New Study Reveals Economic Consequences of Continuing Restrictions on Domestic Energy Exploration

News item: Gas prices rise for 50th straight day

Just a reminder to thank Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi for keeping gas prices high by refusing to drill for oil off U.S. shores, blocking new nuclear power plants and ignoring the vast coal resources in the U.S.

Remember last year when the liberal media kept blaming the "oil men" in the White House for rising gas prices? You don't have George Bush and Dick Cheney to kick around any more. So where's the outrage now that gas prices are spiking under Barack Obama? Why has Obama reneged on his promise to allow drilling for oil off U.S. shores? Do Americans know what the new energy tax Obama is backing will cost them?

From American Energy Alliance President Thomas J. Pyle:

"Unlike the $790 billion stimulus package lawmakers just passed, increased offshore activity would fuel our economy without squandering taxpayer funds. In fact, oil and gas is one of the U.S.'s only industries in a position to put money into, rather than take money out of, the government's piggybank.

"With more than 85 billion barrels of recoverable oil and over 440 trillion cubic feet of natural gas located right off our shores, exploration in the OCS stands to contribute $273 billion annually to the national economy. That's good news, especially for the 46 states that now face a combined $350 billion budget shortfall for the next three fiscal years. Economic relief wouldn't end there -- America would sustain approximately 1.2 million well-paying jobs each year over the life of production.

Over a Million U.S. Jobs Locked Away in 'Off-Limits' Offshore Resources

You almost feel sorry for the members of OPEC what with demand for oil sinking faster than the approval ratings for Congress.

The emphasis in on "almost."

I hope OPEC enjoyed its summer run of skyrocketing oil prices. Pretty soon, its members can drink the oil they stockpile while demand continues to drop.

OPEC Attempts Shock Therapy for Declining Demand: Abraham Energy Report

Remember a few months ago when gasoline was $4 a gallon and the price of everything else we buy went up because of rising fuel prices?

How come prices haven't come down now that gas is below $2 a gallon?

I'm still paying more for a cup of coffee than I was a few months ago. I remember convenience stores announcing they had to add a surcharge to the price of coffee because of rising gas prices. Why didn't the surcharge come down?

My grocery bill hasn't gone down since the summer when food prices began to skyrocket. What gives?

With some experts forecasting that the price of gas will continue to tumble, will we see Big Oil head to Congress asking for help?

From The Christian Science Monitor:

What the price drop does mean is that some oil-patch wildcatters have packed up their drill bits as the rush for new domestic exploration has cooled since summer.

"Six months ago everything was roses, and nobody in this business had any inkling that oil prices would decline virtually $100 a barrel," says Alex Mills, president of the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers. Now, he says, "some people have already pulled back on their drilling programs."

No doubt, profits for Big Oil will tumble from this year's record highs. And because of the tightening credit market, many producers – majors and independents – will shut down drilling rigs and trim production in the year ahead.

Read "Oil industry adjusts to lower prices" at The Christian Science Monitor Web site.

The Wall Street Journal wants voters in Pennsylvania and Ohio to pay close attention to what Sen. Barack Obama and his running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, have to say about America's energy future.

Both states stand to benefit if America turns more to clean coal technology to break the grip of foreign oil. But Biden slipped again during a recent speech. If you listen closely to what Obama and Biden have to say about energy, they're more concerned with global warming and imposing a carbon tax on Americans than they are with finding clean, reliable and affordable energy alternatives.

From the WSJ editorial:

Mr. Biden, then, only stated an obvious if politically unutterable truth. The real costs of green ambitions won't be paid by well-heeled coastal liberals, but will fall disproportionately on the Southern and Midwestern states that depend on coal for jobs and power. The blue-collar voters of Pennsylvania, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia and so forth will get hurt most -- notwithstanding Mr. Biden's campaign reinvention as the scrapper from Scranton.

Read the full editorial, "Biden's Coal Slaw," at the newspaper's Web site.

After six years of fumbling around to find a way to pay for fixing Pennsylvania's crumbling roads and bridges and subsidizing mass transit, the Rendell administration may fall back on its favorite option: Raising taxes.

