so the prospect of higher taxes starting in 2009 or 2010 reduces hiring and investment in 2008.

In sum, Barack Obama’s economic proposals are wrong for the American economy. They defy both economic reason and economic experience.

You know the world might *finally* be waking up to adding two and two when CBS starts questioning Obama’s “fuzzy math”.

Obama has already proposed a new stimulus package of $188 billion over two years. His tax cuts will cost $85 billion a year. His “army of new teachers”: $18 billion; Renewable energy: $15 billion. CBS News and various independent experts estimate Obama’s total first year spending could exceed $280 billion.

~~~

“I’ve offered spending cuts above and beyond their cost,” he has said.

The fact is the savings Obama has identified do not cover his spending. According to a CBS News estimate, he’s around $90 billion short. The Obama campaign disputes this, saying everything including the stimulus is paid for over 10 years. But other analysts say – even presuming Obama saves money in Iraq and chops the federal budget as promised – he falls short.

Remember my previous post on the Obama tax plan? Like where is he going to find that $4.3 trillion he’s proposing thru 2019? Even CBSs Wyatt Andrews is having a hard time finding some economists not on the Obama gravy train to justify the numbers.

Fact: The tax cuts he promises, which are mostly refundable tax credits (code for cash back), will cost $60 billion just in year one, according the National Taxpayers Union, though the Obama campaign’s own estimates in July put that figure at $130 billion.

Fact: His new promise to give businesses a $3,000 tax credit for each new job created will cost $40 billion. But economists say this credit is far more likely to benefit companies already planning to expand and will likely not be enough to help companies create new jobs or forestall layoffs.

Fact: Obama’s claim he will lower health care premiums by $2,500 is: 1.) guesswork, which is 2.) based on health care savings that might, in a perfect world, happen over 10 years – a fact Obama neatly glosses over.

Then, of course, comes the math challenged Obama faithful who believe if we just leave Iraq, all the cash will flow into the coffers for a democratic socialist Euro-America.

Fact: Obama, when referring to savings he can make by leaving Iraq ($90 billion, according to Congressional Budget Office estimates), has spent these savings several times over, across several different promises depending on the crowd he’s addressing.

~~~

If he closes every loophole as promised, saves every dime from Iraq, raises taxes on the rich and trims the federal budget as he’s promised to do “line by line,” he still doesn’t pay for his list. If he’s elected, the first fact hitting his desk will be the figure projecting how much less of a budget he has to work with – thanks to the recession. He gave us a very compelling vision with his ad buy tonight. What he did not give us was any hint of the cold reality he’s facing or a sense of how he might prioritize his promises if voters trust him with the White House.

Whether Obama is so inept as to not function well with so many zeros, or he’s merely misrepresenting… no, make that lying thru his teeth… about his tax plan, there is a slow tide of realization that something ain’t right in Obama and Michelle’s financial “camelot”.

So it comes as no surprise that Obama is drawing up plans to lower expectations for his presumed presidency.

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obamas senior advisers have drawn up plans to lower expectations for his presidency if he wins next weeks election, amid concerns that many of his supporters are harbouring unrealistic hopes of what he can achieve.

The sudden financial crisis and the prospect of a deep and painful recession have increased the urgency inside the Obama team to bring people down to earth, after a campaign in which his soaring rhetoric and promises of hope and change are now confronted with the reality of a stricken economy.

The Times quoted a senior adviser as saying that the first few weeks of the transition, immediately after the election, were critical, so theres not a vast mood swing from exhilaration and euphoria to despair.

We have a word for this in the financial world…. it’s called “buyer remorse”. Frankly, it’s better to kill the deal altogether than suffer from that malady. Especially in the case of a POTUS, determined to steer the US into a socialist economy not dissimilar from the failures in Europe.

In any event, true or not, it seems abundantly clear that diplomacy has failed with Iran. Senator Obama says he’d talk to Iran, that more sanctions would work (as if even possible given Russian and China’s near lovefest w Iran). Well, if the good Senator really believed that, then he’d have already opened backdoor talks himself, or quietly met w an Iranian ambassador at a friendly, neutral embassy.

