Biden flip-flops on drilling
posted at 9:40 am on September 4, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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It didn’t take Joe Biden long to fall into line with the Barack Obama no-drill policy. After saying Monday that he didn’t oppose drilling in the OCS, he told an audience yesterday he opposed it. Is this change American can believe in?
Barack Obama didn’t take running mate Joe Biden to the woodshed for his remarks Monday on offshore drilling, which broke from Obama’s strong reservations to it. But Biden on Wednesday nonetheless offered a different opinion: “I’m against it.”
Biden flatly told voters this afternoon that he opposes offshore drilling for oil and gas and lambasted companies for failing to tap many coastal sites they have already leased from the federal government. …
Biden stayed perfectly on message — Obama’s message.
It seems as though the Democrats are heading in the wrong direction. Instead of following the overwhelming will of the electorate to increase domestic production, Biden changed his position to more directly contradict it. With energy being one of the top issues in this campaign, Biden’s sudden surrender to the environmentalists won’t go unnoticed.
Biden went even further down the fringie road, too. He told his audience that oil companies have leases on which they don’t drill now, asking “Why do you think [that is]?” Maybe because they can’t find oil on those particular leases, which is why they want to look for more promising locations. If they don’t drill long enough, under current law the leases will return to the federal government anyway. They don’t make money by sitting on expensive leases, no matter how many conspiracy theories Biden can spin in his imagination.
Even more tiresome was Biden’s sudden insistence on draining the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. He used Clinton’s election-year release as a model, saying that it dropped prices by 18%. The very obvious response was that it clearly did not solve the problem — because oil prices have gone up sharply again. Also, that’s a momentary increase of supply to effect a price decrease. If that’s such a great strategy, why not permanently increase supply to effect a long-term price decrease?
Not only did Biden lose his testicular fortitude, he lost his economic sense as well.
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JOE MUST STAY!
Republicans for Joe Biden not being broomed.
I’m Saul Tigh and Roslyn and I support this message.
sven10077 on September 4, 2008 at 9:42 AM
So McCain sort of offers to allow OS drilling, and Biden changes postions as contrast. Hey Joe, can you be more forceful about fighting global warming? This contrast thing may work both ways….
Think_b4_speaking on September 4, 2008 at 9:45 AM
Ed, get the latest Rasmussen poll on here. It’s awesome
lodge on September 4, 2008 at 9:45 AM
“Jud-ja-ment”
Weight of Glory on September 4, 2008 at 9:45 AM
I second that meme. Please, Mr. Obama…PLEASE don’t dump SloJoe from your ticket. He is the gift that just keeps giving.
ManlyRash on September 4, 2008 at 9:45 AM
Joe, we love ya!
lorien1973 on September 4, 2008 at 9:46 AM
No surprise that he changed his position to line up behind Obama. What else are VPs good for?
I’m waiting for either party to back the Pickens Plan- do more drilling ASAP and enact a serious strategy to completely move our energy dependence from fossil fuels to alternative energy that isn’t affect by worldwide fossil fuel prices.
foreverright on September 4, 2008 at 9:46 AM
So much for “energy in the executive.”
Maquis on September 4, 2008 at 9:47 AM
Also, the red-tape that the oil companies must go through before even setting foot on the land. That, and environuts filing lawsuits prohibiting the oil companies from drilling for insane reasons such as the destruction of the horn winged fart beetle.
Dr.Cwac.Cwac on September 4, 2008 at 9:47 AM
BO’s flip-flop-itis must be contagious.
jgapinoy on September 4, 2008 at 9:48 AM
The Republicans can ride energy independence to victory in November and not just for McCain/Palin, but to take back Congress.
This is a unifying message. Take this ball and run with it.
NoDonkey on September 4, 2008 at 9:48 AM
Dude, oil companies do sit on leases. One of the accomplishments that Palin achieved in Alaska was to tell them to use it or lose it…
ninjapirate on September 4, 2008 at 9:48 AM
the VP debate better have a long segment on Energy Policy. Palin will run circles around Biden…she would around McCain too for that matter.
jp on September 4, 2008 at 9:49 AM
Well, at least we know who’s in charge over there.