Rendell's plan to make Interstate 80 a toll road was rejected by the federal government. His backup plan, lease the Pennsylvania Turnpike to a Spanish firm, has met stiff resistance in the state Legislature.

So what's a tax-and-spend career politician to do? Raise the gas tax, of course.

Pennsylvania residents already pay 32.5 cents per gallon, one of the highest tax rates in the country. Rendell said the gas tax would have to go up at least 10 cents a gallon to raise enough money to fund transportation needs.

"To make up the shortfall, we're looking at a gas tax increase," Rendell spokesman Chuck Ardo told The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "Where else are we going to find the money for the shortfall in transportation funding?"

Republican lawmakers say the state can find the money in its existing revenues to repair roads and bridges and fund mass transit.

State spending has increased nearly $8 billion since Rendell became governor in 2003, but little of that money has been used for transportation.

Read more about Rendell's gas tax plans in today's edition of The Tribune-Review.

A veteran Republican Congressman from Pennsylvania exposes the sham energy bill being pushed by Democrats in Congress to fool voters long enough to get past the November elections.

From an op-ed published in The Mercury by U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts:

In an effort to quell the public's increasingly loud call for action on the issue, (Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats) have offered up a piece of legislation that represents election year politicking at its worst. This bill, which was railroaded through the House, allows for offshore drilling — something that has become increasingly popular in opinion polls with the high price of gas. But it would also make the exploration contingent on states' approval while barring states from sharing the revenue. This provision nearly ensures no oil exploration would happen.

In fact, this provision would keep more offshore exploration off limits than if Congress simply allowed the current ban to expire on Oct. 1.

Read the full column, "A 'no-energy' energy bill thanks to Democrat," at the newspaper's Web site.

It's a shame the liberal media gives Barack Obama a free pass on most of his positions.

Even a cursory examination of Obama's platform exposes the worn-out liberal ideas of the past.

Take Obama's "stimulus" plan to provide $1,000 to help working Americans pay for gasoline by imposing a a "windfall profits" tax on oil companies.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review calls the idea "more populist pap" from a candidate who's already earned an Olympic Gold Medal in pandering for votes.

Economists have ridiculed Obama's plan, but the left-wing media doesn't want you to know how ridiculous Obama's economics plan is.

From an editorial in the newspaper:

As Donald J. Boudreaux, chairman of the department of economics at George Mason University (and a regular Trib columnist), notes, "Sen. Obama should learn arithmetic."

"Total profits of U.S. oil companies in 2007 were about $90 billion," says the good professor. "If Uncle Sam took all of these profits and distributed them equally to all households in the U.S., each household would get $750."

Read the full editorial at the newspaper's Web site.

Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid have adjourned Congress for a five-week vacation having done absolutely nothing to address the energy crisis in the U.S.

Despite a dismal 9 percent job approval rate, the Do-Nothing Democratic Congress continue to live up to its name.

Voters have a chance on Nov. 4 to send Democrats a message: Thanks for nothing! I'm voting for somebody else.

Bon Voyage! Blunt: Congress Leaves Town Without Doing a Thing to Bring Down Price of Gasoline

An Associated Press-Yahoo News poll released Monday says that 9 in 10 Americans have been hit hard by skyrocketing gas prices and have had to adjust their lifestyle because of the high costs of gas.

That 10th person must be one of those well-to-do Barack Obama supporters. Or it might be Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi who gets to shuttle around the country on a taxpayer-paid airplane.

Democrats still don't get it about gas prices, which have risen 50 percent in the past six months.

Further proof that Democrats are clueless when it comes to the plight of working Americans comes in the form of a radio ad sponsored by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee that makes a joke out of high gas prices.

The ad buy features a comedian imitating President Bush and joking about gas prices.

U.S. Rep. Jim Gerlach, a Pennsylvania Republican, issued a statement Monday saying the suffering of American families is not a laughing matter.