Iran is making nuclear bombs
Diplomacy has failed
If this report is true, then there are nukes near the Straits of Hormuz-ready to be used against 25% of the world’s oil shipping, against hundreds of thousands of Americans in the area, or to be put on a ship and sent to a target city.

Sober up people. America’s at war. Do we need a warrior or a lawyer? Do we need a man who can’t fit his the long list of resume accomplishments into a single book, or a man who has zero national accomplishments on his resume, and barely 100 y/n votes in his entire lifetime? You decide which wil deter Iran. Meanwhile, the bombs are near the ships, and they’re already in the shadows.

Israel Insider exclusively reports that a seismic event this weekend in southern Iran may in fact have been a massive underground nuclear bomb test. According to the USGS, the tremor measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale took place Saturday night, October 25 just before midnight Iran time, with its epicenter at 26.70°N, 55.02°E, just north of the strategic straits of Hormuz, opposite Abu Dhabi.
Zoomable map source: Google Maps.

The claim that the tremor was in fact a nuclear test came from an Iranian nuclear scientist who claims to be working in uranium enrichment for the project. A report published by Israel Insider on Friday, October 24 included a captionless map that portrayed the area of the seismic event that occurred the following night, based on location information previously provided by the Iranian source.

Israel Insider’s source reports that the test is in fact the second in a series. A 4.8 Richter scale event occurred on October 21 with an epicenter (26.70N, 54.96E) within 5 km (3 miles) of the October 25 tremor

link

UPDATE
North Korea’s nuclear tests were actually announced just before they happened so as to prevent any military response. However, they were conducted in October of 2006 (just before a US election at a time of maximum American political instability), and they were confirmed by seismic data. They were also conducted relatively close to the coastline.

Whether the reports about Iran are true or not…the UN’s IAEA claims that Iran might already have a nuke. They at least have hundreds of ballistic missiles that could devastate any city in the Middle East, and they have enough radioactive matl to make those warheads dirty.

There is a very real threat from Iran-according to Senator Obama (who has also said there is no threat from Iran; duplicitous as usual). In a matter of hours, we’ll know how America will deal with them.

US intelligence: Iran will be able to build first nuclear bomb by February 2009
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report
October 21, 2008, 8:46 PM (GMT+02:00)
US intelligence’s amended estimate, that Iran will be ready to build its first bomb just one month after the next US president is sworn in, is disclosed by DEBKAfile’s Washington sources as having been relayed as a guideline to the Middle East teams of both presidential candidates, Senators John McCain and Barack Obama.

The information prompted the assertion by Democratic vice presidential nominee Joseph Biden in Seattle Sunday, Oct. 19: “It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy.”

McCain retorted Tuesday, Oct. 21: “America does not need a president that needs to be tested. I’ve been tested. I was aboard the Enterprise off the coast of Cuba. I’ve been there.”)

DEBKAfile’s military sources cite the new US timeline: By late January, 2009, Iran will have accumulated enough low-grade enriched uranium (up to 5%) for its “break-out” to weapons grade (90%) material within a short time. For this, the Iranians have achieved the necessary technology. In February, they can move on to start building their first nuclear bomb.

US intelligence believes Tehran has the personnel, plans and diagrams for a bomb and has been running experiments to this end for the past two years. The UN International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna last week asked Tehran to clarify recent complex experiments they conducted in detonating nuclear materials for a weapon, but received no answer.

The same US evaluation adds that the Iranian leadership is holding off its go-ahead to start building the bomb until the last minute so as to ward off international pressure to stop at the red line.

This development together with the galloping global economic crisis will force the incoming US president to go straight into decision-making without pause on Day One in the Oval Office. He will have to determine which urgent measures can serve best for keeping a nuclear bomb out of the Islamic republic’s hands – diplomatic or military – and how to proceed if those measures fail.

His knowledge of the challenge colored Sen. Biden’s additional words in Seattle: “Remember I said it standing here if you don’t remember anything else I said. Watch, we’re gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.”

Israel’s political and military leaders also face a tough dilemma that can no longer be put off of whether to strike Iran’s nuclear installations militarily in the next three months between US presidencies before the last window closes, or take a chance on coordination with the next president.