Tzetzes on September 4, 2008 at 9:49 AM
Rasmussen.
Looking forward to Friday’s numbers.
Weight of Glory on September 4, 2008 at 9:50 AM
Changeable change. (You can believe in???)
Direct hit, Captain.
hillbillyjim on September 4, 2008 at 9:51 AM
Well it is all the more obvious…McCain picks a better VP then Obama.
The lines are drawn, now we will see who has the best energy stance.
Drill baby Drill…
right2bright on September 4, 2008 at 9:52 AM
I just glanced at the HA headlines and was reminded of the Eagleton meme.
You know, on second thought, maybe we should dump Palin and go with Ridge. HAH.
Sarah’Cude Feevah! Catch It!
BuckeyeSam on September 4, 2008 at 9:53 AM
Does Biden know that Putin wants to shut off the
oil pipeline through Georgia,Dinnerjacketnutcase
wants to close the Straights of Hormuz!!
Its called oil strangulation!
Sarah wants an oil pipeline flowing with American
oil!
Why does Biden want to use the emergency back-up
oil reserves?
When the USSR and Persia are playing russian
roulette with NATO!!!
Obama and Biden,the no-drill dynamic dou,real
freaggin change!
canopfor on September 4, 2008 at 9:53 AM
after sarah drilled Obama/Biden last night, they should be opposed to anymore drilling
custer on September 4, 2008 at 9:54 AM
Joe is a semi-illiterate redneck from Delaware. No wonder Congress is broken. This stooge has been one of the major architects of that breakdown. In 2006 the democrats screamed CHANGE and gas was 2.00 and the unemployment was under 5%. We got their CHANGE for sure. Next election the democrats screamed Change and they put a Congressional dinosaur with 36 years in the Senate as their VP choice.. CHANGE….words….just words.
volsense on September 4, 2008 at 9:54 AM
Drill For Hair Plugs, Not For Oil
Jim M. on September 4, 2008 at 9:56 AM
You are correct. I think Joe may be positioning himself to use this against her in the debate.
a capella on September 4, 2008 at 9:56 AM
I’d guess that some part of Biden is ticked-off having to play second fiddle to a younger, inexperienced guy who stepped in front of the line. Biden’s a true-blue lib, so why didn’t he get his chance? I bet he wonders what Obama has that he doesn’t. I bet he also thinks they’re likely going down. Watch him hedge his bets for the next two months.
He was brought in to shore up a leaky foundation, but Biden’s not about to let the walls crash in on himself.
JiangxiDad on September 4, 2008 at 9:56 AM
Biden knows as much about oil exploration and extraction as he knows about foreign policy…
To take a quote from last night’s Convention…”zero!”
coldwarrior on September 4, 2008 at 9:57 AM
Just wait until this shallow political hack debates with someone with GRAVITAS!
SARH’CUDA
TheSitRep on September 4, 2008 at 9:57 AM
His pointers have NOTHIN’ ON SARAH…..
I bring you….
THE PEOPLE’S POINTER
or…THE PALIN POINTER OF TRUTH
seejanemom on September 4, 2008 at 10:00 AM
Then, she needs to pre-empt Joe before the debate. She’ll have to explain why it was O.K. for her to insist oil companies give up AK leases they weren’t using, when Joe is saying the same thing should apply to the lower 48 before we do OCS drilling.
a capella on September 4, 2008 at 10:00 AM
She’ll get that out herself in the debates.
Sarah showing she wants production from the oil companies now rather than them sitting on the people’s oil is what will show middle America she is not “big oil’s hitwoman”….
BIG OIL USE IT OR LOSE IT
and BIG GOVERNMENT GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY!
sven10077 on September 4, 2008 at 10:01 AM
Joe Biden = Bambi’s b!tch
Dr.Cwac.Cwac on September 4, 2008 at 10:01 AM
I’m glad they are hardening their no-drill stance. Makes it easier for us.
Darksean on September 4, 2008 at 10:02 AM
Because she lived it in practice and Joe arrived at that conclusion over a bagel at Barry’s Holiday Inn suite…
Sarah Palin has an energy policy that works…O’Biden has platitudes and talking points.
sven10077 on September 4, 2008 at 10:02 AM
That’s the important point.
