From the AP:
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 a months-long battle with the White House and Republicans set off by $4 a gallon gasoline prices this summer.
[…]
Republicans have made lifting the ban a key campaign issue after gasoline prices spiked this summer and public opinion turned in favor of more drilling. President Bush lifted an executive ban on offshore drilling in July.
“If true, this capitulation by Democrats following months of Republican pressure is a big victory for Americans struggling with record gasoline prices,” said House GOP leader John Boehner of Ohio.
Democrats had clung to the hope of only a partial repeal of the drilling moratorium, but the White House had promised a veto, Obey said.
The House is expected to act on the spending bill Wednesday. The Senate is likely to go along with the House.
“The White House has made it clear they will not accept anything with a drilling moratorium, and Democrats know we cannot afford to shut down the government over this,” said Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. “We look forward to working with the next president to hammer out a final resolution of this issue.”
While the House would lift the long-standing drilling moratoriums for both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, a drilling ban in waters within 125 miles of Florida’s western coast would remain in force under a law passed by Congress in 2006 that opened some new areas of the east-central Gulf to drilling.
Just last week, the House passed legislation to open waters off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to oil and gas drilling but only 50 or more miles out to sea and only if a state agrees to energy development off its shore. It quickly became clear that measure would not get the 60 votes needed in the Senate.
Republicans called that effort a sham that would have left almost 90 percent of offshore reserves effectively off-limits.
The Interior Department estimates there are 18 billion barrels of recoverable oil beneath the Outer Continental Shelf, about half of it off California.
While the ban on energy development will be lifted if the Senate goes along with the House action, it doesn’t mean any federal sale of oil and gas leases in the offshore waters  much less actual drilling  would be imminent.
[…]
The congressional battle over offshore drilling is far from over. Democrats are expected to press for broader energy legislation, probably next year, that would put limits on any drilling off most of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Republicans, meanwhile, are likely to fight any resumption of the drilling bans that have been in place since 1981.
John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, has promised to make offshore oil drilling a priority if elected president. He has called for developing the oil and gas resources along all of Outer Continental Shelf and for the federal government to share royalties with states who go along with drilling.
Democratic presidential rival Barack Obama has said he would support limited drilling in certain areas  possibly the South Atlantic region  if it is part of a broader energy plan to shift the U.S. away from oil to alternative fuels and more energy efficiency.
Yeah. Like maybe ethanol.
No conflict of interest there.
Bottom line: the Dems feared that the hold-up on drilling was a very potent weapon for McCain to use in his presidential run. So naturally they surrendered their “principles” in order to try to win the election.
Ends, means, greater good, longterm outlook, blah blah blah blah — all the while leaving open the door to frustrate progress and walk back their new concession should they gain power. Wink wink!
As predictable as a Michael Moore breakfast. Minus about a third of the pork.
(h/t STACLU)
Joey is playing til Nov.6th on blog post near you. Warmed over ’70’s,80’s and ’90’s Liberalism for your listening pleasure.
“Obama on my shoulder”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BtJG0BonMQ
We’re not quite out of the woods yet:
“Will this mean drilling can commence? Not quite. The states have to lease the lands as well as the federal government, and states won’t likely do so without revenue sharing. Democrats tried blocking that in the Senate compromise, but that provided another point of failure for any compromise. Congress has to approve that action, and right now it still appears that Democrats want to use that to limit production.” (Hot Air)
http://hotair.com/archives/2008/09/23/democrats-concede-on-drilling/
“Congress has to approve that action, and right now it still appears that Democrats want to use that to limit production.”
a spoon full of $700 Billion” makes the medicine go down.
And if McCain wins: Drill here Drill Now.
I’m not so sure it’s going to be a temporary reversal.When the public catches wind of this (IF,sorry,MSM and all)then maybe the 72 percent of us could voice our opinions?
I would like to believe that Dem or Repub, we could stand up for “Energy Independence (GOD I hate that term)
Anyway, I think there would be a serious backlash to anyone voting against a drilling proposal. I would like a kickback to the feds, say 10 percent? I’m not an economist, so maybe someone here could teach me on that?
Unrelated but;
I bet legalizing certain illegal chemicals could make 700 billion magically re-appear.
Not that I would ever condone such a thing – lord knows the cia needs to make money somehow.
*Just trying to make conspiracy troofers feel at home*
I always wanted to ride a helicopter to work. Maybe by the time I retire from my real job we’ll have a couple of dozen platforms in place.
