Barack Obama's New Hypocrisy

Here is a new one for the books; Today, the Congress will vote on the stimulus bill that came out of committee yesterday. The bill is 800+ pages long. Think about it for a second, how many of those who will cast their votes today have read the bill or even know whats on it? Congress is rushing this bill through, because the President is pushing them to act quickly. That's why you see congress acting more like a bunch of sailors on a drunken binge, than people with whom we've entrusted fiduciary responsibility.

While the President is rushing to spend a trillion dollars, he is putting the breaks on offshore drilling. Why? He thinks we are moving to fast.

Once again we see that the POTUS has different rules for different programs.  He pushes congress to pass a bloated over-spending bill because he thinks it will create Jobs, but he refuses to let America use her own resources to not only create jobs, but by keeping oil prices low will, drilling will stimulate the economy:

Obama: I won't move quickly on offshore drilling
WASHINGTON

A day after his Interior secretary signaled plans for a cautious approach to oil and natural gas exploration on the Outer Continental Shelf, President Barack Obama said Wednesday that he's "holding out for a more comprehensive strategy" for U.S. energy development before approving offshore drilling along the East Coast.

In a meeting with reporters for The Virginian-Pilot and 15 other newspapers, Obama touched on a wide range of topics, from drilling to military strategy and efforts to revive the economy.

On drilling, he said it would be short-sighted to rely on offshore oil and gas development to solve the nation's energy problems or stimulate the flagging U.S. economy. Offshore resources are "not going to come online quickly enough," he asserted.

The president's stand on drilling is a sharp departure from that of former President George W. Bush, whose aides unveiled plans last fall to sell leases for oil and gas development off the Virginia coast.

Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told reporters Tuesday that he's not inclined to disturb those plans but wants a new study of potential economic benefits and environmental risks of offshore drilling.

Virginia officials had signaled their interest in at least assessing the extent of deposits off the state's shoreline.

Obama's hour long session Wednesday came as Congressional negotiators announced agreement on the economic stimulus plan that has been the focus of the president's first three weeks in office.

Obama said he is "optimistic this is going to get done" but declined repeated invitations to get into specifics about the compromise. He stood by predictions that the final bill will create or save up to 4 million jobs, provide substantial tax breaks to middle-class taxpayers and provide relief for state governments.

"Governors have been making very tough choices and they've cut about as much as they can," Obama said.

The president also cautioned that the stimulus plan "is one leg in a multi-legged stool," with work still to be done on separate efforts to revitalize the banking industry and to provide relief to millions of homeowners who are in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure.

Obama also fielded a variety of questions on other topics, including his analysis of the evening's Duke-North Carolina basketball game. Among his points:

- Troop withdrawal: He is "going to have to make some decisions fairly soon" on deploying American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. While he pledged last year to get most U.S. troops out of Iraq in 16 months and to bolster American forces in Afghanistan, Obama said he's "adamant" that any redeployments will not lengthen the time individual troops spend overseas.

He said he also will insist "that we start doing a lot better in terms of time back home."

- Defense spending: The military should expect to face tighter budgets than in the Bush years, he said, but defense spending is not being cut as part of a strategy to shift federal resources to other programs. He said he is committed to re-examining defense programs based on an assessment of their effectiveness and on the need to continue them.

- The auto industry: He remains open to additional efforts to bolster the flagging automobile industry. "A disorderly bankruptcy of one of the Big Three (General Motors, Ford or Chrysler) could be disastrous," Obama said, but everyone involved in the industry - "management, shareholders, creditors, dealers, workers"- should be prepared to make sacrifices.

- Trade restrictions: He is wary of congressional efforts to impose "Buy American" trade rules but understands that some lawmakers may want to impose restrictions with the U.S. economy suffering from a massive trade deficit. "I don't want to send a signal that we're not open for business," Obama said. "I think that could backfire."

- Basketball: The president, who practiced with Carolina players during last year's campaign, seemed to relish the basketball question, suggesting that Duke's chances might hinge "on how hard Coach K was running the players this week" after a stinging loss last weekend at Clemson. "They might be exhausted," Obama said.