Lying Liars: Obama for America Blames High Oil Prices on Big Oil Execs and Lobbyists
Watch out. Obama for America is back.
The latest message from OfA campaign manager, Jim Messina, is that high oil prices are not Obama’s fault. Messina busies himself by stirring up a dust cloud over the oil problem, one observer comments. The price of gasoline is staring the campaign in the face and the polls are revealing it as the weakness it cannot answer.
So, what does a good campaign manager like Messina do? Blame the other guys.
Not only are the oil prices too damn high but five greedy Big Oil executives — who made “$36 billion in profits in the first quarter of 2011 alone” — were summoned to testify before Congress this week. How dare they make money? Don’t they know capitalism is dead?
Messina says the execs were called onto the carpet to justify the $4 billion in “tax giveaways” they got this year: “While the oil industry has been earning billions in profits, gas prices have surpassed $4 a gallon in some parts of the country.”
Although Senate Democrats, he writes, plan to strip Big Oil of these “giveaways,” their efforts will most likely be “blocked by a minority of senators.”
Funny how that could happen. Don’t the Dems still control the Senate? Does this mean all Dems are NOT on board?
Regardless, Messina says, even if it did pass in the Senate, the legislation will not make it out of the Republican-controlled House to the President’s desk.
Last month, Dan Froomkin commented at HuffPo: “Now that the House is controlled by the GOP, Obama’s proposal [to cut $4 billion a year in tax breaks for Big Oil] is deader than an oil-soaked pelican.”
Of course there’s more. Messina writes the oil companies “spent more than $145 million last year on nearly 800 lobbyists whose job is to defeat bills like this one.”
It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that some of those Senate Dems not on board with passing the legislation are friendly with a couple of those “nearly 800 lobbyists.”
What about Obama for America. Doesn’t it look forward to cashing in on Big Oil’s lobbyist money?
Messina writes: “Our campaign doesn’t take money from Washington lobbyists or special interest PACs. This organization will be a living example of doing politics a different way — from the bottom up; of, by, and for ordinary people.”
REALLY?
In March 2008, Obama-friendly FactCheck.org responded to an OfA campaign ad in which Obama claimed “I don’t take money from oil companies or Washington lobbyists, and I won’t let them block change anymore.”
FactCheck.org writes (with emphasis added): “It’s true that Obama doesn’t take money directly from oil companies, but then, no presidential, House or Senate candidate does. They can’t: Corporations have been prohibited from contributing directly to federal candidates since the Tillman Act became law in 1907. … Obama has, however, accepted more than $213,000 in contributions from individuals who work for, or whose spouses work for, companies in the oil and gas industry.”
“In addition,” FactCheck.org writes, “two oil industry executives are bundling money for Obama – drumming up contributions from individuals and turning them over to the campaign. George Kaiser, the chairman of Oklahoma-based Kaiser-Francis Oil Co., ranks 68th on the Forbes list of world billionaires. He’s listed on Obama’s Web site as raising between $50,000 and $100,000 for the candidate. Robert Cavnar is president and CEO of Milagro Exploration LLC, an oil exploration and production company. He’s named as a bundler in the same category as Kaiser.”
OpenSecrets.org reports that Obama “received $884,000 from the oil and gas industry during the 2008 campaign, more than any other lawmaker except his Republican opponent, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).”
What about that ee-vil BP? Yuppers! Obama took money from them, too.
Politifact reported in May 2010:
“During the 2008 election cycle, Obama was the largest recipient of BP’s largess; collecting $71,051 from BP employees (remember, Obama did not take any PAC money). By comparison, McCain, got $36,649 from BP. So Obama held a sizable edge in contributions from BP, even though in general BP sent more money to Republican candidates than Democrats that election cycle.
“In all, the Obama campaign took in about $750 million. So while $71,051 from BP employees is nothing to scoff at, it was a relative drop in the bucket to his campaign coffers.”
FactCheck.org concludes, “We’ve noted before that Obama’s policy of not taking money from lobbyists is a bit of hair-splitting. It’s true that he doesn’t accept contributions from individuals who are registered to lobby the federal government. But he does take money from their spouses and from other individuals at firms where lobbyists work. And some of his bigger fundraisers were registered lobbyists until they signed on with the Obama campaign.
