Senate Dems Lose Vote on Repeal of Tax Breaks for Oil Companies Amid Pain at Pump

Why do democrats keep calling these tax breaks subsidies? Why do they keep neglecting to mention that many other industries in this Country get the same tax breaks? Why do they fail to inform us that they are picking on FIVE oil companies? They aren't demanding that these tax breaks be taken away from ALL oil companies, just the five that they don't like. Why don't they admit that if these tax breaks are taken away the price of gasoline will rise in accordance?

These big five oil companies pay about 40% in taxes, even with the tax breaks they get, billions of dollars. But all the democrats see is the dollar figures, never mind that there are lots of companies that make a bigger profit percentage, just not the dollar amount. The democrats also refuse to mention that out of those profits the oil companies pay for research and development and exploration. It's not like they drill a hole in the ground and oil pops out. They spend huge amounts of money figuring out exactly where the oil is.

And lets also keep in mind that the oil industry employs thousands and thousands of people. Every time obama and his gang of thugs make it harder for oil companies to drill, Americans lose their jobs. The oil industry sufffers every day along the Gulf Coast because obama refuses to allow them to drill.

obama recently said he is going to increase drilling in the Gulf, off of Alaska, and off of California. It's bullshit. It is an election stunt. He has no intention of EVER allowing our Country to become energy independent. Don't fall for it people...

From FoxNews

As expected, Senate Democrats lost a key test vote Tuesday on a bill that would have repealed $20 billion worth of tax subsidies for the nation's five largest oil companies, falling 8 votes short of a win.

The 52-48 vote came as a majority of Americans say in a new Gallup poll that high gas prices are hurting their finances.

Nearly seven in 10 Americans said high gas prices are causing financial hardship for their families. More than half said to compensate, they have made major changes, ranging from shorter trips to cutting back on vacation travel. More than a 1,000 people responded to the poll that has a 4 percent margin of error.

The national average price for a gallon of regular gas is $3.94, according to AAA, and Democrats were looking to exploit that high price with Tuesday's vote.

Last week, Democrats grilled oil executives on the tax breaks that they say are not needed and President Obama announced Saturday he was directing his administration to ramp up U.S. oil production by extending leases in the Gulf of Mexico and off Alaska's coast.

Democrats have been touting a new report by the Joint Economic Committee found that eliminating the tax breaks would reduce the deficit by $21 billion over 10 years and encourage alternative energy and energy efficiency.

"This new JEC report makes clear that there are ways to bring down the deficit without harming our economic recovery," said Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., chairman of the committee. "By repealing unnecessary tax breaks to the major integrated oil companies, we can reduce the deficit by more than $20 billion and speed the move to a clean energy economy without impacting prices at the pump."

But Republicans opposed the bill, saying it won't relieve pain at the pump, a conclusion also reached by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who said on the Senate floor Tuesday that "it won't affect gas prices at all."

Reid then went on to say the opposite.

"We have to do something about the exorbitant gas prices, and the best way to start with that is to do something about the five big oil companies getting subsidies they don't need," he said.

Read the rest at the link above...

Gas Bills Bloat Congress

What kind of an idiot would even begin to think taking tax breaks away from oil companies and giving them to "green energy" companies would lower gas prices? That's right, a democrat idiot. If you are looking for a sure fire way to raise the cost of a gallon of gas, take away any tax breaks to the oil companies. What they will pay in taxes will just be tacked on to the price we pay at the pump.

Increasing production is the answer to lower gas prices. And these clowns need to do something fast. Most of us can't afford what we are paying now, and any further hikes will be close to catastrophic for many.

It's sounds like instead of anybody doing anything, congress will just sit around blaming each other and hope for political points out of the deal.

I've had it with the whole bunch of them...

By Chris Stirewalt - FoxNews

GOP and Dems Trade Shots Over Gas Bills, But Which Plan Would Lower Costs? 

“What is more likely to lower gas prices: Raising taxes on oil companies or increasing oil production?”

-- Senate Republican aide talking to Power Play about competing energy legislation in Congress this week

With debt and budget negations stalled for the time being, members of Congress will instead turn to the business of assigning political blame over high gas prices.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is expected this week to push forward a Democratic plan that would transfer tax breaks for American oil companies to approved green-energy firms.

