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Pelosi Says Open To House Vote On Offshore Drilling
WASHINGTON - House Republican Leader John Boehner on Tuesday urged House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to call lawmakers back into session to pass a bill expanding drilling in federal waters, now that she was willing to permit a vote on such a measure.
Reversing her position, Pelosi said she was willing to schedule a vote in the House of Representatives on legislation to expand offshore drilling, if the bill addressed other energy issues, such as extending tax credits for solar and wind energy and releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
"They (Republican lawmakers and President George W. Bush) have this thing that says drill offshore in the protected areas," Pelosi said Monday night in an interview on "Larry King Live."
"Well, we can do that. We can have a vote on that. But it has to be part of something that says we want to bring immediate relief to the public and not just a hoax on them," she said.
Pelosi says expanding offshore drilling alone is not a solution, because it would take years to develop the supplies and bring them to market.
"If Speaker Pelosi is truly sincere about having a vote on deep ocean oil and gas drilling to help bring down fuel costs, she should use her power as Speaker to call Congress back into session immediately and schedule a vote" on such a bill, Boehner said.
House Republicans have been pushing for a vote on offshore drilling, but Pelosi has blocked their efforts. To press their point, Republicans objected to the House adjourning for its 5-week summer recess and have returned to the chamber almost daily to make speeches with the TV cameras off on the need for drilling legislation.
Pelosi's new position mirrors that of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, who says he now could support legislation boosting offshore drilling, if the bill helped solve other U.S. energy problems.
As the November election approaches, Democrats are moving closer to the views of the American public on expanded offshore drilling, which polls show a majority of voters favor.
Bush on Tuesday again called on Congress to end its offshore drilling ban, which has been in place since the early 1980s. Bush lifted a similar presidential prohibition last month.
A bipartisan Senate bill, which could become the vehicle for moving several energy initiatives through Congress when lawmakers return September 8 from their summer vacation, would only allow drilling 50 miles beyond the shorelines of Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Editing by Walter Bagley
© 2008 Reuters



73 Comments so far
Show Allhow about opening a vote on impeachment, you treasonous skank?
no, that would be the people's business. i keep forgetting you don't work for us.
I'm trying to become a sophisticated political realist and pragmatist, instead of naïve and stoopit like I usually am.
So how's this?:
The REAL significance of this development is that Pelosi put offshore drilling back ON the table! This is crucial proof that she's just as capable of putting things ON the table as she is in taking them OFF the table!
So we MUST vote for Obama and tirelessly work to keep pressure on him and Pelosi to put OTHER things back ON the table! That's how politics really works, ya know.
____________________
How'd I do? :?:
Support the Green Party. They need that 5%.
"Green support a holistic approach to justice...recognizing that environmental justice, social justice, and economic justice depend on and support each other." - Green Party Environmental Justice platform
http://www.youtube.com/user/GreenProgress
Is there anything Obama won't reverse himself on? Pelosi doesn't surprise me; she's a Republican at heart. Or rather, she's a politician of the Unitary Party to the core. And so, apparently, is Obama. What is wrong with these people? They hold fast to no drilling for a few weeks, just long enough for us to start to relax a bit, to say to ourselves, 'well, at least our coasts are safe, that's one small thing we can be thankful for in this hideous morass of ecological insanity we live with' -- and then BOOM! I get up on Aug 13 and read, Pelosi and Obama willing to give in on offshore drilling. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE? Are they morons? Zombies? Is someone blackmailing them? Have their phones been tapped and unsavory secrets about them discovered, and their arms being twisted? Is this the true payoff of Bush's illegal wiretapping program? Or are they being bought off? Are enormous amounts of cash being dangled in front of them to buy their complicity? Or is it really just as simple as power in return for caving in?
I feel sick. I've felt sick for the past 7+ years and I was looking forward to not having to feel sick anymore. Now I know that's not going to happen.
They just represent the Big Oil companies. And with a complicit media and idiotic public, voila! Big Oil can keep enriching themselves off our taxes and the environment.
