Obama’s War on Energy

This past weekend, I talked about President Obama’s continuing war on domestic
energy. If you don’t believe there is such a war, then please read below.

Last week, President Obama’s Interior Secretary, Ken Salazar, told the National
Press Club that "no one has the ability, not even Harry Potter, to simply wave a
magic wand and say that we’re going to have gas prices at $2.00 or $2.50 or $3.00.
It doesn’t work that way." Salazar was right about "waving a wand" to change gas
prices. Oil and gasoline are global commodities with millions upon millions of
market participants, so no one person, company, or government can set prices.
However, Salazar was obscuring the fact that the United States government,
regulating the largest economy, and sitting on top of some of the largest oil and
gas reserves in the world, does — through its actions or non-actions — have a huge
impact over time on energy markets. These actions or non-actions are a huge policy
club, and Secretary Salazar is already on-record saying he would like to see
gasoline prices at $9.00 per gallon.

So, do you believe that the Obama Administration is trying to restrict the supply of
American produced oil and gas and raise prices over time? Well, for a clear window
into how the Obama Administration is using its policy club, all you had to do this
past week was listen to the words of District 6 EPA administrator Al Armendariz on
how the Obama EPA enforces regulations. District 6 is the most important oil and gas
producing region in the United States, including Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and
Arkansas. Armendariz, Obama’s chief EPA regulator for this critical region, said
that his "philosophy of enforcement," is "like how the Roman’s used to conquer
villages in the Mediterranean. They’d go into a little Turkish town somewhere, and
they’d find the first five guys they saw and they would crucify them. And then, you
know, that town was really easy to manage for the next few years. " That’s right;
Armendariz equated his enforcement of EPA regulations with how the Roman
Empire randomly crucified people in order to intimate and control conquered peoples.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney (President Obama’s Minister of Propaganda)
tried to back away from the comments, saying that Armendariz had chosen
inappropriate words. But, the fact is, Armendariz was caught telling the truth.
Here are some examples of how the Obama Administration is using its big policy stick
to curtail American energy production and raise prices on all of us. Among other
actions, The Obama Administration has done the following: 1) imposed new regulations
on U.S. based oil refineries, forcing five refineries in the North East that produce
gasoline to close in recent months, with three more refineries near closing; 2)
reduced drilling permits on public lands by 30%; 3) refused to issue new drilling
permits in the Gulf of Mexico even after a judge ordered Secretary of the Interior
Ken Salazar to do so; 4) withheld critical permits that would have allowed Shell to
access 27 billion barrels of oil in Northern Alaska, keeping the Trans-Alaska
pipeline
flowing at good capacity (environmental extremists inside and outside the Obama
White House want to reduce the amount of oil coming from Alaska, forcing a shut down
of the Trans-Alaska pipeline); 5) rejected construction of the Keystone XL oil
pipeline that would have transported one million barrels per day of Canadian and
American oil at low cost to Texas refineries, and created 20,000 immediate
construction jobs, with thousands of additional spin-off jobs in the future; 6)
imposed regulations that will close at least 32 coal-fired power plants (with 36
additional plants at risk of closing) and take at least 8% of all current U.S.
generating capacity off line; 7) imposed questionable new "air pollution"
restrictions on deep horizontal drilling and hydrofracking in an effort to slow down
private development of new oil and gas finds in the Barnett and Marcellus Shale
regions; and accused Range Resources and other drilling companies of contaminating
ground water near deep
drilling sites. Unfortunately, I could go on, but you get the picture. The "pie
in the sky" Obama Administration simply must go!

Shawn Tully, economist and editor at large for Fortune Magazine joined me on air
with his take on the recent economic numbers. Shawn talked about the housing market,
the disappointing 2.2% GDP growth for the first quarter of 2012, and the recent
increase in initial jobless claims. The bottom line is this economic "recovery" is
disappointing. Consumers cannot continue to drive growth until their incomes begin
to rise. Their incomes can’t rise substantially until American businesses are
confident about the economic future. And with EPA administrators talking about
"crucifying" American businesses, with President Obama constantly promising to raise
taxes on productive Americans (individuals, small businesses, and large businesses),
and with the huge personal and business expenses of Obamacare still on the books,
it’s easy to see why employers are reluctant to hire new employees and expand the
economy. The risks and uncertainties are simply too great for most businesses.

No matter where you look, the evidence is clear. If you want a strong, growing
America that can provide economic opportunities for all Americans and lead the world
towards a positive future, then you must join with me and many others in defeating
Barack Obama at the polls in November. We cannot risk another four years.

Have great week!

Proudly sponsored by DICK’S Sporting Goods
(http://m1e.net/c?82673202-E0kuuh6fIw/1I%407476038-PDG2Pxile0rkA Range Resources
(http://m1e.net/c?82673202-lJMsk7V7m7a6Y%407476039-0t8V7RniuyUqs and Fragasso
Financial Advisors
(http://m1e.net/c?82673202-1K7MiMWXafWjM%407476040-NNvKtQDQDM80%2e

Tune in each Saturday or Sunday (go to
http://m1e.net/c?82673202-CAfBVCSF8mq9E%407476041-NRWbVXJtM1Yow for stations and
times), or listen any time at
http://m1e.net/c?82673202-rUQCfrjTh74aQ%407476042-KzhdC.dTYlHbE And if you enjoy the
show and these updates, reply and let us know, and please forward them to your
friends!