Tell Congress NO to Gang of Ten Drilling Surrender... No Compromise

Center for Individual Freedom: The American people are telling our elected officials: "Drill Here and Drill Now!" But five Republicans-in-Name-Only (RINOs) are siding with the NO NEW DRILLING CROWD in Congress and basically betraying American families suffering severe financial hardship because of the high price of gasoline at the pump.

Five RINOs are trying to strike a deal with the devil and they're calling it a "compromise." [ARRA Reported on this ... full story] But like last year's so-called attempted "compromise" on amnesty for 12-20 million illegal aliens... it is NO SUCH THING! In actuality, it's a complete and total surrender... a capitulation to liberals who see record energy costs as a political football and tell you "inflate your tires," "we can't drive our SUVs" or we can't "eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees."

If you listened to Rush Limbaugh on Friday, you already know some of the sordid and DECEPTIVE details of this proposed SURRENDER:

"Essentially there is a Gang of Ten senators, five Republicans led by Lindsey Graham, John Thune, Saxby Chambliss, Bob Corker, and Johnny Isaakson. They joined five Democrats to craft an energy bill in the Senate that is exactly what Barack Obama wants. It is an utter disaster." [Emphasis Mine]

"It's a Democrat giveaway. ... The regulatory hurdles are huge. They have expanded. They are higher. PETA has a role. The ACLU has a role. The bill bars drilling within 50 miles of the United States coastline. That puts off limits some of the most productive areas -- even if the states allow it -- including in ANWR. Well, you can only drill in four states anyway under this bill, but no -- you can't drill any closer to 50 miles of the coastline... This deal would allow drilling if -- if and when -- the EPA and PETA and states and cities and counties and the ACLU clear the way."

In other words, we CAN drill as long as we drill only when PETA and the ACLU and the EPA say it's okay to drill! That's NOT "compromise!" That's essentially the same scam liberals have been perpetrating on the American people all along! And make no mistake, RIGHT NOW, at this very minute, these ten Senators are advancing their treacherous case... attempting to drive a stake into the heart of the grassroots movement to force Congress to "Drill Here and Drill Now!"

We can't let that happen! Contact President George W. Bush, Senators Graham, Thune, Chambliss, Corker and Isaakson and each and every Member of the Republican Leadership of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. Tell them that this ill-hatched plan from Graham, Thune, Chambliss, Corker and Isaakson MUST NEVER SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY! ARRA Contact Congress Info!

Democrats Resist Logic - No Will To Drill

ARRA News Service -As often happens on Fridays, Charles Krauthammer has a devastating column. He skewers Democrats in Congress for their staunch opposition to producing more oil and for their weak arguments against doing so. Krauthammer writes:

“By an overwhelming margin of 2 to 1, Americans want to lift the moratorium preventing drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf, thus unlocking vast energy resources shut down for the past 27 years. Democrats have been adamantly opposed. They say that we cannot drill our way out of the oil crisis. Of course not. But it is equally obvious that we cannot solar or wind or biomass our way out. Does this mean that because any one measure cannot solve a problem, it needs to be rejected? . . . The consensus in the country, logically unassailable and politically unbeatable, is to do everything possible to both increase supply and reduce demand, because we have a problem that’s been killing our economy and threatening our national security. And no one measure is sufficient.” . . .

The problem for the Democrats is that the argument for ‘do everything’ is not rocket science. It is common sense. Which is why House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, surveying the political rubble resulting from her insistence on not even permitting drilling to come to a floor vote, has quietly told her members that they can save their skins and vote for drilling when the pre-election Congress convenes next month. Pelosi says she wants to save the planet. Apparently saving her speakership comes first.” . . . [Read Charles Krauthammer's No Will To Drill]

Republicans Still Rock the House - Washington D. C. - Aug 8, 2008

ARRA News Service - In the House, the Republican protest over Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s refusal to allow a vote on drilling enters its second week today. The message is clearly having an impact, as Politico reports that “MoveOn.org announced Thursday it was launching radio ads targeting Republicans for organizing the protest.” MoveOn is apparently desperate to blunt the momentum for more drilling; a new Rasmussen poll that shows 57% of Democrats and 61% of independent voters see finding new energy sources as a priority. Rasmussen Reports also notes: “With energy issues taking center stage in the presidential campaign, 81% of Americans see development of new energy sources as an urgent priority. Only 9% disagree.”

