The Ex-Im bank has helped to finance offshore drilling operations for years. on a relatively small scale. I doubt most people have a clue what it does or why (and to tell you truth it could probably be eliminated without much ill effect). This article is incredibly disingenous - if you're looking for something hypocritical to nail Obama on, this is most definitely not it. (His use of signing statements, btw, is a good one) The premise of this alleged hypocrisy rests on an incredibly flawed analogy - the fact that the US, via the Ex-Im Bank (or as the article puts it "obama"... ) . . . enters into a credit arrangement (in order to induce offshore drillers to buy american) for offshore drilling (off the coast of BRAZIL, which is not within US jurisdiction) does not mean, that, in order to maintain intellectual consistency, one has to sign an executive order to open up ANWAR to drilling tomorrow. It's like saying "the us has nuclear weapons, BUT WON'T LET AL QAEDA HAVE THEM....OH THE HYPOCRISY!!!!" Two totally different contexts. Props to weslinder for at least using a more legitimate thread title than the hacks at WSJ online - who do this sh-t all the time. Does basso work there? Edit: poking aroudn the Ex-Im's website, it's even more dubious to assert that Obama "controls" its day to day operations - the board of directors of the Ex-Im bank serve four year terms, and at least three of them are Bush appointees. I think the Ex-IM is more akin to the FCC in terms of beign relatively independent from the executive branch despite being under its auspices.
The article didn't mention any subsidies at all. It only talks about the US Export Import bank *gasp* making loans. It's like saying Bank of America is subsidizing my car and home. LOL. It would be nice, but it's not true.
When you have guys like Basso and BigTex and TJ on one side, and on the other side you have exteme liberals hitting hard... I really think we've entered a permanent era of highly partisan and poisonous politics - seems to have risen during the late 80's with the Willie Horton ads against Dukakis - or perhaps earlier with Carter....but Liberals have come back as a reaction. This extremism on both sides....right now it's the neocons calling Obama a terrorist loving baby killer who wants old people to be euthanize.... this extremism isn't helping this nation overcome problems. Big problems. And they are getting worse. And the American public is either uncaring or uninformed, or both. Is this how powerful democracies will decline?
from yesterday's Houston Chronicle Energy Companies Sparse for Offshore Bids Also, have to mention the right wing posters on that site have already gotten this talking point about petrobras (that was hilarious ottomaton) Again, even when prices were sky high last year, oil companies don't max out the current available lease opportunities
