Beck and Guests Dissect Skyrocketing Gas Prices and Obama Admin's ' Misleading Facts About Oil Production.... by Mytheos Holt March 5, 2012

GBTVBECK AND GUESTS DISSECT SKYROCKETING GAS PRICES AND OBAMA ADMIN'S 'MISLEADING FACTS ABOUT OIL PRODUCTION'

• Posted on March 5, 2012 at 10:40pm by  Mytheos Holt

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On Monday, Glenn welcomed two guests with quite a lot to say on the subject of energy prices to dissect the Obama administration's "misleading facts about oil prodcution." The first of these was Jack Gerard, President and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute (API). The second was the founder of Cross Consulting and Services and author of the book "Secret Weapon," Kevin Freeman:

(Related: Real News Contributor Matt McCall on why $5 Gas Prices Could Become a Reality)

Both men brought ample knowledge of the field to the program. Gerard has been the head of API — the foremost trade association for oil companies — since November 2008, after a long career in public service. From his bio at API's website:

Gerard has led API since November 2008, expanding its membership and influence in all 50 states and globally, adding offices in Dubai and Singapore to its operations in Beijing, enabling API to better inform the public and policymakers on important energy issues. API's Washington presence is the foundation for the oil and natural gas industry's advocacy and outreach at state, federal and global levels on public policy, standards and certification programs, and as the source for information on industry best practices.

Gerard is recognized by numerous publications and his peers as one of Washington's most influential advocates.Washington Life magazine named him one of the city's "Power 100" and a Fortune magazine profile said Gerard's effort to build a 50 state advocacy network for the oil and natural gas industry was "showing signs of success" through its outreach to workers and non-traditional allies.

Prior to joining API, Gerard served as president and CEO of the American Chemistry Council, and earlier held the same position at the National Mining Association. Gerard also spent close to a decade working in the U.S. Senate and House. He came to Washington in 1981, and worked for Rep. George Hansen. He also worked for Sen. James A. McClure, who chaired the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Freeman, meanwhile, runs a company known simply as Freeman Global Holdings, LLC., which operates at the global level trying to gauge world markets for clients. His book alleges that foreign countries deliberately sabotaged the United States economy. From his bio:

Kevin Freeman is considered one of the world's leading experts on the issues of Economic Warfare and Financial Terrorism. He has consulted for and briefed members of both the U.S. House and Senate, present and past CIA, DIA, FBI, SEC, Homeland Security, the Justice Department, as well as local and state law enforcement. He has traveled extensively with research trips to Russia and China and throughout Europe and the Americas.

Glenn opened the segment with a quote from Energy Secretary Steven Chu that gas prices should be "boosted" to the level of Europe (around $10/gallon now). He then segued into speaking with Gerard about the effects of Obama administration policies on the energy market. Specifically, Glenn pushed Gerard on the topic of why oil imports have decreased in the United States, as President Obama trumpeted in a recent weekly address. Gerard's response is below:

That's factually correct, but let me tell you why it's misleading. The reason our imports are down is because demand in the United States has dropped significantly because of the recession. So either the President is impliedly taking credit for the downturn in the economy or he's taking credit for the increase in domestic production, which is what we in the industry have done on state and private land.

Obama's Pump Dream.. March 7, 2012 by John Myers....

Obama’s Pump Dream

March 7, 2012 by John Myers 

“This president, systematically, is doing everything he can to raise the price of energy in this country. He’s shutting down all sorts of opportunities for us to drill for oil.”
–Rick Santorum

If you think gasoline is expensive now, just wait and see the price at the pump if Barack Obama is re-elected. His policies have steadily dragged the country toward $5 per gallon. If he gets another term in office, affordable gas will be a faint memory. And that will have Obama and his Green backers tickled pink.

The Obama Administration doesn’t seem to care that every 1 cent increase in the price of gasoline costs the economy $1.4 billion. America is becoming more dependent on Muslim oil while turning its back on a half-century energy alliance with Canada. This has been made evident by the President’s rejection of the Keystone Pipeline.