House Speaker John Boehner, meanwhile, will bring up a series of votes on a suite of Republican legislation aimed at breaking President Obama’s clampdown on offshore drilling permits.

Even as recession fears force commodity prices downward, gas prices are expected to continue to rise above $4-per-gallon. Uncertainty abroad, rising global demand, a shattered U.S. dollar and decreased domestic production all mean prices will continue to increase for hard-pressed American consumers.

When it comes to high gas prices, the House Republican plan would do little to bring down short-term prices. Even if Senate Democrats and President Obama were to go along with the drilling, baby, drilling, it would take months for the new crude to hit refineries and increase domestic supplies. Any short-term reduction would come from speculators jumping out on the bet of increased future production.

The Democratic proposal, however, would almost certainly raise gasoline prices as companies compensated for $4 billion in increased federal taxes. The plan proposed by President Obama and subsequently championed by Reid and Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., is part of a multi-year effort to encourage green energy (in part by keeping energy prices high).

Last year, America’s largest oil company, Exxon, paid about $10 billion in federal taxes and made a profit of about $30 billion. If the tax bill had been $11 billion, it is unlikely that Exxon shareholders would have wanted the money to come out of profits. The money instead would have come from consumers.

While Democrats are betting that consumers would feel good about seeing politicians sticking it to big oil in the form of tax increases, American drivers (and voters) would likely understand the basic economics of taxation. Plus, gas prices are helping to stunt the already puny recovery. For middle-class consumers, high gas prices mean disposable income vanishes.

But the House would never let the Democratic plan through, either.

The real issue in Washington is about the budget deals that continue behind closed doors. The Gang of Six is shrouded in doubt as Gang member and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad is threatening to start pushing his own debt-reduction proposal.

Democrats are stalled on how to proceed on obtaining an increase in the federal government’s $14.3 trillion debt limit, and Republicans are mostly waiting to see how that plays out before getting too jiggy about a 2012 budget proposal.

Until the dam breaks, trying to score points on gas prices will have to suffice.

House Bucks Obama: Bill Jump-Starts Gulf Oil Production

The cost of going to work every day has doubled for my family. I'm sure you all have the same experience. If gas prices continue to rise, it almost won't be worth going to work. democrats don't understand that out here in the real world, these things have consequences. When the government refuse to allow our oil comapnies to do their job, we all pay for it. We pay for it at the pump and we pay for it in national security concerns. It just doesn't seem like a great idea to me to buy oil from countries that hate us. How exactly, is that good business?

"Drill baby Drill" does make a good bumper sticker. And American companies drilling oil in our own Country is good, sound, energy policy. Buying oil from hugo chavez is poor policy...

by Audrey Hudson - Human Events

Republicans are banking on a measure approved by the House on Thursday to lower gasoline prices by accelerating offshore lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico.

“The situation we find ourselves in today is detrimental to everyone who goes to the pump to fill their cars,” said Rep. Rob Bishop (R.-Utah). “The cost of gas increases, and continues to increase because of the inaction of this administration.”

The de facto moratorium on offshore drilling imposed by President Obama after the Deepwater Horizon tragedy last year has forced the importation of an additional 130,000 barrels of oil a day to make up for the lost production, Republicans say.

Democrats argued that the bill would lead to future environmental tragedies and insisted that more oil is being safely produced under President Obama than in President Bush’s administration.

Republicans countered that Americans are expected to spend an additional $700 on gasoline this year.

“The administration’s strategy is to cut the standard of living … and beg Saudi Arabia to be nice to us,” Bishop said.

The legislation is the first of several measures Republicans will act on in the next week, and imposes strict time lines on the Obama administration to sell leases in the Gulf of Mexico and offshore from Virginia.

President Obama has since lifted the moratorium, but few permits are actually being approved, Republicans said.

“Unfortunately, the administration turned the tragedy into a catastrophe … one that destroys jobs,” Bishop said.

HR 1230, the Restarting American Offshore Leasing Now Act, passed the House by a vote of 266 to 149, with 233 Republicans and 33 Democrats supporting the measure.

