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Rusty & FiredUp Missouri Continue Alienate African Americans Political Strategy

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After Politico reported that “President Barack Obama is intervening in a Senate fight over the Keystone XL oil pipeline and personally lobbying Democrats to reject an amendment calling for its construction,” Bloomberg News added, “Ahead of a vote . . . the president has made personal appeals to Democrats from Midwestern states, where many of the jobs would be created . . . .” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney confirmed President Obama’s lobbying efforts against the Keystone XL pipeline to reporters at his press briefing yesterday.

The Wall Street Journal wrote last night, “Every Republican who voted supported the proposal, and 11 Democrats joined them, despite last-minute lobbying from President Barack Obama, called senators personally to persuade them it was ‘irresponsible.’ . . . Republican lawmakers and the Business Roundtable were quick to denounce the rejection of the measure. Sen. Mitch McConnell, the chamber’s Republican leader, pinned the blame on Mr. Obama.”

Clearly, the president’s lobbying of Democrats to vote against creating jobs and securing American energy worked, since the amendment fell just short of the 60 votes needed for approval. Politico notes, “Sen. Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) wryly congratulated Obama on his lobbying efforts. ‘That was very strong work by President Obama himself, making personal calls to Democrats,’ Lugar said. ‘He understood that a majority of the American public and a majority at least of the Senate are strongly in favor of this project.’”

It’s amazing that the President continues to oppose a project that even labor unions argue would create tens of thousands of American jobs. And at a time of serious concerns about the Middle East, Keystone XL would enhance American energy security by allowing better access to domestic oil and bringing more oil from our friends and allies in Canada.

Politico explains the upshot of the vote yesterday: “Thursday’s squeaker of a Senate vote on the Keystone XL pipeline serves both as a warning to President Barack Obama that a majority of both houses of Congress supports the pipeline and as encouragement to Republicans to keep pushing the issue. Obama had personally lobbied Senate Democrats with phone calls urging them to oppose an amendment to the highway bill that would fast-track the Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline. And as it turned out, he needed every bit of their help. In all, 11 Democrats joined 45 Republicans to support the pipeline. Only the fact that 60 votes were needed for passage saved the White House from an embarrassing defeat.”

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Politicmo: McCaskill bucks White House on Keystone

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Last night, just for grins, I decided to check one last time to see if the margins had inched up a bit. But I was shocked – shocked, I tell you – to see that the questions had been swapped but the winning percentage had remained in the same spot. If you can’t get your folks to show up and vote to attack workers and support your union busting ideas, what else can you do? Oh wait, when all else fails, manipulate the data. Gotcha. Read more…

First, there’s degree-gate. Next is tornado-gate. Now this?

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Really? A voice for limited government?

Sen. Kit Bond: “The Senate Financial Rescue Bill Includes a Host of Taxpayer Protections”

Sen. Kit Bond: “Rescue for Fannie and Freddie Should Protect Taxpayers Before Wall Street Shareholders”

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EXCLUSIVE: KIT BOND NOT SEEKING RE-ELECTION IN 2010

HispanicBusness.com: Endorsements sometimes fail to help Romney

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As recently as 2011, McCaskill opposed Republican efforts to open up additional offshore areas to exploration, and she has called proposals for domestic drilling in Alaska’s ANWR “bogus.” In 2008, she voted against an amendment that would allow energy exploration in ANWR and give individual states the ability to authorize drilling off their coasts.

Unfortunately, the Obama administration’s own Energy Department doesn’t see relief in sight. According to the Los Angeles Times, “[T]he Energy Department has boosted its pump-price predictions for the peak driving season, defined as April through September, and for the full year. Peak prices will average $3.925 for a gallon of regular gasoline in the peak driving season, 5.7% higher than during last year’s peak season and up from February’s forecast of $3.62 during the peak months, according to the agency’s monthly Short-term Energy Outlook. The high is projected to be $3.96 in May. If national prices average just south of $4 a gallon during the peak season, then there will be times when the U.S. average probably will exceed $4. And California drivers can expect to pay a lot more because of the state’s cleaner-burning type of gasoline.” Little wonder, then, that The Wall Street Journal headlines a story today, “With Gas Prices Rising, Obama Feels Heat.”

Recall that just a month ago, the president was travelling around the country declaring, “$40 can make all the difference in the world.” He said at one point if the payroll tax cut were not renewed, “This makes a difference in the lives of folks all across the country in very important ways…  It would be $40 less for groceries to feed your kids; it would be $40 less for the medications you depend on; $40 less to cover bills and the rent; $40 less to take care of an elder parent, or to donate to a church or a charity.”

But what about now when American families are seeing that extra $40 leave their wallets when they visit the gas station? Does President Obama still believe “People can’t afford losing $40 . . . . Not right now”?