Call Congress Back Into Session

Read --> Call Congress Back -- Join US!

House members who signed petition to increase U.S. oil

ARRA News Service -Washington, July 25, 2008 - U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland has challenged all 435 members of the U.S. House to sign a petition that reads "I will vote to increase U.S. oil production to lower gas prices for Americans."

Below are the 192 members and counting who have signed:

Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.) Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.) Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-La.) Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-Minn.) Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) Rep. Gresham Barrett (R-S.C.) Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) Rep. Judy Biggert (R-Ill.) Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-Calif.) Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.) Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah) Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) Rep. Jo Bonner (R-Ala.) Rep. John Boozman (R-Ark.) Rep. Charles Boustany (R-La.) Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) Rep. Henry Brown (R-S.C.) Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-Fla.) Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) Rep. Mike Burgess (R-Texas) Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) Rep. Steve Buyer (R-Ind.) Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.) Rep. John Campbell (R-Calif.) Rep. Chris Cannon (R-Utah) Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.) Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.) Rep. John Carter (R-Texas) Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) Rep. Don Cazayoux (D-La.) Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) Rep. Howard Coble (R-N.C.) Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas) Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-Fla.) Rep. Barbara Cubin (R-Wyo.) Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas) Rep. David Davis (R-Tenn.) Rep. Geoff Davis (R-Ky.) Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) Rep. Nathan Deal (R-Ga.) Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) Rep. Thelma Drake (R-Va.) Rep. David Dreier (R-Calif.) Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.) Rep. John Duncan (R-Tenn.) Rep. Vern Ehlers (R-Mich.) Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.) Rep. Phil English (R-Pa.) Rep. Terry Everett (R-Ala.) Rep. Mary Fallin (R-Okla.) Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.) Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.) Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) Rep. Vito Fossella (R-N.Y.) Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Calif.) Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.) Rep. Jim Gerlach (R-Pa.) Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) Rep. Virgil Goode (R-Va.) Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) Rep. Ralph Hall (R-Texas) Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) Rep. Robin Hayes (R-N.C.) Rep. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) Rep. Wally Herger (R-Calif.) Rep. Dave Hobson (R-Ohio) Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.) Rep. Tim Holden (D-Pa.) Rep. Kenny Hulshof (R-Mo.) Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Texas) Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) Rep. Ric Keller (R-Fla.) Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.)

Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.) Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R-Mich.) Rep. Randy Kuhl (R-N.Y.) Rep. Ray LaHood (R-Ill.) Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) Rep. Tom Latham (R-Iowa) Rep. Steve LaTourette (R-Ohio) Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio) Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) Rep. Ron Lewis (R-Ky.) Rep. John Linder (R-Ga.) Rep. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) Rep. Dan Lungren (R-Calif.) Rep. Connie Mack (R-Fla.) Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.) Rep. Don Manzullo (R-Ill.) Rep. Kenny Marchant (R-Texas) Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas) Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-Mich.) Rep. Jim McCrery (R-La.) Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) Rep. John McHugh (R-N.Y.) Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) Rep. Charlie Melancon (D-La.) Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mich.) Rep. Gary Miller (R-Calif.) Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) Rep. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo.) Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.) Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) Rep. Sue Myrick (R-N.C.) Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas) Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) Rep. Steve Pearce (R-N.M.) Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) Rep. John Peterson (R-Pa.) Rep. Tom Petri (R-Wis.) Rep. Chip Pickering (R-Miss.) Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pa.) Rep. Todd Platts (R-Pa.) Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) Rep. Jon Porter (R-Nev.) Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) Rep. Deborah Pryce (R-Ohio) Rep. Adam Putnam (R-Fla.) Rep. George Radanovich (R-Calif.) Rep. Ralph Regula (R-Ohio) Rep. Dennis Rehberg (R-Mont.) Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-N.Y.) Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) Rep. Cathy McMorris Rogers (R-Wash.) Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) Rep. Bill Sali (R-Idaho) Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Ohio) Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.) Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho) Rep. Adrian Smith (R-Neb.) Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.) Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) Rep. John Sullivan (R-Okla.) Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.) Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas) Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.) Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-Ohio) Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) Rep. Jim Walsh (R-N.Y.) Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.) Rep. Dave Weldon (R-Fla.) Rep. Jerry Weller (R-Ill.) Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) Rep. Rob Wittman (R-Va.) Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) Rep. Bill Young (R-Fla.) Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska)

Members who said "No" to the petition:

Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-Md.) Rep. Allen Boyd (D-Fla.) Rep. Ben Chandler (D-Ky.) Rep. Travis Childers (D-Miss.) Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) Rep. Mike Ferguson (R-N.J.) Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) Rep. Wayne Gilchrest (R-Md.) Rep. Bob Inglis (R-S.C.) Rep. Tim Johnson (R-Ill.)