Waiting for the “international community” to do the job of stopping Iran, as urged by governments headed by Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert – and strongly advocated Tzipi Livni, foreign minister and would-be prime minister – has been a washout. Iran stands defiantly on the threshold of a nuclear weapon.

If anyone finds confirmation of the following, please post it, and I will update the article….

The UN International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna last week asked Tehran to clarify recent complex experiments they conducted in detonating nuclear materials for a weapon, but received no answer.

link

Reminder:






The biggest ever sale of oil assets will take place today, when the Iraqi government puts 40bn barrels of recoverable reserves up for offer in London.

BP, Shell and ExxonMobil are all expected to attend a meeting at the Park Lane Hotel in Mayfair with the Iraqi oil minister, Hussein al-Shahristani.

Access is being given to eight fields, representing about 40% of the Middle Eastern nation’s reserves, at a time when the country remains under occupation by US and British forces.

Oil companies will find their reputations at risk from the actions of their Iraqi counterparties, such as joint venture partners, suppliers and agents. They will also have to contend with oil smuggling and the possibility that the ruling alliance could collapse, Matthee said.

He said that if the conspiracy theory that western oil companies egged on US and British governments to invade Iraq were true, the plan could backfire on them and benefit rivals in Asia instead. “It is possible the American army has provided the economic stability that will encourage Malaysian, Chinese and other Asian companies to become involved,” he said.

link

Yes, oil was one of the reasons for the invasion of Iraq, but it wasn’t the only one.
*****
Primary reason:
* to prevent a Nexus of Evil situation
* to prevent UBL from setting up headquarters in Iraq as Saddam had annually and bi-annually requested for 5 yrs. UBL had turned down each offer based on the idea that he was safer in Afghanistan, but driven from Afghanistan in 2001/2…the possibility of UBL moving AQ HQ to Iraq was much more likely and easily a worst case scenario for the war on terror (see also 911 Comm report and SIC 911 report and SIC Iraq investigation report for details OR multiple RR threads on “AQ’s ties to Iraq per _____”)

Secondary reason:
* to remove/resolve the hundreds unresolved WMD issues (any one of which could kill thousands in the hands of an Iraqi trained terrorist-like Abu Musab Al Zarqawi
* to get the hundreds of AQ terrorist who fled Afghanistan to Iraq
* to end Iraqi support for terrorists in general

Tertiary reasons:
* to create a battlefield against terrorists made of America’s choosing-not the terrorists preference (UBL’s preference was Afghanistan, the Graveyard of Empires where he felt he had already destroyed one superpower)
* to create a bastion of democracy in the middle of a region plagued by tyranny and oppression…things that spawn terrorism
* to drain the swamp of terrorists in the region; ie, to draw terrorists into a fight against the US military and not the Springfield, Ohio police Department
* to offer the Iraqi people a chance at restoring their rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness-rights that some Americans believe are endowed to all men by the creator
* to end the 4000-5000 Iraqis per month who were dying because of UN sanctions per the UN’s claims
* to prevent Saddam from continuing to terrorize the Iraqi people and his neighbors (all but one of which he had attacked)
* to support a legitimate govt in Iraq.
* to position US forces in a more threatening/deterring position to Iran, Syria, etc.
* With Al Queda’s #1 and #2 leaders pinned in Waziristan/Pakistan, as a means of going after the Al Queda’s #3 man, Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, who had already attempted to kill hundreds of thousands in London, Rome, Paris, and Jordan using chemical and biological weapons via training he had been given from Saddam
* To end the funding of Palestinian terrorists by Saddam and thus help deter bi-weekly suicide bus bombings that had completely derailed the peace process
* to prevent the funding of Al Queda by Iraq through the mega-corrupt UN Oil-for-Food program
* to shift American oil dependence (and funding) from terrorist-breeding-ground of Saudi Arabia to a Democratic and representative govt in Iraq
and so on…

Democrats have decided to allow a quarter-century ban on drilling for oil off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to expire next week, conceding defeat in an months-long battle with the White House and Republicans set off by $4 a gallon gasoline prices this summer.

Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis., told reporters Tuesday that a provision continuing the moratorium will be dropped this year from a stopgap spending bill to keep the government running after Congress recesses for the election.