Yes - come back and vote NOW. That way these rigs will come online Aug. 2018 instead of Sep. 2018. What a bunch of dorks.
Little Bro, the mistake you make (well-meaning as it is) is believing that these scumbags are AT ALL responsive to public
pressure.
Now, if you have a few billion dollars hanging around that you want to contribute to the cause, you might just be able to buy an audience with them, though.....
Little Bro:
"So we MUST vote for Obama and tirelessly work to keep pressure on him ..."
And how do you propose we do that?
So, where's the opposition in opposition party? Can Democrats not take any stand and hold it? Is it too risky? Do they not understand they risk alienating the whole left-leaning component of the party? Do they not realize how many of us are holding on by a thread to the Democratic base? Do they think we're marginal?
Drilling is a non-solution to the problems facing us. In fact, it digs us in deeper. This is science. Opposing it was right in the first place, and is still right. What legitimate excuse is there for reversing this position?
NEWS ALERT (AP)-
Independent Federal investigators have uncovered a Republican plot where they have been putting a little unknown additive into the drinking water of Democrats that causes them to behave like craven, spineless, cowardly and capitulating candy asses.
Once discovered, Democrats reportedly objected to having the additive removed from their drinking water on the grounds that it would impede the good bipartisan work the Congress has been doing for the people.
The Democratic party should change its name to "The Soft Machine". It is far more accurate and sounds slightly sinister and obscene. It also invokes images of weakness and cowardice. Members of The Soft Machine, like the Republicans, have (in the years since Bill Clinton) discovered the pleasures of conspicuous consumption, thinking about all their money, most of it made unscrupulously, and the spine tingling and sensational thrill of screwing over all the suckers, aka the American people.
I just noticed that in the photo above, Pelosi looks more and more like the madam of the Mustang Ranch Brothel in Nevada - Hairy Reid territory.
I'm pretty sure Lil Bro was cranking up the sarcasm knob, but he can speak for himself.
I'd like to hear more about these 'polls' that supposedly show 'a majority of voters favor expanded offshore drilling' to paraphrase. How was the question framed? I can see several ways the 'majority' could be manipulated by a push poll question to make offshore drilling appealable in the objective sense--to the 'majority' of idiots out there anyway. And who commissioned and paid for the polls?
Polls, as conducted today are right up with Mark Twain's famous comment about 'lies, damn lies, and statistics'.
Pelosi, guess she just can't use the N word, (NO), to Bush. This is nothing but a large access land grab in the form of long term leases to the oil companies when they already have so much unused.
The Dems should be called the Charlie Browns. Everytime he gets a chance to kick a field goal, Lucy pulls the ball away and Charlie lands on his arse. Yet he keeps thinking, "this time she won't pull the ball away". Yet she always does.
but, but, but Kucinich is a great Democrat!
(Democratic voters are so incredibly moronic.)
little brother - I got a great laugh. Imagined a Sesame Street routine with Cookie Monster showing them how to put things ON the table and OFF the table.
Little Bro,
"How'd I do? :?:"
Not very convincing. You need a committee hearing and/or commission before putting things on or off the table.
"Pelosi's new position mirrors that of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, who says he now could support legislation boosting offshore drilling, if the bill helped solve other U.S. energy problems."
How exactly is adding 0.3 percent to the oil supply, twenty years from now, when the pumping will begin, going to "solve other US energy problems"? Even if the "change" can be believed, the math is a little fuzzy.
It is also interesting how the Democrats can find time for this vote in their busy schedule, when they can't even squeeze in an impeachment hearing. I wonder if the Greens would do things differently?
"Well, we can do that. We can have a vote on that. But it has to be part of something that says we want to bring immediate relief to the public and not just a hoax on them," she said.
So - she says it has to be part of something that SAYS WE WANT TO BRING IMMEDIATE RELIEF TO THE PUBLIC, and not just a hoax on them.
Sure, fool the people into thinking there's going to be immediate relief by caving to the drilling offshore, making sure they vote for her in November.
