House Majority Leader calls for domestic drilling

In his weekly pen and pad briefing, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said that Democrats are supportive of using U.S. products to combat the rising oil prices. He said the most viable option, drilling in federal land and water, was still opposed by Republicans who want to drill offshore or in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). He said that there are 68 million acres of federally owned land in the U.S. and this land shelters 107 billion barrels of oil and 658 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Hoyer said the only tool to lower gas prices in the near future is to try and control oil speculation. He told the press that his oil experts said that production cost was not really the driving force behind the colossal rise in gas prices, but that speculation accounted for between 20 and 50 percent of rising gas prices. He said that drilling ANWR would completely ignore the substantial supply already available in federal land.

He said that President Bush has done nothing to encourage conservation since taking office. Hoyer said that the Republicans may want oil prices to go down but instead of taking action he said they just offer subsidies to oil companies. He said that Senator McCain’s (R-Az.) new plan to develop an electric car was created to balance out the four billion dollar tax cut he proposed for the five largest U.S. oil companies.

Hoyer said McCain is continuing to flip flop

At the pen and pad briefing with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-M.D.) today, Hoyer said that McCain changes position so rapidly and is continuing to flip flop in his policies. Oil and gas companies hold the leases to 6.8 million acres of government land on the outer continental shelf, and they are not producing oil. 4.8 million barrels of oil could be produced if they drilled there, but McCain is ignoring what has already been authorized, Hoyer said. He said that democrats are supportive of offshore drilling and that alternative energy is what Congress and others should be focusing on.

Hoyer thinks that Obama is doing the right thing meeting with Clinton and others. He said in reference to Democratic party unity, “I believe it will happen” because there is a gulf of differences between McCain and Obama. While Clinton supporters are rightly disappointed right now because their candidate lost, Hoyer believes that more then 90 percent will support Obama because their country’s interest come first.

The supplemental bill going through the House right now will offer funds for the troops, address all the issues the President recommended and also offer assistance for the emergency in Iowa. Hoyer said the supplemental is the “critical focus” of the next 24 hours.

Obama conference call rips McCain energy policy

The Obama campaign hosted a conference call with Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) and former Iowa Governor Vilsack to discuss Republican Senator John McCain's "failed approach" to drilling for energy independence.

Senator Obama's supporters argued McCain's calls for drilling for oil off the U.S. coast will not succeed in lowering our oil prices, nor will McCain's calls for a "gas tax holiday" help our country in the future.

The Obama campaign portrayed McCain as a candidate who has "flip flopped" on how to solve the energy crisis facing our nation, and said that the best way to help America's struggling middle class and to become less dependent on foreign oil was to be more efficient with our energy use and to develop alternative fuel sources for automobiles. Obama's supporters said he has the "vision" to lead America to use energy and fuel properly.

McCain campaign attacks "deeply ignorant" Obama

Republican Senator John McCain's presidential campaign alleged that McCain's democratic adversary, Barack Obama, does not know how to properly combat terrorism in a conference call. The call, which featured appearances by McCain's foreign policy advisor Randy Scheunemann and former CIA Director Jim Woolsey, claimed that Obama's plans to defend America are exactly the problems that led to the attacks of September 11th, 2001 and said the Illinois senator was a "perfect manifestation of a September 11th attitude."

McCain's supporters argued Obama does not understand the "nature" of the enemy we face in the "War on Terror." Kori Schake, McCain's senior policy advisor, emphasized that Obama's law-enforcement based approach to interrogating and prosecuting terrorists was inadequate, and that, if elected, his presidency would put our country at great risk.

Also during the call, McCain's campaign discussed the "wrong" decision made by the Supreme Court last week to grant Guantanamo Bay detainees habeas corpus rights. They said McCain believes Guantanamo should be closed, and that if the dangerous prisoners there are to be released they will likely commit attacks against America again.

McCain campaign slams Obama comments on gas prices, tax policy

Arizona republican Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign held a conference call addressing the comments of Senator Barack Obama concerning what to do with appalling gas prices and tax policy.

Speaking during the call was Congressman Eric Cantor (R-VA) who described Obama as a candidate “out of touch” with the middle class Americans he claims to support. Cantor said that Obama’s recent sentiments suggested Americans should “get used to” high gas prices.

Doug Holtz-Eakin, senior policy advisor to Senator McCain, continued to advocate McCain’s calls for a “gas holiday” this summer, which he claimed would give Americans the immediate relief they desperately need. Also, Holtz-Eakin said McCain’s employment policy was structured to keep American workers in America, as opposed to having company’s ship jobs overseas.

Holtz-Eakin also said Obama has claimed he wants to spend more money to implement his plans, but that he also wants to cut taxes, which is an impossible goal to realize.