Reminder: Interactive Map of the Bakken

A lot of folks have commented on the ESER.org.

I would argue that UND-EERC has a much better interactive map.

There is a wealth of information at my "Data Links" page including various maps.

Job Creation: The US vs Texas; The US vs Florida

With regard to jobs, someone suggested me to me that it did not matter who was in the White House -- it was impossible to create more jobs in this economy.

Well, tell that to the governors of Texas and Florida (the latter has no oil industry), two states that have been very successful in creating jobs.

I asked if he/she could name one act that the current administration has done that has increased jobs. I'm sure there examples but he/she could not come up with even one example.

What compelled me to blog on this was this surprising headline in the administration-supporting LA Times: Democratic Lawmakers Tell Obama To Back Off on Opposition to the ATT Merger.

“The road to economic recovery is long, but there is an opportunity before us to immediately create jobs and spur infrastructure investments and technological innovations that will create jobs for years to come,” Rep. Heath Shuler (D-N.C.) wrote in a statement sent along with a letter from fellow lawmakers.  “By settling the proposed merger of AT&T and T-Mobile USA we can put thousands of Americans back to work and promote economic development across the country."

I honestly cannot think of anything that the current administration has done to improve the job situation. I can think of a lot of things that have stifled job creation.

• Slow-rolling the Keystone XL project
• Moratorium/Permitorium in the Gulf
• Frank-Dodd 
• ObamaCare
• Stated desire to kill the coal industry
• Slow-rolling the oil industry in BLM land onshore
• Refusing to consider lowering corporate income taxes (second highest in the world, after Japan)
• Refusal to sell Taiwan most advanced F-16C and D models
• Opposing the ATT-T-Mobile merger
• Suing the 9 largest US banks

So, Which County Is Averaging Better IPs? McKenzie County or Mountrail County? -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

I will leave this up for just a few days and then remove it. It is simply raw data, very unscientific, but "anonymous" suggested that in the past few months, McKenzie County was reporting better IPs than Mountrail County.

So, let's see. 

In 2010, McKenzie County was granted 330 permits, compared to 426 permits for Mountrail County.
Of the wells that have reported IPs, the data is as follows. McKenzie is  the left hand column; Mountrail is the right column.

The average IP in McKenzie County (left hand column) is 1,274 bbls.
The average IP in Mountrail County (right hand column) is 1,141 bbls.

The IPs are generally taken from the official NDIC daily activity reports, but on many occasions I used data from corporate presentations. I was not always careful about bopd vs boepd, so the entire exercise is suspect. However, the law of large numbers would suggest that I made as many errors in each column (on a percentage basis) and thus the analysis is probably not too far off.

So, there you have it: a fairly meaningless exercise, but someone asked the question, and this is the data I have (as imprecise as it might be). 

McKenzie County                            Mountrail County

3
76			29
105			30
125			42
183			84
225			100
240			110
240			117
271			120
275			124
294			138
302			139
342			140
372			154
380			154
399			166
402			170
406			176
407			182
408			195
417			196
428			200
441			207
443			213
447			220
462			225
462			235
480			236
494			250
496			252
497			262
517			263
522			269
526			285
527			287
530			321
535			342
539			345
540			345
558			358
578			366
594			368
618			372
636			373
644			376
646			378
649			379
657			405
658			415
674			417
680			423
688			424
706			432
710			433
722			433
749			437
792			439
793			442
801			446
811			463
817			470
836			474
849			486
853			489
863			511
866			519
900			521
904			526
922			527
937			532
949			541
952			543
977			547
980			554
1,001			560
1,004			562
1,006			572
1,008			581
1,046			588
1,060			600
1,060			602
1,067			605
1,069			608
1,074			613
1,099			616
1,162			621
1,203			625
1,207			627
1,212			629
1,215			637
1,219			648
1,234			665
1,249			667
1,274			668
1,300			684
1,311			689
1,342			697
1,355			697
1,358			698
1,392			701
1,415			717
1,470			718
1,471			723
1,476			732
1,490			755
1,500			762
1,507			785
1,524			788
1,559			795
1,565			800
1,639			807
1,659			811
1,678			812
1,680			820
1,680			839
1,689			847
1,692			853
1,719			853
1,754			861
1,804			874
1,833			880
1,882			889
1,883			894
1,885			895
1,912			912
1,919			921
1,968			927
1,976			962
2,006			983
2,029			990
2,112			1,007
2,145			1,026
2,300			1,034
2,338			1,039
2,413			1,041
2,450			1,048
2,461			1,055
2,497			1,057
2,519			1,063
2,521			1,066
2,526			1,073
2,573			1,080
2,579			1,088
2,606			1,100
2,640			1,106
2,674			1,126
2,789			1,131
2,803			1,146
2,805			1,158
2,816			1,163
2,844			1,169
2,849			1,184
2,862			1,200
2,955			1,236
3,000			1,276
3,206			1,289
3,240			1,291
3,311			1,306
4,169			1,308
			1,327
			1,330
			1,338
			1,345
			1,361
			1,371
			1,388
			1,389
			1,394
			1,407
			1,412
			1,427
			1,447
			1,458
			1,466
			1,517
			1,521
			1,561
			1,587
			1,611
			1,667
			1,669
			1,685
			1,693
			1,694
			1,695
			1,770
			1,805
			1,820
			1,851
			1,870
			1,936
			1,959
			2,023
			2,043
			2,086
			2,090
			2,104
			2,110
			2,137
			2,166
			2,241
			2,294
			2,322
			2,347
			2,411
			2,440
			2,551
			2,686
			2,693
			2,720
			2,731
			2,746
			2,788
			2,789
			2,834
			2,835 2,944 2,973 2,984 3,070 3,159 3,293 3,445 3,479 3,660 4,106 4,335 4,357 4,431 4,661 5,061

