FatherGarage.com

CHICAGO – Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi may not yet be a Republican presidential candidate, but his travel itinerary suggests that may be simply a formality, as he visited President Obama’s hometown on Monday before flying to Iowa to begin testing themes of a probable campaign.

In a luncheon speech to the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Barbour delivered a sweeping indictment of the president’s economic and energy policies, saying that expanding the size of government would not lead to the creation of more jobs in the United States.

“Let’s look at their record,” he said. “In the last two years, the federal government spent $7 trillion and our economy lost seven million jobs. I guess we ought to be glad they didn’t spend $12 trillion. We might have lost 12 million jobs.”

Mr. Barbour is among the wide field of Republicans who are considering entering the fight for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. He has said that he intends to make a decision after the Mississippi legislative session ends next month.

In a 30-minute address to business leaders, Mr. Barbour offered a preview to the message of his potential candidacy, with a heavy emphasis on traditional Republican themes of economic growth, job creation and increasing oil production through expanding drilling. He delivered more criticism than specific policy proposals.

“In fairness, the Obama administration arrived in office facing some of the worst economic conditions in decades,” Mr. Barbour said. “But for more than two years, this administration and its Congress has pursued policy after policy that created economic uncertainty or directly hurt the economy.”

As the country’s energy policy takes on heightened importance with the turmoil in the Middle East and the nuclear disaster in the wake of the earthquake in Japan, he said: “The Obama energy policy basically boils down to this: increase the price of energy so Americans will use less of it. That’s an environmental policy, not an energy policy.”

He stopped well short of declaring his intentions. In a question following the speech, a man in the audience asked if Mr. Barbour was ready to announce his presidential bid.

“No,” Mr. Barbour said, not pausing for even a moment. As laughter broke out in the room, he added: “That was easy.”

View the original article here

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Doug Mills/The New York Times President Obama began his remarks on Friday by offering the condolences of the American people to Japan.

1:37 p.m. | Updated President Obama on Friday rejected criticism from Republicans that his administration was blocking domestic oil production and said his government was prepared to encourage new drilling in the face of rising gas prices.

“Any notion that my administration has shut down oil production might make for a good political slogan, but it doesn’t match up with reality,” Mr. Obama said during a wide-ranging news conference in which he also addressed the earthquake in Japan and the uprisings in the Middle East.

Republicans in Congress said this week that the White House was responsible for the rising price of gasoline. Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio on Thursday proposed new efforts to expand domestic oil production.

“The Obama administration has consistently blocked American energy production that would lower costs and create jobs in our country,” Mr. Boehner said on Thursday.

In his news conference, Mr. Obama said his administration was moving to encourage more drilling on land and offshore. But he stressed the need for new investment in clean energies that would help the country wean itself of its dependence on foreign oil.

“Every few years, gas prices go up, politicians pull out the same political playbook and nothing changes,” Mr. Obama said. “I think the American people are tired of talk. We’ve got to work together, Democrats, Republicans and everybody in between.”

Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg News Speaker John A. Boehner said that Congressional Republicans would introduce several energy bills to encourage domestic oil production.

Asked about the budget negotiations on Capitol Hill, Mr. Obama said it would be “irresponsible” for Congress to continually try to operate the government by a series of two-week budget extensions.

But he conceded that the negotiations were not likely to succeed by the end of next week, which would force at least one more extension. He said Democrats and Republicans must find a way to reach a compromise between the cuts that both sides have already proposed.

“Both sides are going to have to sit down and compromise on prudent cuts,” Mr. Obama said.

On the continuing violence in Libya, the president said he had not taken any options off the table as the government and its allies sought ways to force the Libyan leader out of the country.

But he pushed back against criticism that the United States was being too timid in its handling of the crisis Some have criticized the administration for failing to move quickly in imposing a no-flight zone above Libya.

“Now I do take very seriously making sure that any decisions I make involving American military power are well thought through,” Mr. Obama said.

