In an interview October 2011, with George Stephanopoulos, Obama just admitted that Americans are not better off than they were four years ago. In essence, he’s saying that the 4 trillion dollar increase in our National Deficit was merely a costly exercise in futility. Many Democrats realize they were duped in 2008 – they are starting to worry about their Country, their children, grandchildren and of course job security is right there at the top of their list.

Here’s a news update that is factual, not laced with lies or political rhetoric – it was DEMOCRATS who refused to give him more money to redistribute. It was Democrats who turned down his idiotic budget this spring and it is Democrats who are questioning his ability to serve as Commander in Chief.

Senator Joe Manchin, D-W. Va isn’t happy with Obama’s economic and energy issues – Chris says he’ll evaluate what is best for West Virginia before deciding if he’ll even consider backing Obama in 2012. Chris like so many other Democratic Senators must face their constituents at home who are concerned about the strangling EPA regulations, a frozen economy and extremely high unemployment.

There’s a consensus with many Democrats starting way back in the summer of 2010, that Obama is totally disengaged leaving all the heavy lifting to them without any real support. They feel that the stimulus, Obamacare, his jobs plan, taxing the wealthy has been dumped in their laps and we all know that’s true. In fact one lawmaker stated that Obama says “we’ve got to get tough” and then he looks back over his shoulder at Congress and says, “You Guys Do It.”

But, why should the Democrats be surprised – that is Obama’s mode of operation. He’s going on a 17 day vacation and threatened Congress before departing, saying, “Any effort to tie Keystone Pipeline to the payroll tax cut, I will reject. So everybody can be on notice.” He just dumped 10,000 Americans, the Unions and the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on their heads – they have been counting on Keystone Pipeline job for jobs.

So to the Liberal News Media, can quite pretending that Obama cares about restoring our economy or creating jobs. Americans are tired of your malicious rants accusing everyone but Obama for our fallen economy and lack of leadership. Your news reminds me of sewer water – it’s dark, dirty with a rank odor and an endless supply of rotten content.

There’s some mighty fine Democrats out there – they’re Patriots and want to restore our Country and create a robust economy again, but Obama’s breakfast club elite keep slapping them around and threatening them.

Rep. Dan Boren, is pro industry from head to toe, but guess who’s trying to wipe him off the map – the weak kneed NYT’s who have about as much clout as bad boy Charlie Sheen. Dan is one of the most Conservative Democrats in the House and Dan has made a decision to work from the outside in – keep an eye on Dan, he’s someone we can all be proud of today and tomorrow.

In a recent Gallop Poll 44% of the Democratic base aren’t thrilled with Obama and the upcoming Presidential Election of 2012. Just think about that, almost half of the Democrats are having second thoughts about Obama.

Two of Obama’s most devoted followers, Chris Matthews and James Carville doubt Obama’s leadership abilities. Chris no longer gets that “Thrill up his leg,” he was bragging about and says, “Obama isn’t happy in the White House and Chris wonders why Obama wants a second term and what are his plans for a second term.” Chris chastises Obama’s advisers saying, “They’re little kids running around with propellers on their heads.”

Not much left for this person to run on in 2012, he absolutely doesn’t have any ammo for his gun – except class warfare and racism.

The question is this – will the Democrats allow Obama to continue his destruction against them or will they stand up and fight for their children, grandchildren and future generations?

May God Bless America
As Always,
Little Tboca

In its never-ending quest to stop the peril this country faces from natural gas, the New York Times takes on Rep. Dan Boren, the sole Democrat in Oklahoma’s congressional delegation. He co-chairs the House Natural Gas Caucus and serves as a member of the House Natural Resources Committee. As a representative of the #3 gas-producing state, it’s not surprising that his voting record is decidedly pro-industry, and specifically, pro-fracking. (Boren, one of the more conservative Democrats in the House, has announced that he will not be seeking reelection in 2012.)

Of course, the Times tries to portray the Congressman’s voting record as corrupt, since he has income from a (silent) interest in a family enterprise (on the order of $100K/year). Added to that, his father, former U.S. Sen. David Boren (D-OK) receives compensation for his service on the board of a successful oil company. (David Boren, as the Times chooses not to report, is president of the University of Oklahoma since 1994, and a member of several corporate boards.)

