Gov. Palin: Crony capitalism & gov't waste will destroy us if we don’t root it out

As posted on Facebook:
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Crony Capitalism on Steroids from GE to Solyndra (UPDATED)

UPDATE: Yet another shoe drops in the ongoing crony capitalism problems now engulfing the Obama administration. Yesterday, we learned that the the Obama White House allegedly pressured a four-star Air Force general to change his testimony about a company linked to a major Democrat donor.

In my recent speech in Iowa, some eyebrows were raised when I took on our government’s enormous economic problems caused by crony capitalism. As if on cue, just days later President Obama selected someone who exemplifies a major crony capitalism problem to sit next to the First Lady when he delivered his “jobs plan” speech before Congress. He selected General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt as his honored guest.

Having grown up with great respect for GE thanks to stories my grandfather shared with us about his days working for the company and even meeting GE spokesman-at-the-time Ronald Reagan during a company event, I am saddened at GE’s leadership evolution. This corporation is now the poster child of corporate welfare and crony capitalism.

This icon of American industry is a company full of good employees that make some good products (and is the parent company of a huge media outlet), but GE is also a large American corporation that pays virtually no corporate income taxes despite earning worldwide profits of $14.2 billion last year, $5.1 billion of it in the United States. In fact, they claimed a tax benefit of $3.2 billion, meaning they received more of our hard earned tax dollars than they contributed. How is that possible? It’s because not only do they shelter their money from taxes, but they also get many tax credits, loans, government grants, and other benefits from the federal government that our smaller businesses couldn’t even imagine being able to profit from.

Joining GE in the pantheon on crony capitalism is another Obama favorite that has been in the news of late: Solyndra. The President hailed this “green energy” company in a speech last May as “the true engine of economic growth.” When he announced the $535 million guarantee to Solyndra, Vice President Biden said that investments like this are “exactly what the Recovery Act is all about.” (Dear God…If the failed Solyndra venture has been what it’s “all about,” then that explains a lot.) As I pointed out in my speech at the Reagan Ranch Center last February: “History has proven again and again, when government picks the winners and losers, we’re stuck with the losers, and we the taxpayers subsidize failure!” And that’s what we’re seeing now, as the FBI raids the solar energy company’s headquarters to glean more information after the company was handed half a billion dollars in “green energy” Stimulus funds from the American taxpayer only to later declare bankruptcy. More than one thousand Solyndra workers lost their jobs. Now as the truth comes out, we discover that the White House was heavily involved in the Department of Energy’s rushed decision to give the Stimulus funds to Solyndra, and they tried to move the money through so quickly they seem to have ignored concerns that the company was not viable. Why would they do this? Perhaps it’s because a large investor in the company (about 35%) is Obama campaign bundler George Kaiser. And with the way the deal is structured, Kaiser will get his debts paid before we the taxpayers see any relief. That is sickening. And that’s how it works: workers lose their jobs, wealthy political cronies stand a good chance of getting their money back, and the U.S. taxpayer gets the shaft. Again.

President Obama has his sights set on raising $1 billion for his reelection campaign. Raising that money won’t be easy. But if you can hand out other people’s money to friends, it must get a whole lot easier. This crony capitalism and government waste is at the heart of our economic problems. It will destroy us if we don’t root it out. It’s not just a Democrat problem or a Republican problem. It’s a problem of our permanent political class. This won’t stop until “we the people” say enough is enough, and we retire the permanent political class that votes for this.

- Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin recalls an earlier 'new energy proposal' by Obama

"2012 is just around the corner."
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Gov. Palin rips Obama's failure on energy policy in an op-ed on her Facebook Notes page:

