Hey, face the facts.

Obama got away with doing NOTHING about the gas tax holliday on Clinton and Mc Cain.

He got to bash their plan (and rightly so) but he offered NOTHING in reply.

So why doesnt he think he can get away with it again with drilling?

YOU DONT THINK THE CORRUPT MEDIA IS ACTUALLY GOING TO CALL OBAMA ON DOING NOTHING AT ALL ABOUT IT

do you?

To Bush & McCain---what goes with the millions of acres of already approved leases and drilling rights held by the oil companies? This is another non-issue adding pollution into the energy dependency discussion. Its the depressed dollar and commodity speculators causing the high gas costs and not any lack of drilling rights!!! For the speculator impact aspect we thank former U.S. Senator Phil Graham, an adviser to John McCain's campaign.

It was almost inevitable that a combination of $4-a-gallon gas, public anxiety and politicians eager to win votes or repair legacies would produce political pandering on an epic scale. So it has, the latest instance being President Bush’s decision to ask Congress to end the federal ban on offshore oil and gas drilling along much of America’s continental shelf. This is worse than a dumb idea. It is cruelly misleading. The only real beneficiaries will be the oil companies that are trying to lock up every last acre of public land before their friends in power exit the political stage.

I like how Obama says "While the rest of US pay $4 a gallon gas" When the hell was the last time Obama payed for gas? This guy is a complete joke. When will people start to see that.

What the REPUBLICANS refuse to admit is that 70% of the land that has been leased to the oil companies for drilling has NOT been touched by the oil companies yet! That land has been sitting idle, and the republicans know this fact, yet because we are in an election year, suddenly the republicans are ignoring the fact of the idle land, and are NOW calling for drilling in the ocean, where NOONE even know for sure if there is any oil at all.
And the republicans are NOT telling the public that drilling off the coast of California, and Florida, would cost millions of jobs in those states, which rely on tourism, Florida, and that California's economies could go bankrupt, millions would lose their jobs, and go into home foreclosure, and be homeless, ALL that would happen with absolutely NO guarantee that there is even ONE barrel of oil in the ocean.

And when it comes to ANWR in Alaska, experts say that there is about ONE DAYS WORTH of oil available there, ONLY ONE DAYS WORTH of oil there, and that it would take 10 years to get it from there to the gas pumps because pipelines would have to be built to get the oil from Alaska, and it would then need to be refined, and millions, and maybe billions would have to be spent, all to get ONE DAYS WORTH OF OIL.

The republicans are not talking about the facts, they are just talking garbage, and hoping that people will not hear about the idle land the oil companies ALREADY have, and are not drilling, when they could be drilling it. Instead they are talking about drilling in states they know is already NEVER going to agree to do that because it would kill their ecomnomy, and cause massive job lose, and ALL that would happen without any guarantee that oil exists off the coast of Florida or California.

Do not become "enroned" into believing offshore oil drilling will bring down fuel prices. Those are just lies manifested by Bush/Cheney/McCain and BIG OIL who are manipulating the prices, making their wallets fat at our expense.

If you believe that offshore drilling will lower gas prices, you are the same fools who still believe that Bush invaded Iraq for WMD, and to create it as a democratic society.

It was almost inevitable that a combination of $4-a-gallon gas, public anxiety and politicians eager to win votes or repair legacies would produce political pandering on an epic scale. So it has, the latest instance being President Bush’s decision to ask Congress to end the federal ban on offshore oil and gas drilling along much of America’s continental shelf. This is worse than a dumb idea. It is cruelly misleading. It will make only a modest difference, at best, to prices at the pump, and even then the benefits will be years away. It greatly exaggerates America’s leverage over world oil prices. It is based on dubious statistics. It diverts the public from the tough decisions that need to be made about conservation. There is no doubt that a lot of people have been discomfited and genuinely hurt by $4-a-gallon gas. But their suffering will not be relieved by drilling in restricted areas off the coasts of New Jersey or Virginia or California. The Energy Information Administration says that even if both coasts were opened, prices would not begin to drop until 2030. The only real beneficiaries will be the oil companies that are trying to lock up every last acre of public land before their friends in power exit the political stage. The whole scheme is based on a series of fictions that range from the egregious to the merely annoying. A country that consumes one-quarter of the world’s oil supply but owns only 3 percent of its reserves can drill its way out of any problem — whether it be high prices at the pump or dependence on oil exported by unstable countries in Persian Gulf. This fiction has been resisted by Obama but foolishly embraced by McCain, who seemed to be making some sense on energy questions until he jumped aboard the lift-the-ban bandwagon on Tuesday. A lesser fiction, perpetrated by the oil companies and, to some extent, by misleading government figures, is that huge deposits of oil and gas on federal land have been closed off and industry has had one hand tied behind its back by environmentalists, Democrats and the offshore protections in place for 25 years. The numbers suggest otherwise. Of the 36 billion barrels of oil believed to lie on federal land, mainly in the Rocky Mountain West and Alaska, almost two-thirds are accessible or will be after various land-use and environmental reviews. And of the 89 billion barrels of recoverable oil believed to lie offshore, the federal Mineral Management Service says fourth-fifths is open to industry, mostly in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaskan waters.

To Bush & McCain---what goes with the millions of acres of already approved leases and drilling rights held by the oil companies? This is another non-issue adding pollution into the energy dependency discussion. Its the depressed dollar and commodity speculators causing the high gas costs and not any lack of drilling rights!!! For the speculator impact aspect we thank former U.S. Senator Phil Graham, an adviser to John McCain's campaign.

