Wednesday Chronicle: Rather Than Drill, Obama Plays Games With the Strategic Petroleum Reserve

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Chronicle · June 29, 2011 The Foundation "Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness." --George Washington Editorial Exegesis Rather than drill, Obama plays games with the Strategic Petroleum Reserve "President Barack Obama has chosen a curious moment to release 30 million barrels of oil from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The president initially justified the release as protection against disruptions in supply caused by the conflict in Libya. Later, the administration changed the explanation, saying Obama hopes to stabilize gasoline prices going into the summer vacation driving season. Libya is an important source of oil. But the fighting there has not had a major impact on supplies. And oil prices have fallen back in recent weeks from their yearly highs. ... As we've said when previous presidents considered using the reserve to influence short-term prices, that's not what the stockpile is there for. The reserve is designed to shield the American economy from dramatic disruptions in the oil supply. Such a major cutoff hasn't happened. Using the reserve to manipulate market prices is a futile enterprise. ... The president's decision to release oil reserves, coming at a time when his approval rating is sinking, opens him to criticism that his re-election campaign is driving his economic and energy decisions. He can claim credit for future declines in gasoline prices that may have occurred naturally. If the priority of the administration is now to keep gasoline cheap, it should also drop its opposition to increased domestic oil production, which would have a larger impact on long-term oil prices than would tapping into the reserve. Likewise, that goal should also inform its current considerations of sharply higher fuel economy standards for the automotive fleet. ... In any case, the release of the oil reserves in response to fluctuations in the market is not sound policy." --The Detroit News Upright "On economic growth, real GDP has risen 0.8% over the 13 quarters since the recession began, compared to an average increase of 9.9% in past recoveries. From the beginning of the recession to April 2011, real personal income has grown just .9% compared to 9.4% for the same period in previous post 1960 recessions. The standard response from Obama apologists is that recession of 2008 and 2009 was different because, as former Clinton administration economist Robert Shapiro puts it, 'this was a financial crisis, and these take longer to recover from.' In fact, in most cases, the deeper the recession, the stronger the recovery to make up for lost ground." --columnist Stephen Moore "Right now America is nothing more than Greece with better PR. And note I said right now, because at the rate we're going, we're well on our way to making that country look like amateurs by comparison." --columnist Arnold Ahlert "The salient feature of America in the Age of Obama is a failed government class institutionally committed to living beyond its means, and a citizenry too many of whom are content to string along." --columnist Mark Steyn "A recent poll showed that nearly half the American public believes that the government should redistribute wealth. That so many people are so willing to blithely put such an enormous and dangerous arbitrary power in the hands of politicians -- risking their own freedom, in hopes of getting what someone else has -- is a painful sign of how far many citizens and voters fall short of what is needed to preserve a democratic republic." --economist Thomas Sowell The News You Need Not only does The Patriot Post provide both the most outstanding and outrageous quotes of the week in each Wednesday Chronicle, but we post each day's Patriot News Review and the Internet's best Right Opinion on our website. And the best part is, unlike other sites, we do it with NO obnoxious advertising and without all the stories about royal wedding shenanigans and the latest wardrobe of a disturbed pop singer. This great resource and so much more is made possible by the generous support of our readers. Help us keep it coming by making a secure online donation to The Patriot Post's 2011 Independence Day campaign. If you prefer to support us by mail, please use our printable donor form. We have just 5 days to raise the remaining $124,913 for our campaign. Thank you, and God bless! Nate Jackson Managing Editor     The Demo-gogues Gaffe prone: "Throughout my service, first as a senator and then as a presidential candidate and then as a president, I've always run into you guys. And for some reason it's always in some rough spots. First time I saw the 10th Mountain Division, you guys were in southern Iraq. When I went back to visit Afghanistan, you guys were the first ones there. I had the great honor of seeing some of you because a comrade of yours, Jared Monti, was the first person who I was able to award the Medal of Honor to who actually came back and wasn't receiving it posthumously." --Barack Obama speaking to the 10th Mountain Division. (Note: Jared Monti was actually killed in Afghanistan on June 21, 2006. Obama did award him the Medal of Honor, but he did so posthumously in September 2009. Obama presented the first Medal Of Honor to a living recipient who served in Afghanistan, Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta, last year.) Spending our way to austerity: "Of course, there's been a real debate about where to invest and where to cut, and I'm committed to working with members of both parties to cut our deficits and debt. But we can't simply cut our way to prosperity." --Barack Obama Paying more in taxes doesn't equal a tax hike: "The fact of the matter is, we have on the table all kinds of revenue raises that [Republicans] keep calling tax increases. How do you call closing loopholes to oil companies that are making billions of dollars in profits, closing up these loopholes that would generate $40 to $50 billion in revenue, how do you call that a tax hike? We are not asking anybody to raise anybody's rates. We want us to have an effective tax collection and close these loopholes, stop giving billions of dollars in breaks to millionaires and billionaires." --Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC) Doesn't pass the giggle test: "The U.S. government cannot default on its debt, largely accrued by President George W. Bush." --House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) Big Brother: "Government should not tell you what to do unless there's a compelling