The Office of Management and Budget said in a statement that it opposes the legislation because it would undermine environmental protections and workplace safety.

The key measures are sponsored by Rep. Richard “Doc” Hastings (R.-Wash.), chairman of the House Energy Committee. The House on Tuesday will vote on HR 1229, which ends the moratorium and establishes new safety reviews.

“Continued tensions in the Middle East serve as a reminder that increased American energy production is as much of a national security issue as it is about jobs and lowering gasoline prices,” Hastings said.

“The United States has the most energy resources in the world and the American people are demanding that we utilize them to lower energy prices, create jobs, and make American less dependent on unstable foreign energy,” Hastings said.

Democrats said the measure reinforces the “myth” that America can drill itself out of foreign dependency.

“ 'Drill baby drill’ may look good on a bumper sticker, but it is not a sound energy policy,” said Jared Polis (D.-Colo.).

“This does not make filling up at the pump any more affordable to Americans at all,” Polis said.

Read the rest at the link above...

Why won't our economy recover?

A big part of our economy revolves around disposable income. People use the money they have left over after the bills are paid, disposable income, to eat at McDonald's, go to the movies, buy flat screen TVs at Walmart, take a vacation, stay at hotels, etc.

Every one of these activities stimulates our economy. These activities enable places like McDonald's and Walmart to hire more help, which also helps our economy grow, and results in more tax paying citizens. Those additional tax paying citizens spend their disposable income, further growing the economy.

When gas prices go through the roof, like they are now, take a guess at where people spend the income they would otherwise use to eat out or buy other goods and services. You got it, at the gas pump. In an economy that is already in the toilet, the effects are even worse.

So while obama sits around with his thumb in his ass, gas prices continue to rise and our economy continues to decline. Until the oil companies in this Country are allowed to do what they do best, drill for oil, it will be impossible for a recovery to take place.

As far as the profits of the evil oil companies are concerned, keep this in mind, the government makes more on a gallon of gasoline than the oil companies. Also, unlike obama's pet company, GE, the oil companies actually pay taxes, a lot of taxes. Some oil companies pay more in taxes than they make in profit. And don't forget that oil companies pour much of their profits back into the company in the form of exploration, research and development.

For a further look at oil company profits, see the post by Joe Texan below.

U.S. Gov't Agency Plans $2.84 Billion Loan for Oil Refinery—In Colombia

We can't drill here to become energy independent, but we can finance drilling operations in foreign countries? We haven't built an oil refinery in this Country since the '70s and we can finance a new one in Columbia? What in the hell are these people thinking? Every day it becomes more apparent that our government has no clue what it is doing.

Stock up on ammo people, you may need it sooner than you think...

By Terence P. Jeffrey - CNSNews

The U.S. Export-Import Bank, an independent agency of the federal government, is now planning a $2.84-billion loan for a massive project to expand and upgrade an oil refinery--in Cartagena, Colombia.

The money would go to Reficar, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ecopetrol, the Colombian national oil company.

“This is part of a $5.18 billion refinery and upgrade project in Cartagena, Colombia supplying petroleum products to the domestic and export markets,” the Export-Import Bank said in a statement.

The U.S. government-controlled bank says the $2.84-billion in financing it plans to undertake will be the second largest project it has ever done. The largest was $3 billion in financing for a liquid natural gas project in Papua New Guinea.

The statement released by the bank said that on April 7 the bank’s presidentially-appointed board of directors had “voted to grant preliminary approval for a $2.84 billion direct loan/loan guarantee” for the Colombian refinery project.

Export-Import Bank Spokesman Phil Cogan told CNSNews.com that the bank could not say at this time how much of the $2.84 billion would be directly loaned to the Colombian refinery company and how much would be in loans guaranteed by the bank--although he expected it to be a combination.

“It is conceivable it could be all a direct loan,” said Cogan. “Right now it is set up so that the board could do either a complete direct loan or a combination of direct loan and guarantee. That hasn’t been determined yet.”

Since December, the bank has also approved almost $880 million in other loans and loan guarantees to Reficar’s parent company, Ecopetrol. So, in total, if the new $2.84 billion in loans is finalized, the Columbian national oil company and its wholly owned subsidiaries will have received $3.72 billion in financing backed by a U.S.-government-controlled entity within a span of five months.