Yep, just as I predicted long ago…
The “oil is making us sick” and “I’m trying to save the planet” moral high ground paled to the electoral high ground that Mav and the eeeeeeeevil RethugliKKKans would enjoy if they’d been able to club the Dems throughout the nation with the oil ban issue…
But, in a close election season, well need I actually say it..? Under da O! bus !
Oh well, there’s always the hope that the left will overplay their hand viz. the financial crisis…
$700 billion? $700 billion, where else have I heard that number? Oh yeah, that’s the amount we send overseas every year for foreign oil IIRC.
Democrats are expected to press for broader energy legislation, probably next year, that would put limits on any drilling off most of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.
…thinking that the electorate won’t remember it when the 2010 elections come ’round.
Sadly, they’re probably right about that.
Well played Jeff:
Vengeful in-your-face AP copy/paste? – check.
Cynical over-simplification of the energy market? – check.
Mocking the importance of constructive government oversight? – check.
Hey, you’re improving in your hackitude. I’m sure those checks are in the mail. Any day now.
Only tangentially related, perhaps, but I came across this on the blog Edge of the American West and had to share – it’s got real “quote of the day” potential. In the comments to the post http://edgeofthewest.wordpress.com/2008/09/23/marcy-kaptur-has-your-back/, shortly after one commenter complains of paying taxes that are “almost entirely going to wildly wealthy people and people with guns,” a fellow by the name of Matt Weiner weighs in with this pearl, apparently intended without even a trace of irony:
“Unless you’re a lot older than I think you are, the Democrats have been the party of financial restraint for your entire life.”
For real. Someone said that. On an alleged scholarly blog. Apparently from sincere belief.
Drill, baby, drill, petro inferno…
And yet, my night is not complete without the obligatory game of NISHIÑATA.
Maybe he means they restrain “our” finances.
Pffpt.
Bpfffpt. Pff.
Bpfffpt. Pffpt. Pff. Heh.
BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! hAHAHA! <hic> HAAAAAAAAHAHAHA<hic>HAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!
HAHAHAHA! HA<hic>:HAHAHAHAAAAA!
Sorry. Got carried away <hic> a bit HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA there…
Regards,
Ric
Ric Locke:
700 Billion dollars.
LOL!
Aside from geoffb’s observation, I might add that the only financial restraint a Democrat ever expected from the government was on defense spending.
Oh, and: Bill Gates will pay you for your emails.
So go out and send a whole lot of them, ST!
…but maybe not $700 billion. Still, a bunch.
Yup.
700 Billion (with a b) dollars.
Almost exactly what we send out of the country every year, because we won’t drill or develop any other energy of our own. And which is a large but not outrageous part of the economy. We are, after all, at least sort of getting by. People do continue to buy gas.
Got it, ST?
We could finance the entire f*ing bailout out of one year’s pocket change if we only produced our own energy. The WHOLE.FUCKING.THING.
Constructive.Government.OversiBUUUUUUUUUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! hah! HAHAHAHA<hic>HAHAHA!
HMPF. Pbffft. Heee. BUUUUUUUWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
RegarHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA…
<hic>Ric
Y’know, this blog has gotten a lot better since Jeff quit.
The King is quit! Long Blog the King!
ST linking the New York Times story on “the whole thing being John McCain’s campaign manager’s fault” story in 3-2-1…
“So go out and send a whole lot of them, ST!”
Very funny. I like you Slartibartfast. When the time comes, we’ll confiscate your wealth last…and maybe kick a little back to you.
Not like that Ric Locke guy. He’s in big trouble.
Ah, a little up-against-the-wall-with-you action? Nice to have that out in the open, where everyone can see it. Hey, that one looks Jewish!
I so love it when a leftoid illustrates my point in an attempt to refute it.
A simple pleasure, but I’m a simple sort of guy.
Regards,
Ric
I’m with you Ric. Laughter is the only thing left to do about this mess.
And mockery that in good too.
Project much? Oh wait…wingnuts must be missing that bone in their ankles that “gets” snark.
Anyway, the preemptive anti-semite defense is getting old. Really.
ST is, evidently, missing the getting-of-snark, itself.
RoA: “I bet legalizing certain illegal chemicals could make 700 billion magically re-appear.”