The congressman’s income has jumped in the last six years, thanks to two family businesses he partly owns that have signed more than 300 mineral leases, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Many of those deals are with Chesapeake Energy, a top donor to his campaigns. …

House ethics rules do not prohibit lawmakers from taking steps to aid industries in which they have a financial stake. But some ethics experts say such actions are still inadvisable. [Emphasis added.]

“Some experts say…” It wouldn’t be a Times article without that chestnut.

“Even if it is legal, if every member of Congress pushed for industries that they have financial ties to, there would be an outcry from the public,” said Robert M. Stern, a California lawyer who has helped draft state ethics and campaign finance laws.

You gotta be kidding me, chief.

Read More →

In its never-ending quest to stop the peril this country faces from natural gas, the New York Times takes on Rep. Dan Boren, the sole Democrat in Oklahoma’s congressional delegation. He co-chairs the House Natural Gas Caucus and serves as a member of the House Natural Resources Committee. As a representative of the #3 gas-producing state, it’s not surprising that his voting record is decidedly pro-industry, and specifically, pro-fracking. (Boren, one of the more conservative Democrats in the House, has announced that he will not be seeking reelection in 2012.)

Of course, the Times tries to portray the Congressman’s voting record as corrupt, since he has income from a (silent) interest in a family enterprise (on the order of $100K/year). Added to that, his father, former U.S. Sen. David Boren (D-OK) receives compensation for his service on the board of a successful oil company. (David Boren, as the Times chooses not to report, is president of the University of Oklahoma since 1994, and a member of several corporate boards.)

The congressman’s income has jumped in the last six years, thanks to two family businesses he partly owns that have signed more than 300 mineral leases, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Many of those deals are with Chesapeake Energy, a top donor to his campaigns. …

House ethics rules do not prohibit lawmakers from taking steps to aid industries in which they have a financial stake. But some ethics experts say such actions are still inadvisable. [Emphasis added.]

“Some experts say…” It wouldn’t be a Times article without that chestnut.

“Even if it is legal, if every member of Congress pushed for industries that they have financial ties to, there would be an outcry from the public,” said Robert M. Stern, a California lawyer who has helped draft state ethics and campaign finance laws.

You gotta be kidding me, chief.

Read More →

Natural gas is the cleanest-burning and most efficient of all the fossil fuels. Because of the age of the Appalachian Mountains, 480-600 million years old, a wealth of fossil fuels, i.e. coal, oil and natural gas was created by Mother Nature ripe for the picking by this country and probably enough to keep the US fuel-independent for a very long time.

Natural gas drilling has been going on for a very long time in West Virginia. I had the pleasure of speaking with Mr. Corky DeMarco, the Executive Director of the West Virginia Oil and Natural Gas Association (WVONGA) and he has provided me with a wealth of information. The first commercial well started producing in 1859 and here’s a bit of trivia for everyone: George Washington even surveyed a natural gas well there in 1750.

There are currently 60,000 active NG wells in West Virginia, with 300 of them being in the Marcellus Shale. Because of the unique properties of shale, special and different drilling techniques must be used. The problem with shale is it has insufficient permeability to allow enough fluid flow to a well bore. Because of the unique properties of shale, the extraction of natural gas in these areas requires a different method called “hydraulic fracking.” This “fracking” or “fracturing” of the rock can be either natural or man-made and is extended by internal fluid pressure which opens the fracture and causes it to grow into the rock. Man-made fractures are created by pumping a cocktail of various chemicals through a bore hole. The fracture must then be kept open, usually by sand. This process can be controversial and environmentalists and citizens have chimed in. Please see my previous post on hydro-fracking for more in depth info and a power-point presentation of the process.

Below is a map of the Marcellus Shale, courtesy of the USGS, which covers most of West Virginia, a good part of Pennsylvania, southern New York and eastern Ohio:

Because shale NG extraction is relatively new to West Virginia, WVONGA commissioned an independent economic impact study by the Bureau of Business and Economic Research College of Business and Economics West Virginia University. This 57-page study was released on January 25, 2011 at a press conference in Charleston and can be seen here. Below is a one-page summary:

WVONGA_SummaryPts

As one can see, many jobs will be created. Of key note is the point:

Future development of Marcellus Shale in West Virginia is dependent on changes to federal and state policies [emphasis mine] as well as changes to tax and environmental policies in other Marcellus Shale states.

