Drillgate: Internal Emails Shows Obama Team Lying to Public

If you’re the President of the United States or one of his political appointees and you’re ideologically opposed to new oil and natural gas development offshore, what do you do when the public registers its overwhelming support for new drilling in public opinion polls?

You dance, delay, and deceive. You speak melodious words about seeking the wisdom of the public in making these decisions and then ignore evidence of the public will when you get it, or worse, you hide it.

First came the dance.  In August 2008, after soaring gas prices and a dramatic shift in public opinion caused President Bush, Florida Governor Charlie Crist, and Republican presidential candidate John McCain to reverse their positions on offshore drilling, then-Senator Obama also changed. The Democratic presidential nominee reversed his own position and that of his party, saying he was open to offshore drilling as part of an overall energy plan.  The Democratic Congress followed a month later by quietly dropping the 25-year Congressional ban on offshore drilling.

Then came the delay. In January 2009, President Obama inherited a draft five year offshore drilling plan prepared by the outgoing Bush administration.  The plan was already receiving public comment as part of the elaborate rule making process followed by federal agencies.  Ken Salazar, Obama’s new Secretary of Interior, determined the decision about new offshore drilling was so important that he ordered a six-month extension to the comment period.

Third comes the dishonesty.

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Tags: American Solutions, Department of Interior, Drillgate, FOIA, Ken Salazar
Posted Feb 9th 2010 at 6:37 am in Congress, Environment, News, Obama, Politics | 72358200 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/vhaley/2010/02/09/drillgate-internal-emails-shows-obama-team-lying-to-public/Drillgate%3A+Internal+Emails+Shows+Obama+Team+Lying+to+Public2010-02-09+14%3A37%3A37Vince+Haley

Politics California Style: Nancy Pelosi and Henry Waxman

The success of the Chicago-style politics of Dick Durbin, Rahm Emmanuel and Barack Obama, characterized by brass knuckles, intense bullying, finger pointing and public attacks has been mesmerizing.  Meanwhile, very  little attention has been focused on the California-style politics of obfuscation and intimidation practiced by Nancy Pelosi and her sidekick, Henry Waxman.  Ignoring California-style politics is a mistake: these guys are good!

The art of obfuscation is central to California-style politics.  Think back on Speaker Pelosi’s byzantine explanation of why she called career CIA employees liars.  Incomprehensible, deliberately vague misdirection characterizes the California-style of politics.  Never be precise; never say what you mean, and certainly, never let facts interfere with the spin.

Cumbersome, incoherent  legislation is another example of obfuscation, California-style: thousands of pages of  gobble-de-gook, the Stimulus, at 1000 pages, the Energy bill at 1100 pages and the Healthcare bill version #1 at 1300 pages and the latest House healthcare bill at a whopping 1990 pages.

Pelosi seems to have assembled these monstrosities so that few in Congress can read the legislation in its entirety before she calls the vote.   Deceptive executive summaries, with left wing talking points, attached to these gargantuan documents are yet another form of obfuscation.

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Tags: Barack Obama, California, California Bay, Congress, Department of Commerce
Posted Nov 19th 2009 at 11:17 am in Congress, Politics | 3359065 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/ldoan/2009/11/19/politics-california-style-nancy-pelosi-and-henry-waxman/Politics+California+Style%3A+Nancy+Pelosi+and+Henry+Waxman2009-11-19+18%3A17%3A57Lurita+Doan