When Obama was sworn into office, the price of gasoline was $1.80 a gallon. Three years into his term, prices for some Americans are approaching $5 per gallon.

That is just the way Obama likes it. Given another four years, gasoline prices could reach $8 a gallon. This is because Obama has a greater allegiance to the Green Machine that drove home his victory in 2008 and that is fueling his chances for another victory lap come November.

The specifics of what the President promised to the environmentalists if he is re-elected remain a secret. But what we know for certain is that Obama clamped down on deep-water drilling inside the Gulf, tightened Federal restrictions for onshore oil exploration and vetoed the Keystone Pipeline, a major oil artery that would secure dependable Canadian crude to a nation thirsting for oil.

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) said the evidence is in, that the Obama Administration has willfully brought higher prices to the gas pump because it has put an embargo on fresh and dependable sources of North American petroleum.

“We can’t slow down global demand for oil and gas, but we can do a lot more here at home to assure that we have the energy we need and to halt skyrocketing costs,” Hutchison said. “President Obama’s policy has resulted in an unprecedented slowdown in new exploration and production of oil and gas.”

Speaker of the House John Boehner said the President has been reckless in mismanaging the nation’s energy policies.

When added up, not passing the Keystone Pipeline and “scrapping leases for oil-shale development” makes the President responsible for $5 gasoline, read a press release from Boehner.

“The Obama administration has spent more than three years blocking efforts to expand energy production and bring down gas prices, while pushing job-crushing tax hikes and taxpayer-backed loans to companies like Solyndra.”

Boehner laid out a timeline showing Obama’s purposeful drive to sending gasoline prices higher:

• Jan. 7, 2010 – The Obama administration announces new bureaucratic hurdles to American energy production that Secretary Salazar admitted “could add delays to the leasing and drilling process.” Gas is $2.67 a gallon.
• March 31, 2010 – Instead of opening new areas to energy exploration and development, President Obama blocks deep-ocean energy production on 60 percent of America’s Outer Continental Shelf. Gas is $2.80 a gallon.
• Dec. 1, 2010 – The president re-imposes and expands the moratorium on offshore energy production. Gas is $2.86 a gallon.
• Jan. 2, 2011 – TIME reported that the Obama administration issued the first in a series of regulations on January 2 designed to unilaterally impose a national energy tax. Gas is $3.05 a gallon.
• May 5, 2011 – The White House issues a formal statement opposing House-passed Restarting American Offshore Leasing Now Act and Putting the Gulf of Mexico Back to Work Act, legislation designed to jumpstart [sic] American energy production, address rising gas prices, and help create new jobs. Gas is $3.96 a gallon.
• June 21, 2011 – The White House opposes the House-passed Jobs & Energy Permitting Act that would unlock an estimated 27 billion barrels of oil and 132 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Gas is $3.65 a gallon.
• Nov. 8, 2011 – The Obama Administration releases a plan for a five-year moratorium on offshore energy production, placing “some of the most promising energy resources in the world off-limits,” according to the House Natural Resources Committee. Gas is $3.42 a gallon.
• Jan. 18, 2012 – President Obama rejects the bipartisan Keystone XL pipeline and the more than 20,000 jobs that would come with it. Gas is $3.39 a gallon, and rising faster and earlier than ever before.

Rising in tandem with gasoline prices has been crude oil.  As you can see from the chart below, crude oil has risen almost 40 percent in the past two years and last week had an upward gap at $105 per barrel. This is a bullish signal and technically indicates the price of oil is going to go higher. More importantly, I think Obama will continue to provide the fundamentals for crude and gasoline to increase, perhaps another 40 percent higher if he is re-elected this November.

While debating other GOP candidates last month, Newt Gingrich criticized Obama’s national energy program, saying it has been instrumental in driving the price of gasoline to $5 per gallon in some parts of the country.

“[America needs a new] energy policy, getting back to $2.50 a gallon gasoline, outlining both the economic and National Security implications, indicating that instead of bowing to a Saudi King we ought to be drilling, and our goal should be to be so independent that we don’t care what the Iranians are doing in the Straits of Hormuz,” Gingrich said.