Also, limit environut lawsuits. Tort reform anyone?
Dr.Cwac.Cwac on September 4, 2008 at 10:02 AM
Amen…the firmer they get the harder our target…
and we have a TOW Missile boys named Sarah~cuda.
sven10077 on September 4, 2008 at 10:03 AM
Heh
“Tool for the patriarchy”
SlimyBill on September 4, 2008 at 10:04 AM
SARH’CUDASARAH’CUDA…THE ARCTIC FOX
Fixed it.
ManlyRash on September 4, 2008 at 10:04 AM
What a loser.
CP on September 4, 2008 at 10:04 AM
a capeella:
Governor Palin is going crush Senator Biden in the debate no matter what he sets up for the simple reason that Biden is a windbag and a bore. Go ahead bring up non-existent global warming as an issue. By the time we get to the VP debate we will be experiening another below normal fall. It was under 50 degrees in the Twin Cities this morning and the forecast for the winter is another long cold one.
jerryofva on September 4, 2008 at 10:04 AM
He also flip-flopped at being “under fire” in Iraq
Biden revises claim he was ‘shot at’ in Iraq
TheBigOldDog on September 4, 2008 at 10:05 AM
Don’t blame Joe!
Blame his puppeteer!
JoeBrooks on September 4, 2008 at 10:05 AM
If McCain-Palin can work blue collar jobs into the equation, it will be a devastating attack.
I wonder how many jobs are being created by the natural gas pipeline to Alberta, and how many jobs are in America.
SlimyBill on September 4, 2008 at 10:06 AM
We’re talking about petroleum, right?
whitetop on September 4, 2008 at 10:08 AM
I thought her comments last night about big oil were surprising– usually it’s the Dem’s attacking business interests. But I saw an interview Palin gave with Charlie Rose where she said that too many people/interest groups located outside of Alaska were deciding Alaska’s energy policies and future.
She want’s her state’s resources tapped, both for the benefit of her state, and for the energy security of the country. As for the oil co’s, she complained that they have investments in overseas fields that the oil co’s see as being in “competition” with new Alaskan sources. I hadn’t thought of it that way–I just assumed they would want more and more oil since they can sell as much as they produce.
In this way, Palin shows how the oil co’s are apparently sometimes part of the problem.
JiangxiDad on September 4, 2008 at 10:09 AM
Hm, I guess Biden is opposed to creating more jobs for Americans.
Joe, there are a lot of Americans who want to work providing energy for America.
rbj on September 4, 2008 at 10:10 AM
Economy, Sovereignty, Defense, they all depend on Energy Independence.
Of course, the Democrats only benefit with more power when the Economy sucks, we align ourselves with weak nations, and we have open borders.
kirkill on September 4, 2008 at 10:10 AM
Oy!
SlimyBill on September 4, 2008 at 10:10 AM
The donks will use her actions to justify stalling on OCS drilling. In the energy portion of her debate with Biden, she’ll have to explain why it was O.K. to use it or lose it in AK, but not O.K. for Biden use that as justification to avoid OCS drilling.
a capella on September 4, 2008 at 10:10 AM
Nice, considering she also dropped the People’s Elbow on Obama last night.
fossten on September 4, 2008 at 10:11 AM
Jiang Xi, that is why I said last night without hyperbole…
Sarah is TR and RR’s political daughter and she is equal parts of each.
When the GOP does “reform” we do it right…attack the issue set up the minimum answer needed, and let the target get back to work.
Teddy Roosevelt would never have murdered our Nuclear industry like Dhimmi Carter he would have just given it a gentle kick in the balls to brook it to task more safely.
That *is* the difference.
sven10077 on September 4, 2008 at 10:12 AM
That’s the Killzone, man.
And Palin can disarm the “handmaiden to Big Oil” argument with what she did to BP. And she gave the money to the citizens.
If McCain-Palin are to win, this is where the slaughter will occur.
SlimyBill on September 4, 2008 at 10:13 AM
He had economic sense to begin with?