public purpose." --New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg Insight "The people have always some champion whom they set over them and nurse into greatness. ... This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs, when he first appears he is a protector." --Plato (429-347 BC) Dezinformatsia Emulating the Germans? "Now, when you look at the ... German Constitution, apparently as I've read it once, [it] is very similar to the American one, but it's sort of more modern, more streamlined. It doesn't have some of the kinks you know, for example, people point out that the Second Amendment is a grammatical mess, whatever you may think of the right to bear arms. ... So are there things that constitutional scholars look at and say, you know, these were really -- these have been problems for 222 years?" --CNN's Fareed Zakaria wanting to "modernize" our Constitution More Bush than Bush himself: "I covered the Bush White House. He started the war in Afghanistan. But it took President Obama to finally capture and kill [Osama] bin Laden. There have been more drone attacks under the Obama administration than the Bush administration. There's an argument that can be made, and there are numbers that support that Obama has more aggressively prosecuted the quote unquote War on Terror -- if you like that phrase, some don't -- than Bush did." --CBS's Norah O'Donnell Redefining "equality": "Here's your chance to 'Talk Back' on one of the big stories of the day. New York passes a law allowing same-sex marriage. And our question: Is it time for marriage equality in America? Is it time for it to be essentially throughout the country? Federal law even?" --CNN's Suzanne Malveaux Class warfare: "This weekend, when the vice president was laying out all the things that you have to do and how much -- when he said you have to ask those who are struggling in this economy to bear the burden and let the most fortunate among us off the hook, he said that borders on being immoral. Does the president agree with that?" --CBS'S Chip Reid to White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, who answered in the affirmative Stupid questions: "Are you a flake?" --Fox News' Chris Wallace attempting to discredit conservative presidential candidate Michele Bachmann Newspulper Headlines: Out on a Limb: "Obama Raising Doubts About His Credibility as Commander-in-Chief" --Commentary website Questions Nobody Is Asking: "How Did Obamacare Get So Screwed Up?" --Washington Post website That's Nothing, You Should Hear What Reporters Say About Voters!: "Poll: Voters Think Reporters Are Biased Liberals" --Yahoo! News He Almost Got Luckey and Survived: "Staff Investigating Death of Man Near Luckey" --Toledo Blade News You Can Use: "Sixteen Ways to Eat a Cicada: The Fine Art of Insect Cuisine" --Time.com Bottom Story of the Day: "Plane Arrives Safely at City Airport" --Detroit News (Thanks to The Wall Street Journal's James Taranto) Village Idiots Let them eat fries: "If I picked one favorite, favorite food, it's French fries. Okay? It's French fries. I can't stop eating them. ... But eat your vegetables. And exercise." --Michelle Obama Unbalanced: "We obviously believe a balanced approach [to the federal debt] is the right approach and we're not alone here. It's important to remember, there are a number proposals out there in this time period that have been made. The only one that doesn't take a balanced approach has been the House Republican proposal." --White House Press Secretary Jay Carney Hot air: "The only thing I can think of is we just have to keep working, just like we are doing now, and get as much publicity as we possible can for the issue, and increase the amount of the debate, and persuade people with ... the evidence, which is overwhelmingly in favor of climate change being a serious problem, probably the most serious -- and in all fairness -- the most complex problem that humanity has ever faced." --media mogul Ted Turner Guns = slavery. Brilliant: "Slavery. Segregation. Black codes. Jim Crow. What, what did they all have in common? Anybody getting scared? Government sponsored racism. Now I want you to connect one more dot on that chain of the African American history in this country, and tell me if I'm crazy. Federal gun laws that facilitate the flow of illegal firearms into our urban centers across this country that are killing our black and brown children. ... We've got to get the gun debate back to center, and it's got to come with the recognition of who's paying the price for the gun manufacturers being rich and living in gated communities." --Chicago Police Chief Garry McCarthy Priorities: "And then there is the work that our embassy team in Rome has been doing. Two weeks ago they played an instrumental role in bringing Lady Gaga to Italy for a Euro Pride concert. Now as many of you know Lady Gaga is Italian American and a strong supporter of LGBT rights. And the organizers of the Euro Pride event desperately wanted her to perform and a letter to her from Ambassador Thorne was instrumental in sealing the deal." --Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Click Here Seasonal Items   Shop our great gift selection to get you in the mood for summer fun, celebrations and vacation travel!   Short Cuts "There are no more alarming words in the English language than 'the government is eager to...' (with the possible exception of '@RepWeiner is now following you on Twitter')." --blogger Doug Powers "If you're a single man in New York state, we have some good news. Soon there will be a way for you to get married and never have to worry about your wife complaining about the toilet seat or taking half your stuff in a divorce. Now for the bad news..." --Wall Street Journal columnist James Taranto "In Kandahar as in California, all that matters is excess: It's not working? Then you need to spend more. More more more. What does it matter? You're not spending anything real. America would have to find 15 trillion dollars just to get back to having nothing in its pocket. But who cares? As long as we're united in our commitment to excess, no CBO debt-GDP ratio graph is too steep for us to take to the next level, and no horizon -- 2060, 2080, 2104 -- is too distant to serve as a plausible estimate for significant deficit reduction." --columnist Mark Steyn "[P]resident Obama has released 30 million barrels of oil from the strategic petroleum reserve. He said it was in response to what he called a real emergency: his poll numbers." --comedian Jay Leno Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus et Fidelis! 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