Our Changing Globe

Archive for the ‘economy’ Category

Monica Novoa, who is, or perhaps was the spokeswoman for the Drop the I-Word initiative came across as very foolish on the "The O’Reilly Factor".

To be fair to her, how could she come across as anything else, when trying to support such a foolish initiative.

Novoa tried several times to weasel out of answering O’Reilly’s questions but he nailed her to the proverbial cross.

The interview will hopefully bring to an end to her fifteen minutes of fame (Andy Warhol), because she came across as dumb, unprepared, and unable to undergo any kind of serious scrutiny.

And we don’t need any more people like that involved in politics.

Having said that, the aim of the initiative is to make the term "illegal alien" morally on a par with a racial slur, and anyone who signed up to the initiative would have to be even dumber than her, so maybe she’ll keep the majority of her followers.

Novoa began the interview by cockily asserting that while America was a "nation of laws", it was also a nation of ”humane laws” and that laws that weren’t also humane could be changed, and apparently thought that raising the politically correct banner would be sufficient, but it wasn’t.

O’Reilly was smart and rather than challenge her implicit premise that U.S. immigration law is inhumane, O’Reilly took a different tack.

"So change the laws and don’t demonize people who are accurate in the description as using a slur or using a hate word, ’cause that’s not true’".

Then laughing somewhat mockingly, Novoa pointed out that Fox News Latino didn’t use the word "illegal".

"Fox News Latino will not join the bandwagon of dehumanizing people who are immigrants".

O’Reilly was unphased however and proceeded to probe more deeply.

"I don‘t think I’m dehumanizing everyone by describing what the reality is. Do you believe we should have open borders here, that anyone who comes to the United States should be able to come?”.

And it was at this point that Novoa made her first major mistake.

"I think that what we should be doing right now is looking at the reality".

And then O’Reilly pounced.

"Miss Novoa, Miss Novoa, Miss Novoa, what you did is just dodge a question, and now you’re filibustering, that‘s two things we don’t allow on this program".

Over the course of the next minute or so, Novoa continued to spout platitudes as O’Reilly continually tried to push her for specifics.

An at one point O’Reilly even appointed her the hypothetical "Czar” of immigration, and asked her what her policy would be.

Then, once he shot down all her preplanned answers, and Novoa literally sat silently, completely stumped.

O’Reilly delivered his harshest criticism of the segment.

"You haven’t even thought this out, Miss Novoa", O’Reilly said coldly. "You have not even thought this out. And with all due respect, because I appreciate you coming in here, you come in here with a very hot campaign, alright? Run by a far-Left website, demonizing people like me who are accurately telling the people what’s happening. And you don’t even know what you want. You don’t even know what you want".

And perhaps amazingly, Novoa still hadn’t realized she was bleeding.

"Fox News Latino agrees with us, maybe you can talk a little bit to them?”.

O’Reilly curtly responded that he could do his own show regardless of what other shows or channels he was affiliated with did.

Novoa responded by simply asserting that "the I-word” was racist.

O’Reilly shot that down by pointing out that not all illegal immigrants were Latino, but that many were in fact Asian, Russian, and from many other countries too.

The simple point was, that they were crossing the borders illegally, hence they were "Illegal aliens".

"I have to say, I’m very surprised that I gave you the opportunity to define for millions of people, what you want the law to be, and you can’t!”.

To which Novoa responded sassily.

"We’re here to talk about the I-word today".

But O’Reilly cut her off with what many would see as a killing blow.

"No, we’re not. You’re here to talk about what I want to talk about. This is my program".

Twenty five years ago I used to defend illegals on what I considered were moral grounds and suggested that, "In the same way that water finds its own level, that illegals would return home if there was no work for them".

But I later realized that taking jobs is only one facet of a much bigger problem.

In total illegal aliens may be costing the US as much as a half-trillion (not million) dollars a year and America is already on the ropes economically.

Is a half-trillion dollars a year correct?

It would appear that it is, but if it’s only two thirds of that, then it’s a huge amount.

Check out How Many Illegals Are In The US And What Is The Cost? and make up your own mind.

York: Obama faces defeat on Keystone pipeline | Campaign 2012 …

campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com4/20/12

While much of the political world obsesses over Twitter fights and Seamus the dog, Barack Obama has set himself up for a high-profile defeat on one of the most important issues of the campaign. The president has put his feet in cement in …

Oil and gas news summary: Gulf Keystone Petroleum, Sefton …

www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk5/5/12

This week, Gulf Keystone Petroleum (LON:GKP) released another update from its closely followed exploration campaign in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq.

It seems likely that Barack Obama has set himself up for a high-profile defeat on one of the most important issues of the campaign.

And he didn’t help his cause when he staged an odd photo-op last month, delivering a speech in Cushing, Oklahoma in front of huge stockpiles of pipes.

Obama sang the praises of pipelines:

"It is critical that we make pipeline infrastructure a top priority",

and made a big deal of his approval of a section of domestic pipeline that didn’t need his approval.

He remained unyielding on Keystone however which seems strange since more and more Democrats are joining Republicans to force approval of the pipeline, whether he wants it or not.

The House

The latest action happened on Wednesday, April 18, when the House passed a measure to move the pipeline forward.

Before the vote, Obama somewhat dramatically issued a veto threat but the House approved the pipeline anyway.

By a veto-proof majority, 293 to 127 and sixty-nine Democrats abandoned the president to vote with Republicans.

When the House voted on the pipeline in July of last year, 47 Democrats broke with the president.

It’s an election year now and the number is up to 69, so look for Republicans to hold more pipeline votes before November, since GOP leaders expect even more Democrats to join them.

The Senate

In the Senate, Democrats are using the filibuster to stop the pipeline, meaning that 60 votes are required to pass it.

In a vote last month, 11 Senate Democrats voted in favor of the pipeline, and if you add those 11 to the Republicans’ 47 votes, then the pro-pipeline forces are just a couple of votes away from breaking Harry Reid’s filibuster.

"We’re right around the corner from actually passing it",

"Two-hundred-ninety-three votes in the House is a gigantic number. People want this thing".

Says a well-informed Senate source.

The Transportation Bill

The pipeline measure is attached to a larger transportation bill, that the Senate already passed, and the the Keystone provision was added later.

So it’s not clear whether the pipeline attachment will end up in the final bill.

It is certain though, that whatever happens, that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will force another vote on Keystone sometime.

To Veto Or Not To Veto?

If the pipeline does win those last couple of Senate Democrats, then Obama will be faced with a bill that passed with a veto-proof majority in the House, and over a Democratic filibuster in the Senate.

The president would then be forced either to make good on his veto threat, or to sign a bill moving the pipeline forward, neither of which would leave him looking good.

If he signed the bill, then he’d surely try to save face by claiming that his concerns about the pipeline’s routing and approval process had been met.

But there’s no way it would be seen as anything less than a major defeat!

And if he vetoed the pipeline, then he’d face an embarrassing rebuff in the House.

Back To The Senate

In the Senate, it would take 67 votes to overturn the veto, and that’s probably an insurmountable obstacle for pipeline supporters and all the president would need is 34 Democratic dead-enders to stick with him to stop the pipeline.

But Obama could prevail only at grave political cost.

The rise in gas prices is a potent issue for Mitt Romney and Republicans, and it could become far more potent if prices increase in the summer.

The president would be left standing alone, not just against Republicans, but against a major coalition within his own party, including the large labor unions.

Definitely not a good place to be in, with an election just around the corner.

The Pipeline Will Most Likely Be Built

The odds are overwhelming that the Keystone pipeline will soon become a reality, and Obama will naively have hurt his reelection chances by trying to stop it.