Thirteen (13) New Permits -- Newfield Has Another Great Well -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Daily activity report, September 15, 2011 --

I remember folks (including me) "concerned" about those days with 2 and 3 new permits, but it all evens out. Today, there were thirteen new permits --

Operators: CLR (9), Petro-Hunt (2), KOG, Helis

Fields: Charlson, East Fork, North Tioga, Spotted Horn, Rattlesnake Point, Elkhorn Ranch, Chimney Butte, and one wildcat.

KOG has the wildcat in McKenzie County.

CLR has permits for an Eco-Pad in North Tioga, Williams County.

Only one of three wells released from "tight hole" status reported an IP:

• 19600, 2,363, Newfield, Drovdal 150-99-8-5-1H, McKenzie

Rosy Scenario for Natural Gas

I keep thinking of The New York Times article about natural gas; it was one of my visited posts.

Today, there is yet another story about the rising demand for natural gas.

Growing demand will push North American natural gas prices higher, spurring producers to increase activity and eventually make shale gas the dominant US supply component, a new analysis by Deloitte’s Center for Energy Solutions predicted.
“Increasing shale gas output bolsters domestic gas production, which grows from about 66 bcfd in 2011 to almost 79 bcfd in 2018 before tapering off,” it said in its reference scenario.
“The technologies themselves weren’t new. The combinations were, and they grew more sophisticated,” Robertson said, adding, “We’ve seen in other instances where repetitive use of technologies helps drive production costs down. We expect it to happen increasingly with shale gas, but there also could be more regulatory expenses. Frankly, there’s a lot of shale gas that can’t be produced economically below $7/MMbtu, but you won’t hear many producers say this.”

More regulatory expenses? You think?

The 800-Pound Gorilla

I find this interesting.

In any in-depth discussion on television (and these in-depth discussions are rare on television) and in any in-depth article in print media regarding the state of the economy, the common thread is the Frank-Dodd bill. Even ObamaCare does not come up in these discussions very often.

Presidential Race: 2012 -- "Just So Much Noise"

Daily journal.

NOTE: now that the election is over, I have no plans to update this post. Not much what Mr Obama says any more means anything. He has his own agenda which is well understood by those who have followed his first term closely.

In lieu of this post on the 2012 presidential race, I am keeping a daily journal of random thoughts I have had post-election (same link as above).

***************************

Who's Sorry Now, Connie Francis
***************************

Do words matter? Probably not (any more):

Words Matter, The First Term
Most disappointing public figure: Colin Powell. Not only will he vote for President Obama, Mr Powell is in a high-profile television ad endorsing President Obama. Not only did Mr Powell declare himself a Republican at one time, but he also was appointed the Secretary of Defense by a Republican President. At one time, loyalty and integrity were hallmarks of military men. In light of the Libyan debacle, Mr Powell's endorsement is even more troubling.

From Peggy Noonan, WSJ, October 27 - 28, 2012:

Which gets us to Bob Woodward's "The Price of Politics," published last month. The portrait it contains of Mr Obama -- of a president who is at once over his head, out of his depth and wholly unaware of the fact -- hasn't received the attention it deserves. Throughout the book, which is a journalistic history of the president's key economic negotiations with Capitol Hill, Mr Obama is portrayed as having the appearance and presentation of an academic or intellectual while being strangely clueless in his reading of political situations and dynamics. He is bad at negotiating -- in fact doesn't know how. His confidence is consistently greater than his acumen, his arrogance greater than his grasp.

Jeff Jacoby's article in today's Boston Globe is priceless. My hunch is that sentient folks voting for President Obama this time around will be able to rationalize every thing Jeff has to say about the president.  -- October 21, 2012. And then this: my thoughts exactly.

***************** 

I'm predicting a "Chavez victory" for Obama.

Exit polls will show overwhelmingly that Romney has won, but when the votes are counted, Obama will be the unexpected winner.

I wouldn't be a bit surprised if we see Obama holding a newspaper with the headline: Romney wins!

 *****************

September 11, 2012: On 9/11 anniversary, the US ambassador to Libya is killed. The administration has changed the story so many times; not linked. This link is fascinating: 

When terrorists attacked the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11 of this year and killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans, there were no U.S. Marines deployed in Libya to defend U.S. diplomats, diplomatic facilities and classified information and equipment. However, says the State Department, a Marine Security Detachment was deployed on that day to carry out those duties at the U.S. Embassy in Bridgetown, Barbados.

The silence is deafening! I am a newsaholic, but I missed this. I wonder how many others have missed this. I have not seen it reported in the mainstream media. The killing of the US ambassador to Libya was the first time a US ambassador had been killed in 33 years. Did you know that? My hunch is you did not (know that). The mainstream media reported very, very little on this story, perhaps the biggest international story leading up to the election. And the mainstream media avoided it. Yes, the silence is deafening. But not surprising. Some have said that folks supporting this president are either ideologues or lying to themselves. Maybe.