Speaking on the Senate floor this morning, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said, “For the President’s part, he often says that Americans should judge him not only by his words but on his deeds. So when it comes to gas prices, I’ve pointed out that the President continues to limit offshore areas to energy production and is granting fewer leases on public land for oil drilling; has encouraged countries like Brazil to move forward with their own offshore drilling projects; continues to impose burdensome regulations on the domestic energy sector that will further drive up the cost of gasoline for the consumer; has repeatedly proposed raising taxes on the energy sector, which we all know would only drive up gas prices even higher and, finally, has flatly rejected the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline. All these things help drive up the cost of gas and increase our dependence on foreign oil. So the President simply can’t claim to have a comprehensive approach to energy, because he doesn’t. And any time he says he does, the American people should remember one word: Keystone.”

Related:

Gas Prices Rise For 27 Straight Days; Obama’s Answer? Raise Taxes On American Energy Companie

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Hat tip:CrossroadsGPSChannel

Weekly Standard: Claire McCaskill Backtracking on Obamacare Mandate

McCaskill: “I Am Not a Reliable Vote For His (Obama’s) Administration”; Voted 98% With Obama in 2010

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ABC reports, “President Obama’s Department of Energy helped finance several green energy companies that later fell into bankruptcy — but not before the firms doled out six-figure bonuses and payouts to top executives, a Center for Public Integrity and ABC News investigation found

“Take, for instance, Beacon Power Corp., the second recipient of an Energy Department loan guarantee in 2009. In March 2010, the Massachusetts energy storage company paid cash bonuses of $259,285 to three executives in part due to progress made on the $43 million energy loan, Securities and Exchange Commission records show. Last October, Beacon Power filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

“EnerDel, maker of lithium-ion battery systems, landed a $118.5 million energy grant in August 2009. About one-and-a-half years later, Vice President Joe Biden toured a company plant in Indiana and heralded its taxpayer-supported expansion as one of the ‘100 Recovery Act Projects That Are Changing America.’ Two months after Biden’s visit, EnerDel corporate parent Ener1 paid $725,000 in bonuses to three executives — including $450,000 to then-CEO Charles Gassenheimer, who led Biden on the tour. This January, Ener1 filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

“At least two other firms that benefited from Energy Department funding — one a $500,000 grant, the other a $535 million loan guarantee — handed out hefty payouts to executives and later went bankrupt.”

ABC points out, “Solyndra, bankruptcy records show, was among the companies doling out thousands in executive payments — in its case, just months prior to its late August collapse and early September bankruptcy. As a criminal investigation and House inquiry continue into the company’s implosion, the government must navigate bankruptcy proceedings in hopes of recovering a piece of its $535 million investment. . . . One company executive said the Energy Department explicitly allows for federal funds to be used to pay out executive bonuses. . . . Solyndra executives, bankruptcy records show, pocketed thousands in payments just months before the company dismissed 1,100 workers. At least 17 company executives received two sets of payments — ranging from $37,000 to $60,000 per payment — on the same days in April and July 2011. The insider payments, reported last year in the San Jose Mercury News, came as the company catapulted toward bankruptcy in early September.”

Incredibly, ABC reports, “Beacon Power’s bonuses were specifically linked to executives’ progress in landing the company’s $43 million Energy Department loan guarantee in 2009. Securing the loan was among the measures used to establish how much executives would pocket in bonuses, company SEC filings show. ‘The DOE loan application was approved by the credit review board, making us the first public company and the second of 16 applicants to receive the commitment,’ the document notes.”

ABC summarizes, “At least six Energy Department loan and grant recipients — from electric car maker Fisker Automotive to electric-car battery maker A123 Systems to Colorado-based Abound Solar — have laid off workers or suffered financial woes. Those setbacks come on top of the companies that have already filed for bankruptcy.”

It’s amazing considering this story and all the previous ones of the failures of the Obama administration’s Energy Department pumping taxpayer money into Solyndra, Beacon Power, EnerDel, and others, and recalling that just last week, President Obama doubled down on his pledge to continue this type of spending. And yet the president has refused the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, which wouldn’t cost taxpayers a dime, and could put thousands of Americans to work right away.

As ABC noted, “To watchdogs, the pattern of firms awarding bonuses only to file for bankruptcy raises questions about how well the Energy Department chose its winners, and how thoroughly it kept an eye on them once selected. ‘Giving a bonus to the executives under these circumstances is rewarding failure with our money with no chance of getting it back,’ said Leslie Paige, spokeswoman for the nonpartisan Citizens Against Government Waste. ‘Taxpayers need some representation here. They didn’t really get it.’”