FLASHBACK: What We Were Saying One Year
Ago About Obama’s Failed Energy Policy

It’s unbelievable (literally) the rhetoric coming from President Obama today. This is coming from he who is manipulating the U.S. energy supply. President Obama is once again giving lip service to a “new energy proposal”; but let’s remember the last time he trotted out a “new energy proposal” – nearly a year ago to the day. The main difference is today we have $4 a gallon gas in some places in the country. This is no accident. This administration is not a passive observer to the trends that have inflated oil prices to dangerous levels. His war on domestic oil and gas exploration and production has caused us pain at the pump, endangered our already sluggish economic recovery, and threatened our national security. Through a process of what candidate Obama once called “gradual adjustment,” American consumers have seen prices at the pump rise 67 percent since he took office. Meanwhile, the vast undeveloped reserves that could help to keep prices at the pump affordable remain locked up because of President Obama’s deliberate unwillingness to drill here and drill now. We’re subsidizing offshore drilling in Brazil and purchasing energy from them, instead of drilling ourselves and keeping those dollars circulating in our own economy to generate jobs here. The President said today, “There are no quick fixes.” He’s been in office for nearly three years now, and he’s about to launch his $1 billion re-election campaign. When can we expect any “fixes” from him? How high does the price of energy have to go?

So, here’s a little flashback to what I wrote on March 31, 2010, at National Review Online’s The Corner:

Many Americans fear that President Obama’s new energy proposal is once again “all talk and no real action,” this time in an effort to shore up fading support for the Democrats’ job-killing cap-and-trade (a.k.a. cap-and-tax) proposals. Behind the rhetoric lie new drilling bans and leasing delays; soon to follow are burdensome new environmental regulations. Instead of “drill, baby, drill,” the more you look into this the more you realize it’s “stall, baby, stall.”

Today the president said he’ll “consider potential areas for development in the mid and south Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico, while studying and protecting sensitive areas in the Arctic.” As the former governor of one of America’s largest energy-producing states, a state oil and gas commissioner, and chair of the nation’s Interstate Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, I’ve seen plenty of such studies. What we need is action — action that results in the job growth and revenue that a robust drilling policy could provide. And let’s not forget that while Interior Department bureaucrats continue to hold up actual offshore drilling from taking place, Russia is moving full steam ahead on Arctic drilling, and China, Russia, and Venezuela are buying leases off the coast of Cuba.

As an Alaskan, I’m especially disheartened by the new ban on drilling in parts of the 49th state and the cancellation of lease sales in the Chukchi and Beaufort seas. These areas contain rich oil and gas reserves whose development is key to our country’s energy security. As I told Secretary Salazar last April, “Arctic exploration and development is a slow, demanding process. Delays or major restrictions in accessing these resources for environmentally responsible development are not in the national interest or the interests of the State of Alaska.”

Since I wrote the above, we have even more evidence of the President’s anti-drilling agenda. We have the moratorium in the Gulf of Mexico as well as the de-facto moratorium in the Arctic. We have his 2012 budget that proposes to eliminate several vital oil and natural gas production tax incentives. We have his anti-drilling regulatory policies that have stymied responsible development. And the list goes on. The President says that we can’t “drill” our way out of the problem. But we can’t drive our cars on solar shingles either. We have to live in the real world where we must continue to develop the conventional resources that we actually use right now to fuel our economy as we continue to look for a renewable source of energy. If we are looking for an affordable, environmentally friendly, and abundant domestic source of energy, why not turn to our own domestic supply of natural gas? Whether we use it to power natural-gas cars or to run natural-gas power plants that charge electric cars, natural gas is an ideal “bridge fuel” to a future when more renewable sources are available, affordable, and economically viable on their own. It’s a lot more viable than subsidizing boondoggles like these inefficient electric cars that no one wants. I’m all for electric cars if you can develop one I can actually use in Alaska, where you can drive hundreds of miles without seeing many people, let alone many electrical sockets. But these electric and hybrid cars are not a quick fix because we still need an energy source to power them. That’s why I like natural gas, but we still have to drill for natural gas, and this administration doesn’t like drilling or apparently the jobs that come with responsible oil and natural gas development. They don't have a coherent energy policy. They have piecemeal ideas for subsidizing impractical pet “green” projects.

I have always been in favor of an “all-of-the-above” approach to energy independence, but "all-of-the-above" means conventional resource development too. It means a coherent, practical, and forward-looking energy policy. I wish the President would understand this. The good news is there is nothing wrong with America’s energy policy that another good old-fashion election can’t solve. 2012 is just around the corner.