As I've said before, the whole high price at the pump was set up by bush and cheney with their cronies, during their visits to the middle east just before gas prices rose. Once they have the key (when congress lifts the ban) to all of the USA oil supplies, just as it did when bush lifted the presidential ban, the price of gas will go down again.
Nader or McKinney. That's our choice.
No more corporate Democrats; they differ, ultimately, in name only from the Republicans.
The "other energy problem" is that We the People want resources put into alternative energy studies and methods. That would require the big energy boys to spend some of their obscene profits in research and development.
Why do that when they can just drill, raise prices and profits?
Actually, with Jefferson, Franklin, Orwell and London spinning in their graves at about 37,000 RPM, we could harness that and provide almost limitless energy, here and abroad.
Hurray for OIL COMPANIES! They have hurt Americans at the pump to force them to support MORE OIL drilling and destroy our planet as the ONLY solution. We must drill, even if it takes 20 years to see anything from this. Destroy our planet because our wallets our hurting.. WAAAA! we can't drive our Big SUVS and buy all the cheap products we produce in China....WAAA!! no money, no vacation.
The Media diatribe of beating the drum for Drill...DRILL...DRILL, brainwashes the stupid American, self-centered idiots that live here.
Drill until you can't live anymore, stupid idiots. Don't force us to move toward renewables.
DUMB AND DUMBER, America the dumbest!
We have only one political party in this country, unless you are a sap. They work together, one wing is the "opposition" which gives the other wing, the Republicans everything they want, and more. The work together like a hand in a glove.
They create the illusion of being two parties by calling themselves by different names. Basically both Republicans and Democrats are in the pocket of the plutocracy/oligarchy. Both do their bidding.
The Democrats have a "Progressive Caucus" which is their cover. These progressives, which many are only progressive in name, bring up the policies that the majority reject (like ending war and single payer health care) but allows DPA (like the ones on CD) to claim, "SEE, Democrats aren't all bad! Vote for Obama!"
The true saps buy into this fairytale where the Republicans are the bad guys (the wolf) and the Democrats are the good girls (Little Red Riding Hoods) who are in bed with the wolves but somehow manage to "not do it." Never mind Little Red Riding Hood is more bow-legged than a range-riding cowboy. You aren't supposed to notice that.
The saps prop up the status quo and are the lubricant that keeps the machine operating smoothly.
To hell with the people, to hell with our wildlife and environment! Our so-called leaders care not for either the people or the land. Since its citizens continue to vote for the yahoos who now own the government destroying their country, I must conclude that they are simply of low intelligence and too lazy to act.
What do you mean that Pelosi and Obama softened their opposition to offshore drilling as CD titles it? These 2 hacks favor off shore drilling now and aren't in opposition to it at all. If Common Dreams prints misleading titles to articles like this it merely goes to show how glued they are to the Democratic Party. Very sad indeed.
wilmoor, do you really think gas prices will ever go back down? We've proven that we're willing to pay upwards of $4 a gallon. At best, they'll let it dip into the $3 range just to show that it made a dent. There is no gas crisis, except in the sense that the gas companies are colluding to fuck everybody else over. There's a reason the gas companies are posting record profits.
Not that the gas prices are a huge disaster in and of themselves, they're driving people to alternative (read: actually reasonable) forms of transportation instead of incredibly wasteful single-occupant vehicles. $4 is a pretty reasonable price for a gallon of gas, that's what other industrialized countries have been paying for years. It's just that we should be paying it in taxes (like they do) so that we can maintain the roads, fund public transit etc. instead of lining the pockets of corporations getting rich off raping the planet.
