Energy
The black cloud of the Obama 3
Big time Democratic donor Philip Falcone of Harbinger Hedge Fund
Obama’s troubles are beginning to pile up…and the timing couldn’t be more perfect for Republicans coming into the 2012 elections(and I’m not even talking about this miserable economy). 3 very shady newsworthy scandals involving the Obama White House are slowly creeping into the news. Of course, they aren’t in the news as much as they should be but people are beginning to know some of the criminal activity that makes up the day to day schedule of this White House. I thought I would do a brief summary of the 3 “biggies” and do follow up posts when new details are learned.
So…here goes
1. Fast and Furious: Most everyone is familiar with this one. It’s the ATF “sting” operation in which assault weapons were knowingly sold to violent Mexican drug cartel members with the intent of tracking these guns into Mexico to catch higher ups in the cartel world. The problem is that most of these assault weapons have disappeared into the underworld of Mexican crime and are showing up at violent crime scenes…including the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry. This little scandal involves the ATF, FBI, DEA, Border Patrol and the Department of Homeland Security…..all under the watchful eye of the Department of Justice. I do not believe that Obama will be implicated in this one because Eric Holder is the front-man and Obama will be protected at all cost. Just my opinion.
2. Solyndra: This one has been getting a lot of press lately. Solyndra is a California based company that makes solar panels. Obama made it the poster-child for his green jobs initiative and publicly touted it’s huge potential to not only advance the movement towards solar power but also the benefit of creating more jobs. So..what’s the problem you ask? Solyndra was doomed from the beginning and was in serious financial trouble before the White House granted it a $535 million loan guarantee (through the Stimulus legislation). The problem with Solyndra is that it’s new solar panels (which are cylindrical and supposedly lighter and easier to install) are very expensive to make and thus are more expensive to buy so consumers are continuing to buy the cheaper flat panels….which work just as well. Solyndra was never ever ever going to be profitable and the White House was warned about this but still continued to push for stimulus money. Solyndra filed for bankruptcy on September 6th…leaving the American taxpayer with a $535 million dollar tab. Oh….and one more thing….the primary shareholder in Solyndra is The George Kaiser Family Foundation. George Kaiser is a rather large campaign fundraiser for Obama and has visited the White House 16 times since 2009. What a coincidence.
3. Lightsquared: So far…there has been very little press about this one and details are still emerging. Lightsquared is a company that is involved in the broadband connectivity network. Their product would make it easier and faster for people to connect to wireless networks. The company is owned by the hedge fund Harbinger Capital. This hedge fund is headed by billionaire Philip Falcone who happens to be a huge donor to Democratic senatorial campaigns as well as to Obama’s campaign. Shortly after he made large donations to Democratic senatorial campaigns, the FCC granted the company a waiver to build their national 4g wireless network cheaply….which is a highly unusual move for the FCC. What a coincidence. Numerous people are crying foul but the bigger scandal here is something a little more criminal than big donor favoritism. The Pentagon is very concerned about Lightsquared’s new broadband network because the GPS system that it uses would interfere with the same system that the military uses to help it with missile tracking (among other things). The Pentagon sent Air Force General William Shelton to testify at a closed door meeting about their concerns. Just a few days ago, General Shelton revealed to House strategic forces subcommittee staffers that the White House tried to “encourage” him to say things in his testimony that would be beneficial to the Lightsquared project. The General was not too happy about being asked to change his testimony on the request of the White House. This one is much more than a “pay to play” scandal. This one is flat-out criminal and involves witness tampering. This has been getting some media coverage but not very much. It is my opinion that this one is the worst of the 3 scandals for Obama but time will tell whether he will suffer politically. I’m betting that there are many more “Solyndra’s” and “Lightsquared’s” out there but we’ll never know with our politically biased media.
There’s one thing that’s for sure with this crooked administration….
You can take Obama out of Chicago, but you can’t take Chicago out of Obama.
Drill here…Drill now.
Not too far from the truth.
(h/t Moonbattery)
I drive a lot. I was nearly floored when I filled up my car yesterday and it cost me almost $50. That’s a huge jump from just a few months ago and I think it’s going to get worse. Let’s face it….we almost all have to drive to get around. I can’t ride a bike to work so I have to fill up my car about every 7-10 days. That’s a lot of money. I just read an article about the vast oil reserves in Alaska that would not only help solve most of our dependency on foreign oil but it would go a long way in creating new jobs and cutting a big chunk out of our deficit.
(CNSNews.com) – A new study says drilling on Alaska’s Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) could make Alaska the eighth largest oil resource province in the world — ahead of Nigeria, Libya, Russia and Norway.
The report — by the consulting firm Northern Economics and the University of Alaska-Anchorage’s Institute of Social and Economic Research – says that developing Alaska’s OCS could produce almost 10 billion barrels of oil and 15 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, create around 55,000 new jobs and produce $145 billion in new payroll nationally, generating a total of $193 billion in government revenue through the year 2057.
A senior policy advisor with the American Petroleum Institute, the trade group for hundreds of U.S. oil and gas producers, said in a statement about the study that offshore drilling for oil and natural gas can help with the country’s energy and economic needs.
“America will need all forms of energy to get our economy back on track, and that includes oil – we can either produce it here and create more American jobs or import it and create jobs elsewhere,” Richard Ranger said. “The administration and Congress need to adopt an ‘all of the above’ energy approach that leverages our offshore resources in Alaska to create an energy plan for America that boosts, rather than inhibits, our economy.”
About 77 percent of world oil reserves are owned or controlled by national governments and the U.S. currently imports over 60 percent of its crude oil, according to API. The Northern Economics-University of Alaska study estimates that Arctic offshore development could cut U.S. imports by about 9 percent over 35 years.
Crude oil prices in New York broke through the $100-a-barrel threshold on Thursday, with rising prices linked to the unrest in the Middle East, including Libya and its vast oil reserves.
The Washington Post reported on Thursday that U.S. pump prices for regular gasoline jumped 4 cents a gallon overnight to $3.23, an 8-cent-per-gallon increase in the past week and 55 cents more than a year ago.
“Given the current political turmoil in the Middle East and increased demand from a slowly growing economy, it is more essential now than ever before that we develop Alaska’s OCS to increase domestic production,” Ranger said. “Increased OCS production in Alaska would also extend the operating life of the 800-mile Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS), a critical lifeline of domestic energy for America.”
We’ll have to out-shout Greenpeace and the Sierra Club but this seems like a must-do.
Drill here…Drill now
