Bloodthirsty Liberal

What I mean by that is Obama ran on a warm and fuzzy platform. If it didn’t purr, he wasn’t for it. Which, of course, is moronic—not that it stopped people from voting for him.

To give him (very little) credit, however, some of his appointments are not so warm (Hillary) and not so fuzzy (Gates, Jones, Emanuel).

But warm and fuzzy policies aren’t going to keep the rest of us warm and fuzzy, as Arthur Laffer explains:

This week in Chicago, President-elect Barack Obama introduced key members of his new energy and environmental team and gave a statement expressing his administration’s ambitious goal to make America energy independent. While his desire to do so is sincere, such a strategy would be disastrous for our economy.

The platitude of “energy independence” makes zero economic sense.

…

The U.S. currently imports some 60% of the oil we use. To imagine an energy-independent U.S. today is to envision gas at $20 or more per gallon and a true depression.

…

While energy independence for the U.S. would enormously increase the price of oil at home, it would have the exact opposite effect in the rest of the world. Cheap oil for countries like China would surely not benefit the U.S. or the world’s environment.

…

Mr. Obama’s team is also prejudiced against offshore drilling and nuclear power. Goodness knows no one wants oil splattered all over our beaches, but if we don’t drill offshore, Indonesia will. Surely our safeguards are better than Indonesia’s. Any trade-off of Indonesian offshore drilling with U.S. offshore drilling is a no-brainer.

…

The Obama team’s chatter about creating jobs in alternative renewable energies is hollow to say the least. Here’s why: Any serious attempt to reduce carbon emissions must ultimately rely on a very large tax on the use of fossil fuels. And a very large tax on fossil fuels as an add-on to the taxes we already pay would drive the economy deeper into the ground — with or without alternative renewable energy jobs.

Those are just the big punches he landed; I cut out the jabs and glancing blows. And he didn’t even mention coal, our most plentiful resource.

But look an energy policy Laffer does like:

The only real solution is Al Gore’s proposal to offset a carbon tax dollar-for-dollar with either an income or payroll tax reduction. If a carbon tax increase were offset dollar-for-dollar with an income tax rate cut, I for one would strongly support the policy. The economy would benefit because the progressive income tax does far more damage than a carbon tax would, and we’d use less oil. It’s a win-win situation. Yet this perspective appears to be totally outside the Obama team’s ken.

Coulda knocked me over with a feather. But, yes, I see the value of transferring the burden from earned income to fossil fuel consumption.

One last uppercut that puts Obama to the canvas for the ten-count (ah, boxing metaphors—can you ever have enough?)

It’s telling that Mr. Obama and his appointees kept pointing to the successes achieved by California as examples of what should be done on a national level. Whenever California’s current policies — full of taxes and regulations that are crippling its economy — are held up as a model, you know the speaker has a lot to learn.

One…! Two…! Three…! Four…! …

Ha!

Shame on me for doubting Congress (see below). I should have known they would do the right thing. There’s nothing like cold electoral terror to make one see the light:

After months of high-pitched battles with Republicans over the issue of offshore drilling, House Democrats have given in and decided to allow a 26-year ban on drilling to expire at the end of the month.

House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wisconsin, told reporters Tuesday that a massive $600 billion stopgap funding bill slated for a House vote on Wednesday will not include any language on drilling, effectively lifting the ban on October 1.

Democrats pushed to add a proposal passed in the House of Representatives last week to open up areas at least 50 miles offshore to drilling if states agree, but the White House objected.

“So that will mean … this next election will decide what our drilling policy will be because there will be no language in this bill on that subject, and as you know that means that at least temporarily the moratorium is lifted,” Obey said.

Republicans on Capitol Hill have seized on offshore oil drilling as a major election-year issue, citing public opinion polls that show a majority of Americans support more offshore drilling.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, had incurred Republican wrath originally for blocking any vote on drilling before allowing a vote on limited drilling earlier this month.

I would have preferred this decision were made on principle—but I’ll accept craven climb down.

I know I’m a pain in the butt, so when I read this hopeful story…

Norway has pledged $1bn (£500m) to a new international fund to help Brazil protect the Amazon rainforest.

The donation is the first to the fund which Brazil hopes will raise $21bn to protect Amazon nature reserves.

Norway’s prime minister said the project was important in the fight to reduce global warming.

… I can’t help but wonder where Norway comes up with a billion dollars.

