I just visited DailyKos to see what the rabids are saying about Biden. I was totally unprepared for this headline:

AP Conservative shill Ron Fournier: Biden pick shows lack of confidence

The first thing I thought was “Ron Fournier is a conservative shill”? The next thing I did was ask whether there’s proof of anyone at the AP being a conservative. Then I realized that, to the KosKids, anyone slightly to the right of Ted Kennedy is a conservative. Here’s how MrBurns17 starts his diary:

Let’s see… how could lil’ Ron spin this Biden pick without getting into too much hot water? Sure those liberals threw a fit over his chummy emails to Karl Rove, but… what Ron worry? He’ll just pen an opinion piece, throw a softball to Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, and Bill o’Reilly, and let them do the dirty work. Not that these lackeys of the radical right needed any help, but why not throw them a bone anyway? Typical conservative greed and bigotry have managed, through another well funded smear campaign, to push Obama’s poll numbers down and bring another corporate proxy (actually two if you count Mitt) one step closer to occupying the White House. So now that we’ve established that Obama is too “exotic”, and too “liberal”, it’s time to paint him as “weak”…

I wonder what MrBurns17 will do when he finds out about Biden’s extensive ties to lobbyists. Will that information push him over the edge? Coming to think of it, I can’t be certain that he didn’t already go over that edge.

Tune in later today for more episodes from the galaxy the KosKids inhabit.

Technorati Tags: Joe Biden, DailyKos, Lobbyists, Ron Fournier, Agenda Media, Associated Press, Blogs, Election 2008

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog

Evidently, judging by the cover of Upscale magazine.

Never heard of it? Neither did we, until we strolled through the local Safeway and just happened to see Michelle, all-smiles on the cover. The publication describes itself as a provider of “business and entertainment news, health, beauty, and lifestyle information for African Americans.” Their motto: Living The Affluent Lifestyle.

Perhaps this is part of the entertainment, considering the ridiculous irony of Barack Obama attacking John McCain just this week for being “rich” and “out of touch” for owning multiple homes. Living the lifestyle, y’know.

The cover says it all. Just don’t call her uppity.

This is the Sierra Club’s official statement praising Ms. Pelosi’s latest non-energy energy plan. This statement leaves no doubt what Ms. Pelosi’s goal is in offering another version of the DRILL Act.

Statement of Carl Pope, Sierra Club Executive Director

“No one is more committed to clean energy solutions than Nancy Pelosi.

“The upcoming debate in Congress will allow the truth to come out, that offshore drilling won’t lower gas prices today, tomorrow, or a even a decade from now and will simply benefit Big Oil’s bottom line instead of helping hardworking Americans.

“The new legislation that Speaker Pelosi has outlined includes crucial clean energy solutions and other important measures that will make America more energy independent, offer consumers relief at the pump, and will force drilling supporters to admit whether they really want to move America forward or simply want to continue helping the oil companies.”

Mr. Pope’s language is clear: he thinks that drilling is bad for the environment and that it won’t help “hardworking Americans.” Mr. Pope, along with the Sierra Club, is certain that drilling won’t lower prices at the pump.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Gary Pecquet and Morris Coats know better. So does the Energy Journal. So does the average American consumer. (continue reading post »)

This morning’s Washington Times features an op-ed by John Boehner. Here’s the text of Leader Boehner’s op-ed:

The House Republicans’ unprecedented nationwide gas-prices protest is now in its third full week. My Republican colleagues and I have vowed to continue the historic uprising, in Washington and in communities across the country, until the House returns to session for a vote on the American Energy Act, our “all of the above” plan to lower gas prices. Whether that means ending the protest tomorrow or next month is up to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat. While the speaker used a radio address last weekend to unveil yet another flawed plan that will do little to lower gas prices, she remained silent about bringing Congress back to Washington from its summer recess to deal with the No. 1 issue on the minds of the American people.

