We are producing more oil out of the Gulf than a year ago. . . . . . . . . . . So what??!!

Thursday evening, I was listening to "O'Reilly." Geraldo pointed to the fact that we are pumping more oil out of the Gulf than at anytime in the recent past.

O"Reilly rolled his eyes and said, "I didn't know that." The insuring brief discussion moved to giving "kudos" to Obama for this fact, as if Obama had something to do with this newly disclosed reality.

What should we make of this claim? Geraldo quoted the words of Obama in making the claim. And what was Obama really saying? Is he confusing the fact that there are 10 more rigs in the Gulf than in April of last year? More rigs means more production?? Is that the reality?

Here are some facts as we try to unpack the truth.

First, I remind the reader that on December 1 of 2010, Obama ordered a ban on off-shoring drilling for 7 years (cf. examiner.com).

Two months later, Feb. 17, 2011, District Court Judge Feldman found Obama's Department of the Interior in contempt of court and gave order to issue 5 separate permits within the next 30 days (cf. this Louisiana e-paper, here).

Understand that of the 125 rigs in the Gulf, only 34 are currently working. The reader might check out this article for more of these facts (hyperlink).

I really do not care about any of the above. The fact remains that Obama has made it clear, over the course of the past two years, that he is no friend of fossil fuel. Except for his electability, he could not care less about the cost of oil. But, now, that his agenda is dead in the water, what with the new 112th congress and all, getting re-elected is his only serious agenda.

In the end, we must ask, "What change has Obama made to insure we rid the nation of the need for Middle Eastern oil? When he took office, gas at the pump was $1.89 per gallon. Today, we are $3.85 to $4.35 per gallon. Things are not better under Obama, they are worse. THAT is the reality.

In 2008 campaign statements, Obama often touted the notion that new off-shore drilling would not benefit this country before 2017. Instead, Obama devised a "plan" for the conversion of this nation's energy supply to that of solar, wind turbines, and rubbing sticks together. Except for the sticks, we are 50 years away from converting our energy needs from fossil fuels to that of so-called "alternative" energy supplies. During the campaign and, even now, Obama does not discuss the fact that neither wind nor solar attack the problem of transportation fuels.

We use 20 million 42 gallon barrels of oil each and every day, most of which are used for transportation. Obama has no plan for that problem. You might argue that electric transportation is the solution, but, of course, we are decades from this being any sort of a reality with no relief for the trucking industry or the long haul commuter.

Point of post: to admit an increase in oil production in the Gulf means nothing as relates to Obama's energy policies. I believe that his energy policy leaves us enslaved to Arab Oil for the next three decades and more. But not to worry, his foreign policy will get us all killed before the oil shortage is at crisis level.