Clint: “President Obama is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people," -- Clint Eastwood, September 7, 2012.

2016: blockbuster of a movie. This is exactly my point, no hidden agenda; no emotion. Barack Obama is simply the most "mysterious" president this country has ever had.

While pundits and critics are divided over whether "2016: Obama's America" is a sobering documentary examining "the most mysterious US president in modern history" or an 87-minute attack ad, there's no debating that the film is a box office phenomenon.

Columbia University cannot even account for one of his years while enrolled.

Newsweek front cover, August 19, 2012: Barack Obama has got to go. Something tells me Newsweek is about to go bust; they've lost their readership. This front cover piece suggests to me they are scrambling to get their readers back. Futile.  Could the election be a tsunami?

***********************

And they want 12 years of Romney's tax records. I could care less what Romney paid. I want to pay less in taxes.



A Manchurian Candidate


I find it amazing how many folks -- who would normally question  the many inconsistencies in the "Obama Story" are quick to laugh it off. The lack of transcripts, the fact Columbia University was only recently able to find records of his being there, and his answer to the question about using other names, is very, very alarming. His trip to Pakistan is very, very interesting. The fact that so few (if any) in "official Washington" are taking this seriously suggests to me "they" don't want to pursue this for fear of where this may all lead. His group of friends is, indeed, incredible. I think the biggest question folks need to ask is how a community organizer becomes president in less than a decade. For a president, I am unaware of so many unanswered questions. Basically, it comes down to his version of his story. At best, he is a puppet beholding to some very rich men; at worst, he is a  Manchurian candidate president.
The Obama Deception, posted in early 2009. Wow.

Actually, I Do Believe in Redistribution Wow: Nobel Peace Prize; Possible Nobel Prize in Economics, Next?
********************************
Data points

Job Watch

As of August 2, 2012, two data points:

• The unemployment rate is expected to have held steady at 8.2 percent in July. It has been stuck above 8 percent for more than two years, the longest run since the Great Depression. The Obama recession: worse than ever.
• The total number of people employed is 4.9 million lower than before the 2007-09 recession -- you, know, the Bush recession. Now it's the Obama recession, worse than ever.

Murder of the American Ambassador to Libya: the amount of damaging information coming out of this story directly relating to the Oval Office is staggering. Only one snippet follows; there is too much coming out on a daily basis to post here. A book will be written. But not in time to affect the election. 

The word on the street is that the US was well aware of the likelihood of an attack on US embassies on 9/11 well in advance; we know that President Obama did not attend intelligence briefings the week before the murder; we know that President Obama went to bed that night and was not awakened even as the embassy was under siege; and, and, and, the US is investigating a US filmmaker? So, now we're blaming filmmakers for what Islamists are doing to US citizens overseas? But, "the US won't tolerate efforts to harm Americans." -- the President. A little bit, I would say. 

The Afghan massacre:

[The president's] comments came one day after a US soldier, described in news reports as a 38-year-old U.S. Army Staff Sergeant, went on a shooting rampage outside his base in southern Afghanistan, killing mostly women and children and plunging already strained ties between Kabul and Washington into a damaging new crisis.

"This is a situation where, although we're still doing the investigation, it appears that you had a lone gunman who acted on his own in just a tragic, tragic way," Obama said.

Asked whether the bloody rampage recalled the My Lai Massacre of the Vietnam War, Obama replied that "it's not comparable."

It isn't? Once the media starts comparing Afghanistan with Vietnam, it's all over. [Except in this case, when the media no longer reports on the Afghanistan War at all.]

Gasoline Prices

• Gasoline prices/futures under George Bush: never higher than $2.80/gallon; well under $2.00 much of his presidency
• Gasoline prices/futures under Barack Obama: approaching $4.00 -- $4.00+ in California
• On Barack Obama's inauguration day: gasoline, $1.86; will be $4.00 summer of 2012

Obama's Accomplishments

• Obama's responses to what he has done: weatherized 1 million homes
• promoted algae
• recommends conservation
• Conservation has gone very, very well; gasoline demand has decreased 8 percent year-over-year
• Nobel peace prize for what?

Other Obama Accomplishments

• killed the Keystone XL 1.0
• slow-rolled the domestic oil and gas industry 
• moratorium followed by a prolonged permitorium

Killing the Keystone

• Obama supporters blame it on GOP -- not enough time to study -- in fact, the Keystone has been studied longer than WWII lasted;
• Congress willing to take the blame; Obama twisted Dems arms to kill the Keystone in the Senate

Links

"You didn't build that. Someone else made that happen." WOW! Read my lips!

Obama-Shave signs south of Seattle, Washington.

Unmitigated Disaster: Where Do We Begin?

