Obama backs some drilling, tapping oil stockpile

Tuesday 05th August, 06:49 AM JST

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sailwind at 09:53 PM JST - 5th August

Breaking our oil addiction is one of the greatest challenges our generation will ever face,” the Illinois Democrat told a supportive audience as he embarked on a week to focus on energy issues. “It will take nothing less than a complete transformation of our economy,” he said.

That is the kinda change I can get behind. Huckabee was also all over this by the way.
presto345 at 10:02 PM JST - 5th August

Both Obama and McCain are changing their tunes according to what the polls predict about the opinion of the voters. Leave it to the latter to determine the outcome of the race. The earth is doomed anyway.
SushiSake3 at 10:08 PM JST - 5th August

Sail, I remember a good few months ago you posted a line or two from one of Huckabee's speeches where he said something along the lines of America's oil addiction is fueling terrorism and that getting off both should be a major priroity.

Bang on, in my book.

Ditto for Obama.
some14some at 10:18 PM JST - 5th August

perhaps that it the reason there is steep decline in Oil prices?
SezWho2 at 10:44 PM JST - 5th August

skipthesong,

Blind devotion to Obama is no better than blind devotion to McCain.

I disagree with you that Obama is equivalent to a 70s rock star. Obama has had a rather remarkable career and has succeeded well in almost everything he has done--whether that be becoming president of the Harvard Law Review, his service in the Illinois legislature, his success in being elected to the US Senate, his ascendancy into a position of respect in the Senate and so on. This does not happen because one is a rock star. Obama has had many opportunities to show personal and political incompetence and he has not done that. In fact, he has done the opposite of that.

I think it would be unwise to treat him as the second coming of Christ, but that is the label that McCain is trying to hang on him. I have no doubt that many people adulate Obama because he seems to offer something new and different and that many may think he can do no wrong. However, I think it is the case that those are relatively few in number and that what you see is a large number of people who will leap to Obama's defense simply because they have had enough of the Rovian character assassination that typified the last campaign.
sailwind at 11:00 PM JST - 5th August

However, I think it is the case that those are relatively few in number and that what you see is a large number of people who will leap to Obama's defense simply because they have had enough of the Rovian character assassination that typified the last campaign.

Lame.........Clinton 'triangulated' politics with wedge issues long before Satan Rove came along. Rove learned from Carville and company let's give this garbage a rest finally.
SezWho2 at 01:07 AM JST - 6th August

sailwind,

Clinton has nothing to do with this. Triangulating politics with wedge issues is one thing. Triangulation does not involve character assassination. Arranging for the swiftboating of candidates is another. It is "corrupting" politics with non-issues.
RomeoRamenII at 01:36 AM JST - 6th August

Obama has had a rather remarkable career

Yep, and cashing in on being half black every step of the way.

president of the Harvard Law Review - where he never published one paper during his tenure (a requirement for holding that position in case you didn't know) but was given a free ride because he was a product of Affirmative Action;

his service in the Illinois legislature - "elected" not because he was the best man for the job; he was the only man for the job. He and his team back in the 1990s found technicalities in each of the candidates running against him to get them all disqualified;

his success in being elected to the US Senate - where he spent all of 143 day as a Senator - and voted "present" 137 times during that period - before he thought he was deserving of a promotion to Leader of the Free World.

Your boy, obama, is now being caught out. Opinion polls are now showing that he being seen in a less favorable light than bfore his ego trip to Europe. Wonder why is that?

He burned his bridge with the blue collar guns and Bible clinging portion of voters. Now, he's dissing the far-left wing of the democrat party; the ones who originally selected him as "The One". Notice how lately he's been tearing pages out of President Bush's policy book and trying to claim them as his own.

Go to DU and see what they are saying about the empty suit. They are mad was hornets because the guy they supported through the primaries is now throwing them under the obama bus on a number of issues they hold dear.

A poster on another thread the other day accurately pointed out that to the dems, obama is good enough for them this time around not because he's electable but because voters would reject a President Bush-clinton-President Bush-clinton monopoly on the U.S. executive branch of government.