As the title of her new book suggests, the Speaker knows she had the power to avoid this uprising altogether. Rather than working with Republicans to bolster America’s energy production, conservation and innovation, on Aug. 1, Democrats voted to adjourn Congress for a five-week break while American families and small businesses were left hanging in the balance. Refusing to be silenced, Republicans stayed on the House floor after the Democrats’ left town to continue promoting our strategy for energy independence to those watching on television. The Speaker responded by dimming the lights, shutting down the cameras and turning off the microphones. (continue reading post »)

Mike Cloud used this LTE to voice his opinion on the drilling debate and the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate:

About two years ago, America decided we needed a change in Congress and elected a majority Democrat House and Senate, and Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid took control of national legislation. Well, we got change all right: Gas was $2.49 per gallon when Democrats took over, the unemployment rate was 4.5 percent, and mutual funds were doing well for American families.

After two years of Nancy and Harry, we have $4 gas, 5.5 percent unemployment, and American households have seen $2.3 trillion evaporate in stock and mutual fund losses.

And, with gas prices America’s top priority, Pelosi chose to give Congress a five-week vacation instead of working on energy policy.

She refused to give an up-or-down vote on any of the Republican energy proposals that were brought to her desk before the break.

This would have to be the greatest example of congressional incompetence in recent history. This is an extremely partisan, do-nothing Congress that has been an embarrassment since Day One.

Sen. Barack Obama is also promising change if he gets elected. How much more “change” can we stand?

Mike Cloud
Lubbock

This LTE proves that Mr. Cloud isn’t the only one upset with Pelosi and majority Democrats: (continue reading post »)

It wasn’t that long ago that Rep. Mark Udall, (D-CO), was among the most reliable anti-drilling congressmen. With gas hovering near the $4/gallon average nationally. That’s suddenly changed. Let’s start by looking at Rep. Udall’s record:

He’s voted to:

• Block drilling for American oil in Alaska or off shore at least nine times.
• Deny tax deductions for production of U.S. oil and gas, thereby putting American companies at a financial disadvantage versus their competitors in the Middle East, Russia and South America.
• Declare oil cartels like OPEC to be in violation of U.S. antitrust law, even though most high school seniors, not to mention Members of Congress, are smart enough to know that our laws do not apply to foreign oil companies.
• Oppose making abandoned military bases available for construction of new oil refineries, oblivious to the reality no new American oil refineries have been constructed since 1976, increasing our dependence on foreign refineries.

In other words, he’s been a reliable vote for environmental extremists. That’s suddenly changed now that polls show he was on the losing side of the biggest domestic issue this year. Notice that I didn’t say he changed when gas prices skyrocketed. It wasn’t until today that Rep. Udall started talking about drilling as the only way we could bring oil prices down.

Notice that Rep. Udall didn’t speak out when oil prices hit their peak. He stayed silent when prices started dropping, too. The thing that triggered Rep. Udall’s change in attitude was a poll showing his 7 point lead over Bob Schaffer disappear into thin air.

Suddenly, Rep. Udall morphed into Oil Rig Mark. There’s nothing more disgusting or demeaining than seeing a politician abandon their principles. This article says that just 2 months ago, Udall joined with other Colorado Democrats to protest the Bush administration’s letting of leases for oil drilling. They complained that President Bush ignored their wishes.

Let’s remember that the Bush administration couldn’t auction of these leases if Congress hadn’t codified that into law.

Let’s hope that Coloradans reject Rep. Udall’s politics of oppotunism and elect Bob Schaffer.

Technorati Tags: Mark Udall, Environmentalist, Drilling, Polls, Bob Schaffer, President Bush, OPEC, Litigation, Election 2008

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog

The most recent KSTP/SurveyUSA poll shows a tightening race but that Al Franken still having significant difficulties. Here’s one thing that should have Franken’s campaign worried:

Seventy-four percent of likely DFL voters said they support Franken.

I’m confident that more than 74 percent of Democrats will vote for Franken, though I don’t know if it’ll be significantly higher than that. The reason why this statistic should worry Franken is because it suggests there isn’t a positive enthusiasm gap between Republicans and Democrats.

Let’s remember those early primaries where GOP turnout was less than half of the Democrats’ primary turnout. Talk swept through the punditocracy that this would be a disastrous year for Republicans, that Democrats might gain the trifecta of holding the White House, increasing their majority in the House and having a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.

