I know we are all hopeless Obots here who never criticize our cult leader, but someone is going to have to explain this strategery to me before the communal bath (we do have those, no?):
The Obama administration is proposing to open vast expanses of water along the Atlantic coastline, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the north coast of Alaska to oil and natural gas drilling, much of it for the first time, officials said Tuesday.
The proposal — a compromise that will please oil companies and domestic drilling advocates but anger some residents of affected states and many environmental organizations — would end a longstanding moratorium on oil exploration along the East Coast from the northern tip of Delaware to the central coast of Florida, covering 167 million acres of ocean.
Under the plan, the coastline from New Jersey northward would remain closed to all oil and gas activity. So would the Pacific Coast, from Mexico to the Canadian border.
That is quite an opener there, Doyle! All in before the flop works for me!
Seriously- what is the point in offering up something that is going to INFURIATE the left wing of the party without even seeing if the Republicans will play ball (PRO TIP- THEY WON’T). And surprise, surprise, it isn’t good enough for the Republicans:
President Barack Obama’s plan to allow expanded offshore oil and gas exploration won rebuke from the top House Republican on Wednesday.
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) dismissed the president’s plan as not going far enough in opening up U.S. waters for exploration.
Obama’s decision “continues to defy the will of the American people,” Boehner said in a statement, pointing to the president’s decision to open Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico waters, while leaving Pacific and many Alaskan waters largely closed to exploration.
“It’s long past time for this Administration to stop delaying American energy production off all our shores and start listening to the American people who want an “all of the above” strategy to produce more American energy and create more jobs,” the House GOP leader added. “Republicans are listening to the American people and have proposed a better solution – the American Energy Act – which will lower gas prices, increase American energy production, promote new clean and renewable sources of energy, and encourage greater efficiency and conservation.”
Well, that was certainly a surprise. Hoocoodanode it wouldn’t be good enough for the Republicans and they would not treat it as an act of good faith in the negotiating process?
I can’t be alone wondering just wtf the White House is doing on this one.