Read the rest at the link above...

Lawmakers, Executives Slam Obama for Boosting Brazil's Offshore Drilling

Seriously? obama is pimping oil drilling in Brazil but he won't let American companies drill here? WTF? How is it possible that the president of the United States could reject making our Country energy independent while offering to provide financial assistance for another country's state owned drilling operation? Let me tell you, because he is an America hating socialist scumbag...

From FoxNews

Republican lawmakers and oil industry executives are slamming President Obama for offering to help Brazil expand offshore drilling while U.S. production struggles to get back on its feet in the wake of the BP spill.

The president, on the first leg of his trip to Latin America, said in Brazil over the weekend that his administration wants to assist the Brazilian government "with technology and support" in developing its oil reserves -- a black gold mine he said could hold twice as much oil as U.S. deposits.

"And when you're ready to start selling, we want to be one of your best customers," Obama said.

That message struck some at home as bizarre and misguided, considering the administration has stressed the need to wean the United States off foreign oil and move toward alternative fuels.

With U.S. oil exploration and drilling slowing to a crawl over the past year, they questioned why the president would throw U.S. weight behind Brazil, a country that also received a $2 billion loan for its state-owned oil company from the U.S. Export-Import Bank.

Read the rest at the link above...

Facts Don't Support Claims on Gulf of Mexico Oil Production

When you see the post below about obama's speech today, refer back to this if you have doubts about his habitual lies. Rigs in the Gulf isn't the same thing as working rigs in the Gulf. Once again obama and his gang of thugs try to play stupid fucking mind games with us. Of course, they will have some lame explanation that will satisfy the main stream media and the majority of the public will continue to be uninformed about this lying, crooked bunch of assclowns...

By Kyle Isakower - energytomorrow

Last week, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told Congress that oil production in the Gulf of Mexico "remained at an all-time high, and we expect that it will continue as we bring new production online." He claimed: "In 2009 there were 116 rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, in 2010 in February, 120, in February 2011, 126."

But Salazar's numbers distort the true number of working rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. According to Baker Hughes:

• Four days before the Deepwater Horizon accident there were 55 rotary rigs actually drilling offshore in the Gulf of Mexico.
• On May 28, 2010, when the administration announced the six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling, there were 46 rotary rigs operating in the Gulf.
• Last week, 25 rotary rigs were operating in the Gulf of Mexico.
• On May 28, 2010, when the administration announced the six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling,   there were 46 rotary rigs operating in the Gulf.

So the fact that there is an "all-time high" number of rigs in the Gulf ignores the fact that most of those rigs are not working. Claiming an increase in idle rigs in the Gulf as a success story is like claiming the job market is great because a lot of people are unemployed and available to work.

In the same hearing, the Secretary also claimed that "the production has remained at an all-time high" within the Gulf of Mexico and there is no way to actually make this true. The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration reports that production in the Gulf of Mexico is in decline, forecasting a decline of 250,000 barrels a day from Gulf production, due partly to the moratorium and restricted permitting. While the annual production figure for 2010 was greater than 2009, EIA's month-by-month production figures show a peak in May of 2010, and a relatively steady decline since. And EIA Petroleum Engineer Gary Long told trade publication E&E News that the rig count in the Gulf was cut in half after the Deepwater Horizon accident and that it wouldn't rebound to previous levels until the end of 2011 under the assumption that the permitting process is restored to historical rates. Further, since there is a lag time from the time an exploration permit is approved to the time of actual production, and since no only a handful of permits for new wells have been granted since April of 2010, it is likely that Gulf of Mexico production will continue to be hit hard in 2012 and beyond.

We appreciate that, when it comes to selling the administration's energy policy, Secretary Salazar is in a tough position. Fortunately we are here to help, help provide the abundant and affordable energy that our economy needs, and help create the jobs our workers want. As API President Jack Gerard said recently:

"Our industry remains committed to working with government to meet our current and future challenges, but we need Congress and the administration on board. Let's stop talking and let's get back to work."