I’d take that action — being a believer in the invisible hand of the market, I have complete confidence in the federal government’s ability to screw up even the simplest of things. They’d probably manage to make the drugs weaker, more expensive and lose money in the process.
ST: “When the time comes, we’ll confiscate your wealth last…and maybe kick a little back to you.”
Uh-huh… says the pretentious little Pol Pot wannabe.
Not exactly Regards, Ric Locke.
The reality is that those 700 Billion (with a b) dollars are going to be transubstantiated out of nothingness on a whim, as well as being dependent on the good intentions of the PRC and future American taxpayers.
All because of a lack of meaningful oversight.
Saying anything else is wishful poppycock…on things that never happened. You guys had SIX FUCKING YEARS to expand drilling rights.
It wasn’t until the lobbying kicked in that it became important.
Corrected that for you
, you idiot.Y’know, I just had a wonderful idea.
The States of Texas and Louisiana, and to a lesser extent Mississippi and Alabama, are the conduit for most imported oil. We receive the stuff, refine it, and send it out to the rest of the country, and put up with the environmental problems incident upon that trade. Spills, burning pipelines, stenches, carcinogenetics, the whole mozilla.
The four states should form an association, and all four should agree to a tax — say, $1 per gallon of some benchmark crude, or the equivalent for refined products — on oil produced within or imported into the State, revenues to be used to ameliorate the environmental damage. An equivalent amount, though, would be refunded when petroleum products were sold at retail or for consumption (burned in a power plant, e.g.) within the four States.
Net result, the rest of the country pays us for importing or producing fuel. Our gas prices stay the same or go down a bit, and everybody else gets to pay $5 a gallon like Al Gore thinks they should. Win-win, no?
Regards,
Ric
ST: “Saying anything else is wishful poppycock…on things that never happened. You guys had SIX FUCKING YEARS to expand drilling rights.”
If that is going to be your argument, comrade, then I would point out that the Dems have had more time in control of Congress to fix the shit they whine about in the last half of the twentieth century — how’d they manage?
Likewise, were they no using Freddie Mac and Frannie Mae as cash cows for Democratic candidates (Dodd, #1 in total dollars, Obama #1 on a dollars / yr basis, #2 overall), crony capitalism and as a lever to lend money to folks you wouldn’t lend a dollar for the vending machine, we wouldn’t be in this mess, either.
Yup, ST. You probably can’t find a place on this site over the last 7 years where I agitated for opening up ANWR, or for new refineries, or for nuclear energy ala (blech!) France.
It’s all very sudden. Since you started coming around. Because nothing existed before you took an interest in it.
And of course, because of the hackitude.
(By the way, the “___________? Check” construction? Amateur hour. I mean, I know it’s September, and the big club calls up a few minor leaguers to get ’em that cup of coffee. But that just means you get to carry my bat bag. Don’t go thinking you actually can compete at this level…)
Uh huh, ST.
Got two bits of news for you, ST.
First: transubstantiated out of nothingness is where all money comes from. Twenty years ago, GDP was around two trillion dollars. Nowadays it’s closer to thirty trillion. Where do you suppose that money came from? Made by elves in hollow trees, no doubt.
Second: Anybody capable of meaningful oversight can move the decimal point on his or her paycheck one place to the right by going to work for the (putatively) overseen. It takes a lot of knowledge to “oversee” anything that complicated, more in fact than most of the workers in the field have or need. A person with that level of expertise could pretty well write his or her own ticket — and not have to put up with ten pages of nitpicking regulations covering how to handle a few drinks in the bar on the expense account. And without that level of expertise, “oversight” isn’t meaningful, let alone constructive.
Regards,
Ric
Uh oh, Ric. You’re just asking for a checklist!
Yup, ST. You probably can’t find a place on this site over the last 7 years where I agitated for opening up ANWR, or for new refineries, or for nuclear energy ala (blech!) France.
Yes, those awful Democrats in congress in the minority 2000-2006 were such bullies that never let Bush get his way.
Don’t go thinking you actually can compete at this level
How elitist, and at the same time bitter of you.
Not bitter. And not elitist, either. You’re forgetting, I’ve actually seen you perform. So it’s more descriptive.
Anyway, not everybody can make the roster, ST. There’s only so much room on the bench.
G’night, and GOD BLESS AMERICA!
Ho, hum. What I’m asking for at the moment is some shut-eye. Checklists can wait for tomorrow.