Afghanistan: the forgotten war. 2,000 dead, September, 2012; eleven years of war; no media story
Miserable economy, record unemployment, $16 trillion debt and growing; bank bailout; Wall St b/o
US credit rating lowered twice under President Obama -- is this a first?
Caves in to faux environmentalists; cancels shovel-ready jobs in oil and gas industry
Moratorium and then permitorium in the gulf
Record number of folks on food stamps
Gasoline prices have more than doubled under Obama
Embassies under attack throughout the Middle East; US ambassador to Libya killed; warned
The forgotten war: Afghanistan; still there, despite campaign pledge to be out
Gitmo not closed despite campaign pledge
Does his best to kill the coal industry: a campaign pledge
Kills Portland-area wind farm after Chinese company invests in it

T-Shirts

Apparently I'm supposed to be more upset with what Romney does with his money, than with what Obama does with mine.


I don't care what his address was when he was born; I just want him at a new address in 2013.

Convention

God removed; God back in; God out? -- Obama: "Why was God taken out in the first place." The president had hand in drafting the Democratic platform. Who's on first?

Memorable buttons:

• Sluts vote
• Vote black

And, yes, those buttons were there.

Not So Funny

Jay Leno: we wasted four years waiting for Barack Obama to do something about the economy. 

Humor

Q: how do you starve an Obama supporter?
A: Hide his/her food stamps under their work shoes.

Serious Questions



Quotes

"The fact that we are here today to debate raising America's debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the US government cannot pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our government's reckless fiscal policies. Increasing America's debt weaken us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that, 'the buck stops here.' Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better." -- Senator Barack Hussein ("missing in action") Obama, March, 2006.

News 

 October 30, 2012: day after Hurricane Sandy - 4.5 million without power in New York, New Jersey area; 7 - 10 days to restore; puts "us" inside "election day"; what makes me think President Obama's team is trying to see if there is some way to change the day of voting?

October 29, 2012: is it just me, or is this story one of the more bizarre stories -- a president saying that something an opponent said "hurts  him most" and then doesn't even have his facts straight? Hurts him; emotional over his opponent suggesting that Fiat is moving a production line overseas?

October 29, 2012: McCain has it wrong, saying either a cover-up or incompetency. In fact, it was both. First, gross incompetency, followed by a cover-up. Remember, just as this was going down in Libya, Obama was preparing for a huge campaign event in Nevada.

October 26, 2012: "No-drama-Obama." Navy SEALS told to "stand down" when they said they were requesting permission to respond to Libyan ambassador's aid.


October 25, 2012: quote is accurate; taken out of context -- "I want to build on the progress we've made. Doubling clean energy. I want fuel efficient cars and long-lasting batteries and wind turbines manufactured here in China." Something tells me he mis-read the teleprompter which probably had "...wind turbines manufactured here ... not in China." And the pregnant pause for emphasis. But he's in a hurry. Just reading the teleprompter as fast as he can.

 October 25, 2012: it's starting to become clearer. Either the equivalent of the minimum wage White House operator knew of the events and the president slept through the news; and/or he knew about the murder in near-real time. 

October 24, 2012: it turns out the timing of the  four American deaths was not optimal -- the White House pretty much knew in real time what was going on in Libya; the president had a key political event in Las Vegas, just a few hours later, which he did not cancel; 


October 22, 2012: time to meet with Islamists, but not Israeli prime minister

October 19, 2012: the president quit publishing quarterly reports on effects of stimulus two years early; back in 2011, he quit publishing quarterly reports:

In other words, the Obama administration is required by law to submit quarterly reports on the “stimulus” through the third quarter of 2013.  Yet the administration has apparently found it more convenient to stop after the second quarter of 2011 — more than two years early.  Or perhaps it has just decided to put the release of these reports on hold until after the election.  Either way, the Obama administration is now in violation of the president’s most prominent piece of legislation this side of Obamacare.

October 7, 2012: at various places in the blog I have opined that this is the first election in a long time that I feel very, very comfortable going into (I may be disappointed in the results, but I have no problem with how folks vote in this election). If they like where the country is and where it is headed, they will vote for the incumbent. If they are not happy with the way things are and they are honest with themselves, they can vote for Romney. I am reminded of that by this:

Any fan of Obama who tells you he expected the country to be in this condition at this moment is either lying to you or lying to themselves.

October 7, 2012: There are indications the president is getting bored with being president. 

Perhaps he is. If so, there were certainly signs long before Wednesday night in Denver. A look at the president’s career shows he has never stayed in a job four years without looking to move on to something better. 

Perhaps coming back as the twelfth imam.

September 30, 2012: President Obama referred to the assassination of the US ambassador to Libya as just so much noise. Likewise, he called Iran's goal to "eliminate" Israel was just so much noise. Today, it is being reported that the US marks 2,000 dead in the forgotten war, the Afghanistan war, which has now gone on for eleven years. I assume the president sees that milestone - 2,000 dead in Afghanistan -- as just so much noise. Americans are satisfied; polling suggests four more years.
September 28, 2012: Administration now admits -- Libyan embassy massacre al-Qaeda terrorist attack. If the mainstream media wasn't so in love with this president, this administration would have imploded years ago. President Barack Obama is clearly in over his head.
September 18, 2012: the birthers never give up --

In Honolulu, Zullo worked closely with local contacts, including Duncan Sunahara, the brother of Virginai Sunahara, an infant child born in Hawaii, August 4, 1961, the same day Obama was born. 

As WND reported, Virginia Sunahara entered as a figure in the Obama birth controversy because no birth certificate for her had been located, leading to speculation her birth certificate could have been the source of Obama's.