After being in the Senate for 35 years and his worth is still in the 6 figure range.. I would say no..
DaveC on September 4, 2008 at 10:13 AM
I think you underestimate Sarah’s zeal on the topic…would not shock me in the least if she busts out numbers of barrels in each system and how much redtape each business faces to exploit sitting onshore wells.
Sarah is a unique balance of pro-oil and pro-people policy on the issue…the donk scheme is to just demonize the “evil oilmen”….hello 1930 called and wants its meme back.
sven10077 on September 4, 2008 at 10:14 AM
I find myself becoming a hyper partisan in my old age. I see guys like Reed, Obama, Biden, Dean, and Kerry, and I really dislike them as sort of carpetbaggers that are readily willing to do bad damage to The United States.
Deep down, I know they are not enemies, but they do seem to be terribly misguided at best. I just can’t understand what the heck they are trying to do and what it is they want to accomplish.
saiga on September 4, 2008 at 10:15 AM
Change I believe in is that Biden will continue to flip-flop his positions on any given policy to suite whatever immediate ends he deems necessary.
Lawrence on September 4, 2008 at 10:15 AM
Alaskan oil lease work completely different than, say Texas.
I think the oil is actually owned by the people of Alaska.
TheSitRep on September 4, 2008 at 10:15 AM
OT – I’m having problems accessing MM’s blogs this morning – anyone else?
greydude on September 4, 2008 at 10:17 AM
Ah, O.K. Good point. I didn’t see the interview and that explains her forcing them to give up the leases they weren’t using. Further proof of her analytical ability. She can use that argument to good effect,..gonna piss off the folks at the WSJ, I suppose.
a capella on September 4, 2008 at 10:17 AM
The GOP will NUKE the donks if they even say their policy is to make American oil America’s through the states….
The notion that the Alaskan model cannot work for the whole nation is looking shakier and shakier.
sven10077 on September 4, 2008 at 10:17 AM
I guess BHO did to old Joe what Jessie Jackson wanted to do to BHO.
Mojack420 on September 4, 2008 at 10:17 AM
Stop! My sides are hurting already!
It feels strange to be excited again.
drunkenmaster on September 4, 2008 at 10:18 AM
I don’t think the WSJ will mind…what it will do is actually make the oil industry more cagey in taking on a lease and force them to minimize their time to production. The longer they sit on a well the moire likely it is to be taken back.
It finds that head of a pin balance to the issue that leaves neither side completely satisified but the market happier.
sven10077 on September 4, 2008 at 10:19 AM
I can answer that.
They want power for themselves. They worship power and riches. So they have embraced the whoredom that is required to achieve those goals.
Because they are willing to sacrifice the country’s best interests in favor of their own, they are true domestic enemies of this country. Your instincts are correct; don’t doubt them.
fossten on September 4, 2008 at 10:19 AM
Good points.
JiangxiDad on September 4, 2008 at 10:19 AM
Tigh and Roslyn…heh, and I’m a huge BG fan. Someone with more skills than I needs to photoshop that.
Good job Biden, you are the perfect vp for Obama; malleable, boot-licking and never one to get in the way of his ego. Sarah is going to clean your clock in the debates because ENERGY is what is hurting us right now and the public wants to know who is going to do something about it.
Flip/Flop ‘08
Bishop on September 4, 2008 at 10:19 AM
Only problem is, McCain is a bit of an environut himself…
Think_b4_speaking on September 4, 2008 at 10:20 AM
Can the dems explain to their enlightened are far superior supporters just why the current areas set aside by the Feds are not being tapped?
Elizabetty on September 4, 2008 at 10:20 AM
perfect.
JiangxiDad on September 4, 2008 at 10:21 AM
Yes, and that is how the false flag “tax on windfall profits” gig got started. The rebate she gave AK citizens is legislatively worded as a tax but is actually due them because each citizen owns part of the mineral rights.
a capella on September 4, 2008 at 10:22 AM
Maybe his running mate will explain to him that the newer oil Rigs spill less than 1/2 of ONE gallon of oil into the ocean every year.