To those in California here's another good reason the vote for Cindy. Looks like Pickens and Pelosi are rigging the neoconservative machine of environmental destruction to line their own pockets. Enjoy
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?pageId=72225
Off-shore drilling will not produce a drop of oil for at least ten years. Meanwhile, the oil companies have millions of acres of land under lease that could be tapped immediately. This off-shore business is just a last-minute land grab by Bush and the spineless Congress's oil buddies. They're all bought and paid for.
did anyone see McSames speech yesterday? He started talking about Russa and ended with Drill Drill Drill, drill now. Even the Oil companies say it will be years before any oil will be available. By then we can have more solar and wind energy and won't need it. Until them have them drill on the land they already have!!!
We just keep getting sold down the river!
BTW, I saw an article on afterdowningstreet I believe, that reported that we EXPORT the same amount of oil that we Import!!! so we are goin to give them more to export and our prices will still be outrageous!
These treasonous 'lawgivers' sold the public to the TelCons over FISA in exchange for clean beaches. What happened? Did the Oilagarchs raise the bribe?
I read many posts on CD, and I'm amazed at how, at least on the Presidential level, people act like they do not have a choice seeing as Obama is a corporate Democrat out to serve corporate and special interest but most definitely will not represent the people in public policy.
How many people on CD truly support a progressive, environmental, ecological, justice party? Of course I'm talking about the Green Party. You have the golden goose, and you do not seem willing to pick up the eggs. If you are a progressive, why do you not support the Green Party? And by support I mean voting for it, financing it, volunteering, vocally / editorially showing your support for it.
It seems like the Green Party should bypass many traditional 'progressives' because they are stuck in 'Democrat' mode. Well I guess like all the other minorities in the Democrat Party, you must like abuse.
http://www.youtube.com/user/GreenProgress
Is that supposed to be "change" in the style of Obama?
The closer we get to the elections, the more Obama's "change" looks like the same old song of the elite that stifles this country and the world with it.
How far to the right does Obama and the Democratic Party have to go before the voting public says: "Enough!" -- and starts voting in their own best interests, instead of continuing to vote for the Democratic-Republican duopoly.
When is enough enough?
Yes, there *are* difference between the Democrats and the Republicans -- the Democratic Party will always be "slightly better" than the Republicans. But while that's going on, while people keep voting for the Democrats as "the lesser of the two evils," the political consensus keeps moving more and more to the right. *Radically* to the right over the past 40 years!
Yes, there *are* differences between the Democrats and the Republicans -- but not on the military-industrial complex, not on the Pentagon budget, not on the US policy towards Israel, not on the use of nuclear weapons as a military option, not on Iraq, not on Afghnaistan, not on Pakistan, not on Iran, not on a whole host of issues. ... The fact is, whatever differences there are between the Democrats and the Republicans are dwarfed by the *similarities* between the two parties -- the Democratic Party and the Republican Party being two wings of the US *Business* Party.
wsws.org
What do you propose WE do? What do you think about the Green Party?
http://www.youtube.com/user/GreenProgress
A law that allows offshore drilling will soon drive the price of oil down to $1/bbl under the estimated cost of a barrel of oil from an offshore well - so as to discouage American investment in offshore oil. But that "market" price would not be a sufficientally "reliable price" for justifying the huge investments needed. After all, the oil producers can always (while they still have the oil) undercut the price of offshore oil - or any alternative fuel for that matter. Without a government guarantee to buy the offshore oil at a price that ensures capital recovery plus a hefty profit, no oil company will risk the investmnt.
Of course, the idiots in Congress will soon realize that, and will then have to decide if socialism may just have to be a part of the energy solution.
T. Boone Pickens actually does envision government ("take or pay")guarantees (socialism) to make his 2 million sq mile wind farm plan economically feasible.
And when people begin to hear the facts, they will surely opt for government guarantees for wind farms over government guarantees for offshore drilling. Lazy wind mills are environmentally friendly. And we will never run out of wind.
So far however, I have heard no government support for such guarantees.
Of course the government could also renege on free trade, withdraw from the WTO, and keep all foreign oil out of the United States - that is if we leave it all up to the idiots.
So relax !!! The future actually looks a bit brighter.
Maybe, if we adopt some socialism to solve the energy problem, we will see its value on the issue of Universal Single Payer Health Care too.