Obama 'Prepared' to Tap Oil Reserve in Response to Gas Prices

More lies from obama. Every word that comes out of his mouth is either a lie or just dumb. He is trting to claim that his administration is issuing tons of permits for off shore drilling. He is a liar. They have denied permits, even going as far as fighting the release of permits in court.

obama and his administration have made it clear, even saying as much, that their desire is for us to be paying as much for gasoline as it costs in Europe. This would help them accomplish many of their socialist goals. It would bankrupt what is left of our economy. It would force people to drive shitty little electric death traps that aren't fully developed and cost more than most people's house. The economic collapse that would be caused by $8 dollar per gallon gas would force millions more people onto the government welfare system. On and on. obama has no intention of getting in a hurry to release the strategic reserves or issue drilling permits. Any claims to the opposite are bullshit political games to try to gain support.

This guy needs to be run out of town. He hates our Country and he hates us...

From FoxNews

President obama, addressing frantic appeals from lawmakers to do something in response to rising gas prices, said Friday he is "prepared" to tap into the country's ample oil reserve if necessary. The president, in a nod to Republicans, also said he favors boosting domestic drilling in a responsible way.

But the president said improvements in energy efficiency are the only way to break U.S. dependence on foreign oil in the long term, and dismissed as political posturing Republicans' claims that his environmental policies have choked off American drilling.

"It doesn't match up with reality," the president said, prompting more criticism from GOP lawmakers who claimed he was stretching the truth.

As turmoil in the Middle East shakes the oil markets, obama said the United States needs a "comprehensive energy strategy." He called a press conference Friday specifically to address that point -- and while it was consumed by questions about possible military intervention in Libya, the tsunami in Japan, and the budget debate on Capitol Hill, obama tried to assure Americans that he empathizes with their concerns about gas prices.

"For Americans already facing tough times, it's an added burden," he said. obama also stressed that the United States should be able to weather any disruption due to the unrest in Libya.

Answering the calls of Democrats, he said his administration is prepared to open the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. He would not specify the conditions that would trigger tapping the reserve but said it was teed up and could happen quickly if he should choose to call for it. The government is cautious about going to the petroleum reserve, typically holding off except in very extreme cases such as 2005's Hurricane Katrina near the Gulf of Mexico drilling areas. 

Read the rest at the link above...

Obama Faces Bipartisan Criticism on Energy Policies

It must be getting close to election time if democrats are openly disagreeing with obama on energy policy. democrats don't give a damn about the price of gas or what it costs to heat our homes. They care about the next election.

obama has declared war on all things energy, coal, oil, nuclear, to fit his agenda. He has a lot riding on the green energy bullshit. He has made lots of investments in green technology to help him maintain the whitehouse lifestyle after we boot his ass out of office.

He doesn't care that thousands of jobs are tied to those anti-energy policies. He doesn't care that those of us paying close to four dollars a gallon for gas are going to suffer greatly because of it.

While the turmoil in the middle east has caused prices to skyrocket, if we were utilizing the resources we have available here, we wouldn't be as affected by events overseas.

Playing politics with the lives of average citizens is wrong but that is exactly what obama and his gang of thugs are doing...

By Jim Angle - FoxNews

With energy prices rising in part because of turmoil in the Middle East, lawmakers from both parties are questioning the Obama administration's energy policies and arguing more should be done to develop domestic sources of energy.

"I don't think the president's position on oil and gas is as strong as it should be,” said Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, where the oil industry plays a large role in the local economy. “Oil and gas is an important industry in the United States today and it will be in the next decades.”

Many in the administration emphasize alternative forms of energy and some, including the president, have openly talked of the need for higher prices on oil and coal to make alternatives such as wind and solar more price-competitive.

Landrieu and most other lawmakers embrace an "all of the above" strategy, saying all forms of energy should be developed. But both Republicans and Democrats note that it will be decades before the need for oil is significantly reduced, so why not produce more of it? The U.S. use 20 million barrels a day but produces only seven million.

After the massive BP oil spill in the Gulf last April, the administration imposed a moratorium on new permits. That was lifted in October, but until this week, no permits had been issued for deepwater drilling.