Today:

Here is the text of Reid’s proposed new ban on oil shale, that he is trying to add as an amendment to the CR or move seperately as a “stimulus” package, or we should say an anti-stimulus package if this is included.

Sec 1602 continues ban on oil shale. The language follows:

SEC. 1602. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including section 152 of division A of H.R. 2638 (110th Congress), the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2009, the terms and conditions contained in section 433 of division F of Public Law 110–161 shall remain in effect for the 19 fiscal year ending September 30, 2009.

Here’s Heritage response:

This comes as both a stunning and ridiculous development; Americans are still coping with high energy prices and coming to grips with a plan to bailout Wall Street, and Senator Reid is denying access to potentially one of America’s most abundant energy reserves. Just how much energy you ask?

Dr. Daniel Fine of MIT reported that 750 billion barrels worth of oil shale have been discovered in Colorado alone. That amount is enough to potentially power the U.S. economy for many decades. Furthermore, if full-scale production begins within five years, the U.S. could completely end its dependence on OPEC by 2020…

In essence, Senator Reid is stripping the decision rights away from his colleagues in other states.

And Allah put up this response from Reid’s office to a readers email:

There is a possibility the Senate will be asked to vote on reestablishing the moratorium on oil shale extraction. Although Senate Democrats support measures to increase this nation’s energy supply, oil shale extraction has not been proven to be economically viable, will produce more greenhouse gases, and will significantly decrease the West’s water supply.

Allah is suggesting we all contact our Senators……not a bad idea at all.

On one side we have Henry Paulson and Ben Bernanke putting some serious pressure on Congress for swift passage… and warnings not to load it up with controversial amendments.

On the other, we have a bipartisan crew of lawmakers in varying stages of skepticism. For those that are in support of most… indeed, even of the concept of the US Treasury becoming an unregulated real estate investor for the taxpayer… they’re arguing over piddly details.

Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said Monday that the Bush administration and Democrats have agreed to additions to the plan, including creating an independent oversight board and aid for homeowners facing foreclosure.

However, there’s uncertainty over a proposal to allow the government to take an equity position in companies that participate in the U.S. program. Frank, D-Mass., said that the Treasury had agreed, but reports later Monday afternoon said the Treasury hadn’t.

Bernanke and Paulson state they want both healthy and troubled financial institutions to participate in the plan, saying the equity warrants would limit participation.

Paulson also rejected a Democratic proposal that the government get equity warrants in return for the assistance, saying that it would limit participation. Treasury wants both healthy and wobbly financial institutions to participate, he explained.
In his testimony, Bernanke also came across as a strong supporter of the Treasury’s plan to buy bad assets off Wall Street’s books.
With global markets under “extraordinary stress,” there could be “very serious consequences for our financial markets and for our economy,” according to his prepared testimony.

“Purchasing impaired assets will create liquidity and promote price discovery in the markets for these assets, while reducing investor uncertainty about the current value and prospects of financial institutions.” Read Bernanke’s statement.

~~~

Paulson didn’t come offering an olive branch to the legislators. He said that his mortgage rescue plan must be designed to hit the ground running, a clear signal that he will oppose any changes that he believes would slow down implementation.

The Treasury secretary said that he believes it has solid support from members of both parties. Paulson said that amendments to his package that would also cause controversy must be left out.
Congressional approval of the plan would “avoid a continuing series of financial institution failures and frozen credit markets that threaten American families’ financial well-being, the viability of businesses both small and large, and the very health of our economy,” he said. Read Paulson’s testimony.

Paulson opposed a suggestion from Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., that the $700 billion be given to Treasury in tranches, calling it a “grave mistake.”

Even Chris Dodd isn’t complete sold, calling it “stunning” in it’s lack of detail.

“It would do nothing in my view to let a single family save a home. It would do nothing to stop a CEO from dumping billion dollars of toxic assets on the back of American taxpayers,” said Dodd.

“It is not just our economy at risk but our Constitution as well,” Dodd said, because it would allow Paulson to spend $700 billion “with impunity.”

GOP Richard Shelby stated this plan was not going to be “rubber stamped”… others even more emphatic, calling in (deservedly so, IMHO) “unAmerican”.

Shelby complained that there had been no time to consider alternatives.
And opposition was plainly seen among the backbenchers.

Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., said the plan would cost $2,300 per taxpayer. “This committee would not be doing its job if that were allowed to happen,” Enzi said.At that point, spectators in the audience of the hearing broke out in applause.

Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., called the Paulson plan “financial socialism” and “un-American.”

There is no doubt that such a move… putting so much of the taxpayers’ earnings in the hand of virtually one man… is beyond risky. It is the antithesis of America’s economic foundation.

While Bernanke and Paulson argue it’s necessity, I have to wonder if they’ve thought of the most immediate repercussions… an instant devaluation of the dollar. The mere consideration of this plan has dropped the US dollar to a record low against the Euro since it’s debut in 1999.

The dollar suffered record losses against the euro on Monday as the potential negative consequences of the government’s $700 billion rescue effort weighed heavily on the currency.

The greenback’s weakness helped push equities sharply lower, including a loss of 373 points on the Dow, and sent crude oil prices to its biggest one-day price increase ever.

The dollar was down 2.33% to $1.4802 per euro as of 4:22 p.m. EDT. At its lows, the dollar was down to $1.4435 per euro, the lowest level since late August.