Where is Paul Drake and Perry Mason when we need them? Erle Stanley Gardner's "The Case of the Bamboozled Birth Certificate."

September 5, 2012: Senator Schumer (D-NY) does not know the president's position on Jerusalem. That's probably truthful. I'm not sure the president knows his position.
September 4, 2012: Obama's favorability number slides; underwater in some polls; are we seeing a rout develop?

September 4, 2012: unable to fill the stadium (74,000), the DNC looks to move whole debacle inside a 20,000-seat indoor arena. The president might still win the election, but there's as good a chance this election will be a rout.
August 26, 2012: the bloodiest day in Syria and folks fault the president for not saying anything. Folks forget. The Nobel peace prize president has already drawn his line in the sand: he does not care how many folks get killed by the Syrian government, as long as the Syrian government does not use chemical weapons.

August 12, 2012: President agrees -- ObamaCare will rip out $700 billion from Medicare. One might as well round that to $1 trillion. President Obama defends cutting $700 billion from Medicare.  Wow. At least seniors now know how ObamaCare is going to be paid for. 

July 22, 2012: NY Times poll -- Romney clearly leads Obama. Negative ads regarding Romney's taxes and Bain do not reverberate with the voters.
July 13, 2012: "You didn't build that." Wow. Not taken out of context.
July 9, 2012: I don't know about you -- I'm not a conspiracy nut, on anything, but one has to admit that for a charismatic young man who went to the best schools and became President of the United States it is amazing how difficult it is to verify his history. Nothing comes easy -- better, yet, "you know, it don't come easy." Now this: a computer error that completely misplaced the president's second year at Columbia. One certainly gets the feeling that this president is re-writing his biography (or someone is doing it for him) well after the fact.  Does anyone really take at "face value," that a computer error completely missed one year of a student who was there on scholarship. Then add to the fact that "no one" remembers seeing this charismatic young black male on campus for an entire year.

July 6, 2012: Obama -- turn off Fox news.  And have another beer.

June 5, 2012: security leaks for votes.  Dems upset with White House. Jackson Browne cools on Obama; won't raise money for DCC this cycle.

June 4, 2012: After stunning jobs figures, Hispanic unemployment jumps to 11%, and surprise in manufacturing drop, Romney gains in popularity; Obama tanks on InTrade.

June 3, 2012: Maureen Dowd starts to turn on Obama.  Bill Clinton defends Romney; turns on Obama? Stunning jobs report, and the administration still cannot mention where America's growth is and will be: fossil fuel energy.  This president is not out of touch; he is an ideologue who is willing to let America fail if he can't have his way. Even his fellow libs see that; this is not unexpected from this source, but it pretty well summarizes what I've been seeing and thinking. Germany's Merkel tells Obama to "pound dirt."
May 21, 2012: Karzai thanks the US taxpayers and Obama pledges continued support. What a farce.  
May 16, 2012: Wisconsin now a toss-up for Obama-Romney. 

May 11, 2012: British press upset that President Obama leaking information on terrorist operations for political reasons. 

Detailed leaks of operational information about the foiled underwear bomb plot are causing growing anger in the US intelligence community, with former agents blaming the Obama administration for undermining national security and compromising the British services, MI6 and MI5.

The Guardian has learned from Saudi sources that the agent was not a Saudi national as was widely reported, but a Yemeni. He was born in Saudi Arabia, in the port city of Jeddah, and then studied and worked in the UK, where he acquired a British passport.

Mike Scheur, the former head of the CIA's Bin Laden unit, said the leaking about the nuts and bolts of British involvement was despicable and would make a repeat of the operation difficult. "MI6 should be as angry as hell. This is something that the prime minister should raise with the president, if he has the balls. This is really tragic," Scheur said.

May 11, 2012: He's no Abraham Lincoln:

Already Obama has indicated that while he believes "same sex couples should be able to get married," he also believes states should be able to ban gay marriages. This is particularly pertinent in light of Tuesday's vote in North Carolina to ban same sex marriage.

The ban overwhelmingly passed. If this was about slavery, would the president be saying he supports "gay freedom" but states should have the right to ban "gay freedom."

May 9, 2012: wow, wow, wow. This is interesting. See note of May 8, 2012. Another state fails to okay civil unions. Colorado is not a swing state, but it's a given that Obama will carry the state ... unless he publicly states he agrees with his vice president on the issue of "gay marriage." This is quite remarkable. 

May 8, 2012: wow, wow, wow. This is interesting.  Over the weekend, the VP mentioned that he was comfortable with "gay marriage." Obama has refused to go along with that, and his press secretary is becoming the butt of jokes over this issue. Former Pennsylvania governor (Democrat) told Obama to "man up" and say whether he supports "gay marriage." To day, the president refuses. Now we know why: North Carolina, with probably a record turnout, soundly voted for state law to ban "gay marriage." It has been reported that North Carolina could be a swing state in November. Based on record turnout and overwhelming disfavor of "gay marriage" in North Carolina, Obama faces great risk supporting "gay marriage."

May 8, 2012: Romney, 49; Obama, 44; but this is why I posted today -- The uptick for Romney comes as investor confidence has fallen six points in the wake of last week’s disappointing jobs report.  Looking ahead five years, just 44% of Americans believe the nation’s economy will be stronger than it is today.  That’s the lowest level of long-term optimism ever measured.

