Recently I posted empirical evidence that Pres Obama, far from saving us from economic Armageddon as his worshipers claim, actually made things worse through bad policy. This time we'll take a look at one of those bad policies and its outcomes (so far).
Before Obamaphiles get in too big a tizzy, let's all acknowledge that then-Senator Obama actually warned us back in January 2008 that his policies would do exactly that.
Everything - absolutely everything - we do in the economy requires energy, so if energy prices "necessarily skyrocket", that would obviously choke off economic growth. One way to decrease the price of energy is to increase supply. And that's exactly what Pres Obama prevented by
denying the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline Expansion from Alberta to Texas.
President Obama, denouncing a “rushed and arbitrary deadline” set by congressional Republicans, announced Wednesday that he was rejecting a Canadian firm’s application for a permit to build and operate the Keystone XL pipeline, a massive project that would have stretched from Canada’s oil sands to refineries in Texas.
Yeah. "Rushed and arbitrary". He only had over two years to make a decision. In fact, he made the decision over the objections of his own "Jobs Council".
“Continuing to deliver inexpensive and reliable energy,” the council reported, “is going to require the United States to optimize all of its natural resources and construct pathways (pipelines, transmission and distribution) to deliver electricity and fuel.”
It added that regulatory “and permitting obstacles that could threaten the development of some energy projects, negatively impact jobs and weaken our energy infrastructure need to be addressed.”
Duh. Seems pretty obvious, doesn't it? Not if your name is Obama, apparently.
Who gets hurt worst by "skyrocketing" energy prices? Obviously, poor people do.
“Lower-income families are more vulnerable to energy costs than higher-income families because energy represents a larger portion of their household budgets,” according to the study, which relied on Energy Information Administration data.
Energy costs this year will represent 24 percent of after- tax income for families earning $10,000 to $30,000, up from 14 percent in 2001. Families with after-tax income from $30,000 to $50,000 will spend 7 percent of their earnings on electricity, according to the study.
Why does Pres Obama hate poor people?
But hey, at least Pres Obama's billionaire patron, Warren Buffet, benefited from it.
As it turns out, oil is already moved from northern latitudes, such as the booming oil fields of North Dakota, down to the Gulf of Mexico by rail of the old, low-speed variety.
As it happens, 75 percent of the oil currently shipped by rail out of North Dakota is handled by Burlington Northern Santa Fe LLC… which just happens to be a unit of Warren Buffett’s company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. What a coincidence!
And now the
Chinese will benefit from Pres Obama's decision.
The prospect of Canada entering free-trade talks with China is suddenly being discussed, as Chinese leaders indicated during Prime Minister Stephen Harper's visit that they are prepared to head down that path — even though Canadian officials aren't so sure this country is ready for the jump.
The development came as China and Canada declared Thursday that bilateral relations have reached "a new level" following a series of multibillion-dollar trade and business agreements to ship additional Canadian petroleum, uranium and other products to the Asian superpower
To make matters worse, while Pres Obama dithered for two years, refusing to make a decision on a
privately-funded project that would obviously generate tens of thousands of jobs (
no big deal, according to Democrats) and help boost the economy, Pres Obama spent billions of
tax payer dollars on "green" tech failures like
Solyndra and
Fisker.
So, Obamaphiles; still insist that The One rescued us from the next Great Depression? Of course you do! Your adoration was never based on facts, reason or logic, after all.