~~~

The Treasury’s $700 billion rescue would allow the government to buy and hold toxic assets currently stuck on banks’ balance sheets. The plan is aimed at restoring confidence in the financial system and allowing banks to return to lending to businesses and individuals.

Pushing the nation’s debt level to new heights is among several potentially negative consequences of the massive bailout. Purchasing the illiquid assets from banks could push the government’s debt ceiling up by 6.6%. Even before the Treasury plan emerged, the Congressional Budget Office was already forecasting a budget deficit of $438 billion for the next fiscal year.

~~~

The dollar has also been hurt by raised expectations that the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates before the end of the year. The new hopes for a rate cut have been fueled by the latest turmoil in the financial sector, including the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers (LEH: 0.13, -0.17, -56.66%) and an $85 billion emergency loan to American International Group (AIG: 5.00, +0.28, +5.93%).

An interest rate cut would have negative consequences for the already-weakened greenback. The Fed has slashed interest rates by 3.25 percentage points since a year ago as the economy has slowed.

And we all know what happens with a weak dollar… astronomically high oil prices, which cascades into every arena of the taxpayer’s daily expenses… from transportation to food, from purchasing power to the ability of businesses to stay in business, and keep employees on payroll.

And indeed, late this afternoon comes an AP article saying many believe… with the recent ups and downs of nervous speculators and contracts… it appears poised for another hefty rise amidst concerns over the US financial situation and dollar value.

It was crude’s first down session in five days. Some decline was to be expected after crude soared 16 percent on Monday — the biggest one-day gain ever — partly because of a technical fluke.

Still, oil market watchers say crude is showing early signs that it may be poised for another big climb. They say tightening global supplies, weakness in the dollar and nervousness about the U.S. government’s $700 billion financial rescue plan could soon prompt edgy investors to shift funds out of equities and send a burst of capital back into safe-haven commodities like oil — potentially pushing prices back toward record levels and causing consumers more pain at the pump.

~~~

“We could be back on the road toward $150 a barrel,” said Stephen Schork, an analyst and oil trader in Villanova, Pa. “If we can’t get any stability in the dollar and there’s further weakening in the economy, my fear is that it’s deja vu all over again. We’re going to see a lot of money piled back into commodities as an inflation hedge.”

There are a few analysts also saying it could go the other way… like from their lips to the oil gods’ ears, please. But they are basing that on the economic woes resulting in a severe useage drop by US cconsumers. Fact is, how much can we all “curtail” and still go about our daily tasks?

I think many of us are mulling over just what to do. But I’m rapiding coming to the conclusion that whatever we do, this US Financial Rescue Plan is *not* the answer.

Pelosi, Al Gore, and an army of DNC gullible, are hell bent on forcing the nation to create, in essence, and new national power grid in an unrealistic time frame. And if refusing to allow the oil and gas industry to increase supply vs demand (by allowing additional exploration, leases and drilling) and instead keep gas prices high, they can force a desperate nation into compliance for the impossible. That will be fine with them…. damned be the consequences.