Rep. Nick Lampson (D-Texas) Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.) Rep. Jim Ramstad (R-Minn.) Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Wash.) Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) Rep. Jim Saxton (R-N.J.) Rep. Chris Shays (R-Conn.) Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.)

NOTE: If your member is not listed, his or her office has been contacted but has not responded.

Oil & Technology that Environmentalists Don't Want You to Know About

It is time to dust off a relevant March 6, 1997 editorial: "World has more oil than far left environmentalists admit." Did the environmentalist and liberal democrats in Congress think that we would not remember or note that the technology exists to exact more oil from former U.S. wells? No wonder they would also like to control the flow of information on the Internet, talk radio and between elected representatives and their constituents.

Bill Smith, ARRA Editor: Far-left environmentalists claim that the World Oil reserves are running out. However, reported new discoveries, advanced technology and untapped oil reserves (save the caribou program) prove they are again expressing fiction. In a left leaning biased New York Times article the truth "gushes out. the article, Oil Innovations Pump New Life Into Old Wells , revealed that "engineers here started injecting high-pressured steam to pump out more oil. The field, whose production had slumped to 10,000 barrels a day in the 1960s, now has a daily output of 85,000 barrels. In Indonesia, Chevron has applied the same technology to the giant Duri oil field, discovered in 1941, boosting production there to more than 200,000 barrels a day, up from 65,000 barrels in the mid-1980s. ... Within the last decade, technology advances have made it possible to unlock more oil from old fields, and, at the same time, higher oil prices have made it economical for companies to go after reserves that are harder to reach. With plenty of oil still left in familiar locations, forecasts that the world’s reserves are drying out have given way to predictions that more oil can be found than ever before." And this technology can be applied to American oil fileds when the extraction of oil slows down in the Arab oil fields (figure at right).

A BusineesWeek article in 2005 (Is There Plenty Of Oil?) reported:

"The four giant oil fields ... located under thousands of feet of water off the coast of Louisiana, are just beginning to pump their first barrels. At their peak rates later in the decade, they'll produce some 500,000 bbl. per day, an amount akin to floating a small Middle Eastern country such as Syria or Yemen into the Gulf of Mexico. "Add them together, and it's a massive step change," says David Eyton, BP's vice-president for deepwater in the Gulf. "The investment we're making will more than offset declines we're seeing in Alaska and the Continental Shelf."

And we have not even detailed the oil fields where the left-wing don't want us to drill. Well excuse us and get out of the way!


New Life for Old Oil Fields

McCain’s Growing Net Roots and Donations

The network of McCain supporter sites is going through a growth spurt, right, left, and center. On July 1st, the anniversary of John McCain’s promotion to Commander of Attack Squadron 174 in 1976, the founders of John McCain 2008 Social Network and McCain Now are launching LetsGetThisRight.com. They have worked tirelessly to launch a site that focuses on supporting Senator McCain and local Republicans across the country. They are looking to raise money for a series of candidates in important races.

On the other side of the spectrum, let me welcome Clinton supporters who now support Senator McCain to the club. The establishment and networking of Clinton supporters not willing to support Senator Obama, has been impressive to say the least. Over 125 sites and blogs have emerged within a few weeks. A list of all (or most) is available at Just Say No Deal. Here are a few that have already established a significant following. Clintons 4 McCain, Savage Politics, Puma Party (which includes the Puma Party forum), Done Dems, Hillary Clinton Forum, and Dems 4 McCain. Certainly, not all who have decided not to vote Obama have committed to voting McCain. However, there is mounting evidence that many Clinton supporters will vote McCain.