"Pennsylvania families' real pain and suffering over high gas prices isn't funny and isn't a joke," Gerlach said in a written statement. "The DCCC just doesn't get it - $4.00 gas is really hurting America's working families and political jokes like this won't hide their Party's inaction on this issue, or lower the price of gas. Bi-partisan solutions are needed, and needed now."

In a national radio address over the weekend, Gerlach noted that Democrat plans to raise taxes on oil companies will only raise gas prices for families even higher, since higher taxes get passed through to consumers, according to his campaign staff.

Gerlach stressed innovation, conservation, and most importantly, increasing our own domestic energy supply through safe off-shore drilling, says the Jim Gerlach for Congress Committee

Gerlach's press release also offers this stunning fact: Gas prices have increased 75% since Democrats took control of Congress, and the energy package referenced in the DCCC attack ad was the exact same one supported by Barack Obama and half of the Democratic leadership in the House in 2005. Democrats and Republicans need to come together in a bi-partisan effort to lower gas prices.

"My opponent opposes off-shore drilling and believes we need to tax consumers further," Gerlach said. "That 'head-in-the-sand' energy plan will push gas prices dramatically higher tomorrow and in years to come. At the end of the day, I think we can both agree that making jokes about gas prices during these tough times is inappropriate, and I call on my opponent to publicly condemn the DCCC ad."

Barack Obama's answer to the best options for lowering gas prices and setting the U.S. on a course for energy independence is "No," prompting the Republican National Committee to set up a new Web site to chronicle how many times Obama has said "No" to helping consumers deal with the energy crisis.

Drill for more domestic oil? No.

License new nuclear plants? No.

Clean coal technology? No.

Build new refinaries? No.

Drill offshore? No.

You get the drift of Obama's policy.

Obama wants Americans to pay more for gas prices. It's another way of taxing people, which is what liberals are all about.

If you like paying $4.00 for gas and would like to pay $5.00 or more, Obama is your candidate.

RNC Launches New Web Site: 'DrNObama.com'

No to new oil drilling. No to nuclear power. No to clean coal. This is Barack Obama's energy policy? Can you say $5 for a gallon of gas?

Republican National Committee: Obama vs. Obama on Nuclear Power

HT to Page13News for directing me to a post at American Thinker by William Tate on why Democrats are the main reason for high gas prices in this country.

It's a Top 10 countdown similar to what David Letterman does, but in this case, there's nothing funny about the mess the Democrats have made.

Read 'Top 10 reasons to blame Democrats for soaring gasoline prices' here.

The American Public Transit Association and its various members across the country are asking drivers to leave their cars at home and take mass transit to work as part of a Dump The Pump campaign on Thursday, June 19.

Dump The Pump is a day that advocates for people to ride public transportation to help improve the environment, conserve gasoline and save money, according to the association.

(It's the third annual Dump the Pump Day on June 19. How did I miss the first two?)

Many transit agencies are lowering prices on Thursday to encourage ridership. Some are even sponsoring contests to entice riders.

Read more in today's edition of The Mercury.

While the Democrats who control Congress play silly games with threats to sue OPEC because gas prices are too high or force American oil companies to turn over their business operations to the government, Americans continue to pay record prices for fuel.

Since the Democratic Party took control of Congress in November 2006, the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded has risen from $2.10 to $4.00.

How high will gas prices go? It depends on how many Democrats are sent back to Washington. A vote for a Democrat is a vote for higher gas prices.

A new survey shows an overwhelming majority of Americans support more domestic drilling for oil to increase supply and lower prices.

Congress has prevented American oil companies from discovering new sources of oil in Alaska, federal lands in the 48 continental states and off U.S. coastal waters.

China, Cuba and Canada are currently drilling for oil off America's coast while the Democrats continue to ban American companies from finding new sources of oil.

Read more about the changes we need to make in the area of domestic energy at American Solutions for Winning the Future

If you're tired of rising gas prices, add your name to an online petition drive to get Congress off its collective butt and start dealing with the problem.

Nearly 60,000 people have signed their names so far at the Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less. Petition Drive sponsored by American Solutions for Winning the Future, a site founded by former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.

Add your name to the list today and remember all the incumbents on the ballot on Nov. 4.