- Sarah Palin

- JP

Quote of the Day (March 6, 2011)

Interesting Sarah Palin Interview...
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Joshuapundit:

"Governor Palin has a unique ability to voice the questions a lot of her fellow Americans are asking about the Obama Administration's disturbing response to recent events."

- JP

Sarah Palin: Here’s to Libya’s Freedom

Speak out for the Libyan people. Speak out for the victims of Gaddafi’s terror.
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Via Facebook this evening, Gov. Palin commented on the Obama Administration's relative silence on recent events in Libya:

Here’s to Libya’s Freedom

It’s a little perplexing looking at the White House today. There was a statement on the horrible earthquake in New Zealand, and certainly our hearts go out to all those affected by this horrible natural disaster. But nothing on the slaughter in Libya? The protests in many places in the Middle East affect regimes that have cooperated with the U.S. on issues from peace with Israel, fighting al Qaeda, hosting our military forces, or cooperating against Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Gaddafi’s Libya is different. For four decades, this tyrant has held power. Gaddafi was Osama before Osama hit the scene. He ordered the bombing of a disco in Germany to kill Americans. When he paid the price for that – after President Reagan rightly ordered retaliation – he directed his agents to blow up Pan Am Flight 103. They did, and more than 250 innocent people died. Gaddafi tried to come in from the cold in 2003 – scared by the demonstration effect of Iraq. But we should have no illusions. Gaddafi is a brutal killer and Libya – not to mention the world – would be better off if he were out of power. Now is the time to speak out. Speak out for the long-suffering Libyan people. Speak out for the victims of Gaddafi’s terror. NATO and our allies should look at establishing a no-fly zone so Libyan air forces cannot continue slaughtering the Libyan people. We should not be afraid of freedom, especially when it comes to people suffering under a brutal enemy of America. Here’s to freedom from Gaddafi for the people of Libya.

- Sarah Palin

- JP

Sarah Palin: The Truth Behind the White House’s Budget Spin

The fine print reveals a tax increase of $1.5 trillion over ten years
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Gov. Palin returned to Facebook after a two-week hiatus Monday with a critique of the Obama Administration's proposed budget, which will double the national debt over the next decade :

The Truth Behind the White House’s Budget Spin

Today the White House finally produced its proposal for the 2012 budget. Beware of the left’s attempt to sell this as “getting tough on the deficit,” because as an analysis from Americans for Tax Reform shows, the White House’s plans are more about raising taxes and growing more government than reducing budget shortfalls.

The fine print reveals a White House proposal to increase taxes by at least $1.5 trillion over the next decade. If you want to know how minuscule their proposed $775 million-a-year budget “cuts” really are, please look at this chart. The proposed cuts are so insignificant – less than 1/10 of 1% of this year’s $1.65 trillion budget deficit – that they are essentially invisible on the pie chart. That speaks volumes about today’s budget.

- Sarah Palin

UPDATE: As J.D. Foster of the Heritage Foundation points out: “...the President proposes a budget that keeps the federal government on a thoroughly irresponsible and unsustainable course.” Please read the Heritage Foundation article and understand the $775 million in proposed cuts noted above are what the White House’s budget director Jacob Lew identified as reflecting what they perceive as some “tough calls.” Yet, as noted, they are a drop in the bucket; and the White House’s total proposed cuts for this year are still not at all enough to make us solvent.

- JP

Devonia Smith: Obama takes Sarah Palin's advice on Iran

Palin has demonstrated the executive power of a few well placed words
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At Examiner.com, Devonia Smith observes that just hours after Gov. Palin's tweet challenging the Obama administration to exert the same pressure for democratic change on the government of Iraq as it did on Egypt's Mubarek regime, the White House seemed to be dutifully following her advice:

Today, President Obama honored Sarah Palin's short and tweet advice following the overthrow of Mubarak in Egypt. That's another testament to the confidence that Palin fans have in her keen common sense mastery of presidential policy directives.

In a mere 140 word Tweet, Sarah Palin challenged both the sitting American president, Barack Hussein Obama and the national media.

Certainly, Palin has demonstrated the executive power of the value of just a very few words, well placed - from her tweet to the president's ear.

[More]

Now, if the White House would only heed Gov. Palin's wisdom on spending and energy independence...

