The Political Voices of Women

The magnitude of this financial, housing, and credit crisis, is difficult to put into perspective.  But, if you have a 401K, you are losing money.  Fallout from this meltdown will continue, and there is no end in site.  President Bush is leaving a real financial mess for the next president.  Who can we trust to fix this? Can it be fixed?

Wall Street’s Black Sunday…

It was one of the most tumultuous weekends in Wall Street history.

Lehman Brothers, the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States, announced it is filing for a record bankruptcy after federal intervention failed to find a willing buyer Sunday. Bank of America (BoA), originally a Lehman suitor along with Barclays and others, is planning to buy Merrill Lynch instead for roughly $50 billion. Insurance giant AIG, meanwhile, is sinking and needs $40 billion to stay afloat. The Federal Reserve announced new measures to help markets cope with the fallout.

UPDATED…

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Here is an extensive fact-check of the statements Sarah Palin made in her speech last night, that I received in my email earlier today.

 If you missed the Sarah Palin speech you can see it in full here.

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Oil and gas companies want you to believe that alternative sources of power (such as wind and solar), are not cost effective. They want you to believe that renewable power will be more costly for the consumer. And, in today’s bad economy, that can be quite troubling for most of us. But now, the truth is being revealed, in Colorado of all places.

From The Washington Post…

In Colorado — a state historically known for natural gas and fights over drilling — wind and solar power are fast becoming prominent parts of the energy mix. Wind capacity has quadrupled in the past 18 months, according to Gov. Bill Ritter (D), and Xcel has become the largest provider of wind power in the nation.

The politics and economics of energy are shifting here in ways that foretell debates across the country as states create renewable-energy mandates and the federal government moves toward limiting carbon emissions. One advocate calls Colorado “ground zero” for the looming battle over energy.

. . .

Ten years ago, Xcel began offering wind-generated electricity, but it was a niche market for eco-conscious customers willing to pay extra. That changed in a significant way after 2004, when Xcel lost the referendum fight.

After legislative efforts failed, proponents of renewable energy turned to the ballot that year. The initiative, Amendment 37, required the state’s biggest utilities to generate 10 percent of their electricity from renewable sources. Advocates found themselves facing off against Xcel, which said it feared for its bottom line.

“We ended up opposing that amendment. In retrospect, I wish we hadn’t,” said Frank Prager, Xcel’s vice president for environmental policy.

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This is really funny. Paris Hilton Responds to John McCain’s Smear Ad on Barack Obama…

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Just in case you haven’t seen the controversial video and commentary, here is a video clip…



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So…What do you think? Does this help or hurt McCain? What about Obama? Or, is it just plain silly? Personally, I hate attack ads, especially when they provide no helpful information for voters, at least the Hilton response, had addressed an issue. Let me know what you think in comments.

See more on this at BlogHer.

Wouldn’t it be interesting if the GOP members of Congress have tapped into something with their protest against Nancy Pelosi?  The latest Gallup numbers show there is a window, just a small one, but there is a window of opportunity to make some inroads in the House this year.  I think the American people want to see a little bit of courage.  And, like Medved pointed out yesterday on his show, they don’t like to vote for “angry” people.  If they can keep their heads…. (nah, that was a pipe dream).

According to The Hill, Newt Gingrich is going to be meeting with the GOP Protesters on the Hill Wednesday morning.  It’s about time someone called in the good doctor so he could deal with what ails ‘em, but the real problem is abject lack of leadership.  Fortunately Eric Cantor is showing some with his Call Congress Back petition. Nancy Pelosi says that the GOP push for more drilling is “unworthy of serious debate!”  I kid you not.  There is a bottom line here.  Excitement is rippling through the GOP world.  Are our Republicans in Congress finally growing backbones? On the other hand, how much of this is Nancy Pelosi grandstanding for her liberal voters back in San Francisco? It is quite obvious Pelosi is more interested in pandering to her ultra liberal voters back home than she is doing her job as the Speaker of the House of Representatives.  As the Speaker she should be putting the needs of the nation above the needs of the one.  Instead she is blasting John McCain who is demanding she return to Washington and take are of business.

“…The Speaker added that “McCain’s absent leadership on energy independence doesn’t match his rhetoric.””

Someone is not flying on all thrusters, and it certainly isn’t John McCain.  There are theories that Pelosi is playing “bad cop” so her disingenuous partners in crime in the House can go home and campaign that they are for “drilling”.  It is also rather obvious that Pelosi is taking her orders from MoveOn, who plans to slam the Republicans in the House this year. 