People who believe in “government oversight” amuse me, a bit — this is not to say the things they do are particularly amusing, but the concept itself. Business is complicated. Anybody who actually has the horsepower to “oversee” it can make ‘way more money, and put up with ‘way less bureaucracy and office politics, by working in the business as they could as a GS11 Step Two “overseeing” it, and almost as much by accepting, err, incentive payments from the business. The result is that the few dedicated public servants (such do exist — I know some fairly well) are vastly outnumbered by ignorant time-servers (of which I also know several), and the result of that is that the only safe thing for the bureaucrats to say is “no”. Compared to “constructive Government oversight”, the Tooth Fairy has solid existence.
Regards,
Ric
Bottom line: the Dems feared that the hold-up on drilling was a very potent weapon for McCain to use in his presidential run. So naturally they surrendered their “principles†in order to try to win the election.
FISA Baby!
(do you really think they compromised their principles or that they just lie to their core bat fuck crazy Hamsher constituency? Hmmm?)
Ric,
Then the complaint becomes that there just isn’t enough regulations/supervision. If only we could “close loopsholes” etc. I’m in the midst of a war, and to get a small outpost built in a new AOR requires a stunning amount of paperwork, hoop jumping and regulation surfing. I simply cannot fathom what chains would be drapped over the productive in our nation…
Oh, I don’t know, soldier, a little regulation might just save $700-billion here and there. Surely you’re not drawing a parallel between your little paper-knot nuisance with regulating our entire financial and banking system, are ya?
I’m pointing toward the east (for me that’s simple since I can sea the Atlantic ocean), which means I’m theoretically pointing at you, because somewhere faraway you’re out there somewhere. “A Duuuuuey!” That’s what I’m saying as I point. Now I’m flipping the bird eastward and mumbling “fuckin idiot, fuckin’ tard, you idiot-tard!”
Oh, ah don’t know, soldier, a li’l regulashun might jest save $700-billion hyar an’ thar. Sho’ly yo’’re not drawin’ a pareellel between yer li’l paper-knot nuisance wif regulatin’ our intire financial an’ bankin’ system, is ya? I’m pointin’ toward th’ east (fo’ me thet’s simple on account o’ ah can sea th’ Atlannic ocean), which means I’m theo’etically pointin’ atcha, on account o’ somewhar fareeway yo’’re out thar somewhar. “A Duuuuuey! Fry mah hide!†Thet’s whut I’m sayin’ as ah point. Now I’m flippin’ th’ bird eastward an’ mumblin’ “fuckin idiot, fuckin’ tard, yo’ idiot-tard! Fry mah hide!â€Â
Leeves mah Sayrah a lones! Yu here me thor! I lov’n on her, here me!!
Bail OUT!
In the dark of night over the weekend when most people were snoozing, the Treasury dramatically expanded its bailout plan to include buying student loans, car loans, credit card debt and any other “troubled†assets held by banks.
For thor’s children!
O! shit!
2000-2006. Let’s see, anyone else remember Jumpin’ Jim Jeffords? so cut 2000-2002 off of that. Second, 51 ain’t enough. When dealing with Democrats filibustering anything in sight the lobbyists will pay for, 60 is the new control.
I think thor has found his new Karl. What an idiot.
Fry mah hide! Thar thor din fund is’elf a nu KK! Think’n me’emsa idjiot.
Oh, I don’t know, soldier…I’m flipping the bird eastward and mumbling “fuckin idiot, fuckin’ tard, you idiot-tard!â€Â
Well, thor, Jimi Hendrix strangled on his own vomit, too, but at least he left some beautiful things behind. Good luck on that.
It is pretty obvious they do not have any principles besides winning. If they did FISA would not be law, we would not be funding the Iraq war, and the drilling ban would still be in place. Their principles are fluid and only based upon winning elections.
Democrats, Party uber alles.
The reality is that those 700 Billion (with a b) dollars are going to be transubstantiated out of nothingness on a whim…
http://tinyurl.com/3uxq3b
“DEWEY WINS!”
Nobody’s brought up anything about environmental impacts. Its like that concern took a backseat to politics or something. Hmm.
Oh, I know, how well I know.