- JP

Gov. Palin is back on Twitter

She's still trying to make the slobbering Obamedia honest
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We haven't seen a tweet from Sarah Palin since January 28, until today, that is. About an hour ago, she sent the following Twitter message:

Media: ask "Will Obama Admin exert as much 'constructive' pressure on Iranian govt to change & allow freedom ~ as they just did for Egypt?"

- JP

NY Sun: Palin or Panetta?

Even the LA Times says Obama Admin. had "mixed message" on Egypt
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A Friday New York Sun editorial addresses the question of who has had the better intelligence, Sarah Palin or Leon Panetta?

For the past day or so the former governor of Alaska has been mocked on some of the most famous blogs in the land for answering a question about Egypt with what the Little Green Footballs ridiculed as “an especially colorful word salad.” The question about Egypt had been asked of her by David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network. “It’s a difficult situation,” she responded.

“This is that 3 a.m. White House phone call,” she added, “and it seems for many of us trying to get that information from our leader in the White House, it seems that that call went right to the answering machine. And nobody yet has explained to the American public what they know — and surely they know more than the rest of us know — who it is who will be taking the place of Mubarak.”

The Internet commentators were still laughing about Mrs. Palin’s circumlocutions when the reports started surfacing that the Central Intelligence Agency was declaring that Mr. Mubarak would resign before the end of the day. The director of the CIA, Leon Panetta, went so far as to make that prediction in testimony before the Congress. He had barely spoken than the Egyptian strongman turned around and announced that he was not resigning.

[More]

So with the news today that Mubarak had transferred his his powers to the military and headed for the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, the political figure in America who called attention to the Obama administration’s "all of the above" responses to Egypt is the same one her detractors have ridiculed for her everyday-American plain language that only leftists don't seem to be able to understand. The sun's editors conclude, "It looks like Mr. Obama would have gained better intelligence all along if he listened less to Mr. Panetta and more to Mrs. Palin."

h/t: Benyamin Korn

- JP

Gibbs is confused. So tell us something we didn't know.

Let us make this perfectly clear...
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USA Today reports that presidential spokesguy Robert "Cairo Bob" Gibbs professed not to know what Gov. Palin was talking about when she criticized the Obama Administration for its handling of the crisis in Egypt.

But as Jim Hoft points out, the administration sent more conflicting signals about Egypt Saturday than a third base coach in a Busch Stadium double header:

Saturday Feb. 5, 2011 3:45 AM:
Obama on Mubarak: Time to Go

Saturday Feb. 5, 2011 10:20 AM
Obama Administration: No Mubarak Must Stay

Saturday Feb. 5, 2011 5:34 PM
Obama Administration: Psych! Just kidding. Mubarak Must Go

Saturday Feb. 5, 2011 6:14 PM
Obama VP Biden: You Need to Be Clear With Us, Mubarak and We Don’t Want Any Games.

And Gibbs doesn't understand what she means? This is from the mouthpiece of an administration that said Saturday "Mubarak Must Go… No Stay… No Go… And We Don’t Want Any Games."

- JP

Day By Day (December 17, 2010)

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Good morning! It's a wonderful life if we just take it Day By Day.



Support Pro-Palin Day By Day

- JP

Day By Day (December 16, 2010)

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Good morning! It's a wonderful life if we just take it Day By Day.



Support Pro-Palin Day By Day

- JP

Sarah Palin questions Obama Admin's competence over Wikileaks 'fiasco'

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On Facebook, Gov. Palin poses some questions for the Obama white House about the latest Wikileaks document drop:

Serious Questions about the Obama Administration's Incompetence in the Wikileaks Fiasco

We all applaud the successful thwarting of the Christmas-Tree Bomber and hope our government continues to do all it can to keep us safe. However, the latest round of publications of leaked classified U.S. documents through the shady organization called Wikileaks raises serious questions about the Obama administration’s incompetent handling of this whole fiasco.

