Barack Obama: A Fashionable Failure?

The Presidents and the Forgotten Man
Of all US Presidents, Obama is the one most noted for the crease of his pants and the cut of his suits. Mr. Obama is well-suited for fashionable vacations, retreats, and hideaways, and is always among the best dressed on the golf course. When he was elected US President in 2008, he was riding a veritable wave of fashion.

But now that the world has had a chance to see the man in action, as the leader of the world's richest and most powerful nation, it is clear that the current US president leaves much to be desired. Take Obama's energy policies:

President Obama, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Energy Secretary Steven Chu, have all made it clear they want to make fossil fuels more expensive. And after their failed attempt to crush fossil fuels in one fell swoop with cap and trade legislation, they’ve turned to federal agencies to impose a long list of selective and foolish regulations on America’s oil and natural gas producers.

Of course each of these regulations on their own won’t be the death of fossil fuels. But combined, they’re setting the stage for a chilling ending that will mean the loss of millions of jobs, billions in tax revenue and weaker national security.

...In 2010, the EPA slapped a remediation order on a natural gas producer in Texas while the state’s oil and gas regulation agency was still conducting tests regarding alleged water well contamination. After testing was complete, the contamination was found to be naturally occurring and in no way related to drilling. But the EPA’s arbitrary and shameful actions proved the agency can target any company at random and force them to clean up, at their own expense, a problem they had nothing to do with.

And more costly regulations are on the horizon with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services now considering the addition of 100 Texas species to the endangered species list. It’s estimated that one species alone, the dune sagebrush lizard, could cost oil and natural gas producers, and state and private royalty owners hundreds of millions of dollars over the next ten years.

But perhaps most troubling could be the reporting of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions on oil and gas facilities in the field. And at what cost? Training, consulting fees, data tracking and ultimate reporting will cost one large independent an estimated $10-$20 million per year. The EPA definitions and thresholds will encompass the smallest to the largest domestic producers.

And to what end? Take your pick – regulatory cap and trade, curtailment, or a new carbon tax. The Obama administration will do through regulation what they could not accomplish through legislation.

...you could look to the Administration’s decision to deny the Keystone XL pipeline permit. That decision not only deprives American consumers of oil from a friendly neighbor, Canada, but also means most of the 500,000 bbls per day of oil from the massive Bakken field in North Dakota and Montana will continue to be transported by truck or rail at a much higher cost; ultimately resulting in higher gasoline prices. Of course it’s just a coincidence that Berkshire Hathaway, run by Warren Buffett, one of Obama’s biggest supporters, owns the railroad transporting significant amounts of that oil.

So who’s the ultimate victim in this tale of mounting regulation? The American people. The administration knows that by increasing regulation, it also increases the cost of doing business and ultimately, the price consumers pay at the pump. And by making fossil fuels artificially expensive, they’re clearing the path for their friends in the so-called “green” energy industry.
What’s even more alarming is that all of this comes at a time when America’s abundant supply of oil and natural gas could play a significant role in solving our nation’s most pressing problems—unemployment, debt and national security.

...Any way you slice it, the Obama Administration is out of touch with reality. _Forbes_Mike Cantrell

Obama's suicidal national policy of energy starvation is all the more amazing when one understands that it is based upon the discredited carbon hysteria fad. Mr. Obama's dysfunctional carbon hysteric policies of energy starvation have hamstrung all forms of reliable energy -- from nuclear to coal to oil to gas to oil sands to oil shale kerogens.

High powered economic societies require a large amount of reliable energy, fuel, and electrical power. Mr. Obama's favoured providers -- big money wind and big money solar -- are not reliable. In fact, most European nations which have tried these expensive and unreliable forms of energy production on a large scale, are being forced to back off very rapidly -- for the sake of their economies.

The energy starvation policies of President Obama represent just one aspect of the man's war against the US private sector. When looked at in their entirety, Mr. Obama's economic policies spell doom for the American economy.

Mr. Obama is no doubt still considered a very fashionable president -- particularly by the thug-monkeys of the US skankstream media, and by powerful special interest groups and lobbies. But anyone with clear vision and an honest voice would have to admit that the president is a fashionable failure, best-suited to be sent out to the fashion pasture of former presidents, where he can do much less harm than he is doing in his current position.