Are they making a big mistake?

The latest Gallup shows that there is a strong anti-incumbant feeling against members of the House.  If this holds, while the GOP would lose some seats, and deservedly so, the Dems, as the Majority, stand to lose more than the GOP.  Only something like 36% of ‘registered voters’ think the “house” deserves re-election.  The rub, though is 57% think their representative deserves re-election.  But – those who are in districts where their member of Congress is a Democrat think that the Dem does not deserve re-election.  The numbers aren’t strong, but they are enough, I hope, to force the Cowards of the Congress to listen to Newt. 

There’s one other thing at work here.  If Eric Cantor continues in his leadership role, and it looks like the GOP could make a few inroads in the House, is he going to want to be VP or go for a House leadership position?

It is possible that the Dems have taken another wrong step.  The big question, will their voters hold them responsible?

There’s one other interesting little tidbit today.  If, as Zogby finds (and he is an Obama shill) that Obama is losing support among the young and among women, is this going to make a difference.  I suspect “the young” simply won’t vote.  Women are still angry with Obama.   If McCain does “make it” could he have some coat-tails? 

Wouldn’t it be wild if he did?

Barack Obama was in Jacksonville, Florida today. He talked about the rising cost of gas prices, and his opposition of offshore drilling. See video and what other bloggers are saying. And, let me know what you think in comments.

This is from a post by Carol Nissen at the Obama Community Blog…

“Obama risks ire of Voters by opposing new oil drilling” (From AP of course, they make almost every single headline on Obama something negative) I think they have NO idea of how angry the American people are at having their country trashed for the past 8 years. It’s NOT just the oil, it’s the un necessary Iraq war, the falling apart infrastructure, the self serving of many politicians, the trampling of the constitution, the lowest ranked healthcare of an industrial nation, the treatment of our soliders, on and on and on.

The truth is the only ones who are going to have the “ire” are the already obscenely profiting oil companies. All this talk of Obama being “uppity”, “arrogant”, etc. stinks to me of a bunch of good ole boys who just might not get their way. The truth is there is going to be a big struggle in this country over how we get our energy and the fossil fuel gang has no plans for being replaced anytime soon. Why that’s why GWB was elected…and now that he and his cronies have screwed things up royally, well McCain will say and do as he’s told.

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Pain At The Pump & Record Profits For Exxon/Mobil

More record profits for the oil companies. Shocking! While everyday people can’t even afford the gas it takes to get to their jobs, Big Oil continues to celebrate high prices at the pump, with record profits.

From The New York Times – Rising Oil Prices Swell Profits at Exxon and Shell…

Exxon Mobil, the world’s largest publicly traded oil company, reported on Thursday that second-quarter income rose 14 percent, to $11.68 billion, the highest-ever for an American company.

Net income of $2.22 a share compared with $10.26 billion, or $1.83 a share, in the quarter a year ago.

Revenue rose 40 percent, to $138.1 billion, from $98.4 billion in the quarter a year ago.

Excluding an after-tax charge of $290 million tied to an Exxon Valdez court settlement, earnings were $11.97 billion, or $2.27 a share.

From ABC News – Money Beat…

For big oil, 2008 has been a very good year. How good? Well, it’s even better than last year, when the combined sales of the top five oil companies added up to $1.5 trillion — that’s greater than the GDP of Canada.

Since then, the price of crude has soared by as much as 50 percent while the price of natural gas has also taken off. And though oil has had a significant drop from its high of above $140 a barrel for the second quarter, the benefits of high oil are clearly noted in balance sheets of the world’s largest oil companies.

And if that doesn’t make your blood boil…

Massive Profits, High Gas Prices and $33 billion in Taxpayer Giveaways to Big Oil…

Over the next 5 years oil companies will receive $33 billion in taxpayer funded giveaways.According to the report set to be released tomorrow morning by the Friends of the Earth, (pdf) the $33 billion in taxpayer dollars will come to Big Oil through tax loopholes, royalty rollbacks and research and development subsidies.

I wrote a post a few months ago about Gas Prices, it also included tips on saving money at the pump. My friend and Contributing Editor to The Political Voices of Women, Pamela Lyn, wrote a very popular post on What is the Real Reason Gas Prices Are So High?

What do you think about Big Oil reporting record profits? It seems to me, there is really no reason for oil companies to do anything to help lower gas prices. Let me know what you think in comments.

