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Eagle Publications…
Rising Gas Prices and
Obama’s Failure to Lead
by Newt Gingrich
A disturbing pattern has emerged during Barack Obama’s first term as
president.
At the times when our nation most needs presidential leadership, Barack
Obama chooses to let others take the lead.
We saw this pattern begin in the early stages of his administration.
The country was beginning to slide into a deep recession, and bold
action was needed quickly to turn the tide. However, rather than
develop an aggressive plan on his own and fight for its passage in
Congress, the new president opted instead to allow Nancy Pelosi and
Harry Reid to design the plan. The result was the $787 billion stimulus
boondoggle.
Then same thing happened with the president’s health care plan. Nancy
Pelosi and Harry Reid were given power to design the plan, resulting in
the president placing himself in the odd position where he had to
defend the individual mandate despite the fact he campaigned against it
in the 2008 Democratic primary.
During the Gulf oil spill, the president took too long to respond and
then, according to Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, awkwardly decided
to focus his energy on making sure that food stamps were still being
adequately distributed, rather than using his status as Chief Executive
to clear bureaucratic roadblocks to effectively responding to the
disaster.
And as discussed in this newsletter two weeks ago, after promising in
his State of the Union address to take the lead on returning to a
balanced budget, the president submitted a budget that utterly fails to
cut spending in any significant way, leaving it up to Congress to do
what needs to be done.
This pattern of abdicating leadership (which the Associated Press
hilariously describes as being “above the fray”) is not limited to
domestic politics.
In the past few days, we have seen the consequences of President
Obama’s willingness to let other countries take the lead in responding
to global events. As the Gadhafi dictatorship in Libya massacres its
own people from above, the president has opted to let France try and
lead the world in imposing a no-fly zone.
As Michael Barone points out in this column from Sunday, the
president’s tepid half measures in response to the situation in Libya
may have resulted in a worst-of-both-worlds situation. Gadhafi may have
determined his best option to escape justice is to respond violently to
the uprising in his country. Now, his forces are regaining ground daily
while the world dithers.
The President of the United States, and by extension, America, used to
be known as the leader of the free world. Does President Obama believe
that title should still apply?
Is President Obama acting as Commander in Chief? Or Observer in Chief?
Relying On Other Countries to Solve Domestic Challenges
As disturbing as it has been to watch this president rely on other
world leaders to take the lead in responding to global events, it is
even worse to watch him rely on other countries to fix America’s
problems.
During the president’s press conference Friday on rising energy costs,
he sought to assure the American people that gas prices would not rise
too much because other oil producing countries have “committed to
filling any gaps” in supply.
This isn’t the first time the administration has said this. In
February, the Deputy Secretary of Energy said he hoped “spare capacity”
in other countries “will be brought to bear so that it will continue to
support our economic recovery.”
Since President Obama took office, gas prices have increased over 90
percent.
After presiding over this enormous rise in prices that are putting a
greater and greater strain on family budgets, imagine the naiveté of
hoping OPEC and other hostile and unstable countries will “continue to
support our economic recovery.”
Top 3 Energy Myths in Obama’s Press Conference
The fact is that since taking office, the Obama administration has
conducted a war on American energy that has killed jobs and increased
gas prices.
The House Natural Resources Committee has a useful list of all the
hostile actions the adminstration has taken, including trying to
regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant through the EPA and the drilling
moratorium and roadblocks in the Gulf.
Thanks to the moratorium and the lack of permits once the moratorium
was lifted, seven of the thirty deepwater oil rigs that were in the
Gulf of Mexico have moved or are moving to other markets.
Even former Democratic President Clinton has slammed the Obama
administration’s “ridiculous delays” for offshore energy production.
Nevertheless, President Obama tried to create a smokescreen at his
press conference on Friday to obscure the facts about his war on
American energy.
He reiterated three commonly repeated myths that anti-energy radicals
use to block domestic oil production. Steve Everley at American
Solutions does a great job dissecting these myths here. In short, they
are:
The US has only 2% of the world’s oil. This number only includes proven
reserves where we are already drilling. It does not include where U.S.
law currently forbids drilling, such as the 10 billion barrels in ANWR,
86 billion barrels in the Outer Continental Shelf, and 800 billion
barrels of oil shale in Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado.
The oil industry has millions of leases where they aren’t producing a
thing so we should impose fees on unused land. These leases are for
drilling and exploration. Common sense tells us that oil is not
distributed evenly across the globe. You need to first look for the oil
before you can drill, and much of the leased land will never produce
oil. Furthermore, much of the delay in the exploration and drilling
process is imposed by government regulations. So the idea of government
imposing fees on companies for failing to produce oil when it is
government rules themselves that are partly responsible for the delay
is outrageous.
Last year oil production reached its highest level in 7 years. This
increased production is not due to the actions of the Obama
administration, but in spite of it. Most of this new production is
occurring on private land in the Dakotas, and the rest is due to the
actions of previous administrations. In fact, the Energy Information
Administration predicts a decline in domestic oil production during
2011 of 220,000 barrels a day and a drop-off of 150 million barrels in
the Gulf of Mexico during 2012. All because of the president’s policies.
Return of Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less
During the summer of 2008, when gas prices were over $4 per gallon,
American Solutions launched the Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less
campaign.
Over 1.5 million Americans signed our petition to lift the drilling ban
on domestic energy, which resulted in the lifting of the offshore
drilling ban, an action by a Democratic Congress that just months
earlier was thought impossible.
Unfortunately, the Obama administration’s war against American energy
has blocked America’s energy companies from taking advantage of the
lifting of this ban thanks to a campaign of stalling and bureaucratic
obstruction. In fact, in December of last year, President Obama
actually re-imposed the same sort of drilling ban that contributed to
skyrocketing gasoline prices in 2008.
As we see gas prices inching higher again, we think it is time for the
return of Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less to fight the Obama
administration’s war against American energy.
That’s why we’re re-launching Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less with a
brand new website.
Please visit americansolutions.com/drill, sign the petition, and tell
your friends, family, and co-workers about our effort.
The new website also has a number of tools to help our nation to drill
here and drill now. You will be able to use the website to get key
facts and information about the importance of domestic drilling,
contact your Congressman and Senators, write a letter to your local
paper, and get a “Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less.” bumper sticker for
your car.
Your support will help us put the pressure on Congress and the Obama
Administration so that we can open up more domestic drilling. This will
result in lower gas prices and less reliance on foreign dictators. You
can join us by signing the petition at AmericanSolutions.com/drill
Your Friend,
Newt
Read it with links at Eagle Publications
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