"Why are Gas Prices Rising?": The Joe Biden Response

NRCC - When a Virginia student asked Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday to explain the causes of rising gas prices, little did he know he was walking into an epic Biden filibuster: a full 11 minutes of speechifying that completely ignored the question:

“BIDEN TAKES 11-MINUTES NOT TO ANSWER QUESTION ABOUT RISING GAS PRICES”: (Daniel Halper, “Biden Takes 11-Minutes Not to Answer Question About Rising Gas Prices,” The Weekly Standard, 4/3/2012)

VIRGINIA STUDENT TO BIDEN: “WHY IS THE PRICES ON GAS INCREASING? YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN?”: “A student in Norfolk, Virginia had a simple question for Vice President Biden: ‘Why is prices on gas increasing? You know what I mean?’” (Daniel Halper, “Biden Takes 11-Minutes Not to Answer Question About Rising Gas Prices,” The Weekly Standard, 4/3/2012)

NO, APPARENTLY JOE DOESN’T: “Biden, after promising a ‘brief answer,’ takes 11-minutes not to answer the kid's question:” (Daniel Halper, “Biden Takes 11-Minutes Not to Answer Question About Rising Gas Prices,” The Weekly Standard, 4/3/2012)

A DIRECT ANSWER BY BIDEN STANDARDS? “ ‘I'm treating this like I would if I were answering on Meet the Press, so I hope I'm not offending anyone by just going straight to it,’ Biden says two minutes in. He then talks about oil as a fungible commodity, the Arab Spring, technology, and many other topics before not talking about the high price of gas.” (Daniel Halper, “Biden Takes 11-Minutes Not to Answer Question About Rising Gas Prices,” The Weekly Standard, 4/3/2012)

In fairness, Biden certainly has a lot to explain about why the Democrats are continuing their war on energy that is increasing gas prices and exacting economic hardship on America’s families:

DEMOCRATS IN DAMAGE CONTROL MODE OVER RISING PRICES:

OBAMA HELD PHOTO OP IN OKLAHOMA TO CLAIM HE WILL “PUSH AGENCIES ON KEYSTONE PERMIT”… WHICH HE BLOCKED, REPEATEDLY: (“Obama to Push Agencies on Keystone Permit,” Reuters, 3/21/2012)

LOCAL JOB CREATORS AND WORKERS, OKLAHOMA STATE PAPER PROTESTED OBAMA’S POLITICAL GIMMICKRY IN OKLAHOMA: “But he’ll once again be greeted by protestors, this time in the form of fossil fuel industry officials and workers. The Oklahoman isn’t rolling out the welcome mat either, with the newspaper running three separate op-eds today criticizing Obama’s energy policies.” (Patrick Reis, Politico’s ”Morning Energy,” 3/21/2012)

AN EXPLANATION: WHITE HOUSE OPTS FOR “MEDIA BLITZ” TO “CONTAIN THE DAMAGE” FROM THEIR ANTI-ENERGY POLICIES: (Darren Samuelsohn and Darren Goode, “Obama’s Media Blitz on Gas Prices,” Politico, 3/12/2012)

BUT THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION IS STILL CONTINUING THEIR WAR ON ENERGY THAT IS HIKING GAS, ENERGY PRICES:

REPORT: “EPA REGS COULD HAMPER OIL, NATURAL GAS PRODUCTION, REPORT SAYS”: (Ben Wolfgang, “EPA Regs Could Hamper Oil, Natural Gas Production, Report Says,” The Washington Times, 3/15/2012)

OIL PRODUCTION COULD DROP 37%, NATURAL GAS PRODUCTION COULD DROP 11%: “Domestic oil and natural gas production could plummet if proposed Environmental Protection Agency regulations, designed to limit emissions from well sites, go into effect later this year, industry leaders said Thursday.

“The natural gas extraction technique known as ‘fracking’ would be hardest hit, and fuel extracted via the popular process would drop by about 52 percent, according to a new study commissioned by the American Petroleum Institute. Total gas production would decrease by about 11 percent, while domestic oil production could fall by as much as 37 percent, the report says.” (Ben Wolfgang, “EPA Regs Could Hamper Oil, Natural Gas Production, Report Says,” The Washington Times, 3/15/2012)

“UNTOLD STORY” BEHIND RISING GAS PRICES IS REFINERIES BEING DRIVEN OUT OF BUSINESS “IN NO SMALL PART BY COSTLY EPA RULES”: “The untold story behind soaring pump prices is that major U.S. refineries are going out of business and creating at least regional shortages thanks in no small part to costly EPA rules.” (Editorial, “EPA’s Heavy Hand Seen In Gas Crisis,” Investor’s Business Daily, 3/22/2012)

OVER LAST SIX MONTHS, THREE REFINERIES SUPPLYING HALF EAST COAST GASOLINE HAVE CLOSED: “Over just the past six months, three refineries supplying about half the gasoline, diesel and jet fuel to the East Coast have closed, including two owned by Sunoco Inc. They say they simply cannot make money anymore.” (Editorial, “EPA’s Heavy Hand Seen In Gas Crisis,” Investor’s Business Daily, 3/22/2012)

IHS STUDY: OBAMA ADMIN SLOWWALKING PERMITS AFTER MORATORIUM OFFICIALLY ENDED: “A study by the business-consultant firm IHS found that the federal government issued 51 new drilling permits in the year following the lifting of the drilling moratorium. That was down from 157 annual permits approved before the regulations took effect.” (Bill McMorris, “Obama’s Energy Slowdown,” The Washington Free Beacon, 3/13/2012)

Even as the Democrats deny their commitment to rising gas prices, their own prior comments betray their true intentions. President Obama himself has said that under his policies, energy prices would “necessarily skyrocket.” Explain that, Mr. Vice President:

OBAMA WANTED ENERGY PRICES TO “NECESSARILY SKYROCKET” UNDER HIS CAP-AND-TRADE PLAN: “ ‘Under my plan of a cap-and-trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket,’ Obama told the Chronicle. ‘Coal-powered plans, you know, natural gas, you name it, whatever the plans were, whatever the industry was, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers.” (Catherine Richert, “Pence Claims that Obama said Energy Costs Will Skyrocket with a Cap-and-Trade Plan,” PolitiFact.com, 6/11/2009)

ENERGY SECRETARY STEPHEN CHU THIS WEEK SAID LOWERING GAS PRICES WAS NOT A GOAL FOR HIS DEPARTMENT: “COMMITTEE QUESTION: “But, is the overall goal to get our price lower?” SEC. STEVEN CHU: “No, the overall goal is to decrease our dependency on oil...” (Remarks from Stephen Chu, U.S. House Of Representatives, Appropriations Committee, Hearing, 2/28/2012)

FLASHBACK TO CHU IN SEPTEMBER 2008: “SOMEHOW WE HAVE TO FIGURE HOW TO BOOST THE PRICE OF GASOLINE TO THE LEVELS IN EUROPE”: “ ‘Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe,’ Mr. Chu, who directs the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal in September.” (Neil King, Jr. and Stephen Power, “Times Tough for Energy Overhaul,” The Wall Street Journal, 12/12/2008)

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