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as soon as we decide to drill the prices will come down because we trade non FUTURE markets. You don't understand what that meens huh. Didn't think so. Or maybe you do but you just so liberal that you don't want it to happen because you don't want republicans to be right. even if it's good for our country

I want to trust politicians...I am trying....

I would be a fool, to do so...

The offshore oil drilling ban lift, implemented by Bush is a political ploy.

Face it.

The fact of the matter is that the United States uses about 25% of the world`s oil and if we were to tap 100% or all domestic oil available, it would account for about 3% of our total usage. We would still need to import the other 22% of world oil. Not only is that "strategy" false, but the fact remains that they are not prohibited from drilling en mass and there are 68 million acres of known oil fields approved for drilling but have remained undrilled. Even if we were to go into full scale mad rush drilling, the payoff would be 7 to years off and would effect the cost of gasoline by at most 25 cents per gallon. In fact, there are over 10,000 issued drilling permits that have gone unused. It is speculation and Capitalist greed that has created artificial "supply and demand" crisis to drive the price artificially high in the same way the housing bubble burst.

To Steven | Jun 22, 2008 5:58:06 PM

Why would those MILLIONS of people lose their jobs? Let me quote you:

"And the republicans are NOT telling the public that drilling off the coast of California, and Florida, would cost millions of jobs in those states, which rely on tourism, Florida, and that California's economies could go bankrupt, millions would lose their jobs, and go into home foreclosure, and be homeless, ALL that would happen with absolutely NO guarantee that there is even ONE barrel of oil in the ocean."

If not one barrel of oil is found why would those MILLIONS OF PEOPLE (OMG!!!!) lose their jobs. You are hysterical and not in the funny way. You need to get back on your meds or someone needs to give you a good slap across the face.

Now, could someone tell me how much oil is on those lands that Democrats will allow the oil companies to drill on? What do the experts say? Not what a Democratic operative or politician says. What do the geologists say? I'm asking honestly because people like Steven are not credible what with his hysteria. So when he says something like 70% of the leased land is not being drilled I'd like to know where he gets his info. Please don't give me someone congressmen's website and ask me to believe them.

John McCain is again pandering just like he did with the gas tax holiday, John McCain, knows that 70% of the land the oil companies leased from the government is sitting idle, and we could be drilling that now, 70% of the land has NOT been drilled, so how about the oil companies do that first, but of course John McCaIn doesn't want to tell you that, because it would means that he would have to admit that he, is pandering just like John McCain pnadered with teh gas tax holiday, which he knew he would not be able to do anything about anyway, since he is not president yet, and summer started YESTERDAY.

Obama has plans which include: Obama of course will also encourage the oil companies to drill the 70% of the idle land they have sitting idly. Obama will also be developing new sources of fuel like biofuels, ethanol, as well as clean coal technology, he also said that he would consider nuclear, as well give incentives to American car companies to develop electric cars, and when it comes to clean, sustainable, renewable energy sources, Obama will also invest in solar, and wind energy, which are renewable sources of energy. Obama of course will also encourage the oil companies to drill the 70% of the idle land they have sitting idly.

It seems like the Obama bashers can only make unfounded personnal attacks on Obama... I have yet to see any legitimate arguments against his policy stance...But then again , isn't that how the GOP (Gas and Oil Party)have won elections over the past 14 years?...........They lose on most issues by 20+ points but they "reach" their base with "emotional knee-jerk" gimmicks such as flag burning, gay bashing, racism, and fear mongering......Molcai

Didn't McCain's Charlie Black support this Enron Loophole as a lobbyist?

The Special Interest Grroup is minting money on hiked up Oil Prices Exxon/Mobile, Big Oil Companies supported by Bush/Cheney and Republicans like Senator Phil Gramm are the main cause of excessive Oil prices.

Recent Business Week article mentioned that Supply and Demand is not driving the oil price; rather speculation at Futures at Stock Market is the determining factor.

Senator Obama has rightly proposed to close the Enron Loop holes, which was tacked by Senator Gramm at the last minute. He is also Senator McCaine close hands (left or right).

We need to follow the common sense and get the greedy Oil Companies and Republicans off our back. There is no rationale for such a hiked up oil prices, which we common people are paying at the expense of Windfall Profits for few greedy ones..

The hysterics on this page are astounding. I can't believe how emotional some of you people are getting. Steven, do you know that foreign countries are going to drill in those same places if we don't? Do you know that China is already drilling in the Gulf of Mexico? How soon before they go 50 miles off the East coast or West coast and put in an oil rig?

All of you leftists need to get a grip and deal with the facts. Jeez, you people are completely out of control.

Sean -- the drilling off the coast of Florida, and California would interrupt the tourism industry in those states, and basically kill the tourism industry in those states, and that is why those 2 states have ALWAYS voted against drilling off their coast, because for (the years the drilling would be taking place) the tourism industry would be destroyed, and millions of people who rely on tourism jobs would become unemployed

Obama did absolutely nothing before he run for president about everything he is talking about today. He criticizes everyone who did anything before he proposes his plan now. So, why all of sudden he has all these ideas to fix all these problems, but he did nothing before he started running for president?

Whatever the results, McCain did many right things before he ran for president. But the media is all become Obama's mouth to spread the criticisms.

I dont trust Barack Obama.

Drilling didn't the man from the American petroleum whatever on ABC this morning say that the reason they didn't drill on that 80% of lease they had was because they didn't have the Riggs to drill with?

Well where are they going to get it for off shore? This just doesn't add up to me.

Why do any of us question either one of these people running for pres, we want a voice right? Get off the computer and go out side and yell really louder. We would all get more response. No one is listening on here. Their just laughing