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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Alighieri who wrote (627202)	9/7/2011 11:47:11 AM
From: tejek	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 1583867

This isn't done...........racist SOBs. Several Republicans to boycott POTUS jobs speech For quite a while, congressional Republicans have been demanding more from the White House on the economy. But now that President Obama is poised to deliver a speech to a joint session, some of those same GOP lawmakers have decided they’re not even willing to listen. Rep. Paul Broun, who made headlines when he skipped the State of the Union address in January but tweeted about it, is planning a repeat performance Thursday. President Barack Obama will talk about job creation before a joint session of Congress at 7 p.m., but Broun and several other Members won’t be part of the audience sitting in the House chamber, whether for political or personal reasons. […] Rep. Joe Walsh announced last week that he would host a small-business jobs forum in his Illinois district instead of attending the speech. According to a news release from the Republican’s office, he will fly to his district after votes are finished Thursday to talk to “the real job creators about creating real jobs.” In fairness, it appears that the number of Republicans who intend to boycott the economic speech is rather small. But under the circumstances, the notion of elected lawmakers boycotting the address at all seems pretty ridiculous. Also note, it’s not just the House — Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) told ABC yesterday he’s “so frustrated” that he’ll probably stay away from the event, too. In case this isn’t obvious, there is an expectation on all members to attend joint-session speeches. It’s not just out of recognition of the issue at hand — in this case, the importance of the economy — but it’s also a way of acknowledging respect for the presidency itself. Given the Republican campaign to delegitimize President Obama, I suppose the boycotts shouldn’t come as too big a surprise. But the larger point for the public remains straightforward: the White House continues to try to work in good faith on the issues that matter most, only to find some Republicans in Congress who literally aren’t willing to hear the president out. Postscript: Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R) may also not attend, but not for political reasons — his mother has fallen ill after suffering a series of recent strokes.

To: Alighieri who wrote (627202)	9/7/2011 12:28:12 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1583867

Yes, oil production is booming under Obama. No, it hasn’t lowered gas prices By Brad Plumer Remember Michele Bachmann’s critique of President Obama’s energy policy? “We have resources from coal to oil to natural gas,” she said. “The problem is, under the EPA, they’ve been busy locking up (supplies), especially under President Obama.” Now, the Interior Department controls oil and gas leases, not the EPA, but never mind. Obama, the argument goes, is preventing us from harnessing our vast oil supplies. But is this actually true? Not according to the chart on the right, courtesy of the Wall Street Journal. The number of rigs in the United States has been soaring during the Obama years. Oil drilling is up nearly 60 percent in the past year alone. True, Obama administration actions aren’t really responsible for the frenzy. As the Journal notes, the main contributing factors are better drilling technology and high crude prices, both of which make it possible — and profitable — for companies to tap new reserves in North Dakota, Texas, Ohio and elsewhere. Bottom-scraping natural gas prices have also prodded energy companies to shift their focus to oil. But in any case, Obama doesn’t appear to have thwarted the boom in oil production. Over at Climate Progress, Joe Romm puts together his own chart, using data from the Energy Information Administration, showing that U.S. field production of crude oil is up significantly since 2008. As a result, oil imports have shrunk 11 percent in the past year. The United States is becoming more energy independent. But here’s the kicker — gas prices are still significantly higher this year than they were in 2010. It’s almost as if additional U.S. oil production is too small in the global scheme of things to affect prices at the pump in any sizeable way. (Though one could argue that extra production is keeping oil prices from going even higher than they otherwise would.) In any case, that’s all context for Bachmann’s promise that she can ratchet gas prices down below $2 per gallon by cranking up domestic production. This boost is already happening under the Obama administration, and gas prices aren’t exactly flying downwards. By Brad Plumer \| 04:45 PM ET, 08/31/2011 washingtonpost.com