First and foremost, what steps were taken to stop Wikileaks director Julian Assange from distributing this highly sensitive classified material especially after he had already published material not once but twice in the previous months? Assange is not a “journalist,” any more than the “editor” of al Qaeda’s new English-language magazine Inspire is a “journalist.” He is an anti-American operative with blood on his hands. His past posting of classified documents revealed the identity of more than 100 Afghan sources to the Taliban. Why was he not pursued with the same urgency we pursue al Qaeda and Taliban leaders?

What if any diplomatic pressure was brought to bear on NATO, EU, and other allies to disrupt Wikileaks’ technical infrastructure? Did we use all the cyber tools at our disposal to permanently dismantle Wikileaks? Were individuals working for Wikileaks on these document leaks investigated? Shouldn’t they at least have had their financial assets frozen just as we do to individuals who provide material support for terrorist organizations?

Most importantly, serious questions must also be asked of the U.S. intelligence system. How was it possible that a 22-year-old Private First Class could get unrestricted access to so much highly sensitive information? And how was it possible that he could copy and distribute these files without anyone noticing that security was compromised?

The White House has now issued orders to federal departments and agencies asking them to take immediate steps to ensure that no more leaks like this happen again. It’s of course important that we do all we can to prevent similar massive document leaks in the future. But why did the White House not publish these orders after the first leak back in July? What explains this strange lack of urgency on their part?

We are at war. American soldiers are in Afghanistan fighting to protect our freedoms. They are serious about keeping America safe. It would be great if they could count on their government being equally serious about that vital task.

- Sarah Palin

- JP

Elevating Sarah

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Marc Ambinder's Friday column has generated some blogosphere buzz. Basically, Ambinder believes that the Obama Administration should play the Palin Card so that the usual suspects will go all Alinsky on her. But wait, we thought they were doing that already. Oh, he must mean that they should go all Alinsky on her openly, instead of quasi-surreptitiously, as they have been doing since August, 2008. But we digress... Ambinder says the Obamunists should not worry that the White House, by focusing on Gov. Palin, will elevate her to even greater national prominence than she already enjoys.

Two bloggers who have posted their takes on Ambinder's take are Doctor Zero and MacRanger.

First the good doctor:

I hope the White House takes Ambinder’s advice, because it would be suicidal. His crack about Palin’s 'reveling in the culture wars' betrays his ignorance. He is confused by the details of her biography, and the sincere affection she earns from her admirers. His Palin Card is drawn from the wrong suit. She’s the Queen of Diamonds, not the Queen of Hearts. Her most impressive statements over the last two years have been on matters of economics, policy, and politics. She has shredded the Administration over health care, the Gulf oil spill, and unrestrained government spending. She’s endorsed dozens of primary candidates, with something like a 70% success rate. Her most notable clashes with 'culture' have involved asking it to stop making rape jokes about her daughters.

[...]

Obama would be making a deadly mistake by calling out Sarah Palin for a political cage match. Let me put this bluntly: virtually no one in America gives a damn what Barack Obama says about anything at this point. What could be more predictable, and less interesting, than Obama’s opinion on any given subject? Who wants to contemplate the economic wisdom of a guy who looted the Treasury for a trillion dollars, with less benefit than we could have achieved by stuffing hundred dollar bills into random cereal boxes? Who’s excited to hear about the next plan to convert taxpayer dollars into Democrat campaign funds? Who’s hungry for another hour of tedious excuses about permanently broken markets and the titanic dead hand of George W. Bush? Who wants a lecture on ethical business practices from the titular head of the party that gave us Charlie Rangel and Maxine Waters? What use is another hollow foreign-policy speech from a man who sees no global adversary to rival the menace of Arizona? Even Obama’s supporters don’t hear anything he says any more. There’s nothing left to hear.

Palin, on the other hand, commands attention. Lots of it comes from people who dislike her, of course, but she definitely gets people talking. Many of her detractors have a surprising ability to quote her verbatim, stretching back for weeks. Obama’s critics need Google searches to remember what he said yesterday. They can only recall that it was boring, and expensive.

(More)

And from Macsmind:

Yes [everyone knows who Sarah Palin is] and it’s why the popularity is increasing. Why this is happening is a matter of object confusion for liberals like Ambinder. To them Sarah should have been dead and buried back in 2008. Certainly after she left the governorship. But after writing a book that flew off the shelves, still commanding crowds and even out endorsing Barack Obama with more successes than his failures, it’s undeniable. Like the Hulk, you keep attacking she’ll get stronger.