And then I remember:

According to the 2008 BP Statistical Energy Survey, Norway had proved oil reserves of 8.171 billion barrels at the end of 2007 or 0.66 % of the world’s reserves. During the same period Norway produced an average of 2556 thousand barrels of crude oil per day, 3.04% of the world total and a change of -7.7 % compared to 2006. Norway ranks as the world’s third largest oil exporter and the seventh largest oil producer. According to the 2008 BP Statistical Energy Survey, Norway had 2007 proved natural gas reserves of 2.96 trillion cubic metres, 1.66% of the world total, and natural gas production of 89.68 billion cubic metres, 3.04% of the world total.

…

In 2004, the petroleum sector accounted for 21 percent of the value creation in the country. This equates to twice the value creation of the manufacturing industry and around 15 times the total value creation of the primary industries. Through direct and indirect taxes and direct ownership, the state is ensured a high proportion of the values created from the petroleum activities. In 2004, the state’s net cash flow from the petroleum sector amounted to 28 percent of total revenues. After more than 30 years of production, the business has generated net revenues to the state in the order of NOK 2,000 billion in current terms.

God bless the Norwegians. They were born lucky. But after how they’ve profited from hydrocarbons over the years, a billion for the Amazon isn’t worth a handful of herring.

Don’t dislocate your shoulder, Dems, patting yourselves on the back:

The House of Representatives on Tuesday night passed an energy bill clearing the way for more oil drilling off U.S. coasts, but not nearly as much as Republican leaders wanted.

The bill was passed by a vote of 236-189.

Many Republicans opposed the bill because it would allow new oil drilling only between 50 and 100 miles offshore. Republicans generally want to allow new drilling starting 3 miles from shore.

…

Democratic leaders had previously opposed Republican-led efforts to repeal a 1981 law barring most offshore drilling. But they changed course over the August recess, saying their new plans would allow some expanded drilling.

But Republicans say the House bill wouldn’t expand offshore drilling enough. Before the vote, Rep. Mike Pence, an Indiana Republican, called the bill “a charade,” denying it would do what its backers claim.

“This is not ‘yes’ to drilling. This is ‘yes, but,’ ” he said.

“This is ‘yes, but no drilling in Alaska, no drilling in the Eastern Gulf, no drilling inside 50 miles,’ ” Pence said. “This is ‘yes, but no litigation reform that will prevent radical environmental attorneys from tying up leases even before a single shovel of dirt is turned.’ “

Needless to say, remarks were pointed:

Rep. Anthony Weiner, a New York Democrat, said President Bush’s “idea of an energy policy is holding hands with the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, embracing him with a big smooch.”

When the Republicans “controlled Congress, [they] passed their own energy bill, signed into law by the president. We got into this mess,” Weiner said.

But Rep. Jeb Hensarling, a Texas Republican, shot back that the Democrats’ bill is a “sham” and a “fraud.”

“This is a bill designed to ensure Democrats’ re-election, not designed to ensure affordable energy in America,” Hensarling said.

Hensarling also complained about how the bill was brought to the floor: “No amendments, no substitutes, no committee hearings. Is this democracy? No.”

First you wanted drilling, and they gave you drilling! Now you want democracy too? Demand, demand, demand. What about Nancy’s needs, Nancy’s wants?

Sham, of course; fraud, absolutely; you might as well throw in cynical, calculated, and conniving. It’s an election year.

Apparently the polls are getting to her

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday night dropped her staunch opposition to a vote on offshore oil drilling in the House.

Republicans, reacting to high gas prices, have demanded a vote on additional oil exploration in the Outer Continental Shelf, where drilling is currently blocked by a moratorium. Until now, Pelosi (D-Calif.) has resisted the idea as a “hoax.” But in an interview on CNN’s Larry King Live, she indicated that she was open to a vote.

“They have this thing that says drill offshore in the protected areas,” Pelosi said. “We can do that. We can have a vote on that.”

She indicated such a vote would have to be part of a larger package that included other policies, like releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which she said could bring down prices in a matter of days.

“But it has to be part of something that says we want to bring immediate relief to the public and is not just a hoax on them,” Pelosi continued.

She even indicated that she might support a package that includes drilling. She said her decision on whether to support such legislation would depend on how the policies are packaged.

“It’s not excluded, let’s put it that way,” Pelosi said.

But she may have flop-flipped:

But her aides later released a statement saying she was not announcing a change in her stance on a drilling vote.

So hard to know with these guys.

- Aggie

I guess that’s kind of obvious, but the arrogance of Paul Krugman is really stunning.

So the G.O.P. has found its issue for the 2008 election. For the next three months the party plans to keep chanting: “Drill here! Drill now! Drill here! Drill now! Four legs good, two legs bad!” O.K., I added that last part.
Skip to next paragraph

And the debate on energy policy has helped me find the words for something I’ve been thinking about for a while. Republicans, once hailed as the “party of ideas,” have become the party of stupid.

