Handsy Joe cancels Keystone

[Cow Poke]

My apologies. I will attempt to refrain from such contempt in the future.

I know it's hard, but I honestly believe what I've been saying --- that Biden is an empty suit being used by the left as a place holder for Kamala, and he's not even "there" enough to realize it's happening.

The poor old fool thinks it's really a case that he's 'in charge'. I honestly do feel sorry for him.

[Mountain Man]

Trudeau and Biden are both liars!

Either liars, or shockingly incompetent. And Joe has been at it for nearly five decades.

[Cow Poke]

Either liars, or shockingly incompetent. And Joe has been at it for nearly five decades.

How very slandertous!

[Mountain Man]

How very slandertous!

Just call me Slandert.

[Ronson]

I really don't get this name calling thing. Yeah, I've called him Sleep Joe, but he's POTUS now, and as much as we don't like it, he WILL be for at least a few more months.

We risk being accused of Biden Derangement Syndrome.

God is still on His throne, and it is HE to whom we look for the future.

I'm sorry but I don't have any respect for Biden, POTUS or not. He's a do-nothing career politician that has allowed himself to be used by shrewder, corrupt powerbrokers to the detriment of this country. His slogan should be "America Last" while he kowtows to China and globalists and billionaire elitists and throws US tax dollars down a rathole.

The US has a long history rough-and-tumble politics, and Democrats have honed that to an art in the past four years. Now they want everyone to hold hands and sing Soviet anthems together. Nah.

[Stoic]

The oil sands, or, better yet, the Athabaska oil sands, are mislabeled "tar sands" by people who want to defame them.

Yet they are commonly enough called tar sands that one doesn't have to be a moron to get it wrong.

This thread is not about them, except that I commented on Joe's likewise misuse of the term.

But discussion of the pipeline necessarily includes discussion of what flows through it.

I see nobody wants to address the loss of thousands of livelihoods on both sides of the border.

The loss of jobs is one factor to consider.

And I guess the US is content to continue to purchase their oil from the Midfle East and South America instead.

That's another factor, which includes impacts on security, the economy, and the environment.

A shame. I hope those folk can find other work. Not likely in this climate of covid and enviro-fear.

I hope they can find work, too. But unlike under Trump, jobs and profit are not the only considerations.

[Mountain Man]

And now Joe has put a 60-day freeze on oil and gas leases and permits on Federal lands. It's a reenactment of the disastrous Obama policy when he tried to encourage the sales of electric vehicles by deliberately making gasoline prohibitively expensive.

[Stoic]

And now Joe has put a 60-day freeze on oil and gas leases and permits on Federal lands. It's a reenactment of the disastrous Obama policy when he tried to encourage the sales of electric vehicles by deliberately making gasoline prohibitively expensive.

It's more a rollback of the disastrous Trump policy of making the environment lowest priority.

[Ronson]

It's more a rollback of the disastrous Trump policy of making the environment lowest priority.

It wasn't the lowest priority. But how was Trump's policy disastrous?

[seanD]

I really don't get this name calling thing. Yeah, I've called him Sleep Joe, but he's POTUS now, and as much as we don't like it, he WILL be for at least a few more months.

We risk being accused of Biden Derangement Syndrome.

God is still on His throne, and it is HE to whom we look for the future.

I think, considering his history as a racist and corrupt career politician, on up to his China scandal with Hunter,, BDS is justified, regardless what he does or doesn't do as POTUS. IOW, he's already earned the scorn with his wayward and corrupt history in government. Whereas with Trump is was just his personality folks didn't like and it just snowballed for four years from there.

[Cow Poke]

And now Joe has put a 60-day freeze on oil and gas leases and permits on Federal lands. It's a reenactment of the disastrous Obama policy when he tried to encourage the sales of electric vehicles by deliberately making gasoline prohibitively expensive.

I just went and filled up my truck with gas - you know where those prices are going.

[whag]

And now Joe has put a 60-day freeze on oil and gas leases and permits on Federal lands. It's a reenactment of the disastrous Obama policy when he tried to encourage the sales of electric vehicles by deliberately making gasoline prohibitively expensive.

Do you have a source for that?

According to WP, it's an invalid claim since Obama has to serve two masters like all presidents. Do you agree that the environment and the economy are concurrently important? Economic success and the environment are both concerns for NORMAL presidents, so failing on both reflects poorly on Obama. The nuanced reality of the petroleum economy is explained here:

The claim that won’t die: Did Obama want higher gas prices?

Here’s what the president said:

“Look, here’s the bottom line with respect to gas prices. I want gas prices lower because they hurt families, because I meet folks every day who have to drive a long way to get to work. And then filling up this gas tank gets more and more painful, and it’s a tax out of their pocketbooks, out of their paychecks. And a lot of folks are already operating on the margins right now.

And it’s not good for the overall economy because when gas prices go up, consumer spending oftentimes pulls back.

And we’re in the midst right now of a recovery that is starting to build up steam, and we don’t want to reverse it.”

Some of Obama’s comments from 2008 suggest that he thinks there’s a silver lining to higher prices, but they also indicate that he doesn’t want energy prices to affect the pocketbooks of working families. Critics say the president’s policies have caused the recent price hike, but experts suggest he has less control over the current cost of oil than people generally think. With that in mind, he probably deserves less blame for existing pain at the pump, as well as less credit for the increased production he likes to brag about.

[whag]

I just went and filled up my truck with gas - you know where those prices are going.

Yes, Cornpop is out to bankrupt you with higher gas prices, thereby stopping you from buying things. His aim is to tank the economy so he can slide into a 2nd term.

[Cow Poke]

Yes, Cornpop is out to bankrupt you with higher gas prices, thereby stopping you from buying things. His aim is to tank the economy so he can slide into a 2nd term.

Yeah, sure --- I'm a Scotsman - I HAVE to try to keep abreast of prices and be frugal where I can.

[whag]

Yeah, sure --- I'm a Scotsman - I HAVE to try to keep abreast of prices and be frugal where I can.

I have no doubt you're on the hunt for bargain kilts. =) But the point I was really trying to make is that Cornpop isn't prioritizing economic collapse. He needs to get a 2nd term, and raising gas prices isn't a great way to do that.

And also, he doesn't have a "HURT COWPOKE" button: Can the President Control Gas Prices?

While gas prices might be a controversial topic for politicians, it's an easy one for economists. Virtually all economists agree that the U.S. president has very little control over the global price of crude oil, and therefore the local price of gasoline. If we can't rely on our leaders to help lower our fuel costs, we should rely on ourselves. The hard truth is that it's within our power to decrease the amount we spend on gas simply by driving less. I say it's a hard truth, because like most of you I depend on my car for all sorts of "important" things and resist the idea of cutting back. If I could afford a brand-new hybrid, I'd buy one in a heartbeat. In the meantime, the best thing I can do to lower gas prices is to lower the demand, one "staycation" at a time.