Hotline After Dark -- To Drill Or Not To Drill?
There was a lot of talk on the TV last night about John McCain coming out in favor of offshore oil drilling.
FNC's Cameron: "Both candidates have shifted some of their energy views, but McCain's moving toward helping consumers more and [Barack] Obama is saying no. Since consumers can vote, Republicans think it's advantage McCain and Obama's digging himself a hole" ("Special Report," 6/17).
Newsweek's Fineman, on how McCain is going to spin his energy policy: "What he's going to do is he's going to try to turn energy into a security issue, as well as a meat-and-potatoes thing on gas tax holiday, on more drilling, on nuclear power, very, very specific things. ... He's got to play to his strength, which is security. And he's going to try to draw it all in" ("Countdown," MSNBC, 6/17).
CNN's Bash: "Left-leaning environmentalists call this change pandering. And it's unclear if it's really going to hurt McCain in Florida. But I spoke to several California Republicans today. And they said, you know, it was always a long shot for McCain there in California, but no longer. They say this move, this idea of lifting the federal moratorium for offshore drilling, makes it pretty much impossible for McCain in California, where they are very, very environmentally conscious" ("Situation Room," 6/17).
After the jump, Obama on terror suspects and Conrad goes on record.
(KATHERINE LEHR)
Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer: "By taking only ... 'a baby step' on this, McCain is letting a very strong issue get away ... because he refuses to change his position on the most obvious and huge source of oil, which is the Arctic. Look, he risks losing and alienating people who care about the environment over off-shore drilling while remaining alienated from the majority of Americans who believe that with the gas as high as it is you have to drill in the Arctic" ("Special Report," FNC, 6/17).
MN Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R), asked if he agrees with McCain that it would be a mistake to drill in ANWR: "Well, I support Senator McCain. His view on ANWAR is we shouldn't drill there because it's a refuge. I think with the advance of technology, that may change, at least in my view, in terms of how you might access that in the future. But his view clearly is we should not and he does not support drilling in ANWAR" ("Situation Room," CNN, 6/17).
YOU GOT FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT...
There was also reaction to Obama calling for civilian trials for captured terrorists.
Karl Rove: "Let's give them Miranda rights while we're at it. ... These people are foreign terrorists. And the mindset that Senator Obama laid out in that quote is enormously dangerous. He's actually wrong. We did not get everybody responsible for the 1993 attack from the World Trade Center. Osama bin Laden is sitting in a cave in Pakistan. He was behind that attack" ("O'Reilly Factor," FNC, 6/17).
CNBC's Harwood: "What Barack Obama can try to do ... is neutralize the issue. This, ultimately, gets down to a matter of voters' gut instinct for this. In the McCain campaign, you have both his own personal track record and the partisan advantage combined" ("Race for the WH," MSNBC, 6/17).
Washington Examiner's Sammon: "This was a big issue in 2004, a question of whether to prosecute militarily or through civilian courts. Bush won then. McCain is hoping this is a big issue again this year. ... I think he'll jump all over this one. I can see him standing up and saying 'My opponent wants to let Osama bin Laden go to the Supreme Court. I think he should be in a military tribunal'" ("Special Report," FNC, 6/17).
DO LOOK BACK IN ANGER
And Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) was on "Hannity & Colmes" last night to talk about the investigation he is seeking with regard to whether Sens. Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Kent Conrad (D-ND) received any preferential treatment on mortgages from Countrywide Financial.
Hensarling: "Millions of Americans are struggling to pay their mortgages. They have a right to know whether members of Congress receive sweetheart deals in order to pay for theirs. I mean, it's really quite that simple. And now, tomorrow, the Senate is going to vote on what could be a $300 billion bailout bill for the largest mortgage lenders in America. And you want to know what did the sweetheart deals have to do with that legislation that could cost people millions of dollars and increase their taxes?"
More: "What we know is mainly from news reports, and it's one of the reasons that I've called for an investigation and congressional hearings. But what we appear to know is that the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee knew he was on a VIP list. And I don't know if he doesn't know what the 'I' in VIP means."
Hensarling, on Speaker Nancy Pelosi: "The speaker, who said we'd have an open and honest Congress, why hasn't she called for this investigation? ... Is it because nine of the ten people are Democrats?" (FNC, 6/17).
Meanwhile, CNN's Brown spoke with Conrad.
Brown: "Senator, I think what a lot of people are struggling with is that, as a powerful U.S. senator, when the CEO of the largest mortgage lender in the country offers to help you out, doesn't a bell go off somewhere? Doesn't that raise a red flag for you?"
Conrad: "You know, perhaps it should have in retrospect. You know, the way things look in hindsight, absolutely, it should have. Let me just say, from my perspective, when I knew I needed a mortgage, I called a friend of 48 years who knew more about mortgages than anybody else I knew. And he said, you know, I'm sitting with somebody right now that you could talk to. And he hands the phone to this gentleman, who I had never heard of before, never met, haven't talked to since or met since. And he said, just call somebody at this number, and they will work with you on a loan."
More Conrad: "And I should emphasize, I didn't just talk to them. I also talked to another mortgage broker, because I didn't know if Countrywide would provide me a loan or on what terms they would provide me a loan. And now the other mortgage broker I talked to at the time has just found his file, and just in formed me that they offered me the same rate that Countrywide did. ... I didn't expect, never knew I was getting special treatment, didn't want special treatment" ("Election Center," 6/17).
GOP is a party largely based on shilling for the oil companies.
This is WHY we are in the crisis we are in.
Anyone who believes what they say is good for America is incredibly naive and foolhardy.