We may learn to blend socialism and capitalism to the advantage of all.
Of course they do. There's nothing the Dems won't sell if they think it might help them in their grab for power.
The first thing to do is to stop voting Democrat.
All of the Dems strategies assume they can suck up to their big contributors, constantly act to support big money, and that all the rest of us will who get screwed by these policies will still continue to vote Democrat because there is no alternative.
If you want to change this, then stop voting Democrat.
Maybe it takes the Dems losing an election or two because everyone to the left of McCain, Obama and Attila the Hun stops voting for them, but if you want to change things, that's how.
"So we MUST vote for Obama and tirelessly work to keep pressure on him and Pelosi to put OTHER things back ON the table! That's how politics really works, ya know."
People have been 'pressuring' Pelosi to a) "end the Iraq war", and b) "Impeach" ever since Jan. 2007.
How's that working for ya?
The only practical result I've seen is Pelosi whining that she can't have protestors arreste for loitering for daring to come near her to try to 'pressure' her.
If you want to 'pressure' Pelosi, work for, contribute to and vote for Cindy Sheehan. There's only one thing these politicians understand, and that's the threat of losing an election.
If you want to 'pressure' Obama, you've already missed your chance. Your best chance was back in the primaries when he really needed some lefty Dem votes. Of course, Obama's reaction was to lie his rear off about everything and pretend to be a progressive just for long enough to steal those votes and run off to Exxon with the nomination in hand.
Note: One of the big powers of the Speaker is to control the agenda of the House. The Speaker has always had a great deal of power in deciding which bills to bring to the floor and which ones don't get considered.
Have you noticed that everything the Republicans want gets rushed to the floor for a vote? While something that the left wants, like impeachment, gets buried off to some useless committee to die?
Have you figured out yet who's side she's really on?
Can't vote on Impeachment...for we have more important things to do...let's give multi-national corporations the rights to all of 'mericas oil because they are sure taking care of us now....let's make sure they can continue on into the future...
Nancy Pelosi you are a traitor to the USofA along with many in the Congress....George Bush and his minions as well, and over at justice ha ha ha.
Is it time to awaken yet sheeople?
"Have you figured out yet who's side she's really on?"
Pelosi lives in a masion in one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in San Francisco. She is extremely wealthy. That's all you really need to know about Pelosi. It begins and ends with the money. This is now the principle motivation for almost all Soft Machine Party politicians. Goodbye Adlai Stevenson. Goodbye Paul Wellstone. Goodbye Eugene McCarthy. Bill Clinton assassinated all of you with one bullet. In your place comes the well dressed, well heeled yuppies with their noses buried in the Wall Street Journal, working all the angles, dreaming of being gentlemen versions of Jack Abramoff. The Democratic Party is dead and buried. Long Live The Soft Machine!
I'm sick, too . . . thoroughly and physically . . . of do nothing Democrats AND Repuglicans . . . neither of whom represent the best interests of citizens, common sense, and The Constitution. No matter who gets in, they support endless war, America dictates and the rest of the world had better follow . . . and oil profits, and profiteering in general . . . They sure know how to stick it to citizens . . .
The one thing none of them can escape is what they have done . . . which includes the deaths of over a million mostly innocent persons . . . plus nearly 5000 in the military, the untold numbers who have committed suicide and are maimed for life . . . and let's not forget every person who was murdered on 9/11.
Congress has the power to hold the criminals in our midst accountable . . . stop the insanity . . . and get the nation back on track.
Meanwhile, they are just making those who truly care sick . . .
The technology isn't there for an economy to run on anything but oil...wind and solar won't cut it at the moment...hydrogen looks promising...it MAY be here someday...lets pursue it
but in the meantime we have two pretty clear choices...rely on imported oil or drill our own...its not a hard question...what is wrong with drilling in ANWR or fifty miles offshore?