Mr. Obama reiterated his belief that America could not stand by if a large-scale slaughter of civilians took place in Libya. And he said the United States and its allies were monitoring the situation to see if that occured.

But he added that “obviously we are going to have to look at what develops on the ground on a case-by-case basis.”

Mr. Obama acknowledged that the situation in Libya and the other events in the Middle East and North Africa over the past several weeks had caused uncertainty in the oil markets.

“Should the situation demand it, we are prepared to tap the significant stockpile that we have in the strategic petroleum reserve,” Mr. Obama said.

But he declined to specify what price gas would have to hit before the government would tap the reserves and release that oil into the market. He said such a release would require a significant disruption in the flow of oil similar to the oil crisis of the 1970s or Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

“If we see significant disruptions or shifts in the market that are so disconcerting to people that we think a strategic petroleum release would be appropriate, then we will take that step,” Mr. Obama said.

Mr. Obama described himself as “heartbroken” by the devastation in Japan caused by the earthquake and tsunami there.

“When you see what’s happening in Japan, you are reminded that for all our differences in language or culture or religion, that humanity is one,” he said. “You think about your own family and you think about how you would feel if you lost a loved one.”

But he said he was confident that Japan would be able to rebuild, and he pledged the United States help in the coming days, largely by bringing heavy equipment to the affected areas.

View the original article here

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Is “drill, baby, drill” about to make a comeback?

With gas prices soaring, Congressional Republicans are clamoring for more domestic energy production, echoing the theme of an impromptu 2008 protest when Republicans occupied the floor of the House during the summer recess to demand that Congress lift a ban on drilling off of much of the nation’s coastline.

At a press conference on Thursday, Speaker John A. Boehner said Republicans were moving ahead with an umbrella initiative that would seek to spur more domestic energy production and end federal policies he said were contributing to rising gas costs.

“Through the American Energy Initiative, we will work to help lower gas prices, reduce our dependence on foreign oil and create new jobs,” Mr. Boehner said.

At the same time, the political arm of House Republicans has begun attacking Congressional Democrats for not taking action to deal with escalating gas prices that can have a significant impact on the pocketbook of many American families.

Democrats fired back that Republicans were doing the bidding of oil companies and that the policy proposals would do little to help consumers. And they note that Republican budget plans would cut support for new alternative energy and efficiency programs.

“Does Speaker Boehner realize that domestic oil production last year was at the highest level since 2003 – higher than during most of the Bush administration?” Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the Democratic leader, said in a statement. “The G.O.P. drill-only energy plan embraces the failed policies of the past and does nothing to reduce the pain at the pump American consumers and business are facing now.”

The increase in oil prices has led to the most significant sparring over oil drilling since last year’s disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The BP blowout had quieted the debate temporarily even though Republicans did not back away from their push to open up more of the coast for drilling.

Republicans seem ready to go back on the offensive. But the volatile nature of gas prices can make for tricky politics since a drop in prices can sap the power from the message while another spill could create a backlash. The “drill, baby, drill” efforts of Republicans in 2008 didn’t pay off as Democrats gained seats in Congress.

View the original article here

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

President Obama plans a news conference Friday morning to discuss rising energy prices.

Stocks worldwide were sharply lower Thursday because of worries about the crude oil supply combined with downbeat economic reports from three continents.

Oil prices were down $1.68, to $102.70, well below their recent highs on Monday. But the markets remained volatile with reports that hat Saudi forces had opened fire on protesters and of escalating violence in Libya, particularly around the strategic refinery town of Ras Lanuf.

In Congress on Thursday, Republican and Democratic leaders sparred over whether the United States should increase its drilling for oil to bolster energy supplies.

The White House announcement said the president would speak to the press in the South Court Auditorium, but did not give an exact time.

View the original article here

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Senator Rand Paul’s toilets don’t work, and he blames the Department of Energy.