Elizabetty on September 4, 2008 at 10:22 AM
Thanks…we need to get the word out on Sarah’s energy plans and tell people look you can elect a guy who sells you Unicorn Horns or you can help get a woman who has a real plan into the national system….
we can make this work people.
sven10077 on September 4, 2008 at 10:22 AM
John is 60% pro-energy 40% granola muncher….
he’ll come around if we say “make the leases easier to use but grow the EPA to birddog hazards”…w.e can sell this to the middle.
sven10077 on September 4, 2008 at 10:24 AM
Opposes drilling, fine, I can understand that. But Obama & Co won’t even talk about nuclear energy. They consistently misrepresent McCain’s energy plan, too, by claiming it’s just all about drilling. Me thinks that’s because Obama knows his stance is weak, and that the Democrats actually don’t give one rip that the gas prices are high. They want them to be high to make people stop using gasoline!
Seixon on September 4, 2008 at 10:24 AM
In the case of Obama, I sincerely believe he is a closet Black Panther that wants to institute some new kind of affirmative action in addition to expanding welfare payments to Blacks as a flavor of reparations for slavery.
I also know that these programs do far more harm than good as evidenced in New Orleans and inner cities across America.
If he wants real change in the Black community, he needs to take a path of personal responsibility, and promote personal initiative, and positive peer group pressure for education and hard work. The rap culture is a disgrace ro America, and is a product of the “Entitlement Mentality” which is a mentality of failure hidden behind victimhood.
It does more harm than good to the Black Community. If hew wants real change, he will have to recognize reality.
saiga on September 4, 2008 at 10:25 AM
Joe biden says Obama might persue criminal charges against George W. Bush.
pt on September 4, 2008 at 10:26 AM
Yup and the electricity they say will power cars comes from unicorn farts…
we NEED to talk about this in our circles…
1) use the resources we have to buy us time to generate and institute newer electrical sources
2) give tax grants to energy pioneering, subsidize shale NOT ETHANOL…you shouldn’t drive trigger’s lunch
3) go nuclear, go natural gas, go cleaned coal….
we have got to generate enthusiasm for our ticket and we have 8 weeks and a far better platform to stand on on this topic.
sven10077 on September 4, 2008 at 10:27 AM
The Dem’s nuclear policy was spelled out in position paper written in California a long time ago. I think they called it The China Syndrome.
JiangxiDad on September 4, 2008 at 10:28 AM
Except that deep down they really are our enemies.
In a nutshell, what they are doing is striving to turn our constitutional democratic republic into some kind of neo-socialist oligarchy.
Lawrence on September 4, 2008 at 10:28 AM
a Republoican looks at the UN and the EU as a tyrannical for of oligarchial mob rule….
a Donk looks at the same and sees a model they wish to emulate and grant oversight on our foreign policy…
if it does not make the DNC our enemy it certainly does make them less America’s firend.
sven10077 on September 4, 2008 at 10:30 AM
and 30 years of hysteria and fear is long enough….
I’m telling you if we push this we’ll win back a portion of the seats we lost to blue-dogs IMHO.
sven10077 on September 4, 2008 at 10:31 AM
Heh
right2bright on September 4, 2008 at 10:33 AM
The energy question seems fairly simple to me. Work your ass off to find alternative energy with heavy research and hefty incentives.
In the mean time, use the heck out of all the different technologies we already have.
In WWII we had to use all we had early on untill the new stuff was available. I predict some egg head will figure out how to use sunlight to breakdown sea water and peel out the Hydrogen. Why torture ourselves in the mean time by not running with what we already have?
saiga on September 4, 2008 at 10:33 AM
VPs by their nature in campaigns have their own political beliefs castrated if they go against the top of the ticket — remember Joe Lieberman in 2000? I would expect one of the first questions Palin will be asked by the big media (assuming they can actually get off their fixation on her baby, her oldest daughter and ever rumor posted on the Daily Kos site) will be what her position on ANWR is, now that she’s running with McCain.
