Bachmann And Barton Exploit The Financial Crisis To Push For More Oil Drilling
Bachmann And Barton Exploit The Financial Crisis To Push For More Oil Drilling
While the White House and Congress are haggling over how to best bail out Wall Street’s ailing financial markets, at least two conservative House members are using this moment of crisis to push their pet issue. On her blog yesterday, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) announced that she was joining Rep. Joe Barton’s (R-TX) call for the bailout package to be accompanied by legislation that would “open up” the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve and Outer Continental Shelf to new oil drilling.
In a letter to President Bush, Barton and Bachmann argue that increased drilling would “offset some of the liability” of the eventual bailout of Wall Street:
As we work to strengthen our markets through an assistance package, we should also offset some of the liability, without raising taxes. This package should contain some means to pay at least part of the cost of rescuing these financial giants, and do it without asking the taxpayers to shoulder a burden which is, after all, not their responsibility. We therefore encourage you to include legislative language that would open up ANWR to leasing, along with the Outer Continental Shelf of the Eastern Gulf.
Bachmann and Barton’s effort to use the financial crisis to push the unrelated issue of drilling is reminiscent of President Bush’s exploitation of Hurricane Gustav to argue for more drilling. Earlier this month, Bush used a press briefing on the “follow-up efforts” to Hurricane Gustav to attack Congress about lifting the offshore drilling moratorium. Watch it:
In her blog post, Bachmann calls her drilling push an “innovative” solution “to help us navigate through our current financial crisis.” But in reality, it is the same type of tasteless politicization that Bush attempted with Hurricane Gustav.
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OT, but this needs to be out there.
Why is the Bush administration holding the reports on the War in Afghanistan? Manipulation of the election? You bet ya.
Bush Administration will keep secret ‘grim’ Afghanistan report quiet until after election
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:02 pmyes, drill baby drill NOW! that way, you’ll have your first drop pulled out in 10 years from when you start drilling just for it to go to foreign markets and we still end up paying $4+ per gallon…
piss off you goddamn crooks.
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:02 pmShe’s a nut. (barney fife). Really, this woman really defines the definition of “abnormal.”
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:02 pmtony and guidedog Lido
Ok, so Bush doesn’t want “unrelated” issues to be in the bill, like bailing out homeowners, but would include drilling in ANWAR in the bill. Sorry Bachman, even Bush is not that stupid.
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:04 pmOh, I just KNEW this was coming. Now granting a handout to Big Oil will save Wall Street. It always comes down to that.
My question is — why is this being put forth by Bachmann and Barton, instead of Palin, who supposedly is the greatest energy expert this country has? Why is Palin being silent?
Oh — right. Not only does she know nothing about economics and only slightly more about energy, but she has her hands full right now trying not to look too idiotic to leaders of other countries.
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:05 pmThese people are relentless in their efforts to like the pockets of their rich contributors Jamming this bailout through will be the worst mistake that could possibly be made next is succumbing to the drill drill wingnuts
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:06 pmBilbo Hussein Baggins Says
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Ok, so Bush doesn’t want “unrelated” issues to be in the bill, like bailing out homeowners, but would include drilling in ANWAR in the bill. Sorry Bachman, even Bush is not that stupid.
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No, but Bush will really like the idea because he wants to give the oil companies more leases any way he can, and he thinks WE’RE stupid enough to go for it.
Therefore:
bailing out homeowners = “unrelated”
ANWR and/or offshore drilling = “related”
In Bushworld.
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:07 pmWell Gustav shut down Gulf oil rigs, production was down 96% and it takes almost 60 days to get these rigs back to full production. In fact they werent even back to production when Ike came thru.
So, if we set 1000 more rigs in the gulf that would have reduced oil production that much more. Besides that we still dont have the refineries to handle more oil. Which also were shut down because of Ike because most of our refineries are along the Gulf.
And since Im on the subject Palins pipeline ran into trouble with big oil because she raised taxes and they wouldnt build the pipeline. She got a bid from transcanada to build a pipeline to Alberta, Canada. And if it IS ever built, it wont be operational until 2017 or later. That means even if she wins two terms with McCain her pipeline project [actually Murkowskis] wouldnt be finished by the time she left office!
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:08 pmI cannot imagine what kind of people would send this woman to Washington to represent them. She is absolutely batshit insane–she’s been on CNN quite a bit lately and she doesn’t know what she is talking about. She keeps repeating RNC talking points as if they are doctrine.
Seriously, anyone know what kind of district she comes from? She’s absolutely nuts.