Some Hillary supporters have even decided to donate to Senator McCain’s campaign on July 4th. As a show of support, many long time McCain supporters have also agreed to contribute on that day. The request is that Hillary supporters make donations in amounts like $5.44, $25.44, or $125.44 and others donate in whole dollar amounts so Clinton supporters can be differentiated and counted.

Other new Pro-McCain sites include...
Battleground States ‘08 is a contributor based blog giving a state to state perspective on the presidential race.
Local Republicans similarly is a contributor based blog focused on down ticket candidates and state and local Republican candidates.
Grand Old Partisan is an excellent site for those interested in history. It remembers that the GOP is the party of Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt.
also...
Jews for McCain
Conservative Mom in a Liberal World
Its All Dicta
McCain Brigade
McCain Independent
McCain Supporters
Local Republicans
Obama Independent or McCain Independent?
Red Arizona
Right Score
Stop Obama Vote McCain
Democrats and Independents for McCain Social Network

Holding the Left Accoubtable on Energy Prices

ARRA News Service - Conn Carroll, The Foundry, Morning Bell: The most important thing to remember as the debate over energy prices becomes a major issue in 2008 is that liberals want Americans to pay higher energy prices. That is why they sue to stop natural gas drilling in Wyoming, new refineries in South Dakota and coal power plants nationwide . The whole purpose of the Lieberman-Warner carbon capping bill was to increase the cost of energy to force Americans to use less of it. But now Americans are beginning to catch on to the left’s game, and they are not happy.

According to Rasmussen Reports, 67% of voters believe that offshore drilling should be allowed, and 64% believe lifting the ban on offshore drilling will lead to lower gas prices. A new Reuters poll found that 60% of Americans favor more domestic drilling and refinery construction to cool record prices. Facing an American public increasingly hostile to their energy policy, liberals in Congress are scrambling to find new arguments and policy proposals that can provide them with a patina of political cover. They include:

Lifting bans on domestic oil production will not lower energy prices. This liberal argument comes in two forms: 1) developing X oil well will not lower the price of gas and 2) it will take 10 years for the increased supply to lower prices. These arguments are especially pernicious because applied to each oil project today, they are technically true. However, if the test for developing any single oil field was whether it alone would lower the price of gas, then no oil field would ever be developed. Drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge will not lower gas substantially by itself, but there is so much more oil currently banned from production. Also, as the Washington Post’s Steven Pearlstein points out: “In energy, as with all commodity markets, prices are set at the margin — based on the last transaction — and short-run demand doesn’t change much in response to price fluctuations. In such markets, even small changes in supply can have a big impact on price.” Finally, liberal complaints that lifting domestic drilling bans today would take years to increase supply are completely unpersuasive since liberals have been making the same argument in support of oil production bans for decades now.

Oil companies leave billions of acres of already leased land idle. This incredibly deceptive argument is new to the left’s anti-energy arsenal. It is true that, as the left claims, oil companies already have 33 billion acres of offshore leases they are not currently drilling on. But these lands are far from idle. Oil production takes time and requires years of exploration and permitting. Oil companies are already paying billions of dollars every year for land they are exploring, and under current law, if they do not begin drilling by the time their lease is up, they lose their right to drill. This does not mean there are not billions of barrels of more profitable oil in banned areas. The Department of the Interior estimates that their are 19.1 billion barrels of oil and 83.9 trillion cubic feet of gas in the banned areas Outer Continental Shelf alone.

Speculators are to blame for the high price of gas. When all else fails, blame the moneychangers. This argument predates not only the environmental movement, but the country itself. As American Enterprise Institute scholar Kevin Hassett points out, Milton Friedman dealt with this specious claim in 1953: “If speculators know that the price of something is going to go up a month from now, they buy today. If they are correct, they make money, and the price change is smoothed by the higher demand today. … If speculators are, as is popularly believed, brilliant tacticians who are making a killing, then their activities are stabilizing. Speculation is good.”

Already there are cracks in left’s unity on the drilling issue. Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) has co-sponsored a bill with Sen. John Warner (R-VA) to lift the ban on natural gas production off the coast of Virginia. More importantly though, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is refusing to even allow the House to vote on lifting the offshore drilling ban. She must know many from her own party would vote for the measure. After all, they would only be responding to the fact that their constituents are eager to hold them accountable on the issue. [Source]