May 6, 2012: "A Clueless Obama Abandons Economic Growth" -- The American Spectator.

May 6, 2012: Supposedly the president knew of Osama bin Laden's hideout since summer of 2010; didn't act until late spring, 2011. Huge credit to our CIA, NSA folks to keep a secret. But the White House, VP, others keeping it a secret. Amazing.
 
May 3, 2012: another "birther" issue, another lawyer.

[Democratic Senate nominee Elizabeth] Warren’s statements come as genealogists at the New England Historic Genealogical Society were unable to back up earlier accounts that her great great great grandmother is Cherokee. While Warren’s great great great grandmother, named O.C. Sarah Smith, is listed on a electronic transcript of a 1894 marriage application as Cherokee, the genealogists are unable to find the actual record or a photographic copy of it, Society spokesman Tom Champoux said. A copy of the marriage license itself has been located, but unlike the application, it does not list Smith’s ethnicity.

Warren listed herself as a minority professor in the Association of American Law Schools desk book from 1986-95 while teaching at the universities of Texas and Pennsylvania.  And now this: her ancestors rounded up Cherokee Indians, 1837: Trail of Tears. 

I guess after she left Texas and Pennsylvania she was no longer part of a minority. 
May 1, 2012: Navy Seals slam Obama for making the Bin Laden mission a political story. For those who don't recall, the president flew the first helicopter, Michelle the second helicopter.

April 30, 2012: Bad economy under Bush? So much worse under Obama -- Bloomberg. One of the longest Bloomberg articles I've seen, and there was not one word about the North Dakota to Texas Renaissance Zone. Incredible.


April 29, 2012: Obama, a bush league president -- Peggy Noonan, WSJ.


April 24, 2012: As senator, Obama skipped votes on student loans; now he wants them extended.

April 23, 2012: Don Lemon, talking head/news reader/Obama supporter, starting to turn on Obama

April 17, 2012: the leader of the Senate "never" takes a bill to the floor without knowing the outcome ahead of time. The vote on the "Buffett Rule" was so lopsided it is clear this bill will never pass in way, shape, or firm. Had nine Republicans voiced support, one can be sure any number of Democrats would have voted to kill it. This is not rocket science.

April 12, 2012: Ann Romney has never worked a day in her life -- Obama. Wow, this got nasty a lot earlier than expected. Five children. Never worked a day in her life.

March 30, 2012: Peggy Noonan, in the Wall Street Journal, has another great analysis of the presidency.

Some data points:

• Those inclined not to like his policies are now inclined not to like him. Huge observation.
• The president is coming across more and more as a trimmer. Devious. Dishonest.
• The shift started January 20, 2012: Catholic Church, health care, unconstitutional; devious solution.
• Open-mic conversation with Russian president: I can do more after the election when I'm not up for re-election again. Joking about it later, sophomoric. Creepy.
• Memorable words form a racially-charged killing: "If I had a son he'd look like Trayvon."
• Health care argument in front of Supreme Court: "The constitutional law professor from the University of Chicago didn't notice the centerpiece of his agenda was not constitutional? How did that happen?
• Regardless of the outcome, he will be seen as having wasted time in 2009 when the economy was .... well, depressing.
• The Supreme Court suggested not political misfeasance but malfeasance.

In terms of a broad electorate, Ms Noonan is not sure he really has a relationship.

From the day Mr. Obama was sworn in, what was on the mind of the American people was financial calamity—unemployment, declining home values, foreclosures. These issues came within a context of some overarching questions: Can America survive its spending, its taxing, its regulating, is America over, can we turn it around?

That's what the American people were thinking about.

But the new president wasn't thinking about that. All the books written about the creation of economic policy within his administration make clear the president and his aides didn't know it was so bad, didn't understand the depth of the crisis, didn't have a sense of how long it would last. They didn't have their mind on what the American people had their mind on.
The president had his mind on health care. And, to be fair-minded, health care was part of the economic story. But only a part! And not the most urgent part. Not the most frightening, distressing, immediate part. Not the 'Is America over?' part.

And then this:

If you jumped into a time machine to the day after the election, in November, 2012, and saw a headline saying "Obama Loses," do you imagine that would be followed by widespread sadness, pain and a rending of garments? You do not. Even his own supporters will not be that sad. It's hard to imagine people running around in 2014 saying, "If only Obama were president!"

Including Mr. Obama, who is said by all who know him to be deeply competitive, but who doesn't seem to like his job that much. As a former president he'd be quiet, detached, aloof. He'd make speeches and write a memoir laced with a certain high-toned bitterness. It was the Republicans' fault.

They didn't want to work with him.

Ms Noonan: Mr. Obama has a largely nonexistent relationship with many, and a worsening relationship with some.

Comment: I've had that same feeling -- he doesn't seem to enjoy being president. Compare to JFK, Ronald Reagan, even Bill Clinton. One had the feeling these guys enjoyed being president. They were optimistic. Had fun. Enjoyed life. Didn't whine. Didn't complain that others weren't working with him. Didn't complain about obstructionists. Oh, well.

March 29, 2012: Obama: "You don't go to Las Vegas on the taxpayer's dime." First family visiting Las Vegas this week. Height of hypocrisy.