When Vice President Dick Cheney declared in 2007 that he was a unique branch of government many of us laughed at his arrogance. But who’s laughing now.

If you’ve been following the discussions about the rising price of oil, (and who isn’t these days), it is clear that there is a fourth branch of the US government. Its name is “The Oil Industry” and this week it’s become pretty clear that it doesn’t matter who’s in control in Congress because what the oil industry wants, the oil industry gets.

While Congressional Republicans claim that they were only looking out for their constituencies’ with their repeated calls for expanding the oil industry’s drilling rights to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) as well to the coastlines of Florida and California, Congressional Democrats are asking why the oil industry is not drilling on the 68 million acres ( much of which was previously protected public land) which they are warehousing.

Meanwhile, the US Supreme Court reduced ExxonMobil’s punitive damages liability for the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska to to $500 million, one tenth of the jury’s original award of $5 billion.

And today, oil prices reached a new high of $140/barrel due to a weak US dollar and speculative trading.

Is there anyone who still wonders what was discussed during Vice President Dick Cheney’s 2001 Energy Task Force meetings?

The Fourth Branch of Government is in control.

In the following video Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) speaks in favor of the Responsible Federal Oil and Gas Lease Act aka the “Use It or Lose It” Act (H.R. 6251)

Could Gas Prices Drop To $2 a Gallon In 30 Days???

Also See:

Close Loopholes For Speculators and Gas Prices Will Go Down

So…What do you think? It seems crazy to me, that speculators only have to put 5 to 7% down on these oil deals, when at least 50% is required for stock transactions. It’s no wonder this is happening, with such a small investment bringing in huge profits.

If speculators are stopped, could gas prices get back to $2.00 a gallon? Do we need to get the speculators out of the oil business? It seems to me it a great place to start.

Sign a petition to stop off-shore drilling.

Roundup: Election Politics of Offshore Oil Drilling — by Catherine Morgan (cross-posted at The Care2 Election Blog)

Yesterday was my first post in a series on the gas crisis and offshore drilling. For that reason, I decided today’s political blog roundup will focus on the different opinions and reactions from around the blogosphere on this issue. We have some for drilling, and some against it. Let me know what you think in comments.

I’ll start with my personal opinion/theory regarding the relationship between high gas prices and the recent announcement by Bush/McCain to lift a ban on offshore drilling…

With regards to the gas & oil crisis — Does anyone else get the feeling we have been manipulated and duped AGAIN by the Bush administration? It’s all starting to feel really familiar.

1. Scare the American people (in this case with increasing gas prices).
2. Appear to be doing everything you can to get to the bottom of the crisis (go to OPEC, hold hearings, etc.)
3. Just when there appears to be nothing anyone can do…The Bush administration comes to the rescue and announces a plan to lift the ban on offshore oil drilling, because it’s the only way to help the American people and lower the price of gas.

Sound familiar?

What came first? The crisis or the solution?

I think with closer inspection (most likely after there is nothing anyone can do to change the outcome) – Revelations will come to light, that the Bush administration manipulated the “speculators” to cause an unnecessary but dramatic rise in gas/oil prices…For the ultimate purpose of lifting the ban on offshore drilling, and giving the brass ring to the oil companies.

Additionally, this is going to be the GOP “ace” in the hole, and “the perfect storm” for facilitating a third Bush presidency. I imagine it will go something like this…

The Democrats want to continue making you pay high gas prices during a weak economy…But the Republicans want to help you keep more of your hard earned money….bla, bla, bla.

The trouble is…there is no evidence that offshore drilling will help in the short or even long term. But that is not the “spin” you will be hearing from Bush/McCain. What at first appeared to me as a campaign killer for McCain, could actually be part of a carefully orchestrated campaign winner. Give McCain the experience, the Iraq war, and now the illusion of helping the economy (the number one issue of the American people). I shutter to think.

So, that’s what I think. However, not everyone agrees with me.

Shocking!

Well, not really.

But, I do want to take a look at all sides of this issue. Admittedly, mine is a very visceral reaction to the news of possible offshore drilling.

Let’s take a look at what other bloggers are saying about this. We’ll start with my good friend, Kay B. Day, from Covering Florida and Right Commentary, who has a totally different opinion from mine.

Earlier in the week I reached out to a couple of people to see what their take was on offshore drilling, and she was kind enough to send me her thoughts in an email. Although I don’t completely agree with her on this one…I must admit, she has a much more thought-out response to it. Here it is…

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