Category: Energy (Page 3 of 6)
Excerpts from an article by Steve Benen
Remember the 2012 presidential campaign? It was just two years ago that Mitt Romney boasted that if he were elected president, he’d “get the unemployment rate down to 6 percent, perhaps a little lower” by the end of his first term in 2016.
Americans decided to re-elect President Obama instead. The unemployment dropped below 6 percent in September 2014, about two years ahead of Romney’s timeline.
It was around this time when Newt Gingrich vowed that if he were the president, he’d lower the price of gas to $2.50 a gallon. That was the threshold for success.
You know, by the standards set by Republicans two years ago, Obama sure is looking like a great success, isn’t he?
Indeed, in February 2012, when the average price for a gallon of gas was $4.25, the Georgia Republican said we’d already be paying $2.50 per gallon if it weren’t for the Obama administration overseeing “an anti-American energy government.” Gingrich added, “If you want $10 a gallon gasoline … Barack Obama should be your candidate.”
Just so we’re clear, I realize that it’s foolish to credit Obama alone for lowering gas prices – it’s not as if the White House can unilaterally control the price of a global commodity. Rather, the point is, Republicans established some pretty specific policy thresholds, and urged the public to take them seriously. And if we’re playing the game by GOP rules, Obama has some reasons to crow a bit.
As best as I can tell, there’s been no word from Romney or Gingrich on the latest developments on unemployment or gas prices.
Oops.
BREAKING: The House of Representatives just approved the Keystone XL pipeline, which scientists warn will mean “game over” for the planet. If built, KXL is expected to earn the Koch brothers $100 billion in profits, making them the wealthiest family in human history.
(Reuters) – The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives approved the Keystone XL pipeline on Friday, but a similar measure struggled to get enough support in the Senate and President Barack Obama indicated he might use his veto if the bill does get through Congress.
The legislation, approved by 252 votes to 161, circumvents the need for approval of TransCanada Corp’s (TRP.TO) $8 billion project by the Obama administration, which has been considering it for more than six years. No Republicans voted against the measure, while 31 Democrats voted for the bill.
It was the ninth time the House has passed a Keystone bill, and supporters were confident that this time the Senate would follow suit and pass its version.
It wasn’t long ago that coal executives were openly discussing their dream of Republicans seizing the White House and making Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe — who believes climate change is a “hoax” concocted by greedy scientists — the head of the EPA.
Coal companies provide a product that causes mercury poisoning, climate change and other environmental hazards. The increasingly profitable way of extracting it, mountaintop removal, the process by which a mountain is blown up and the coal beneath it is gathered with heavy cranes and machinery, is being blamed for poisoning waterways throughout Appalachia.
Now, they have a second chance. As dark money groups and SuperPACs backed by millions of dollars from the fossil fuel industry are propelling Republicans to a Senate majority, climate science-denying politicians are likely to seize control of key committee chairmanships, a coup for companies seeking to pollute the atmosphere with impunity. What’s more, Inhofe is slated to become chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee, with oversight of the EPA.
Take a look at how the U.S. Senate would likely change under GOP control..
Senate majority leader Harry Reid gave a hell of a speech in Congress about the agenda of the billionaire Koch brothers, carbon barons who are the prime beneficiaries of Citizens United, the Supreme Court case that ruled that corporate persons had the free speech right to engage in unlimited campaign finance spending.
1. The Kochs want to abolish Social Security.
“Documents and interviews unearthed in recent months by Brave New Foundation researchers illustrate a $28.4m Koch business that has manufactured 297 commentaries, 200 reports, 56 studies and six books distorting social security’s effectiveness and purpose.” Read more.
2. The Kochs want to eliminate minimum wage laws.
“According to Charles Koch, the U.S. needs to get rid of the minimum wage, which he counts as a major obstacle to economic growth.” Read more.
3. The Kochs are against extending emergency unemployment benefits.
“It causes employers to face higher taxes, too, which discourages them from hiring new employees.” Read more.
4. The Kochs spent $400 million on misleading attack ads in the last election cycle.
“A labyrinth of tax-exempt groups and limited-liability companies helps mask the sources of the money, much of which went to voter mobilization and television ads attacking President Obama and congressional Democrats, according to tax filings and campaign finance reports.” Read more.
5. The Kochs want to put insurance companies back in charge of your health care.
“In Louisiana, the Koch brother’s Americans for Prosperity was blasted for running anti-Obamacare ads featuring paid actors to play Louisiana residents telling “their” stories about how Obamacare had harmed them.” Read more.
6. The Kochs are against measures that would reduce the gap between the wages women and men earn for the same work.
“IWF-affiliated writers have argued that the gender gap in income exists because of women’s greater demand for flexibility, fewer hours, and less travel in their careers, rather than because of sexism.” Read more.
7. The Kochs want even more tax breaks for themselves.
“They are known for bankrolling conservative, Libertarian and Tea Party causes and became poster boys for corporate tax reform last year when an Obama Administration official suggested Koch is organized as an S Corp. and so pays no corporate level taxes.” Read more.
8. The Kochs made improper payments to win contracts in Africa, India and the Middle East. And they sold millions of dollars of equipment to Iran, a state sponsor of terrorism.
“Internal company records show that Koch Industries used its foreign subsidiary to sidestep a U.S. trade ban barring American companies from selling materials to Iran. Koch-Glitsch offices in Germany and Italy continued selling to Iran until as recently as 2007, the records show.” Read more.
9. The Kochs lobbied against recognition of formaldehyde as a cancer-causing carcinogen because it might be bad for their business.
“A prominent philanthropist, cancer survivor, and American businessman, David Koch, has given millions to the cause of cancer research, while his company—Koch Industries—has lobbied against formal recognition of formaldehyde as a carcinogen, The New Yorker reported in a piece published today.” Read more.
10. The Kochs rank as one of America’s most toxic air polluters.
11.The Kochs have received over $88 million in government subsidies.
12. The Kochs have admitted they have “a radical philosophy.”
“Charles Koch seems to have approached both business and politics with the deliberation of an engineer. ‘To bring about social change,’ he told Doherty, requires ‘a strategy’ that is ‘vertically and horizontally integrated,’ spanning ‘from idea creation to policy development to education to grassroots organizations to lobbying to litigation to political action.’ The project, he admitted, was extremely ambitious. ‘We have a radical philosophy,’ he said.” Read more.
Protesters attend a rally and march demanding Los Angeles Times not...
Protesters attend a rally and march demanding Los Angeles Times not be sold to the Koch Brothers, portraits of which are held, May 23, 2013 in Beverly Hills, California. Charles and Bill Koch have... Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images
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