It’s spring break for the Obama daughters and mom has taken them West for the week.  Michelle Obama and her daughters visited Mount Rushmore Wednesday to see the monument where  four U.S. presidents are immortalized in stone on the soaring mountainside.

Now the Obamas have arrived in Las Vegas for a private family visit.

At the depths of the recession, President Obama seemed to disparage Las Vegas visits, at one point warning hard-pressed Americans, “You don’t blow a bunch of cash in Vegas when you’re trying to save for college.”

Obama: The feud began in 2009, when Obama admonished corporations using federal bailout money: "You can't go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayer's dime."

March 29, 2012: Obama's budget proposal goes down in defeat in the House, 414-0. Not one Democrat supported the president.  In addition, the Bowles-Simpson deficit-reduction plan went down to a crushing defeat; only 16 Republicans and 22 Democrats voted for it. Darn those Republican obstructionists.

March 8, 2012: 77 percent of those polled says price of gasoline #1 issue going into the election. Ya think?

March 1, 2012: Gingrich vs Obama on energy. The American Spectator. I.N.C.R.E.D.I.B.L.E.

February 10, 2012: an old clip, but a reader sent this to me today, reminding me what the liberal agenda is --- like Chavez, to nationalize US oil companies. Of course, it won't happen, but they would sure like to.
Maxine 'how did she ever get elected' Waters
February 10, 2012: Obama flips-flops -- says he won't make Catholic Church provide birth control; will require the health insurance companies that provide coverage for Catholic Church entities to provide birth control; it will be interesting to see if this ends the controversy. This articulates the issue perfectly.

February 7, 2012: Obama flips-flops -- becomes a huge fan of Super PACs. That takes that populist sound bite out of the equation.

January 25, 2012: slow-rolling the oil and gas industry since 2008. Nothing will change. This is the man who killed the Keystone, and who is threatening to kill hydraulic fracturing. The link is to the a story on the president's state of the union speech in which he says the supports the oil and gas industry.

January 18, 2012: Thank goodness for the internet. Potty training since the 1960's.  Link inappropriate for children and Sunday School marms.

January 15, 2012: It appears the race is on! Romney to win in South Carolina -- after that, it's all over. Obama sees this. He went to church today, third time in the past four weeks.

November 29, 2011: Obama's job approval drops below Carter's.

President Obama's slow ride down Gallup's daily presidential job approval index has finally passed below Jimmy Carter, earning Obama the worst job approval rating of any president at this stage of his term in modern political history.

November 28, 2011: Obama will throw the white working class under the bus.

November 20, 2011: The SuperCommittee to solve the deficit problem will end with a whimper, having solved nothing. Those automatic cuts --- don't hold your breath. They don't take effect for one year, during which time Congress is free to rescind them. The whole thing, as usual, has been a charade, political theater. But this is fortunate for investors. Had either the SuperCommittee succeeded, or the cuts taken effect January 1, 2012, the stock market would have plunged. Now it's business as usual for investors; my hunch is that the market will see the failure of the SuperCommittee as a positive sign for investing.

November 15, 2011: The US Postal Service says it will run out of money next September, two months before the national election. [August 19, 2012: in fact, the USPS is technically insolvent; it has missed a required health care payment, first time ever; and, has said it will miss the next one also. Interestingly, no one seems to care.]

November 15, 2011: See the September 16, 2011, entry -- by killing Keystone XL it is clear that jobs is not Obama's number one priority. Other sources say that unions are livid, that the Keystone XL was killed; it would have provided 20,000 direct jobs according to one source.

September 19, 2011: Chicago Tribune -- Obama should not run for re-election.

September 16, 2011: Clearly the job situation -- or more accurately, the jobless situation -- in the summer of 2011 -- is all of Obama's making. Florida, Texas, and North Dakota prove that jobs can be made and can be had in this economy. But Obama's job plan: a) redistribute the wealth (tax the rich); b) extend unemployment benefits past 99 weeks (already a US record); c) distribute tax money to save state employee jobs (half-trillion dollar teachers' bill in summer, 2011); d) beat the drum incessantly against big business; and, e) do what he can to destroy Big Oil, the only domestic industry that can generate the number of jobs and type of jobs the administration is looking for (high pay, high tech, and huge potential for all)

September 16, 2011: Obama hits all-time low -- ABC News -- 43% approve, but it's the independents that has the White House concerned:

As concerns about the struggling U.S. economy grow, a new CBS News/New York poll finds that President Obama's overall approval rating has dropped to 43 percent, the lowest so far of his presidency in CBS News polling. In addition, his disapproval rating has reached an all-time high of 50 percent.

Views of the president's job performance are marked by a striking degree of polarization along party lines -- the vast majority of Democrats approve (78 percent), while even more Republicans disapprove (89 percent) of how he's handling his job. But only 37 percent of independents approve, with 54 percent disapproving.

Except for a notable spike in approval after the killing of Osama bin Laden in May, President Obama's approval rating has been below 50 percent since the spring of 2010.

Not surprisingly, the down economy has had a clear impact on Mr. Obama's approval rating. [Comment: well, duh.]

September 14, 2011: Buyer's Remorse (Drudge headline): most prefer Hillary over Obama.