It would be nice if Maverick would flip tonight on drilling there, so it becomes a non-issue, but my guess is Sarah at the very least is going to have to defer to his current position of offshore drilling, yes, ANWR, no.
jon1979 on September 4, 2008 at 10:34 AM
Actually, it is a permanent fund, so it is much like what is set up in Texas for the Permian Basin. The state gets X% royalty (was about 11% if I recall), and uses it in Alaska as a rebate to citizens; in Texas, it subsidizes the state universities. The difference is that in Texas the land was given to the universites as a grant, then oil was found; in Alaska, the land stays with the state.
Think_b4_speaking on September 4, 2008 at 10:34 AM
Tort reform would be nice Doc, but how do you run that thru a Dem controlled congress?. I would suggest a John McCain Presidential over-ride of lawsuits under a national security statute.
Rovin on September 4, 2008 at 10:35 AM
As I am both a conservative and a member of the oil industry, can you imagine how much the phrase ‘grow the EPA’ bugs me?
Think_b4_speaking on September 4, 2008 at 10:37 AM
You also speak over the donks to the American people and say, “you love 3.83 a gallon for fuel? Thank Nancy, Harry, and the Sierra Club we need sensible limits on the starting up of wells and hard oversight on their usage”….
This is a Congress grabber if we push it it may take a term or two but we CAN WIN!
sven10077 on September 4, 2008 at 10:38 AM
I am an unapologetic fan of Big Oil….that said we need to give the bone of increased and controlled EPA oversight to the wobbly GOP and borderline dems to get freed from the redtape IMHO.
The American people have been brainwashed to think Exxon enjoyed the Valdez experience…people with sense know better but the Sierra Club has a lot of morons in it on the topic of ebnergy…we need to coopt them.
sven10077 on September 4, 2008 at 10:40 AM
Joe Biden The Gift that keeps on giving
Keep releasing oil from the SPR Joe, THEN tell us, Mr. OIL EXPERT, what happens when that oil is, uh, is, uh GONE???
originalpechanga on September 4, 2008 at 10:41 AM
He’s not called Plugs Biden for nothing!
Mr. Joe on September 4, 2008 at 10:41 AM
I understand the tactics, I just wish either McCain or Palin could get through one speech without talking about ‘fighting big oil’. Its a bit too populist, and reminds me of the carbon caps et al that made me an anybody-but-McCain in the primaries.
Think_b4_speaking on September 4, 2008 at 10:44 AM
There ya go, there is Mac’s speech for tonight.
Bishop on September 4, 2008 at 10:44 AM
maybe they should drill his brain.
bloggless on September 4, 2008 at 10:45 AM
This is what happens when George Soros is at odds with most of America. His lackeys sound stupid. Obama/Biden are continuing to denounce the idea of off shore drilling on the outer continental shelf?
The Dems ridiculed George H.W. Bush for keeping Quayle as veep for his second run. This Soros/Obama/Biden obstinance is just as tone-deaf.
Doug on September 4, 2008 at 10:50 AM
Biden never had testicular fortitude.
O-Dub on September 4, 2008 at 10:51 AM
This is the same Biden who is calling for arrests of Bush et al., after Team Zero gets elected?
I see where Obama pal Kwame Kilpatrick this morning in Detroit has accepted a guilty plea (and jail time) and stepping down as a mere mayor. Seems Kwame can see the writing onthe wall. Had Obama been elected, Kilpatrick could have gotten a Christmas pardon. Not going to happen now.
coldwarrior on September 4, 2008 at 10:52 AM
Ok…post-inaugural pardon.
coldwarrior on September 4, 2008 at 10:53 AM
Tb4S, hey I agree and I was against the guy but what we have here is perhaps finally a guy mentoring a woman who can talk sense to the American people about oil and the religion of AGW. I went from “may as well blow out my brains with my own electoral gun” to hell bent for leather and on fire to help John groom Sarah.
Big oil ain’t gonna walk away for the next decade unscathed…it pisses me off, it is absolutely unfair, and it is something we let happen on Bush the younger’s watch….
Our oil companies need to get back to work and put Americans back to work fueling the engine of our economy with Yankee Brand fuel….keep our wealth here recapitalize our industry let’s have an american renaissance.
sven10077 on September 4, 2008 at 10:55 AM
No. He has plugicular fortitude.
Dr.Cwac.Cwac on September 4, 2008 at 11:04 AM
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