“Even the campaign has acknowledged that this policy is flawed. ‘It isn’t a perfect solution to the problem and it isn’t even a perfect symbol,’ Obama spokesman Bill Burton has said.”
Messina includes a disclaimer: “I’d like to be able to say with certainty that you can do something to help pass this bill, but the fact is that at this stage we may not be able to affect the outcome of next week’s vote. … What we can do is build a campaign that will keep a spotlight on issues like this and the fundamental reasons why Washington doesn’t work.”
Basically, this is a surrender message to the faithful.
It’s not Obama’s fault. Blame the greedy oil execs. Blame the greedy lobbyists. Just don’t blame Obama — or his Big Oil connections.
Messina REALLY wants to impress on Obots that Obama is not to blame for the nearly $4-per-gallon gasoline at the pump. He quotes Obama: “Instead of subsidizing yesterday’s energy sources, we need to invest in tomorrow’s.”
Windmills in New York City and Detroit and Chicago anyone?
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Posted on May 14, 2011, in Barack Obama and tagged Barack Obama, Big Oil, gasoline, Obama for America, oil industry, politics, RBO. Bookmark the permalink. 8 Comments.
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When you have a distinct agenda to collapse Western culture, and have been dragged into the light, the “fangs” come out. Liberal progressives have gone from early 20th century Marxists’ to ’60′s SDS war protestors and agitators, to suit and tie’s, liberal progressive politicians, but the deception is the same. “Change the image to complete the goal” [communist, ex-Green Job Czar, Van Jones].
Energy prices have risen as a direct result of many of Comrade Obama’s prosperity-destroying energy and environmental policies, as I’m sure the GOP will point out over the next 18 months.
If one wants to discuss revenue generated within the price structure of gasoline and diesel, surely one must touch on the taxpayer wealth that is confiscated in the form of federal and state fuel taxes… this figure is far greater than what the oil companies are making on a per gallon basis.
Food prices, especially grains, are skyrocketing due to the intelligentsia’s contiued clinging to the climate change redistribution and de-development scheme. People across the globe will be hungry while the self-destructive developed world turns food into biofuel. Tyrannical governments force us all to “go green”, and children are going to go hungry… this is immoral and unnecessary.
Oh yes he’s a real piece of work, it will take all our courage and conviction to keep this little weasel at bay,the funny part is the morons that want this commie/marxist bull,will be the first ones to squeal the loudest when food,medicine,water,energy,healthcare and housing are rationed by his exe orders, he will castrate congress, ignore the supreme court or have it so benign,that it’s worthless.
This man must have been the weenie in the class that always cried foul no matter what. POTUS personifies victim mentality.
The last redistributionist, totally ‘green’ leader that I can remember was Pol Pot. He emptied the cities and made everybody go out and work in the fields. If you happened to need glasses, you were summarily shot. It’s absolutely amazing how Americans refuse to heed history in order to learn just what these people are about.
[It] is also a communist method, room 101, to annoy the hungry people of the world to come down on the greedy inhumanitarian Americans who drive [our] Humvees with the global food supply while [they] starve. You don’t suppose [that's] just a coincidence, do you? No, I didn’t think so.
Crying and screaming injustice is one of the strategies, mcnorman, that Islam uses when [they] are in a minority population. When a population of Islam reaches 5% or more, the demands of [their] non-assimilating, “Complete Systems of Life,” become aggressive. At 10%, Shariah law is the law of their “System,” infidels are not permitted within their armed borders, and to fraternize with an infidel or to become an “apostate,” [non Muslim] is a death sentance. Allah will hold all Muslims in contempt and are warned in the Qur’an, good Muslims allowing non-Muslims to exist, [peacefully or by force] anyplace in the world, will burn in the fires of hell. Our Marxstream media is keeping a blanket of silence about the slaughter of Jews and Christians that is currently taking place in the Mideast; and like “Cordoba,” in Spain, the Churches and Synagogs are being burned to allow foundations for the construction of Islamic “victory” Mosques, much like Park51 is being arranged overlooking and within laughing distance of 911.
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