At a hearing of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on Thursday, Mr. Paul lambasted Kathleen Hogan, deputy assistant secretary for energy efficiency at the Energy Department, telling her that the department’s “hypocrisy” and “busybody nature” has “restricted choices” for consumers rather than made life better for them.

“You don’t care about the consumer really,” Mr. Paul said. “Frankly, my toilets don’t work in my house, and I blame you.”

The hearing was called not to examine toilet policy, but to consider two proposed bills, one that would update energy efficiency standards for appliances and a second that would repeal a measure passed in 2007 to phase in new efficiency standards for light bulbs beginning next year.

The new standards would make the current form of 100-watt incandescent bulbs obsolete. Those bulbs have long been known to be particularly inefficient, emitting far more heat than light.

Conservatives have taken up the cause of the incandescent light bulb, saying the government is trying to dictate to Americans what kind of light bulbs they can use in their homes. In the Senate, Mike Enzi, a Wyoming Republican, has proposed a bill to repeal the light bulb standards that is co-sponsored by at least 22 other senators, including Mr. Paul. The bill, the Better Use of Light Bulbs Act (or the BULB Act — get it?), is Senate Bill 395.

Two bills are on the books in the House of Representatives. One, H.R. 91, is identical to the BULBS Act in the Senate and is sponsored by Representative Joe Barton, Republican of Texas, and 12 others. A second, H.R. 849, is sponsored by Representative Michele Bachmann, Republican of Minnesota, who introduced a similar bill two years ago and who mentioned the looming bulb restrictions in her Tea Party response to President Obama’s State of the Union speech in January. That bill is co-sponsored by four other House members, including Representative Ron Paul, the father of Senator Paul.

While many Republicans have taken up the cause of the familiar 100-watt incandescent bulb, Mr. Paul said he took the law as a personal affront visited on Americans by “bureaucrats.”

“I’m not against conservation,” Mr. Paul said. “But why not do it in a voluntary way,” rather than force him to adopt the new bulbs with “fines and threats of jail?”

Mr. Paul also drew a pointed parallel with abortion, opening his questioning by asking Ms. Hogan, “I was wondering if you are pro-choice?”

Ms. Hogan said she was “pro-choice in light bulbs.” But Mr. Paul accused her, the Energy Department and Democrats in general of hypocrisy. “You favor a woman’s right to abortion,” he said, but “you’re really anti-choice on every other product.”

He said that department standards on energy-efficient refrigerators and toilets, for example, do not work. “We don’t even save any money,” Mr. Paul said. “We have to flush the toilet 10 times before it works.”

Mr. Paul started to leave the hearing room shortly after his turn at questioning the witness, but he was called back into the room by Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Democrat of New Hampshire, who scolded Mr. Paul for being rude to Ms. Hogan.

“I think it behooves us all not to engage in name calling,” Ms. Shaheen said. Government workers like Ms. Hogan are simply trying “to carry out the work Congress has asked them to do,” and Congress can change the law if it wants, Ms. Shaheen said.

Ms. Hogan herself had a kind word for Mr. Paul: “I can help you find a toilet that works.”

View the original article here

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

The tax cut deal between the White House and Congressional Republicans could hinge on a renewable energy grant program that some Democrats are fighting to include in the package.

The White House and Republican leaders have suggested that the deal is essentially final and that they have little willingness to renegotiate the terms.

But many Congressional Democrats are furious both about the prospect of continuing the Bush-era tax cuts, even on the highest incomes, and about the way they were cut out of the negotiations. House Democrats on Thursday voted to block the bill from getting a vote unless changes were made.

One change that Democrats are seeking is the extension of a Treasury grant program for renewable energy projects, which was first adopted in the 2009 economic stimulus bill. Supporters say the program has generated big growth in American clean energy industries. The program is set to expire on Dec. 31.

Three Democrats, Representatives Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, Mike Thompson of Califorina and Rush Holt of New Jersey, have scheduled a news conference on Thursday afternoon to push for the energy grant program.

They will also send a letter to House leaders, signed by 79 lawmakers who support this program.

View the original article here

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.