He goes on to state that the falling prices at the gas pump simply couldn’t have anything to do with President Bush’s call for more drilling.

Really? Mr. Krugman, you’re an economist. In your opinion, can markets anticipate future conditions? Does the fact that there will be more or less of a commodity in the future have anything to do with pricing today?

I think you know the answer to that. But you assume that we are so stupid that we don’t. The answer is Yes, markets anticipate future shifts in supply and reflect those changes in current prices. That is why the stock market will decline before a recession and recover before we move out of a recession.

Isn’t just fascinating how arrogant and condescending the Typical Obama Supporter is? Here’s the end of his diatribe:

In any case, remember this the next time someone calls for an end to partisanship, for working together to solve the country’s problems. It’s not going to happen — not as long as one of America’s two great parties believes that when it comes to politics, stupidity is the best policy.

If you disagree with them, you’re an idiot.

- Aggie

My onomatopoetic rendering of a flip-flop on oil.

It’s no surprise John McCain is gaining on Barack Obama. The more they hear McCain’s ideas, as appropriated by Obama, the more they like them:

Even as recently as Thursday, Obama refused to cede any ground, calling McCain’s proposal “a strategy designed to get politicians through an election.”

“It’s not going to provide short-term relief or medium-term relief or in fact long-term relief. It won’t drop prices in this administration or in the next administration or in the administration after that,” Obama said while campaigning in Iowa.

But Friday, Obama admitted that something is better than nothing and praised a bipartisan energy plan from the Senate that combines alternative energy innovation, financial, nuclear energy and drilling proposals. He noted he is still skeptical about drilling’s potential to lower gas prices or reduce dependence on foreign oil.

“The Republicans and the oil companies have been really beating the drums on drilling,” Obama said in the interview with the Florida paper, “and so we don’t want gridlock. We want to get something done.”

The McCain camp was quick to applaud what they said was Obama’s softening on the issue.

“It’s clear that members of both parties are following John McCain’s leadership toward an ‘all of the above’ approach on energy that includes nuclear, alternative energy, and offshore drilling,” said a McCain spokesman. “We hope Barack Obama will realize that his ongoing opposition to John McCain’s realistic energy solutions and additional offshore drilling is wrong.”

Aunt Agatha covered this yesterday, but Obama’s verbal gymnastics, his oral origami if you will, deserves extra admiration and attention. Perhaps not from Nancy Pelosi and the rest of the Democratic Congressional leadership, but from the rest of us.

Change we can believe in

He sure changes a lot:

In a sudden and major shift, Democrat Barack Obama said he would be willing to support limited additional offshore oil drilling if that would help promote alternative energy sources, a proposal he has repeatedly blasted rival John McCain for supporting.

…Obama, who has campaigned on a platform of change, previously ridiculed a push by Republicans to open offshore areas to oil exploration in a bid to bring down surging energy prices. The country’s economic woes have largely eclipsed other issues in the presidential race.

The first term Illinois senator, in comments echoed by other critics of the proposal, had argued that any new oil found would take years to come onto the market and that conservation and fuel-efficient vehicles were a quicker solution to soaring costs.

But Obama told a Florida newspaper in an interview that he could support a compromise with Republicans and oil companies to prevent gridlock over energy.

“My interest is in making sure we’ve got the kind of comprehensive energy policy that can bring down gas prices,” Obama said in an interview with The Palm Beach Post.

“If, in order to get that passed, we have to compromise in terms of a careful, well thought-out drilling strategy that was carefully circumscribed to avoid significant environmental damage — I don’t want to be so rigid that we can’t get something done.”

Glad he’s stopped being so rigid. How is it that he can be such a chameleon and so stiff at the same time?

- Aggie

Are you guys following what’s going on in the US House of Representative over oil drilling—right now?

Keep scrolling for updates…Waiting for 4:30pm…Tourists are fired up in the gallery…Rep. Hoekstra reports them chanting “Vote! Vote! Vote!”…Culberson and other GOP House revolutionaries livestreaming on Qik…Culberson press conference: “All we did is ask for a vote”…Pence: “I’ve never been prouder of the Republican leadership. I’ve never been prouder of the rank-and-file”…WSJ: “Joined by a bevy of staff and summer interns, the Republican lawmakers donned mostly straight faces for an afternoon of speechifying without microphones, C-SPAN or their Democratic counterparts. “How many of you remember the Boston Tea Party?” Republican Rep. John Shadegg of Arizona asked the raucous crowd. “This is the Boston Tea Party!”…4:44pm Eastern. Pence: “We will be here through the break.”

