Dems Caught Between Rising Gas Prices and Their War on Energy

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is a political committee devoted to maintaining and increasing the 239-member Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Democrats are taking a lot of heat this week from the American public and even from some of their fellow Democrats for pushing policies that sabotage American energy development and keep gas prices high:

BILL CLINTON CALLS OUT OBAMA, SAYS TIME TO “EMBRACE” KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE: “Bill Clinton says it's time to build the Keystone XL pipeline. … ‘So, I think we should embrace it and develop a stakeholder-driven system of high standards for doing the work,’ Clinton added.” (Darius Dixon and Dan Berman, “Bill Clinton: ‘Embrace’ Keystone XL,” Politico, 1/29/2012)

SEN. MARY LANDREIU (D-LA): SMALL BUSINESSES ARE SUFFERING BECAUSE OF OBAMA’S DRILLING MORATORIUM, NOT “BIG OIL COMPANIES”: “I want to say that, despite the administration’s arguments that are laid out, that you all are all guns blaring and green lights for drilling, the facts that I checked, and if you disagree tell me, only 21 permits for offshore drilling have been issued by this date. In 2010, there were 32 permits. I just left the annual conference of LOGA, which is Louisiana Oil and Gas Association, Mr. Secretary, yesterday. They are beside themselves with not being able to get their permits processed and to answer you, Mr. Franken, let me just say Exxon and Shell may be making record profits but according to a study recently done by the Greater New Orleans, Inc., 41 percent of our oil and gas independent operators and service companies, I’m not talking about Exxon and Shell that have operations all over the world, I’m talking about companies in the Gulf Coast, in Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. Let me tell you what the studies show about their profits: 41 percent of them are not making a profit at all, 70 percent have lost significant cash reserves, 46 have moved operations away from the Gulf, and 82 percent of business owners have lost personal savings as a result of this slow down.” (Remarks from Sen. Mary Landrieu, U.S. Senate Hearing, 2/28/2012)

MORE LANDRIEU: OBAMA POLICIES PROHIBIT 98% OF OFFSHORE DRILLING, ONLY ALLOW DRILLING ON 2% OF LANDS: “We are never going to get, in my view Mr. Chairman, we’re never going to get clear as long as we continue to talk around and throw statistics out that try to make both sides look good. I’m not trying to make you look any worse, I’m just trying to get the facts out to the public. When you speak you get people thinking that we’re drilling everywhere, onshore and offshore, and the facts are not – don’t justify that. You know that 98 percent of our offshore is limited to drilling, we can’t even explore there. We’re talking about what we’re drilling within that 2 percent.” (Remarks from Sen. Mary Landrieu, U.S. Senate Hearing, 2/28/2012)

OBAMA MORATORIUM ON GULF DRILLING “TAKING ITS TOLL” AND “MIGHT AS WELL STILL BE IN EFFECT”: “Small- and medium-size businesses serving Louisiana's energy industry are shedding employees, dipping into personal savings or moving elsewhere to stay afloat. The administration's war on fossil fuels is taking its toll.

“The federal six-month moratorium on drilling that was issued in May 2010, after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, has been officially lifted, but it might as well still be in effect.” (“Gulf Deepwater Drilling Ban’s Hidden Victims,” Investor’s Business Daily, 1/31/2012)

GULF BUSINESSES FRET THAT “PERMITORIUM” REMAINS IN PLACE: “They're calling it a ‘permitorium’ caused by stricter regulations that are allowing gulf drilling, but at a snail's pace, in both deep and shallow water.” (Katie Moore, “New Study: Small Businesses Hit Hardest by Drilling Delays,” WWL TV, 1/31/2012)

The Democrats’ response to struggling American families is to attack fantasy bogeymen and try to deflect blame from their failed policies:

DEMOCRAT LEADER NANCY PELOSI SAYS HER “PERSONAL FAVORITE” IDEA IS TAPPING THE STRATEGIC PETROLEUM RESERVE: “House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday endorsed tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to combat rising gas prices – breaking ranks with her top deputy in the House, who is wary of the idea.