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:09 pmI used to live in Elk River, MN… and I cringe when I think that town was the deciding factor in putting Bachman in office.
I have a better idea, instead of throwing more money down the toilet, let’s actually do something constructive and smart with the money…..
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:11 pmWhat they are exploiting is the fuel shortages caused by Ike, which has nothing to do with drilling because its the refineries that took a hit. The bailout package isnt for drilling in ANWR. LOL.
She should be wailing Refinery here Refinery Now!!
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:12 pmThe dollar went down, driving up oil prices because of Bush’s stinkin’ bailout.
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:17 pmtanglewood Says
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:09 pm
Seriously, anyone know what kind of district she comes from? She’s absolutely nuts.
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She comes from Minnesota’s sixth district, which lies north of the Twin Cities. It contains St. Cloud and goes east to the Wisconsin border.
Bachmann is currently serving her first term in the House, which she won with the help of very well-organized evangelical Christian groups.
I don’t know how her re-election campaign is going.
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:19 pmI dont see how, McCain says he knows how to win wars, if it was public he could tell us what he would do to win, right?
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:20 pmCrikey.
Wingnut Welfare at its finest, indeed.
PRIVATIZE the profits.
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:20 pmSOCIALIZE the losses.
Missmolly #5-
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:22 pmPalin is in a snit because the media haven’t treated her and her family with sufficient deference, so she’s not giving any statements past “drill drill drill in my state.”
Their feelings are VERY hurt by anonymous comments on Kos and blame the Obama campaign and the rest of the news media for them.
#4 — I beg to differ. Of course, it does depend on which side of the fence you are — but yes, Bush would be that stupid.
Of course, Bachmann is Minnesota’s Sarah Palin. Just as Jean Harris is Ohio’s, Marsha Blackburn’s Tennessee, and Kathryn what’s her face is Florida’s.
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:28 pmHeres a question for Ms. Bachman, “Would Jesus bail out the money changers or chase them from the marketplace?”
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:29 pmSo why isn’t Bachmann McCain’s VP pick? I’m just asking…
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:30 pmBimbo Bachmann strikes again. Just when you think she has exhausted her capacity to display her abject and total ignorance, she comes up with another airhead stunt.
Oh, well. “When all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.” That’s Bimbo Bachmann’s outlook on life. WHACK!
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:32 pmNo drilling! No bailout! No shame!
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:37 pmRep. Marcy Kaptur: Let’s Play “WALLSTREET BAILOUT” The Rules Are…
Please watch this….it really needs to go viral! Rep. Kaptur hits the nail on the head!
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:46 pmhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S27yitK32ds
This package should contain some means to pay at least part of the cost of rescuing these financial giants,
So she’s saying the oil companies will be “taxed” to help recoup the costs? Sure.
THEY’VE GOT 68 MILLION ACRES ALREADY LEASED FOR DRILLING! WHY DO THEY NEED MORE?
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:51 pmLeave it to Mad Michele Bachmann to get out her oil black crayons and use them to scribble all over the bailout package.
Only these Republicans are willing to shoot themselves in both the feet and legs before they put the gun to their own heads for kicks…and it is all “our” fault they did it!
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:55 pmI just realized why Bush’s F-Troop added second liens, car loans, credit card debt and student loans to the list of purchase-able troubled assets. If they’re going to blame poor people, they actually have to point to some poor people’s borrowings.
Only the super rich can afford to pay last week’s $900,000 price for a credit default swap on Goldman Sachs’ debt. But they wouldn’t stand for payday loan rates and the credit market froze up.
However, the wealthy do want those poor, tax paying people to foot the bill for their devalued troubled assets. Limiting purchases to “mortgage related securities” made it too easy to connect the problem to wealthy Wall Street.
If silly people like Michele Bachmann are going to blame the poor, the bailout has to go beyond CMBS facilities and credit default swaps.
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:00 pmMorning theater-the banking bailout (can be viewed at CSPAN)
Evening show-Iran
Get your tickets now!
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:01 pmBachmann and Palin have much in common. They are: dishonest, ignorant, dogmatic, vindictive,reckless, partisan, delusional, aggressive and incurious. They also won their nominations, for Rep and Gov, by entering late with a big block of delegates they recruited through religious activism.
Then they were elected using national party resources to manipulate anyone who thinks “Christian” means “trustworthy” while their over matched opponents were unable to motivate a disinterested/disgusted/detached majority.
The only real difference between them is that, so far, Palin has been able to avoid live microphones.
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:02 pmTeleMan Says
September 23rd, 2008 at 4:51 pm
THEY’VE GOT 68 MILLION ACRES ALREADY LEASED FOR DRILLING! WHY DO THEY NEED MORE?