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The Campaign: It's Starting to Look A Lot Like a Tsunami

August 16, 2012: building their own new mom-and-pop bakery, open three months, refused to have VP Joe Biden stop by for a re-election photo-op.
August 9, 2012: coal miners' union will sit out this election. Obama succeeded in killing the coal industry. 

August 9, 2012: Goldman Sachs, GE employees drop Obama; go with Romney. Obama hates those who build wealth; if "you own a business, you didn't build it."

August 9, 2012: Now they're just plain lying. The cancer ad lie.  And if it wasn't for Drudge, no one would know. It will be interesting to see if mainstream media picks this up.

************************

Five Things a Street-Smart Thug Might Say

"We will keep a heel on the neck of BP."

"We will kill the coal industry."

"Romney might be a felon."

"He has a business, but he didn't build it."

"The Keystone XL needs to be killed."

************************

Quotes from the President

I ceased to advertise my mother’s race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites. 
--Barack Hussein Obama, “Dreams of My Father” 

I found solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mother’s race. 
--Barack Hussein Obama, “Dreams of My Father” 

There was something about him that made me wary, a little too sure of himself, maybe. And white. 
--Barack Hussein Obama, “Dreams of My Father” 

I never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didn’t speak to my own. It was into my father’s image, the black man, son of Africa, that I’d packed all the attributes I sought in myself, the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela.” 
--Barack Hussein Obama, “Dreams of My Father” 

I will stand with Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction. 
--Barack Hussein Obama, “Audacity of Hope” 

"To avoid being mistaken for a sellout, I chose my friends carefully: the more politically active black students, the foreign students, the Chicanos, the Marxist professors and structural feminists." 
--Barack Hussein Obama 

"I learned to slip back and forth between my black and white worlds. One of those tricks I had learned: People were satisfied so long as you were courteous and smiled and made no sudden moves. They were more than satisfied; they were relieved -- such a pleasant surprise to find a well-mannered young black man who didn't seem angry all the time." 
--Barack Hussein Obama 

"If [black] nationalism could create a strong and effective insularity, deliver on its promise of self-respect, then the hurt it might cause well-meaning whites, or the inner turmoil it caused people like me, would be of little consequence." 
--Barack Hussein Obama 

They bring a knife. We bring a gun. 
--Barack Hussein Obama 

I don’t want to quell anger. I think people are right to be angry. I’m angry. 
--Barack Hussein Obama 

Hit back twice as hard. 
--Barack Hussein Obama 

Punish your enemies. 
--Barack Hussein Obama 
******************

Twelve Reasons to Vote for Obama

When your family or friends cannot explain why they voted for Barack Obama, give  them this list.  Then they can then pick a reason from this "TOP 12"...

1. I voted for Barack Obama because I love the fact that I can now marry whatever I want.

 I've decided to marry my German Shepherd.

2. I voted for Barack Obama because I believe oil companies' profits of 4% on a gallon of gas are obscene, but the government taxing the same gallon of gas at 15% isn't.

3. I voted for Barack Obama because I believe the government will do a better job of spending the money I earn than I would.

4. I voted for Barack Obama because Freedom of Speech is fine as long as nobody is offended by it.

5. I voted for Barack Obama because I'm way too irresponsible to own a gun, and I know that my local police are all I need to protect me from murderers and thieves.

6. I voted for Barack Obama because I believe that people who can't tell us if it will rain on Friday can tell us that the polar ice caps will melt away in ten years if I don't start driving a Prius.

7. I voted for Barack Obama because I'm not concerned about millions of babies being aborted so long as we keep all death row inmates alive.

8. I voted for Barack Obama because I think illegal aliens have a right to free health care, education, and Social Security benefits, and we should take away the social security from those who paid into it.

9. I voted for Barack Obama because I believe that businesses should not be allowed to make profits for themselves. They need to break even and give the rest away to the government for redistribution as the Democrats see fit.

10. I voted for Barack Obama because I believe liberal judges need to rewrite the Constitution every few days to suit some fringe kooks who would never get their agendas past the voters.

11. I voted for Barack Obama because I think that it's better to pay billions to people who hate us for their oil, but not drill our own because it might upset some endangered beetle, gopher or fish.

12. I voted for Barack Obama because my head is so firmly planted up my ass, it's unlikely that I'll ever have another point of view.

And then there's Al Franken (not to be confused with Al Sharpton)

Al Franken on rape: “And, ‘I give the pills to Lesley Stahl. Then, when Lesley’s passed out, I take her to the closet and rape her.’ Or, ‘That’s why you never see Lesley until February.’ Or, ‘When she passes out, I put her in various positions and take pictures of her.’”

Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe: October 21, 2012

Jeff Jacoby's article in today's Boston Globe is priceless. My hunch is that sentient folks voting for President Obama this time around will be able to rationalize every thing Jeff has to say about the president. 

And what about all those other values you counted on Obama to uphold?

On the campaign trail, his top priority was to codify Roe v. Wade. “The first thing I’d do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act,” he declared. Once in office, it dropped from his agenda.

You trusted Obama when he said his administration would be “the most open and transparent in history.” Instead it launched an unprecedented crackdown on whistleblowers and leaks, and retreated into a “bubble of non-accountability.”

And that's just for starters.