“Pelosi said that using the oil reserve was her ‘personal favorite’ short-term fix to not only lower gas prices but also send a message to speculators in the oil markets, whom Pelosi blamed for the increasing costs. The oil reserve, Pelosi said, needs to be ‘prominently on the table.’” (Seung Min Kim, “Pelosi Endorses Tapping Oil Reserve,” Politico, 3/1/2012)

AN IDEA EVEN HER OWN DEPUTY STENY HOYER RECENTLY MOCKED: “The number two House Democrat broke Monday with some of his fellow Democratic colleagues, and said he does not believe releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is appropriate now and it wouldn't help lower gas prices.” (Deirdre Walsh, “Number Two House Democrat Opposes Own Colleagues on Oil Reserves,” CNN, 1/27/2012)

OBAMA IN 2006: “THE EASIEST THING IN THE WORLD” IS TO CRITICIZE OIL COMPANIES: “Going after the oil companies “may be sufficient to get us through this election, but after the election, people then are going to say, ‘OK smart guy, what are we going to do about energy?’ ” (“Obama in ’06: ‘The Easiest Thing in the World’ is to Criticize Oil Companies,” Buzzfeed, 3/1/2012)

OBAMA TODAY: ATTACKS SUBSIDIES FOR OIL COMPANIES AS CAUSE OF HIGH GAS PRICES: “Saying that New Hampshire's ‘political bull detector is pretty sharp,’ President Barack Obama today belittled Republican plans for energy independence and reiterated his call for an end to federal subsidies for the oil industry.” (“In Nashua, Obama Rips ‘Phony, Election-Year Promises’ About Lower Gas Prices, Calls for End to Federal Subsidies to Oil Industry,” Manchester Union-Leader, 3/1/2012)

CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE CONCLUDED DEMOCRATS’ POLITICAL GIMMICKRY COULD ACTUALLY INCREASE OIL PRICES AND FOREIGN OIL DEPENDENCY: “Last year, a report by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service that was getting renewed attention on Thursday concluded that Obama's oil and gas proposals ‘may have the effect of decreasing exploration, development, and production, while increasing prices and increasing the nation's foreign oil dependence.’” (Julie Pace, “Obama Demands Congress End Oil, Gas Subsidies,” Associated Press, 3/1/2012)

In reality, Democrats continue to oppose an all-of-the-above approach for American energy because such a strategy would lower energy prices, a goal they adamantly oppose by their own admission:

WHITE HOUSE “TRYING NOT TO ANGER ITS LIBERAL BASE BY APPROVING THE PIPELINE”: “The rapid response from White House spokesman Jay Carney underscores the political sensitivity of the proposed pipeline and Obama's balancing act. The White House is trying not to anger its liberal base by approving the pipeline, but at the same time is publicly saying TransCanada should keep working on an alternative route through Nebraska.” (Darren Goode, “Keystone XL Start Welcomed By Obama,” Politico, 2/27/2012)

BUT 66% OF AMERICANS SUPPORT KEYSTONE APPROVAL: “The Pew Research Center poll released Thursday finds 66 percent who have heard about the issue say the proposed pipeline to bring oil sands from Alberta to Gulf Coast refineries should be approved, while 23 percent say it shouldn’t.” (Ben Geman, “Poll Shows Support for Keystone Pipeline, Environmental Regulations,” The Hill, 2/23/2012)

DEMOCRATS HAVE A RECORD OF CALLING FOR HIGHER ENERGY PRICES:

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)

“CURRENT PRICES OF GAS IN EUROPE”:
ITALY: $9.11 Per Gallon
GERMANY: $8.27 Per Gallon
FRANCE: $8.28 Per Gallon
UK: $8.33 Per Gallon
(“Actual Prices Per On Liter Of Fuel,” Europe’s Energy Portal, Accessed 3/1/2012)

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