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Eh, you’re wasting your breath. Nobody will ever explain that. If you ask questions like that, you must not want lower gas prices, and everybody knows that in order to get gas prices to go down, you must drill baby drill (never mind how little sense that makes).
And if you still want to ask why oil companies aren’t drilling on the leases they already have despite the logic outlined in the above paragraph — well, you must not be a patriotic American.
/snark off
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:12 pmShe was even crazier today on MSNBC blaming Democrat regulation for this failure. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcmQu9f_1Wo
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:15 pmBachmann: “Drill here! Drill now!“
Ummm, no thanks. I suspect that well is dry. Light a candle by one of her ears, walk around to the other side, and you’ll see what I mean.
Cheers,
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:16 pmDrive a stake through that vampire’s heart tomorrow while the sun shines!
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:28 pmMichele wants to turn the bailout package into a corporate wet dream. Drastically cut income taxes, reduce capital gains taxes, cut regulation? What the heck?
It’s not just a bailout of junk assets owned by investment firms, it’s corporafornication! Bend over taxpayer, Michele and McCain are coming…
September 23rd, 2008 at 5:47 pmThese two folks are the ones who most likely originated pouring salt in open wounds while you are in the ER and then simultaneously perfected short-sighted opportunism when it is deemed by most of rest of the world to be the least helpful or relevant. They probably also were the ones who advised Sarah Palin to charge rape victims for their kits before anyone could do an exam.
September 23rd, 2008 at 6:11 pmNow that video of Michele Bachmann was some serious corporafornication.
September 23rd, 2008 at 6:24 pmLets see what mcdiper will do since he went to see his good old oil buddies and they gave him over a million in contrabutions he flip floped on drilling he also says he is against earmarks attached to the bail out bill will he come out and chastise barton and bachmann for this obvious pile of pig puddin our will his oil buddies and lobbiest tell him to go along with this foolish earmark Idea??? only the lobbiest and the shadooooow knowssss
September 23rd, 2008 at 6:52 pmCouple of comments. First, I stumbled upon this site earlier today. Well done folks, well done.
This rationale of using “new” oil to pay for the Bailout rings very familiar; along the lines of the Iraq War will pay for itself, and we know how that has gone. In regards to Palin’s ‘Pipeline to Nowhere’, this weeks issue in Newsweek has a nice write-up. The Indians of the First Nation in the Yukon are less than pleased with plans for pipeline going through their territory. Their plan is to litigate, so the stated 7-year completion of the project will be quite a bit longer.
As an aside, ‘drill baby drill’ is a nifty little mantra (short, not too many syllables), but where in the hell will all this oil be refined? Aren’t the refineries close to capacity? If so, this fetish for drilling seems rather Nazi’ish, since Hitler was obsessed with capturing Russia’s oil deposits in the Caspian.
September 23rd, 2008 at 7:21 pmDemocrats caved and are allowing the offshore drilling ban to expire:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/washington/AP-OffshoreDrilling.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
Democrats have decided to allow a quarter-century ban on drilling for oil off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to expire next week, conceding defeat in an month-long battle with the White House and Republicans set off by $4 a gallon gasoline prices this summer.
Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, D-Wis., told reporters Tuesday that a provision continuing the moratorium will be dropped this year from a stopgap spending bill to keep the government running after Congress recesses for the election.
Fother Chuckers!
September 23rd, 2008 at 7:24 pmLet it be known that you can be a special needs person and be elected to Congress, because Michele Bachmann is that proof!
Just stick to the script of God & Country (only to drill by all means necessary…by the rich elite wh0res, to the rich elite wh0res and for the rich elite wh0res) and you’ll be set.
September 23rd, 2008 at 7:53 pmI live in the Minnesota Sixth – St. Cloud to be exact. While I can’t speak for the rest of the district the area around St. Cloud is heavily conservative. And while conservativism in and of itself is not an inherently bad thing, a lot of these folks are “true believers”. They believe everything that comes out of any Republican or right-wing source – no matter how rediculous it may be. When given a choice between fact and ideology, they’ll choose ideology every time. These are the kind of people that John Dean writes about in Conservatives Without Conscience.
That said, the Tinklenberg campaign seems to be polling very well throughout the district, even around here. Hopefully, this will be Mrs. Bachmann’s one and only term.
September 24th, 2008 at 11:07 amMichelle Bachman is a Dooker.
http://cornerhousecomments.wordpress.com/2008/09/24/wellstone-mental-health-parity-moves-foward/
September 26th, 2008 at 5:20 pm