Please see my post on the EPA recently revoking an already-in-use coal mine permit in West Virginia, so naturally one of Mr. DeMarco’s key statements to me was:

When the EPA comes in and withdraws permits it is certainly disconcerting and what it really amounts to is a “taking” of the company and assets which have already invested. We can’t expect to compete in a global economy if we have uncertainty in the industry.

Mr. DeMarco explained to me originally in the Marcellus, drilling took place where oil pooled, not in the source rock. As a result 60-80% of the NG in those wells was left, however those wells can be revisited with the new technology used to drill in shale. And here is the shocker. According to Mr. DeMarco the US as a whole uses less than 30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas annually. At a meeting 2 years ago in Pennsylvania, estimates were the Appalachian basin collectively with the Utica shale in Ohio held 180 trillion cf of natural gas. Later estimates rose to 500T cf, and now current estimates are a whopping 750 trillion cubic feet of reserves, enough to keep this country energy independent for a very long time, of course if there is no interference from the Feds and companies are willing to invest the huge amount of dollars it would take. These reserves if correct even far outweigh those in the Middle East. And yes, I am positive I heard him correctly. I even asked him to repeat because I was so stunned.

Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA) and Rep. Dan Boren (D-OK), co-chairs of the Natural Gas Caucus sent this letter off to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on January 5 of this year because of concerns

the Department of the Interior may seek to impose new regulations on the natural gas extraction process on federal lands and urge you to not institute any new regulatory burdens before the completion of the 2010-2012 Environmental Protection Agency study on hydraulic fracturing.

Check out the other signatories. And of course, not to be outdone progressives in Congress led by Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) fired their own letter off to Salazar on the 12th to

express our strong support of your recent announcement of plans to develop a new policy for the public disclosure of chemical compounds used in hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking on public lands. This is a critical step forward in encouraging the oil and gas industry to be more transparent and responsibly address the potential implications of hydraulic fracturing on water supplies and public health.

I can’t make out all the signatories, but we have many of the “usual suspects” such as Frank, Kucinich, Moran, Woolsey, et al. And on the heels of Obama’s State of the Union address, even before he finished speaking, I had this statement from Doc Hastings, Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee in my email box:

WASHINGTON, D.C., January 25, 2011 – House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) released the following statement regarding the President’s State of the Union address:

“The President spoke at length tonight on the need to increase our economic competiveness and create new jobs. However, it’s the spending and job-destroying policies of his Administration that are jeopardizing our economic future.

“Today, American families are facing the harsh realities of rising gas prices, higher electricity costs and near double-digit unemployment. Instead of addressing these issues head-on, the Administration has spent the past two years blocking access to America’s resources that create jobs and produce more energy. These policies have only succeeded in driving American jobs overseas, threatening our economic recovery and making us more dependent on hostile foreign nations for our energy needs.

“A strong economy needs access to an abundant and affordable energy supply – we have both here in America. The President needs to embrace a robust plan to produce all types of American energy – from renewable to American-made oil and natural gas – and it has to be done without harmful government subsidies or unrealistic mandates. America cannot regulate its way back to prosperity. Certainty in the free market, not fear of red tape, is what will ultimately create jobs and grow the economy.

While it certainly appears that West Virginia is well on its way, at least at this point, with proceeding with drilling more wells in the Marcellus, the same cannot be said for New York. Ex-governor Paterson recently Executive Ordered a ban on horizontal fracking in NY after ACORN-spawned Working Families Party convinced the State Assembly to pass a bill placing a moratorium on all hydrofracking for fears residents might be able to set their tap water on fire. Here is Mark Ruffalo, spokesman for WFP or this subject:

Guess what Ruffalo: you may be a looker but no way will I be going to one of your movies, ever again. And yes, I know WFP was leading the charge because I signed up for their emails long ago and have been following the progress of this. Mr. DeMarco assured me if the process is done correctly, with cement and steel casings on the drill pipes at least 100 feet down, hydrofracking is extremely safe.

I just checked our natural gas bill. We used 189 cubic feet in December. In northern Ohio. $148 at the rate of $0.59360 per CCF for a 3,000 sq ft house kept at 70 degrees. Imagine what 750 trillion cf can do.

Fuel for thought.

Please visit the WVONGA website for a wealth of info on natural gas, including this interactive map of wells there.

Crossposted at Conservative Outlooks

Crossposted at Procinct.net