14 July 2008
Bush to lift executive ban on offshore drilling
Posted by Bryon under: General; What's News .
Bush will now lift his father’s own executive order. The question is; will it do any good?
WASHINGTON (AP) - In another push to deal with soaring gas prices, President Bush on Monday will lift an executive ban on offshore drilling that his stood since his father was president. But the move, by itself, will do nothing unless Congress acts as well.
The president plans to officially lift the ban and then explain his actions in a Rose Garden statement, White House press secretary Dana Perino said.
There are two prohibitions on offshore drilling, one imposed by Congress and another by executive order signed by former President Bush in 1990. The current president, trying to ease market tensions and boost supply, called last month for Congress to lift its prohibition before he did so himself.
But Perino said Bush no longer wants to wait. She pinned blame on the leaders of the Democratic Congress, noting that no action has been taken on this issue.
“They haven’t even held a single hearing,” Perino said. “So we are going to move forward, and hopefully that will spur action by the Congress.”
Asked if Bush’s action alone will lead to more oil drilling, Perino said, “In terms of allowing more exploration to go forward? No, it does not.”
The president, in his final months of office, has responded to record gas-prices with a series of proposals, including more oil exploration. None would have immediate impact on prices at the pump, according to White House officials, who say there is no quick fix. But starting action now would help, they say.
I hope this spurs congress into lifting the ban.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D91TMF480&show_article=1
12 Comments so far...
Bryon Says:
14 July 2008 at 11:10 am.
I think they are pretty. Maybe they should have the new ones be multi colored.
Jesse Says:
14 July 2008 at 11:49 am.
I don’t usually support the actions of President Bush but this is great. Go Bush.
Benjamin Says:
14 July 2008 at 1:55 pm.
Maybe this will instill a little hope into the market but I worry congress will do the wrong thing. I’m proud of President Bush though.
THINKING Says:
14 July 2008 at 2:17 pm.
It may be just an attitued thing but it appears that if you have money in Zions…You just might want to pull you money out and invest it in treasury bills.
Goldman Sachs analysts recommended investors sell Zions and predicted dividend cuts may be in store for Zions, SunTrust Banks Inc., Comerica Inc. and Bank of America Corp.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a4CojjiiioCw&refer=worldwide
CindyL. Says:
14 July 2008 at 3:24 pm.
This looks like it could turn into a nightmare. My money is in Zions. It isn’t much but it is all I have for college.
SGS Says:
14 July 2008 at 3:41 pm.
THINKING, this is exactly how you kill a bank (and what brought on the Depression Era). An “expert” would claim the bank is so-so, and everyone who has some cash in this bank panicked and withdrew their balance out of the bank. If there are enough people doing it, the bank won’t have any cash it can work with, leaving alone having a cent for the remaining customers. The bank does not keep every single penny of your money within its safe. The bank uses them. The bank won’t be able to get all of the money back from others — some are locked in loans or other investments. The only way to get cash on amount you have lend out is to sell the loan, and there are not too many financial entries who would be willing to buy your loans. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are the only institutions who are willing to buy high-risk or jumbo mortgage loans from the lenders, and they now are in trouble. This bank would be stuck, being unable to liquidate the remaining cash for its customers. The bank may force its doors to be closed. If there are enough banks doing it, as we are seeing with Bears and now Indymac, a Pasadena New York bank.
Perhaps it is true, but I think Goldman Sachs has taken onto itself to be this “expert”. I am not saying you should not take out your money. I am just pointing out that is how it happened before the Depression Era, and countless of customers have lost their accounts forever. Yes, this was why FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) was implemented. It works in that it restore the confidence of the customers, but it won’t work in reality, since there are too many customers for the Federal Government to bail them all out. Let’s think about this. Let’s assume that everyone of us Americans has a saving account in the amount of 200 dollars. There are 300 millions of Americans. We are looking at a bail-out of 60 billions dollars. I am underestimating here, way under. And you are covered only up to a hundred thousand dollars, only for the money (checking, saving and even money fund) — they won’t cover any of your investment, not even 401K, IRA, etc…
Benjamin Says:
14 July 2008 at 6:27 pm.
It might sound silly but a good example of this happening is the movie ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’. The panic has to be avoided. I would rather leave me money in a bank and even lose it than risk being part of the problem. We have to have some faith that things won’t crumble and try to keep other people from freaking out. So much of it is mental.
THINKING Says:
14 July 2008 at 9:50 pm.
True, a lot is mental, but was it my mind that caused Zion to drop 23% today? Maybe collective thinking might have a little to do with it, but it isn’t our believing that banks might fail that caused them to lend out 30 times their assets. It wasn’t Americans’ thought processs that created Credit Default Swaps where financial institutions can use their liablities as assets.
It would be nice if having enough faith would cause the DOW JONES to hit 15000 this week, inflation drop to zero, gas to down to 35 cents a gallon, and world hunger to be abated. But I don’t think that is going to happen.
I wonder if those who don’t panic (eg. those with their six-pack and Monday night football) will be better off than those who saw “the writing on the wall” a few monhs ago and decided not to leave all their eggs in one basket (or more than 100 K in any one bank or financial institution).
I don’t think we are panicking if we learn a certain theater has been deemed an unsafe fire hazard and we choose not to use the season tickets we bought last month. I don’t think it is freaking out if we are in the theater and we think we MIGHT smell smoke and so, just in case, we quietly walk out to assess the situation.
What is it the Mormons say, If you are prepared you shall not fear? I’m afraid that denying things are bad, rather than covering our back sides, might be the more dangerous course. But one of the great things about this site is that we can learn so much and then choose what we personally want to do with the information!
Hank Says:
15 July 2008 at 12:22 am.
I think it is best to hit a happy medium. Prepare and don’t ignore the signs but try and help people not panic but get prepared to be smart. It is getting very ugly out there and I am so glad I started sneaking away some food and water the last few months. It makes me not feel the panic so much.
Cavetrollhead Says:
15 July 2008 at 1:08 am.
Just as I said before, Bush can now blame the democrats for not acting when he invited them to do so. The sad thing is that when Gas settles down at around $3 (if it does) we we feel like we are getting a real deal.
THINKING Says:
15 July 2008 at 9:31 am.
You got it Hank. Happy medium. Prepare but don’t panic. And to continue the theater analogy, if you think you smell smoke, leave to assess the situation, and discover there really IS a fire starting, you would try to calmly warn others so they are aware of the danger and can exit as quickly as possible. The first ones to leave are the least likely to be trampled or trample others.
Cameron Says:
15 July 2008 at 10:28 am.
Cave, yes, it is in the dems court now. Good for Bush, he did the right thing so now the nation will watch congress.
Thinking, good analogy.
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