That really is a pipe dream for Gingrich and it can only happen if a Republican is in the Oval Office next year.  Short of that, Obama’s pump dream of $8 per gallon gasoline is what we will have. That might good for Green backers and tree huggers, but it will cripple the recovery for the rest of the Nation that depends on affordable gasoline.

Yours in good times and bad,

–John Myers
Editor, Myers’ Energy & Gold Report

Editor’s Note: Last week, TransCanada announced it would move ahead with part of the Keystone XL pipeline, completing a section Oklahoma to Texas. This plan does not require Federal approval. In January, the Obama Administration rejected TransCanada’s proposal to build a pipeline from the Montana-Canada border through Nebraska because of pressure from environmentalist groups.

President Obama's Plan to Kill Armed Pilot Program by Brian Darling Wed. Feb. 15, 2012

President Obama’s Plan To Kill Armed Pilot Program

  

Posted by Brian Darling (Diary)

Wednesday, February 15th at 7:15PM EST

107 Comments

The President’s wants to end the Federal Flight Deck Officer Program (FFDO), also known as the armed pilots program.  If Congress were to follow President Obama’s recommendation contained in his $3.8 trillion FY2013 budget proposal, they would be making a huge mistake.  This anti-terrorism program has been a success and a cost effective means to protect the cockpits of commercial aviation from 9-11 style terrorism.

The President’s budget lists the FFDO program as one of the few “cuts” to federal spending.  They have reduced the program from the $25 million they received this year to $12 million for FY2013.  This massive cut to the program would destroy it.  Consider this evidence that the Obama Administration would be more happy to rely on intrusive screening procedures being applied to toddlers, the elderly, and Senators, rather than pilots with guns to provide a last line of defense to aviation terrorism.

There is a saying in sports that the best referees are the ones you don’t even notice.  Not many Americans understand the breadth and effectiveness of the armed pilots program, because the program has been scandal free.  Our nation has not experienced another 9-11 style terrorist attack thanks in no small part to armed pilots in the cockpits of commercial aircraft to stop terrorists intent on using planes as weapons of mass destruction.

According to the Obama Administration’s budget proposal the goal of security at airports is to ”mitigate the highest amount of risk at the lowest cost.”

The voluntary FFDO program was created as a “last defense” layer of security at a time when comprehensive aviation screening and other physical security measures were not fully developed or deployed on a system-wide basis.

This claim is false.  The Obama Administration is arguing that the FFDO program was to be a band aid until the federal government could set up screening to prevent another incident of aviation hijacking and terrorism.  They are wrong, because a rational screening and security regime would include a last line of defense for pilots if other security measures fail. 

Look at the history of the program if you need more evidence of the fallacy of this claim.  On September 5, 2002, Senators Bob Smith (R-NH) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) teamed up on an amendment to the bill that created the Department of Homeland security.  The amendment passed overwhelmingly and created the armed pilots program while increasing anti-terrorism training for flight attendants.  These ideas were supposed to be permanent programs to provide a last line of defense to terrorism for flight attendants and pilots. 

This program is large.  The numbers of pilots in the program is considered secret, yet USA Today reported in 2008 that one in ten pilots were armed and cleared to carry a firearm while flying.

More than one in 10 of the nation’s airline pilots are cleared to carry a handgun while flying, and the number will continue to grow, according to a Transportation Security Administration projection. The TSA, which has declined to disclose the number of armed pilots, revealed in a recent budget document that 10.8% of airline crewmembers were authorized to carry guns.

The fact that a large number of pilots are in the program today is evidence that it is working quietly to protect passengers and the public.  A bipartisan majority in the House and Senate supported the creation of this program in both 2001 and 2002, yet both the Bush Administration and now the Obama Administration have been hostile to this program.  This idea by the Obama Administration will put Americans in harms way and it should be opposed.