But the “regulators” and “overseers” still don’t know jack shit about the subject, so the “regulations” end up pointless, irrelevant, and obstructive (and, in your case, classified so you can’t even expose them to the ridicule they deserve), and the “overseers” turn into commissars, defiantly ignorant buffoons demanding compliance and luxuriating in their ability to prevent anything from actually getting done. Anyone honestly attempting to comply is hamstrung, and the crooks they were (notionally) after in the first place simply set up double-blind Potemkin bureaucracies for them to deal with and run wild behind the scenes. The only way to “control” the activity they were trying to “regulate” or “oversee” is to forbid it completely. Constructive.
Case in point: California oil production.
Regards,
Ric
Total US mortgage debt: ~$11 trillion.
Percentage of mortgage debt in default: ~3%.
Cash amount of bad debt, assuming 100% writeoff: $300 billion.
Methinks we have a crisis made more of emotion than of bottom line.
OH NOES!!11! Thor has found the keys to the liquor cabinet again. Now pissing in soldier’s Cheerios.
To paraphrase the great Tom Marr, thor, keep walking east until your hat floats.
Not to mention the fact that environmental concerns are a fraud. As Krauthammer wrote a few weeks ago we drill for oil and gas in a more environmentally way than any other country on earth! We buy our foreign oil from places like Nigeria (pipe breaks every other day resulting in environmental disasters in the jungles,) Venezuela (high sulfur content oil resulting in egregious amounts of sulfides spewed into the air,) Mexico, Canada (check into the production of the Alberta tar pits,) and Saudi Arabia (OK, desert so nobody gives a rats ass but no history of intense environmental concern.)
We can do more for the damn environment by just exploiting our own energy. I’m not even getting into the transcendent idiocy of not building nuclear plants.
Aren’t they all, in this day of 24/7 media saturation and a 40-hours-a-week newsmaking cycle?
[…] Stop The ACLU, The Strata-Sphere, Hot Air, protein wisdom, Gateway Pundit, Atlas Shrugs Sphere: Related Content If you liked my post, feel free to […]
Awwww…sweet. Thor’s turned his attention on Major John, now. Major, the guy just needs a hug. You can even pretend to be his daddy I bet. Pat his head and tell him he, “done good, boy. You done good” all the while knowing in your head that the kid’s a loser.
“40-hours-a-week newsmaking cycle?”
Only 40, those slackers. Der Intertubes run 168 per week.
I’m hoping for embedded video of Jeff’s promised visit to Florida.
“I’m hoping for embedded video of Jeff’s promised visit to Florida.”
I imagine it will be something like this.
So…
How ’bout them Mets huh?
If you consider that one of Obama’s unspoken goals was to “forgive” student debt (a big pay-off to his acolytes in academe), and to codify many of FanMac’s lending practices in a new banking law, then Bush’s take-over makes even more sense.
It was a “preemptive” strike on a strategic beachhead: very much like his decision to preemptively invade Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. Now, we, the taxpayers, are ahead of the Democrat’s game – you could say, we own their end-zone.
(Per McGhee’s comment, this may be why the Federal move seems out of proportion to the actual borrower-delinquencies. Just because there were no WMD’s in Iraq, this wasn’t a good enough reason not to react to a long-term strategic threat – same goes for the bail-out.)
Correction: actually, ’twas Slarti’s comment that inspired. McGhee’s follow-up gave me a push and got me rolling.
Cheers!
steveaz,
True dat. Of course you also need to pay attention to Mr. Soros, the eminence grîs in all of this…
ST is connecting the right dots, but as usual in the wrong order. Suppose we were not sending the total amount of the “bailout” overseas to pay for the delicate sensibilities of residents of the Avenues. Is it not possible, even likely, that many of the people who set this off would have good jobs, and therefore be able to “service” their mortgages?
Regards,
Ric
thor and the odious ST neatly side-stepped the fact that in 2003 and 2005, Democrats spiked bills that would have increased oversight. Most likely because they were raking in so much cash from those entities (see Dodds, Obama, Kerry, et. al.). If you pantloads aren’t going to own up to the truth, find some echo chamber to play in. I’m sure the KosKidz(TM) can always use another playmate.
Maybe more like this, geoffb.
this, even: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g45KtHN37bo
That’s good!
Just read on HotAir that Sen Reid Majority Leader is attempting to put in a provision in the Continuing Resolution to BAN OIL SHALE exploration and drilling! CALL YOUR SENATORS immediately to tell them to remove this immoral and anti American provision that would ban jobs and cripple the energy needs of the public.
Lovely, informative site, thanks