ANWR
Posted at 10:51pm on Jul. 9, 2008 Redstate Roundtable: Obama's Unending Psychology of Change
That's a lotta flipflop
By Ben Domenech
Let's sit down next to the couch for a moment to discuss this. Five questions for Contributors (and you!) are at the end.
Over the past few months, a strong meme has developed regarding Barack Obama: that his loyalties to a position are only as strong as they 
need to be given the demands of the moment. His eagerness to throw close associates or even mentors like Jeremiah Wright under the bus if the press or the political right demands it is second to none in the history of presidential politics. He has no qualms about shifting positions - such as on meeting without preconditions with the leaders of enemy nations - if it will squelch a media storm or make it easier to win a state. He has not a stubborn bone in his body, it appears - and is, to put it simply, not a fan of inconvenient truths.
But in the month since Obama cinched the Democratic nomination, this stream of flipflops has become a torrent. A brief summary:
-Obama said the D.C. handgun ban and the almost as restrictive Chicago ban were constitutional and supported handgun restrictions, but now he says definitively that it was unconstitutional.
-Obama promised he would accept public financing when he thought he'd need it, but then decided he'd rather not.
-Obama opposed welfare reform while in Illinois, but now says he supports it.
-Obama opposed the death penalty on principle and supported a moratorium on capital punishment - even implying that Osama Bin Laden should not be "martyred" by it - and now he believes it is justified not just in the case of homicide and terrorism, but also of child rape and other circumstances.
-Obama opposed legal immunity for telecom companies for cooperating with government security surveillance, but now he claims to support it.
And just this past week came two of the largest flipflops - certainly the greatest ones I have ever witnessed DURING THE COURSE of a presidential campaign:
-Obama supported immediate day one withdrawal of troops from Iraq, but now says he'll "refine" his position and listen to the commanders on the ground if they tell him to phase out the troops slowly, while still claiming to support an impossible mark of 16 months to a total withdrawal. You can read the three different versions of this new Obama position on Iraq here.
-Obama supported unlimited access to abortion, including taxpayer funding and opposing born alive infant protection, but now he says he supports states rights to restrict and even prohibit all late-term abortions, and have now requirement to have a health exception that allows for the (overwhelmingly used) basis of "mental health."
The story is here, and his inevitable attempt to refine further is here. As for the original interview, the full text is here, and below the fold.
Read on for the questions and responses...
Posted in 2008 | Abortion | ANWR | Barack Obama | Redstate Roundtable — Comments (12)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 12:35am on Jun. 19, 2008 If Only We Had Cars That Ran on Magic
By Ben Domenech
I had the pleasure of participating in a BBC debate this afternoon on the World Newshour show with Daniel Weiss of the Center for American Progress. We had an extensive discussion with the host on the President's announcement today in support of offshore drilling and other energy initiatives. Feel free to listen, and then a few points after:
Ben Domenech on BBC Radio (6:00 Minute Mark)
Posted in ANWR | Biofuels | Energy | ocs | oil | Oil Prices — Comments (17) / Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 12:12am on May 31, 2008 ANWR Development: The Devil's in the Details (or Lack Thereof)
By Vladimir
At the request of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), the Energy Information Agency of the Department of Energy recently updated its assessment of the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. A copy of the full report is here.
We RedStaters have recently engaged in some speculation about how fast ANWR could be brought on production, presuming we had the national and political will to do so, and presuming no litigation on behalf of the "threatened" polar bear.
As you read the following analysis, never forget that in 1995, the Republican Congress approved opening ANWR to oil exploration. The measure was vetoed by the Democratic President. If it had passed, ANWR might be on production today.
The bigger lesson has nothing to do with Republicans vs Democrats, though. The oil price was around $20 per barrel back then. Oil was cheap; why disturb the caribou and the polar bears? But setting appropriate energy policy takes responsibility, discipline and foresight, and unfortunately all three commodities are in even shorter supply than crude oil.
Below, I quote liberally from the EIA report to try to answer some of these questions. Please turn the page...
Posted in ANWR | Energy | The Future Belongs to Thin Solar Film — Comments (3) / Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 9:19am on May 1, 2008 WaPo Columnist Robert Samuelson Channels RedState's Vladimir
By Vladimir
To the moderators: Maybe I'm flirting with Fair Use here, so feel free to edit if necessary. Mr. Samuelson did such a good job of encapsulating the current energy picture that it was hard to cut anything.
...The truth is that we're almost powerless to influence today's [oil] prices. We are because we didn't take sensible actions 10 or 20 years ago. If we persist, we will be even worse off in a decade or two. The first thing to do: Start drilling.Posted in ANWR | Energy — Comments (15) / Email this page » / Read More »