According to the Obama Administration in the justification to cut FFDO the following:

Since 2001, however, there have been a number of enhancements to aviation security. TSA now conducts 100 percent screening of all passengers and their carryon items, has overseen installation of reinforced and locking cockpit doors on aircraft that operate in U.S. airspace, and has increased passenger and flight crew awareness to address security risks. Combined, these improvements have greatly lowered the chances of unauthorized cockpit access and represent a comprehensive and redundant risk-mitigation strategy that begins well before passengers board the aircraft.

For a President who proposes $3.8 trillion in spending next year, it is odd that he has targeted the one program in the TSA that is scandal free and providing a quiet deterrent to terrorists planning future attacks.  If President Obama is successful in killing this program and winding it down, he will be to blame if a pilot is attacked in the cockpit of a commercial aircraft.  This is a terrible idea and one hopes that Members of Congress do not follow the Obama Administration’s recommendations on this very important national security issue.

President Obama's 2013 Budget Draws Fire From Agriculture Posted by Cowboy Byte Feb. 15, 2012

Obama budget draws fire from agriculture

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Cowboy Byte

Agriculture funding is not getting a fair shake in the President’s proposed 2013 budget, according to U.S. farm proponents. In the budget released Monday, President Obama proposed slashing agriculture subsidies by $32 billion over the next decade, just as Congress is getting set to create the new U.S. 2012 Farm Bill.

Obama’s plan includes eliminating the $5 billion a year in direct payment to farmers, an idea that has support among U.S. lawmakers, according to Reuters. In negotiations last fall, U.S. Senate and House agriculture committees identified $23 billion in proposed savings over 10 years.

Obama’s proposed 2013 budget is seen by some as unsupportive to agriculture- one of the top performing sectors in a struggling U.S. economy. “The President’s budget demonstrates that neither rural America nor fiscal discipline is a priority for this administration,” said Rep. Frank Lucas, R Okla., Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee. “Raising taxes on small businesses and ignoring the real drivers of trillion dollar deficits is a failure of leadership.”

Freedom Vs. Socialism... by Kevin "Coach" Collins Feb. 22, 2012

Freedom Vs. Socialism

February 22, 2012 By Kevin "Coach" Collins 10 Comments

inShare15

Since Barack Obama has no respect for America or Americans, he will doubtlessly announce that the October 2012 unemployment rate is about 6.5% or some other ridiculous lie. Does it make any difference? Not really, because he and the Charlie McCarthy dummy who is posing as our Vice President won’t be able to survive the reality of what they have done to us since January 2009.
The problems Obama will face are growing, not subsiding.
In just the last month, the pump price of gasoline has risen .20 a gallon.  While this is bad enough, it is still worse because it put the price at a level higher than it has been in February since 1981. The reason for the rise is totally out of Obama’s control; he can’t lie his way out of it. The Iranians want to squeeze the Europeans who are already looking at $8.00 a gallon gas, so they are denying France and England oil.

The Europeans will come here to buy their gasoline because our $3.52 per gallon looks great!  When they do our price will go up whether we car pool, drive less, decide we won’t buy from this company or that company or not.  The price of gas on January 19, 2009 was $1.85.
The percentage of those who are unemployed who have been unemployed for 6 months or more has gone from 16% to 45.1 % . Never since the Great Depression has it been that high.
All of the following measurements of our national misery are presented as “On Obama’s Inauguration Day” compared to today.  These numbers come from The Senate Republican Conference.  
The raw number of unemployed Americans: 12.05 million to 12.76 million. +710,000
Americans living in poverty: 39.8 million to 46.2 million. +6.4 million
American receiving Food Stamps 32 million to 46 million +14million
Misery Index (An index combining the unemployment rate and inflation rate) 7.8 to 11.3 up 45%
Federal debt 10.6 TRILLION DOLLARS to 15.4 TRILLION DOLLARS up 44%
Federal debt assigned to each American $34,731 up to $49,058
Cost of health insurance costs per employed worker $3,354 to $4,129
College tuition $6,591 up to $8,244 an increase of 25%
The total number of available jobs 133.6 million down to 132.4 a loss of 1.2 million jobs
The value of the average American’s home $169,700 down to $147,800
No amount of phony statistics or lies can cover holes this big.