Only one problem… installing the solar panels in the SW deserts, and the wind farms in T-Boone Pickens’ “greatest wind energy potential in the world” - the Great Plains in flyover America – doesn’t get that energy from point A to point Z.

Al Gore’s challenge to be totally weaned off a petroleum or coal based power grid in 10 years is lofty in ideals, but more soaring in rhetoric… nay, BS… than all Obama speeches combined. As Kevin Bullis pointed out in his Technology Review article, “Al Gore’s Inconvenient Plan”,

But in 2006, the most recent year with complete figures, four billion megawatt-hours of electricity were produced in the United States. Eventually, wind, solar, and geothermal power could cover this. But right now, they account for a little more than 1 percent of the total. Going from 1 to 100 percent will require not only building the wind turbines and solar panels and steam turbines for harvesting geothermal energy: it will also require massive new transmission infrastructure for distributing this power, from the deserts or windy plains, where much of this energy can be found, to the coasts, where people actually live. And it will require massive amounts of energy storage, since solar power doesn’t work well at night, and wind power is erratic.

In light of this scale, even some truly ambitious schemes seem like a drop in the bucket. Over the past couple of weeks, T. Boone Pickens, an oil tycoon, has been using some of his billions to run television ads supporting his personal energy plan for the United States. Part of that plan is his project to build what seems to be the biggest wind farm in the country. It would nearly double the amount of wind produced in the state of Texas, the state with by far the most wind power. But that project will only produce 4,000 megawatts of power. (Total electricity generating capacity in the United States is about 1 million megawatts.) And it won’t be cheap. To cover transmission-line costs alone for that and other proposed wind projects, the state of Texas plans to spend about $5 billion.

Needless to say, I’m sure we all realize who will be paying for these new transmission lines. Texans, yes.. and every other state that benefits from these new power grids. But the rest of us will also feel the costs with subsidies and tax credits – revenue lost from the federal piggy banks that Congress will want refilled from taxpayers elsewhere.

Right when you think the “save the planet” types were going to walk hand in hand with DNC leadership into a pollution free sunset, the next predictable battle rolls around. It seems alternative energy isn’t going to please the “greens” either.

So it comes as no surprise to read WSJ’s Review and Outlook piece today, Wind Jammers, which points out not only the obvious transmission problems… but the development of such being thwarted by the enviros themselves.

Only last week, Duke Energy and American Electric Power announced a $1 billion joint venture to build a mere 240 miles of transmission line in Indiana necessary to accommodate new wind farms. Yet the utilities don’t expect to be able to complete the lines for six long years — until 2014, at the earliest, because of the time necessary to obtain regulatory approval and rights-of-way, plus the obligatory lawsuits.

In California, hundreds turned out at the end of July to protest a connection between the solar and geothermal fields of the Imperial Valley to Los Angeles and Orange County. The environmental class is likewise lobbying state commissioners to kill a 150-mile link between San Diego and solar panels because it would entail a 20-mile jaunt through Anza-Borrego state park.

“It’s kind of schizophrenic behavior,” Arnold Schwarzenegger said recently. “They say that we want renewable energy, but we don’t want you to put it anywhere.”

The Guvenator is only now learning of the NIMBY problem? Where was he when, then Governor, Mitt Romney and Ted Kennedy strolled arm in arm to kill the Nantucket wind farm because it would decrease property values?

It doesn’t surprise me that my own backyard is doing the same… despite all our snippy nosed enviromentalists and being home to ELF.

Wind power has also become contentious in oh-so-green Oregon, once people realized that transmission lines would cut through forests. Transmissions lines from a wind project on the Nevada-Idaho border are clogged because of possible effects on the greater sage grouse.

Similar melodramas are playing out in Arizona, the Dakotas, the Carolinas, Tennessee, West Virginia, northern Maine, upstate New York, and elsewhere.

But the enviros may have just met their match… they are now going up against their own power houses… the Al Gores and Nancy Pelosis of the world. And of course, their new darling, former oil man T Boone Pickens.

And why? Money, of course. All are mega-invested in the alternative energy personally. Al Gore’s financial empire spanning the climate change/alternative energy is well known. T-Boone has a pretty good chunk of his own cash in the kitty as well.