“I think what should be unmistakably clear is that the policy that we have in this administration is to support oil and gas drilling, both in the shallow waters as well as in the deep waters, and we just want to make sure that it's done right and in an environmentally safe way,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a Senate Natural Resources Committee hearing this week.

The Interior Department granted a single deepwater permit on Monday, saying before it could continue issuing permits, it had to certify that new wells have containment capacity in the case of another blowout. Though he would not lay out a timeline, Salazar told senators that the department will move forward with permits for deepwater drilling. He also offered reassurances about future petroleum exploration and production.

"In terms of the Gulf of Mexico production, we continue to have a robust production, as we did this last year and we expect to continue to have a robust production in 2011 as well,” Salazar said.

But Sen. Landrieu noted that before the blowout, the government's own experts said production in the Gulf of Mexico this year would be 1.77 million barrels a day. Now that projection has dropped to 1.39 million.

In 2012, the government originally projected production of 1.82 million barrels a day, but now sees a decline to 1.14 million barrels a day.

That is a drop of 680,000 barrels a day, which equals about half of the global exports from Libya. Unrest in Libya has led to concerns over a disruption in that country’s exports, creating fears that are driving oil prices higher.

At the same time, some Republican senators charge the Environmental Protection Agency is out to kill the coal industry.

More than half the nation's electricity comes from coal, and Senate Minority Leader McConnell, R-Ky., accuses the EPA of sitting on mine applications, noting 79 are now in bureaucratic limbo.

"The EPA has turned the permitting process into a back-door means of shutting down coal mines by sitting on permits indefinitely, thus removing any regulatory certainty," he said.

So McConnell, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and others introduced a bill to force the EPA to use or lose its veto over mine applications within 60 days.

I'm 63 and I'm Tired

A lot of these things you get in email turn out to be attributed to people who didn't write them to trump up the importance of the words or meaning. This, as it turns out, was actually written by Robert A. Hall. Even if it wasn't, this portrays the sentiments of a good many Americans, probably the majority. Give this a read. Pass it on to anyone you think would be interested...

"I'm 63 and I'm Tired"


By Robert A. Hall

I'm 63. Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but job-hunting every day, I've worked, hard, since I was 18. Despite some health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and haven't called in sick in seven or eight years. I make a good salary, but I didn't inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am.. Given the economy, there's no retirement in sight, and I'm tired. Very tired.

I'm tired of being told that I have to "spread the wealth" to people who don't have my work ethic. I'm tired of being told the government will take the money I earned, by force if necessary, and give it to people too lazy to earn it.

I'm tired of being told that Islam is a "Religion of Peace," when every day I can read dozens of stories of Muslim men killing their sisters, wives and daughters for their family "honor"; of Muslims rioting over some slight offense; of Muslims murdering Christian and Jews because they aren't "believers"; of Muslims burning schools for girls; of Muslims stoning teenage rape victims to death for "adultery"; of Muslims mutilating the genitals of little girls; all in the name of Allah, because the Qur'an and Shari'a law tells them to.

I'm tired of being told that out of "tolerance for other cultures" we must let Saudi Arabia use our oil money to fund mosques and mandrassa Islamic schools to preach hate in America and Canada , while no American nor Canadian group is allowed to fund a church, synagogue or religious school in Saudi Arabia to teach love and tolerance.

I'm tired of being told I must lower my living standard to fight global warming, which no one is allowed to debate.

I'm tired of being told that drug addicts have a disease, and I must help support and treat them, and pay for the damage they do. Did a giant germ rush out of a dark alley, grab them, and stuff white powder up their noses while they tried to fight it off?

I'm tired of hearing wealthy athletes, entertainers and politicians of both parties talking about innocent mistakes, stupid mistakes or youthful mistakes, when we all know they think their only mistake was getting caught. I'm tired of people with a sense of entitlement, rich or poor.

I'm real tired of people who don't take responsibility for their lives and actions. I'm tired of hearing them blame the government, or discrimination or big-whatever for their problems.

Yes, I'm damn tired. But I'm also glad to be 63. Because, mostly, I'm not going to have to see the world these people are making. I'm just sorry for my granddaughter.

Robert A. Hall is a Marine Vietnam veteran who served five terms in the Massachusetts State Senate.