Then came the Jeremiah Wright tapes and Rush’s Operation Chaos. Rush’s Operation Chaos lengthened the primary process. The Wright tapes put Obama back on his heals. Suddenly discord appeared in the Democrats’ ranks. That dissention still exists. (continue reading post »)

Yesterday morning, NBC’s Andrea Mitchell told Meet the Press’s audience that McCain had won the Saddleback Forum, which is accurate from everything I’ve read and the little that I was able to see. Then she engaged in a little gossip session with David Gregory. Here’s what she said:

Mitchell: “The Obama people must feel that he didn’t do quite as well as they might have wanted to in that context, because what they are putting out privately is that McCain may not have been in the cone of silence and may have had some ability to overhear what the questions were to Obama. He seemed so well-prepared.”

I don’t have a problem with Ms. Mitchell bringing forth that type of gossip if she then reports that she’s checked into the allegation and found it to be without merit. Ms. Mitchell didn’t do that. She simply reported the rumor. That isn’t reporting. That’s gossipmongering.

According to this Mike Allen article, the McCain campaign wants a meeting with Steve Capus, the president of NBC News ASAP. Here’s the text of their letter to Capus:

Steve:

We are extremely disappointed to see that the level of objectivity at NBC News has fallen so low that reporters are now giving voice to unsubstantiated, partisan claims in order to undercut John McCain.

Nowhere was this more evident than with NBC chief correspondent Andrea Mitchell’s comments on “Meet the Press” this morning. In analyzing last night’s presidential forum at Saddleback Church, Mitchell expressed the Obama campaign spin that John McCain could only have done so well last night because he “may not have been in the cone of silence and may have had some ability to overhear what the questions were to Obama.” Here are Andrea Mitchell’s comments in full: (continue reading post »)

Nancy Pelosi’s statement to Larry King that she’d consider drilling if it’s part of a bigger package (TRANSLATION: tax increases and government picking winners and losers) is a cruel hoax. Ms. Pelosi’s use of the Democrats’ Weekly Radio Address was a similar hoax.

It’s time that Republicans rallied around the American Energy Act. This upcoming week, Republicans everywhere should talk about the virtues of the American Energy Act. Whether it’s rebel legislators in Washington, bloggers across the nation or the NRCC running wall-to-wall ads on national TV, they should be touting the substantial legislation put together by House Republicans.

I’ve touted the AEA numerous times. Now it’s time that the NRCC capitalized. This is solid legislation that Americans would flock to if they knew about it. The fastest way to guarantee Americans finding out about the AEA’s provisions is for Pesident Bush and Sen. McCain to make a visit to Capitol Hill to hold a joint news conference touting the AEA.

Republicans should have graphics made to highlight the bill’s balanced approach to energy reform:

To increase the supply American-made energy in environmentally sound ways, the legislation will:

• Open our deep water ocean resources, which will provide an additional three
  million barrels of oil per day, as well as 76 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, as proposed in H.R. 6108 by Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC). Rep. John Peterson (R-PA) has also worked tirelessly on this issue.
• Open the Arctic coastal plain, which will provide an additional one million
  barrels of oil per day, as proposed in H.R. 6107 by Rep. Don Young (R-AK); (continue reading post »)

This article should get everyone’s attention. As the articles states, Rep. John McHugh, (R-NY), isn’t into political grandstanding. That’s why I’m paying attention when he makes a statement like this:

“In my 24 years of elected office, I have never before been to more town halls, more places, where everyone is more concerned about one issue,” McHugh, an eight-term congressman and former state senator, said Friday on the House floor.

“And, it’s not just the price of gas,” he said. “It’s the associated rise in prices across the board, the price of a loaf of bread, the price of a gallon of milk. People in my neck of the woods have already cut back as much as they can; they’re carpooling, not taking that summer vacation, cutting out the unnecessary car trips.”

In other words, people have done everything possible to minimize the damaging effects of high gas prices. Now it’s Congress’ turn to do their part. It’s time for Reid and Pelosi to end their vacations and deal with the most serious domstic issue of this election cycle.

Plug in the search term gas prices. When I did, Google told me that there were 34.5 million entries on the internet. (continue reading post »)