T. Boone is peddling Snake oil and so is Al Gore (you couldn't see through that clown when you found out his house gobbles more energy in a month than 30 of ours do in a year?...puh-leez)
Geez, and here I thought my sarcasm at the top of the comments was TOO obvious!
I had just come from another thread in which a Mature and Experienced realpolitiker wrote, more or less, that anyone who didn't understand that politics is an eternal process of taking a hundred steps back to take one step sideways is simply "naïve".
Of course, that's not what the writer THINKS he or she said, but that's what it amounts to-- the "naïve" label is true, though.
So, to substitute tedium for sarcasm: my job has a pathetically lame and ultra-weak union. The local reps and officers are truly sincere and dedicated, as far as I can tell. But I've witnessed numerous occasions where they'll talk about filing a "grievance" to this or that outrage. And if it's an issue of general importance, as opposed to grieving a disciplinary action for one person, inquiries about the status of the "grievance" will be met with non-progress reports: vague references to the grievance going up to "second-level"-- or the person being asked will promise to contact the union counsel to see where "we" are with it.
It doesn't take long before even a sympathetic skeptic realizes that there's NEVER a definable outcome, except that the "grievance" passes into a Phantom Zone of half-life and richochets around until everybody finally forgets about it and remains aggrieved.
I actually like these union reps, who seem like truly decent people who seriously believe in what they're doing, and are responsive to requests for help, even while acknowledging that the union doesn't have as much clout as they'd like. And they seem to faithfully attend conferences, have elections, get involved in contract negotiations. They certainly believe that the status quo is much better than it would be if there were no union at all, as reported in those little magazines and flyers cheerleading their achievements that show up in the mail every so often.
The parallel to the Democratic Party loyalists and lesser-evilists is exact.
Heres whats in it for Nancy....
Nancy Pelosi Invests In Energy Scheme and Water Grab By T. Boone Pickens
August 11, 2008
UPDATE 8/13/08 9:28 AM While the media continues to ignore this issue, the blogosphere is starting to pick up on it and get the word out! What we are witnessing my friends is the new media burying the old media!! KEEP COMING HERE to read more!
UPDATE 8/12/08 2:16 PPM
The initial offering may have been only 22,000 or so shares, but according to a Yahoo news item: Item 8.01. Other Events.
On June 19, 2007, the Company issued a press release announcing that the underwriters of the Company's initial public offering have elected to exercise in full their option to purchase an additional 1,500,000 shares of the Company's common stock to cover over-allotments. A copy of the press release is attached as Exhibit 99.1 to this report and is incorporated herein by reference.
This means that Pelosi could have purchased around 20,000 shares at $3.86, or $50,000 to $100,000 worth, which are now worth 300% more than their original value.
Nancy Pelosi says that she is trying to save the planet and prevent global warming, but the reality is that, according to disclosure statements, in May 2007 she invested in T. Boone Picken's clean energy fuels corp., CLNE, which is the sole sponsor of a proposal in California to funnel $5 billion in state funds and $5 billion in Federal funs to this corporation which will indirectly help them create a giant wind farm in the Texas panhandle.
An overlooked story in November of 2007 shows that the T. Boone Pickens plan involves the private control of water, which Pickens wants to be able to sell to big cities via giant water pipelines which will be built on land seized under eminent domain.
How did he do this? He did this by pushing through a "water district" which consists of only 8 acres of land and then applying eminent domain to expand that district and seize land from local ranchers which, in the end, puts vital water resources under his private control.
The Sierra Club, which you might think has an opinion that means something to Nancy Pelosi who just wants to "save the world", had this to say, "We have real concerns about private control of water," said Ken Kramer, director of the Texas Sierra Club. "Water is a resource, yet in some respects it is a commodity. It's as essential to human life as air. That puts water in a different class."
Pickens plans to sell 200,000 acre-feet from parched West Texas Staked Plains annually. His plan is opposed by water policy planners as economically infeasible. This extensive extraction will affect natural spring flows and the rural Texas Panhandle communities that depend on that water. It will also adversely affect family farming and sustainable development from Texas to South Dakota, according to opponents.