But another thing that liberals miss about Sarah is that she IS the voice, the national glue of the Tea Party movement. Somebody had to step forward and she did. She actually birthed the movement in 2008 from her run with McCain. In fact it all provided the most convenient of opportunities to lead this country back to the right, both politically and spiritually.

[...]

Sarah talks of America’s greatness and potential. Liberals have spent their quarter talking down America and apologizing for her. Americans don’t believe that – the vast majority don’t and they’re sick and tired of that message.

Ambinder whines that the “Fox-Rush Nexus” would respond to criticism by Barack Obama, but so would America, who now are beginning to view her in higher esteem than he. It would be utter foolishness by Obama to take that advice.

(More)

Our own take is that we never considered Ambinder to be the sharpest harpoon on the ship, and his latest column proves that. Doc and Mac have given his chronometer a thorough cleaning.

- JP

White House: Sarah Palin a 'formidable' political force

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White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, in what may be a new White House strategy to build up Sarah Palin for future shots at the GOP, told reporters Friday that she might be "the most formidable force in the Republican Party."

Gibbs acknowledged that Gov. Palin, who was in Iowa to speak at the state Republican Party's annual Ronald Reagan Dinner, seems to be “dipping that toe in" the waters for 2012:

Gibbs conceded Palin has the ability to draw huge crowds and energize the Republican base.

"She can rally the very conservative elements of the Republican base," Gibbs said.

Uncharacteristically, the often combative press secretary passed on the opportunity to take a shot at Palin, who has been a constant critic of Obama.

"I have no doubt that she is a formidable force in the Republican Party and very well could be the most formidable force in the Republican Party," Gibbs said.

Not long after Gibbs talked about Palin, the White House announced that President Obama will be making his own pilgrimage to Des Moines later this month for a town hall event.

- JP

AP: Anti-Palin group got no-bid federal gov't contract

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The Obama Administration awarded a no-bid contract to an environmental group that has been attacking Sarah Palin, a potential opponent of the president in the 2012 presidential election. The government largess is just one of a number of federal contracts which include at least $6 million for studies to gauge the Gulf Oil Spill's effects on wildlife. The Associated Press surprisingly reports:

Contractors include a group whose political arm endorsed Obama in the 2008 presidential campaign and ran ads in several swing states against then-Republican vice presidential candidate Palin. The group, Defenders of Wildlife, received a $216,625 noncompetitive contract from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for a seabird survey in the BP spill area.

Both Defenders of Wildlife and its political arm, the Defenders Action Fund, have criticized Palin, a former Alaska governor, for supporting use of low-flying airplanes to hunt wolves and other wildlife in winter.

Defenders of Wildlife also has been urging Discovery Communications to drop plans for "Sarah Palin's Alaska," a reality TV series, and wants sponsors and viewers to boycott it. The Interior Department said the Fish and Wildlife Service hired the group to survey the effects of oil on ocean birds because its chief scientist, Chris Haney, is respected and experienced in bird research. It said BP approved the scientist's selection.

An executive for Defenders of Wildlife said politics played no role in the $216,625 contract.

"I just truly believe there are no dots to connect," said Jamie Rappaport Clark, the group's executive vice president and a former director of the Fish and Wildlife Service under former President Bill Clinton.

And if you believe that, then Bill Clinton never had sex with that Lewinski woman.

Update: Political analyst Clay Young opines that the Obama Administration giving nearly a quarter million dollars to an organization that endorsed Obama and has attacked Sarah Palin "makes it look a little fishy."

- JP

Gov. Palin: Where's Obama's Plan?

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Sarah Palin is keeping the pressure on the Obama Administration and Congressional Democrats. She just asked via Twitter:

"What's the plan,man? Still no Obama/Dem's formal proposal telling Americans how they'll increase taxes in 4 mos, nor what they'll do w our $"

Reminds us of the wildly successful "Where's the beef?" ad campaign for Wendy's 25 years ago.

