No Future For Obama

By Randall Hoven

Barack Obama is against lifting the ban on drilling for oil offshore because it would not reduce gas prices "this year, next year, five years from now," according to CNN .

"John McCain's proposal, George Bush's proposal to drill offshore here in Florida, and other places around the country, would not provide families with any relief, this year, next year, five years from now... Believe me, if I thought there was any evidence at all that drilling could save people money who are struggling to fill up their gas tanks by this summer or the next few years, I would consider it, but it won't."

This sure looks like Obama, the great problem solver according to Al Gore , is not interested in solving any problems that show up only beyond "this summer or the next few years" or that take more than a few years to fix (5 tops, apparently).

Not very forward-looking, is he? In fact, his time window of interest seems to coincide rather perfectly with what would be his first term as President. Any problem that won't show up during his term is not a problem he would try to solve. So much for the vision thing.

Then where does that put global warming, by the way? I was not aware that global warming would have dire consequences this summer or the next few years or that it could be solved within 5 years. According to Senator Obama's logic then, why try to solve it? This would be especially so since even global warmists believe the next decade will involve little or no warming . I also did not know that all the alternative energy sources Senator Obama advocates could be brought on line "this summer". Wow, those windmill guys are good.

I guess that means we can count on a President Obama to ignore the impending bankruptcies of Social Security and Medicare, for example. Or what about levee systems that take more than a few years to put in place to help alleviate flooding that isn't even expected to occur for maybe 100 years? Too bad for the next Katrina victims.

Of course, Obama's logic is based on the premise that gasoline prices would not fall until new oil is actually put in barrels. But as Larry Kudlow points out , oil investors will start bidding down the price as soon as the knowledge of the availability of new oil becomes more certain. That could mean that, if the ban on offshore drilling is lifted this summer, gas prices could fall this summer or the next few years.

In the long term we are all dead. For Senator Obama, the long term begins about four years from now.