Mesa Power, a company Pickens created, is investing about $2 billion in a Texas wind plant that will generate enough electricity to power about 300,000 homes.

He’s also invested some of his $4 billion wealth into efforts to establish natural gas fueling centers in California.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who proposes to get 20 percent of Kansas’ energy from wind by 2020, introduced Pickens in Topeka.

She praised him for his vision and “bold new ideas,” as well as his willingness to put his own money on the line.

Someone ought to let Gov. Sebelius know that T Boone’s a savvy business man… just like Al Gore. He’s not doing this as an act of charity…

Then, of course, there’s Ms. Pelosi… not so unsavvy herself. Last year – well in advance of his current defection from the “big oil” fold publicly – she invested in T Boone’s clean energy corporation, CLNE. From her 2007 House disclosure statement, she purchased stock/assets valued then at $100K-$250K. (see pg 7 of PDF, Clean Energies Fuel Corp)

Estimated values today, per a Yahoo stock item (no longer available on the Yahoo News, but duplicated at DontGoMovement.com,) suggest that Ms. Pelosi may have tripled her investment in just over a year.

UPDATE 8/12/08 2:16 PPM
The initial offering may have been only 22,000 or so shares, but according to a Yahoo news item: Item 8.01. Other Events.

On June 19, 2007, the Company issued a press release announcing that the underwriters of the Company’s initial public offering have elected to exercise in full their option to purchase an additional 1,500,000 shares of the Company’s common stock to cover over-allotments. A copy of the press release is attached as Exhibit 99.1 to this report and is incorporated herein by reference.

This means that Pelosi could have purchased around 20,000 shares at $3.86, or $50,000 to $100,000 worth, which are now worth 300% more than their original value.

Nancy Pelosi says that she is trying to save the planet and prevent global warming, but the reality is that, according to disclosure statements, in May 2007 she invested in T. Boone Picken’s clean energy fuels corp., CLNE, which is the sole sponsor of a proposal in California to funnel $5 billion in state funds and $5 billion in Federal funs to this corporation which will indirectly help them create a giant wind farm in the Texas panhandle.

I can’t vouch for that profit structure. Indeed, with the stock world bouncing up an down like an Obama bobble head, I’m sure that story changes daily. But it’s a real winner to get in low, and promises a healthy future for a product in demand… especially when you have investors with the “power of one” – able to guarantee that healthy future with legislation… not to mention the power to keep the US hostage to high gas prices.

But what is perhaps even more amusing a dichotomy is that CLNE is also heavily invested in liquid natural gas – another serious hot button for the enviros… Wonder how the Speaker feels about that.

What with all the rich and powerful, personally divesting themselves in this future energy grid, the enviros are bound to lose their battles and protests eventually. They may slow the process with lawsuits and civil disobedience. But they will, ultimately, lose.

Unfortunately, so will the rest of us. Unless we can keep producing, or increasing production, of what we use today… oil, natural gas, and coal… our transition to alternative fuels over time may just break the bank of the American economy.

“All of the above” is the only sane energy plan when we are at the mercy of an insane and corrupt Congress.

McCain’s visit came a day ahead of the Minerals Management Service’s lease sale in New Orleans to auction off 18 million acres of the western Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas drilling. The tracts could potentially yield as much as 400 million barrels of oil, but that amount would only meet the nation’s oil needs for about 19 days, and it would be at least seven to 10 years until oil started flowing.

Ah yes… were the 400 million bbls the only source, that 19 days argument may make sense. But McCain’s recent change of heart, recognizing the importance of drilling as part of a larger energy package, is the approach most polled American’s prefer… an “all of the above” plan. And what better place to showcase the latest drilling technology than aboard the Chevron Genesis.

McCain flew by chopper the 130 miles to the Gulf of Mexico platform is located south of New Orleans, in 2600 ft of water, atop an Outer Continental Shelf field estimated at 160 million bbls. Post drilling flow tests were conducted in which the field produced at rates of up to 8,300 bbl/day. These estimates proved low, and the yield is approximate 10,000 bbl/day. Production at the time of construction/drilling was estimated to peak at about 55,000bbl of oil and 72 million ft³ of natural gas per day.