- JP

Sarah Palin returns to 'Fox News Sunday'

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Gov. Palin, who last appeared on the program was May 23, will be Chris Wallace's guest for the third time on Fox News Sunday this weekend (watch the promo at Palin TV):

Sarah Palin joins “Fox News Sunday” to discuss the 2010 midterms, the Obama Administration, and her own political future. Plus, the former Alaskan Governor weighs in on a federal judge’s decision to block some key parts of the controversial Arizona immigration law.

The program airs on the Fox Network at 8 AM Texas Time and repeats on the Fox News Channel at 1 PM and 5 PM.

- JP

Video: Sarah Palin on FBC's 'Money Rocks'

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Gov. Palin was a guest Thursday night on the Fox Business program "Money Rocks' with host Eric Bolling. They discussed irresponsible spending by the Democrats, coming tax increases and the Obama administration's incompetence in dealing with the Gulf Oil Disaster:



- JP

White House 'satisfied' with its response to Gulf disaster

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Team Obama has responded to Sarah Palin's criticism via Twitter of White House chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's false claim that Texas Congressman Joe Barton's apology -- since retracted -- to BP's Chairman reflects GOP party philosophy:

Asked to respond to Palin, White House spokesman Bill Burton noted that some Republicans have defended Barton's comments about the $20 billion claims fund Obama negotiated with BP for victims of the Gulf Coast oil spill.

"We're satisfied that we're doing everything we can to take care of the folks in the Gulf region," Burton added, "and if she doesn't want to own Congressman Barton's comments, that doesn't surprise me."

The problem with Deputy Press Secretary Burton's comment is that while the Obama Administration may be "satisfied" that it is doing all it can to deal with the impact of the worst environmental disaster in the nation's history, most Americans are not at all satisfied with Team Obama's efforts.

Even a poll released Tuesday by CBS News and the NY Times, which oversampled Democrats in comparison to Republicans (by 432 to 302, after being weighted), found that a majority of Americans feel that the president's response was too slow (61 percent) and a plurality (47 percent) believe that he has no clear plan to deal with the crisis in the gulf.

- JP

Sarah Palin: Mr. President: you have to get involved

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Sarah Palin spoke out on Facebook Tuesday, with an op-ed which scolds the media for not asking President Obama if he had met with BP's CEO, reminds voters that it is critical to have a leader with executive experience in the White House, and offers the president the benefit of her experience dealing with Big Oil:

Less Talkin’, More Kickin’

50 days in, and we’ve just learned another shocking revelation concerning the Obama administration’s response to the Gulf oil spill. In an interview aired this morning, President Obama admitted that he hasn’t met with or spoken directly to BP’s CEO Tony Hayward. His reasoning: “Because my experience is, when you talk to a guy like a BP CEO, he’s gonna say all the right things to me. I’m not interested in words. I’m interested in actions.”

First, to the “informed and enlightened” mainstream media: in all the discussions you’ve had with the White House about the spill, did it not occur to you before today to ask how the CEO-to-CEO level discussions were progressing to remedy this tragedy? You never cease to amaze. (Kind of reminds us of the months on end when you never bothered to ask if the President was meeting with General McChrystal to talk about our strategy in Afghanistan.)

Second, to fellow baffled Americans: this revelation is further proof that it bodes well to have some sort of executive experience before occupying the Oval Office (as if the painfully slow response to the oil spill, confusion of duties, finger-pointing, lack of preparedness, and inability to grant local government simple requests weren’t proof enough). The current administration may be unaware that it’s the President’s duty, meeting on a CEO-to-CEO level with Hayward, to verify what BP reports. In an interview a few weeks ago with Greta Van Susteren, I noted that based on my experience working with oil execs as an oil regulator and then as a Governor, you must verify what the oil companies claim – because their perception of circumstances and situations dealing with public resources and public trust is not necessarily shared by those who own America’s public resources and trust. I was about run out of town in Alaska for what critics decried at the time as my “playing hardball with Big Oil,” and those same adversaries (both shortsighted Repubs and Dems) continue to this day to try to discredit my administration’s efforts in holding Big Oil accountable to operate ethically and responsibly.