Via Rep. Pete Hoekstra’s Twitter:

Shame! Shame! Capital Hill police working under strict orders to shut Capital down at 430 pm today. Speaker Pelosi wants this shut down now 16 minutes ago from TwitterBerry

I’m writing this at about quarter past five. Let me post now, and see what else I can find.

UPDATE:
From Politico:

Update 2: This message was sent out by Blunt’s office:

“Although this Democrat majority just adjourned for the Democrat 5-week vacation, House Republicans are continuing to fight on the House floor. Although the lights, mics and C-SPAN cameras have been turned off, House Republicans are on the floor speaking to the taxpayers in the gallery who, not surprisingly, agree with Republican energy proposals.

“All Republicans who are in town are encouraged to come to the House floor.”

Update 3: Democrats just turned out the lights again. Republicans cheered.

Update 4: Republican leaders just sent out a notice looking for a bullhorn, and leadership aides are trying to corral all the members who are still in town to come speak on the floor and sustain this one-sided debate.

Also, Republicans can thank Shadegg for turning on the microphones the first time. Apparently, the fiesty Arizona conservative started typing random codes into the chamber’s public address system and accidentally typed the correct code, allowing Republicans brief access to the microphone before it was turned off again.

“I love this,” Shadegg told reporters up in the press gallery afterward. “Congress can be so boring. … This is a kick.”

More:

It has been quite the scene on the House floor this afternoon, as GOP staff members have kept the chamber filled with an eclectic assortment of people.

Boy Scouts, members of the German army, stray tourists and even members in shorts and t-shirts have all been spotted on the floor at different times.

Boy Scouts! And I always thought Jefferson Smith was a Democrat!

Oh-h-h-h, it’s already over:

Right at the stroke of 5, Georgia Rep. Tom Price announced that House Republicans were stopping their impromptu protest on the floor of the chamber, ending a five-plus-hour mock rebellion with a round of “God Bless America.”

The assembled tourists, aides and members in the chamber gave Price and his compatriots a standing ovation. They left the chamber to shouts of “USA! USA! USA!”

This is one of the biggest stories of the political season (which is saying something), but don’t expect to see it or hear about it on your evening news.

Let CSPAN tell you why:

“A number of media organizations have incorrectly referred to ‘C-SPAN cameras’ being turned off and not providing televised coverage of the GOP House members’ post-adjournment protest on energy policy being held on the House floor on Friday afternoon. Please note that cameras in the House chamber are under the control of the Speaker of the House and that all media organizations, including C-SPAN, wishing to cover events in the chamber must use the official House TV feed. No private media cameras are permitted in the House (or Senate) chambers.”

Two words, people: Liberal Fascism.

If Nancy Pelosi didn’t exist, John McCain would have to invent her:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi opposes lifting the moratorium on drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and on the Outer Continental Shelf. She won’t even allow it to come to a vote. With $4 gas having massively shifted public opinion in favor of domestic production, she wants to protect her Democratic members from having to cast an anti-drilling election-year vote. Moreover, given the public mood, she might even lose. This cannot be permitted. Why? Because, as she explained to Politico: “I’m trying to save the planet; I’m trying to save the planet.”

I’ve said before that Pelosi and Reid could have supported the initiative without any risks whatsoever—not to their political hopes, certainly not to the planet. It would even have been right for the country.

But no, she couldn’t do even that. If Senator McCain is a gentleman, he’ll send flowers.

The United States has the highest technology to ensure the safest drilling. Today, directional drilling — essentially drilling down, then sideways — allows access to oil that in 1970 would have required a surface footprint more than three times as large. Additionally, the United States has one of the most extensive and least corrupt regulatory systems on the planet.

Does Pelosi imagine that with so much of America declared off-limits, the planet is less injured as drilling shifts to Kazakhstan and Venezuela and Equatorial Guinea? That Russia will be more environmentally scrupulous than we in drilling in its Arctic?

The net environmental effect of Pelosi’s no-drilling willfulness is negative. Outsourcing U.S. oil production does nothing to lessen worldwide environmental despoliation. It simply exports it to more corrupt, less efficient, more unstable parts of the world — thereby increasing net planetary damage.

…

There are a dizzying number of economic and national security arguments for drilling at home: a $700 billion oil balance-of-payments deficit, a gas tax (equivalent) levied on the paychecks of American workers and poured into the treasuries of enemy and terror-supporting regimes, growing dependence on unstable states of the Persian Gulf and Caspian basin. Pelosi and the Democrats stand athwart, shouting: We don’t care. We come to save the planet!

Who is that tall man standing behind her, chap with the big ears, holding a fistful of gauze and a chloroform bottle?