Speaking from the platform, McCain said:

“Americans across our country are hurting, as we all know, because of the cost of energy,” McCain said aboard the rig. “Gas prices are through the roof. Energy costs have seeped into our grocery bills, making it more expensive to feed our families. Now as we prepare for the winter, it’s time for us to be more serious about our home heating oil needs. … And that means we need to start drilling offshore, at advanced oil rigs like this one.”

~~~

“We need to drill offshore and we need to do it now. If I were president, I would call Congress back into session and tell them to get to work”

With the DNC on the losing end on the energy issue, Obama’s campaign was quick to label McCain’s venue nothing more than a stunt.

Obama’s campaign, meanwhile, called the four-hour excursion nothing more than a stunt. Obama supporter and former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack compared McCain’s position to the “Beverly Hillbillies” television program where the main character — Jed Clampett — stumbles onto an oil gusher. McCain, he said, has “a Jed Clampett energy policy.”

~~~

Democrats, meanwhile, used the visit to return a snipe. After Obama suggested drivers inflate their tires to increase gas mileage, the Republican National Committee sent reporters tire gauges. The Democratic National Committee on Tuesday sent reporters stress balls in the shape of oil barrels and bumper stickers touting Exxon-McCain.

And liberal MoveOn.org…’s political action committee announced a $500,000 television ad buy in North Carolina to link Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole of North Carolina with McCain, noting both received donations from those in the energy sector.

Gotta love it… the GOP sent the press tire gauges?? Musta missed that news bulletin! LOL

Naturally the DNC will perpetuate the myth via attack ads suggesting McCain unduly benefits from the oil industry donations. However His Messiahship floats on turbulent waters, and will find his sails ripped to shreds if he continues that tack. Because the ugly truth is, those “big oil” producers have given the larger share of cash to the annointed one.

Through June, Exxon employees have given Obama $42,100 to McCain’s $35,166. Chevron favors Obama $35,157 to $28,500, and Obama edges out McCain with BP $16,046 vs. $11,500.

That takes care of “big oil”. How about the “mom and pop shop” oil companies… i.e. Koch Industries, Valero, Marathon Oil, Occidental Petroleum, ConocoPhillips, and Hess, as some of the “not so big” oil companies? They favor McCain.

Overall McCain’s support from the smaller companies, plus his lesser amounts from the “big oil” companies (which are small potatoes compared to the giants that are State owned around the world…) gives McCain an edge in the entire industry, getting $1.3mil to Obama’s $394K.

This preference for McCain’s energy policies over Obama’s happened before McCain changed his tune on the importance of expanded drilling as part of a larger package. As the chart below shows, the support from the oil and gas industry started leaning to McCain prior to his reevalued policy, and the increased contributions rose *after* his announcement to support wider drilling.

And why not? The bigger privately owned companies may lose money for the refined product supplied to America’s pumps, but they make it up with their exploration and production divisions. The smaller boutique mom and pop companies do not have the same revenue production. Obama’s proposed “windfall” tax redistribution could put them out of business.

And what business in their right mind will lend that support to a candidate promising a government take over of profits? This brings us to “big oil” vs “big banking” contributions.

The DNC has the windfall contributions from the commercial banking industry… The DNC candidates received a combined $4,555,123 (Obama: $1,884,358 – Hillary: $1,572,508) to the GOP candidates’ $3,643,784 (McCain: $1,703,678).

Considering that JSM has been the GOP candidate since early this year, and HRC and BHO were battling it out until June, this means the DNC front runners had a twice the financial support from the most profitable industry (aka “big banking”) in the nation… and *that* industry tossed 4x the amount of cash into the kitty over “big oil”. Why? Because the DNC was delivering bail outs…

With Obama not only receiving the huge cash sums from the #1 profit industry of banking, but also having the biggest three of the “big oil” (not mom and pop) companies favor his coffers as well, he’s apt to be wading in over his head should he continue his “follow the money” accusations.

Now, would you like to discuss lawyers/lawfirms? How about HMOs & Health Services? And how about those Lawyers & Lobbyists? That would be Obama $20,957,508, McCain $7,791,610.

Yeah… keep up the “follow the money trail”, Obama. I’m liking this….