Pickens needs money and he has not been able to find investors to pay for a $110 Billion Bond he wants his new "water authority" to issue, therefore he is piggy-backing the windmill plan on to the water infrastructure development plan to use the money obtained for the wind farms in order to pay for the water infrastructure, which was his original goal.
While these plans were in the works as of November 2007, with the creation of this "water district", the energy company, CLNE, was offered for public investment in an IPO in May of 2007, an IPO that was not advertised, but which resulted in Nancy Pelosi quickly jumping on board. Nancy Pelosi Purchased between $50,000-$100,000 in CLNE stock on May 25, 2007 apparently on it's initial public offering.
It is hard to tell if the water scheme is the device being used to seize the land or if the wind turbine scheme is the means by which he will fund the water scheme, but no matter what the case may be, Nancy Pelosi will personally profit from whatever he does as an investor.
Nancy Pelosi is one of the richest members of Congress with a net worth of over US$25 million, which comes primarily from investments a large portfolio of jointly owned San Francisco Bay Area real estate, and, now, of course, stocks in CLNE.
While the stock was initially offered at $14 and is now valued below that amount, the low of $10 in early July of this year is bouncing back, especially in light of ads by Pickens and growing consensus that the Pickens plan will gain support, especially if Pelosi is firmly behind it.
William R. Collier Jr. Upadaria@yahoo.com
The American Communicator
Of late, I've been spending too much energy on snide remarks and ironic observations of the current state of affairs in the U.S. in the naive hope that Obama would live up to his claim of bringing about change. I had long ago given up on neo-con republican Pelosi. I thought I would, in the end, vote for a democrat because I didn't have any other choice, that a vote for a third or fourth party candidate would only give the election to McCain. Now I have given up. McCain will probably win easily because Obama has caved to big money and corporate interests. It doesn't matter how I vote, Maybe I was too naive to think that I might make a difference. Sorry about that. I cannot in good conscience vote for either of the republican or democrat candidate. In fact, now I feel, perhaps too late, that I should become more involved, more active, as I once was, decades ago, and do all I can to see these people committed to destroying our country in favor of their own pocketbooks are not elected. People who care, if there are any left, should do likewise. Our forefathers reached a point where the only choice they felt they had was revolution. Maybe we need to examine their thinking more closely and act appropriately.
Quality Time
I hear you and I echo your sad reflections upon the sorry state of our once-great country and our apathetic, intensely and purposely ignorant fellow country-men. It's sad to contemplate the sacrifice and the courage of the founding fathers to create this country in the face of overwhelming odds just so we could end up like this. Turn on any "news" channel or web-site, the big discussions are on Britney Spears' and John Edwards' respective genitalia and what they've been doing with them respectively.
It's all too much to think about without wanting to either end it all or start a revolution. But an army of 100 or so revolutionaries would be easy fodder for Blackwater while the rest of America is glued to the TV wondering who the next American Idol is going to be.
CosmonautZero - do I believe gas prices will come down? Sure, when pigs fly.
What I do believe is that when "they" get the ban lifted on off-shore drilling, and state's governors say "NO" to drilling off their shores, as CA and OR Governors have already said, there'll be a mandate taking the decision out of the states control, because that little "goodie" saying it would be left to the governors whether or not they'd allow drilling off their coasts, was just one more of those smoke and mirror tricks they're so good with. They've never intended to leave it up to the states.
Money MoNEY MONEY
What you are suprised this is what it all comes down to? Folks the top 1% of this country control more than the rest of us combined....
But, we are all to ignorant to do anything about it
we can only vote for a dem or repub for what other choice is there
oil is what the world runs on wind and solar won't cut it, maybe Hydrogen in the future
the feds are going to start making the rules and laws for the states
DEFEATISTS LOSERS USELESS WHINEY SPOILED IGNORANT
GOOD FOR AND CARE ABOUT NOTHINGs
Continue to take all that is put upon you then cry and die
Is it time yet to awaken?