Mr. President: with all due respect, you have to get involved, sir. The priorities and timeline of an oil company are not the same as the public’s. You cannot outsource the cleanup and the responsibility and the trust to BP and expect that the legitimate interests of Americans adversely affected by this spill will somehow be met.

White House: have you read this morning’s Washington Post? Not to pile it on BP, but there’s an extensive report chronicling the company’s troubling history:

“BP has had more high-profile accidents than any other company in recent years. And now, with the disaster in the gulf, independent experts say the pervasiveness of the company’s problems, in multiple locales and different types of facilities, is striking.

‘They are a recurring environmental criminal and they do not follow U.S. health safety and environmental policy,’ said Jeanne Pascal, a former EPA lawyer who led its BP investigations.”

And yet just 10 days prior to the explosion, the Obama administration’s regulators gave the oil rig a pass, and last year the Obama administration granted BP a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) exemption for its drilling operation.

These decisions and the resulting spill have shaken the public’s confidence in the ability to safely drill. Unless government appropriately regulates oil developments and holds oil executives accountable, the public will not trust them to drill, baby, drill. And we must! Or we will be even more beholden to, and controlled by, dangerous foreign regimes that supply much of our energy. This has been a constant refrain from me. As Governor of Alaska, I did everything in my power to hold oil companies accountable in order to prove to the federal government and to the nation that Alaska could be trusted to further develop energy rich land like ANWR and NPR-A. I hired conscientious Democrats and Republicans (because this sure shouldn’t be a partisan issue) to provide me with the best advice on how we could deal with what was a corrupt system of some lawmakers and administrators who were hesitant to play hardball with some in the oil field business. (Remember the Alaska lawmakers, public decision-makers, and business executives who ended up going to jail as a result of the FBI’s investigations of oily corruption.)

As the aforementioned article notes, BP’s operation in Alaska would hurt our state and waste public resources if allowed to continue. That’s why my administration created the Petroleum Systems Integrity Office (PSIO) when we saw proof of improper maintenance of oil infrastructure in our state. We had to verify. And that’s why we instituted new oversight and held BP and other oil companies financially accountable for poor maintenance practices. We knew we could partner with them to develop resources without pussyfooting around with them. As a CEO, it was my job to look out for the interests of Alaskans with the same intensity and action as the oil company CEOs looked out for the interests of their shareholders.

I learned firsthand the way these companies operate when I served as chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission (AOGCC). I ended up resigning in protest because my bosses (the Governor and his chief of staff at the time) wouldn’t support efforts to clean up the corruption involving improper conflicts of interest with energy companies that the state was supposed to be watching. (I wrote about this valuable learning experience in my book, “Going Rogue”.) I felt guilty taking home a big paycheck while being reduced to sitting on my thumbs – essentially rendered ineffective as a supervisor of a regulatory agency in charge of nearly 20% of the U.S. domestic supply of energy.

My experience (though, granted, I got the message loud and clear during the campaign that my executive experience managing the fastest growing community in the state, and then running the largest state in the union, was nothing compared to the experiences of a community organizer) showed me how government officials and oil execs could scratch each others’ backs to the detriment of the public, and it made me ill. I ran for Governor to fight such practices. So, as a former chief executive, I humbly offer this advice to the President: you must verify. That means you must meet with Hayward. Demand answers.

In the interview today, the President said: “I don’t sit around just talking to experts because this is a college seminar. We talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers, so I know whose ass to kick.”

Please, sir, for the sake of the Gulf residents, reach out to experts who have experience holding oil companies accountable. I suggested a few weeks ago that you start with Alaska’s Department of Natural Resources, led by Commissioner Tom Irwin. Having worked with Tom and his DNR and AGIA team led by Marty Rutherford, I can vouch for their integrity and expertise in dealing with Big Oil and overseeing its developments. We’ve all lived and worked through the Exxon-Valdez spill. They can help you. Give them a call. Or, what the heck, give me a call.

And, finally, Mr. President, please do not punish the American public with any new energy tax in response to this tragedy. Just because BP and federal regulators screwed up that doesn’t mean the rest of us should get punished with higher taxes at the pump and attached to everything petroleum products touch.

- Sarah Palin

- JP