RR
Madverts at 01:42 AM JST - 6th August

Panic...heh...PANIC
sdmsec at 02:23 AM JST - 6th August

Oil addiction

Apparently, oil has continued to be the easiest and/or cheapest means of meeting our energy needs. When someone invents a better mousetrap (cheaper, simpler, etc) I and other consumers the world around will jump on board.

I'll agree that the U.S. government has "intervened" and therefore the energy market isn't trully "free". For example, the government has restricted nuclear power, denied construction of new refineries, etc.

As I believe much of the energy problems today are based on Washington interference I wish Obama and McCain would both adopt the following as their energy policy: hands off.
RomeoRamenII at 03:50 AM JST - 6th August

yep, verts, you are correct. The liberals are panicing. They're watching their idol slip in opinion polls daily and shift his policy stances that more more align themselves with President Bush as democrat Lemming Day draws closer. Heh, their heads are exploding. You can read the fear in their posts.

RR
SezWho2 at 08:17 AM JST - 6th August

RomeoRamenII,

You're fairly strong on claim and fairly weak on evidence. Can you provide citations for your assertions?

Regardless how Obama came to Harvard he graduated magna cum laude and that does not happen by affirmative action. I cannot find any requirement that the President of the Review publish within it.

The "technicality" that you mention regarding Obama's first Illinois Senate campaign was the validity of the signatures on the petitions for inclusion on the ballot. I can only presume that you would be in favor of incumbents retaining their seats by flooding the ballot with a dizzying array of choices.

As for voting present, he may have done so and access to your statistical data base would be fascinating. However, he cast 117 more votes than McCain did so, while McCain's strategy was to stay away rather than showing up, Obama's strategy was to abstain.

Blind hatred is no better than blind devotion. It's worse in my opinion. And you can see how much it distracts us from the real issue here, which is: offshore drilling--good thing or bad? Or possibly: Obama's change of heart--wishy-washy flip flop or political concession?
helloklitty at 08:33 AM JST - 6th August

Obama says he'd like to steal some money from oil companies and use it to write every family an energy rebate check America a check for $1,000.

This is the infamous "windfall profits tax," popularized (and proved worthless and destructive) by Jimmy Carter. Obama said nothing of what a windfall profit might be.

SezWho2: Regardless how Obama came to Harvard he graduated magna cum laude and that does not happen by affirmative action.

It happens by just showing up for class according to The Times:

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=402674&encCode=5963447391BC23737875JTBS737226611

The Boston Globe's expose of grade inflation at Harvard has left little doubt that it is a semi-rigged competition, another subsidised risk. The formal scale runs from A to F. The tacit scale runs from A to B. I learnt the latter from students and supervisors, but especially from colleagues, few of whom wish to carry the opprobrium of the low end. This is as it may be. But the presence of two standards of value, one official and one tacit, is always a sign of corruption: the one necessarily dishonours the other. It also abridges the academic freedom of the teacher. Although I never gave a final grade below B minus, I can attest to the petty harassment that teachers attract in such cases.
adaydream at 02:19 PM JST - 6th August

Yes, the Liberals are a bit worried.

If John McCain actually got elected, this country will get screwed for the rich.

Flip Flop John McCain who has proven to flip the flop as well as the next guy.

But this george bush follower will continue the screwing that we've received the last 7 1/2 years.

Has either candidate mentioned the infracstructure that this country needs to transport the electrical energy needed in this country?

But let's just adopt the plan the republicans are screaming about so loudly, hell guys, why didn't they pass off shore drilling during the first 4 years when they were scampering to get into Iraq instead of taking care of the American people? < :-)
SezWho2 at 06:04 PM JST - 6th August

helloklitty,

I think graduating magna is a little more taxing than just showing up. Basically you have to be in the top 10% of your class excluding the handful of summa grads.

http://www.law.harvard.edu/ocs/employers/HLSGradingSystem.htm

Or maybe that's just a lot of people not bothering to show up for class?