President Obama is on the wrong side of an important issue – and he knows it. With gas prices approaching historic highs (they’ve doubled since he took office), his actions have only made things worse.
First he appointed Steven Chu to be our Secretary of Energy, despite the fact that Chu had said it was his goal to “boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe.” Then he slapped a moratorium on drilling in the Gulf and refused to expand drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf and in ANWR (in Alaska.) And the icing on the cake – he refused to let the Keystone pipeline from Canada be built. As a result his pollsters are telling him that more and more Americans now hold him responsible for high gas prices.
What to do? Make it look like you’re FOR the pipeline, even though you’re not.
So Obama goes to Cushing, Oklahoma last week. He does a photo-op in front of a bunch of oil pipes, saying he’s for this PIECE of the Keystone pipeline. Trouble is, it’s only 100 miles of the 1,700 mile Canada-to-the-Gulf of Mexico pipeline. He and his advisors hope they can muddy the waters enough about the President’s position on the pipeline that he can escape responsibility for blocking it. Pretty cynical I’d say.
Here’s a sampling of some of the commentary on the President’s recent actions on Keystone.
Investors Business Daily: “The President stages a photo-op for the portion of the Keystone XL pipeline that doesn’t need his approval, and for oil production on private and state land beyond his jurisdiction… voters wonder why we’re sitting on a 200-year supply of oil as prices spike above $4 a gallon and head toward the European levels desired by Energy Secretary Steven Chu. Hence the photo-op in front of an oil complex where Obama will claim he is doing a lot, while he is really doing nothing.”
Speaker John Boehner: “The President now says he supports the Republican ‘all of the above’ energy strategy for our country. But for three years his Administration has made every effort to block, delay, and restrict new energy production in our own country.”
Oklahoma Congressman John Sullivan: “It’s very much like what Al Gore did; claimed he invented the Internet – he didn’t. It’s a con-job, a mere photo-op.”
The President may think he can get away with this deception, but I don’t think so. So many Americans are getting hit so hard at the pump every week, that they’re demanding answers. They’re tired of excuses. They’re tired of gas prices being boosted to European levels.
The American people are fed-up – and rightfully so.