Related:

Yet Another Obama “Green Energy Investment” Lays Off Workers; WSJ: “Another Green Subsidy Favorite Goes Belly Up”

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Text of an email sent out this morning by a St. Louis County Republican committeeman:

Dear friends and constituents,

I need to write this email because of an unjust situation that has developed within our voting responsibility area.  Many of you already are aware of the confusion of the re-districting process since the first maps were vetoed by the governor and then sent to the state supreme court.  Most maps have now been resolved except for the state Senatorial boundaries which I am contacting you about.  A new commission (of 4 Dems. & 4 Repubs) was appointed by the governor.  That commission drew yet another map that moved Sen. Cunningham’s 7th district to the Kansas City area where she could not move to and is a majority Democrat Party locale. The four Republican members of the Commission caved like marshmallows to the four Democrat members and gave them whatever they wanted in other areas as well.  Was this an act of vengeance within their own party for the St.Louis area China hub, or resistance to Obamacare from Prop. C sponsored by Sen.Cunningham?  Or was it just poor leadership?

Whatever the motivation, please contact these commission members and let them know that they can do better and say no their map and yes to the previous judicial map.

Jean Paul Bradshaw II
Steve Ehlmann
Marc Ellinger
Nick Myers
Lowell Pearson
Lloyd Smith

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The AP reports today, “The price at the gas pump rose over the weekend and the nationwide average is nearing $3.80 a gallon. Oil is close to $107 per barrel because of tensions tied to Iran’s nuclear program. AAA says the national average for gasoline [rose] 2.6 cents since Friday, including a fractional gain on Monday. The price has risen for 27 straight days, to $3.77 a gallon.”

And the Detroit Free Press adds, “AAA Michigan says gasoline prices are up about 25 cents per gallon during the past week to a statewide average of $3.93. The auto club says today the average is about 40 cents per gallon higher than last year at this time.”

In an op-ed for the Bowling Green Daily News last week, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell wrote, “Kentuckians are paying an average of $3.69 per gallon at the pump now, and some predict we could very easily see that price go as high as $5 per gallon by this summer as demand ramps up to seasonal levels. Prices that high would be unprecedented and quite a jump from the average price of $1.85 per gallon just over three years ago, when President Barack Obama took office. But it’s no surprise this president doesn’t seem to recognize high gas prices as a problem or a pain in people’s wallets. When he first ran for president, he said he took no issue with record-high gas prices, only that he ‘would have preferred a gradual adjustment’ to get them there. And the man he appointed to be his Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu, once bragged, ‘Somehow, we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe.’ Well, they’re certainly on their way.”

Yet the Obama administration continues to stand in the way of more and cheaper American energy. He rejected the Keystone XL pipeline, which would have brought oil from Canada and helped move oil from North Dakota and Montana to the rest of the country. The pipeline also would have created tens of thousands of American jobs.

And now the president is calling for higher taxes on American energy producers. How this is supposed to lower gas prices create jobs is a mystery. Leader McConnell noted last week that “nobody” “can show me that raising taxes on American energy production will lower gas prices and create jobs.”

He continued, “[T]his is merely an attempt to deflect from his failed policies. Instead of returning again and again to tax hikes that increase consumers’ costs, the administration and its Democrat allies in Congress should open their eyes to the opportunity presented by the Keystone XL pipeline and the vast energy resources we have right here at home, and to the hundreds of thousands of jobs that opening them up could create.

If President Obama really wants to do something about American energy that could affect high gas prices, he could reject policies like raising taxes on American energy companies that make it harder to produce energy here in the United States and take positive steps like approving the Keystone XL pipeline.

Related:

Obama: “I Didn’t Overpromise,” But What About Stimulus?; Why The Delay On Keystone XL Which Costs Taxpayers Nothing?

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Hat tip:ForAmericaInc

Press release:

ForAmerica, the largest active online conservative organization, today launched an unprecedented social media campaign to educate voters in key Senate races for the 2012 cycle. Operation ObamaClone will educate voters on how U.S. Senators like Claire McCaskill have embraced President Obama’s failed policies including the Stimulus bill, ObamaCare, and other initiatives that have taken our country down the path to skyrocketing debt, increased job losses and Big Government expansion.

“Sen. Claire McCaskill has been cheering on President Obama and his destructive policies at every turn,” said ForAmerica Chairman L. Brent Bozell. “Missourians need to know how deeply into denial Sen. McCaskill has fallen when it comes to his worship of this failed president.”

At the new ForAmerica web site www.obamaclonemccaskill.com, Missouri voters will get valuable information about Sen. McCaskill’s record, his quotes and comments, press clippings, and videos illustrating how he has become an ObamaClone. ForAmerica’s campaign will utilize a cutting-edge social media effort, including online advertising, video and more, to keep Missourians informed about Sen. McCaskill.

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