We need clean American sustainable energy, energy conservation in our cars and homes, remove tax breaks for oil multinationals, close the Enron Loophole, investigate price scamming by OPEC...
Allowing the oil multinationals -- who will take this oil/gas and SELL IT TO CHINA AND JAPAN -- to drill off of our coasts is literally the WORST thing we can do at this point in time.
As I have said. The reason we are IN this crisis is because the GOP -- George W. Bush, Dick Cheney -- have been PLAYING THE MARKET.
We fix the GOP scam and take the measures I mentioned above and there WOULD BE NO OIL CRISIS!!! Period!
Why is McCain is so confused? He was against offshore oil drilling, now he is for it.
McCain = Big Oil
McCain = Flipflopper
Hey McSame - it's one thing to be against offshore oil drilling when we could buy oil for $20 per barrel. Now we can't buy it for under $130. Facts change. However, if the libs of the world know so much about "big oil", why don't you guys start your own "big oil" company and use your resources to sell gas and oil products to the consumer at a price lower than the evil "big oil" companies you seem to hate so much?
"Allowing the oil multinationals -- who will take this oil/gas and SELL IT TO CHINA AND JAPAN -- to drill off of our coasts is literally the WORST thing we can do at this point in time. "
Well Gilligan - China has just entered into agreement with Cuba to do exactly that. So within a year, they will be drilling off the coast of Florida and thanks to the Dems, we won't.
Well.. you talk like its a republican thing. It all started with Kennedy. Taking away the Silver Standard in Money. A true Silver Dollar is worth about $18.50 in silver. It will buy 4.5 gallons of gas. One paper dollar today will buy maybe a quart of gas? Gas and groceries have not increased since the great depression. Its our dollar that is now worthless. If we were still on the Silver standard gas would cost about 28 to 30 cents a gallon.
Then we had the energy crisis when Carter was in office. You would think we would have learned by that experience.
As far as drilling. It might be or might not be the answer. But.. I don't understand how Canada gets by stealing national park land for drilling, how they can mine for coal, natural gas. With the stuff Canada is doing you would think the tree huggers would be rioting in the streets. And people wonder how Canadian looney is worth more than our dollar. Unfortunately Canada pays off and funds tree hugger organizations.
Now Cuba and China are going to drill in the Gulf Of Mexico.. We are suppose to WATCH that happen? Mexico is drilling and their currency is taking off.
So this country is suppose to become a third world country all in the name of Global Warming which can't be proved. I had to already pay extra money for insurance because Al Gore said 20 years ago my house would fall into the Ocean by the year 2000. So where are the record number of hurricanes? Why is this year one of the coldest years on record in the northern hemisphere? Why have the polar ice caps in the southern hemisphere at record levels? I'm sorry I don't buy this global warming crap. Al Gore can wine all he wants and continue to use 15 times more electrictiy than the average home. But he buys carbon credits so I guess that mwkes it right. Meanwhile George Bush's Texas Ranch home is a model "green" home. It is 85% energy efficient with many alternative energy sources and reusable water. Gore should talk the talk and walk the walk. I think if you are against drilling you are in the minority. The online petition will have over a million signatures by tomorrow morning.
Well.. you talk like its a republican thing. It all started with Kennedy. Taking away the Silver Standard in Money. A true Silver Dollar is worth about $18.50 in silver. It will buy 4.5 gallons of gas. One paper dollar today will buy maybe a quart of gas? Gas and groceries have not increased since the great depression. Its our dollar that is now worthless. If we were still on the Silver standard gas would cost about 28 to 30 cents a gallon.
Then we had the energy crisis when Carter was in office. You would think we would have learned by that experience.
As far as drilling. It might be or might not be the answer. But.. I don't understand how Canada gets by stealing national park land for drilling, how they can mine for coal, natural gas. With the stuff Canada is doing you would think the tree huggers would be rioting in the streets. And people wonder how Canadian looney is worth more than our dollar. Unfortunately Canada pays off and funds tree hugger organizations.
Now Cuba and China are going to drill in the Gulf Of Mexico.. We are suppose to WATCH that happen? Mexico is drilling and their currency is taking off.
So this country is suppose to become a third world country all in the name of Global Warming which can't be proved. I had to already pay extra money for insurance because Al Gore said 20 years ago my house would fall into the Ocean by the year 2000. So where are the record number of hurricanes? Why is this year one of the coldest years on record in the northern hemisphere? Why have the polar ice caps in the southern hemisphere at record levels? I'm sorry I don't buy this global warming crap. Al Gore can wine all he wants and continue to use 15 times more electrictiy than the average home. But he buys carbon credits so I guess that mwkes it right. Meanwhile George Bush's Texas Ranch home is a model "green" home. It is 85% energy efficient with many alternative energy sources and reusable water. Gore should talk the talk and walk the walk. I think if you are against drilling you are in the minority. The online petition will have over a million signatures by tomorrow morning.
>>>Well Gilligan - China has just entered into agreement with Cuba to do exactly that. So within a year, they will be drilling off the coast of Florida and thanks to the Dems, we won't.
What happened, VoiceofReason.... Didn't you get the memo?
Even Dick Cheney admitted he was wrong about that. DICK CHENEY!
Google these two McClatchy articles:
"Cheney admits error, this one about Chinese oil drilling"
"GOP claim about Chinese oil drilling off Cuba is untrue"
from the first article:
"Any talk of using some fabricated Cuba-China connection as an argument to change U.S. policy has no merit," said Martinez, who opposes drilling off Florida's coast.
That is Senator Mel Martinez. REPUBLICAN from FL...
Way to push week's old fake news! Heckuva job, Voicy.