When a Democratic Senator takes the Democratic president's administration to task for misleading the public in regards to offshore drilling and the limited permits the Obama administration is really allowing, then that Democratic president has a problem.
Two videos below, via Hot Air, with text below each video. Keep in mind, this isn't a conservative trying to make Obama look bad, this is a Democratic Senator, Mary Landrieu (D-LA), calling them out on their lies.
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) Corrects Administration And Democrat Talking Points On Drilling Permits
I want to say that, despite the Administration’s arguments that are laid out, that you all are all guns blaring and green lights for drilling, the facts that I checked, and if you disagree tell me, only 21 permits for offshore drilling have been issued by this date. In 2010 there were 32 permits. I just left the annual conference of LOGA, which is Louisiana Oil and Gas Association, Mr. Secretary, yesterday. They are beside themselves with not being able to get their permits processed and to answer you, Mr. Franken, let me just say Exxon and Shell may be making record profits but according to a study recently done by the Greater New Orleans, Inc., 41% of our oil and gas independent operators and service companies, I’m not talking about Exxon and Shell that have operations all over the world, I’m talking about companies in the Gulf Coast, in Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. Let me tell you what the studies show about their profits: 41% of them are not making a profit at all, 70% have lost significant cash reserves, 46 have moved operations away from the Gulf, and 82% of business owners have lost personal savings as a result of this slow down.
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) Sets Salazar Straight On Driling
Secretary Of The Interior Ken Salazar: Here, Here’s, Mary, Senator Landrieu, the fact of the matter is, that there are tens, and I think it’s, maybe it’s, it is, it is over f – thirty, forty million acres that we just did in the one lease sale, there’s more that will be leased. The lease sale that I did in New Orleans in December, I think was 38 million acres, about 2 million acres of it was leased. So when you make available in one lease sale tens of millions of acres and you have some of it that’s bid on, the companies that are going to where they know the oil and gas is. So the fact is we are moving forward with a very robust OSC leasing program.
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA): We are never going to get, in my view Mr. Chairman, we’re never going to get clear as long as we continue to talk around and throw statistics out that try to make both sides look good. I’m not trying to make you look any worse, I’m just trying to get the facts out to the public. When you speak you get people thinking that we’re drilling everywhere, onshore and offshore, and the facts are not – don’t justify that. You know that 98% of our offshore is limited to drilling, we can’t even explore there. We’re talking about what we’re drilling within that 2%.
Landrieu is not toeing the party line but she is attempting to represent her constituents which is what she was elected to do.
Some may disagree with her on many social issues as I do, but Landrieu deserves kudos for stepping out on a limb that is not popular with Democrats and Liberals or Barack Obama, but is urgent for her electorate.
[Update] Democrats are growing "anxious" about gas prices.
