Bad Deeds for 5-28-2010

Glenn Beck Attacks Obama’s Daughter – It took talk show host Glenn Beck all of two days to go from announcing that the families of politicians are a no-go zone for pundits — to mocking 11-year-old Malia Obama on the air.

During a press conference Thursday, President Barack Obama highlighted public concern over the Gulf Coast oil spill disaster by recounting an anecdote in which his 11-year-old daughter Malia peeked her head around the door and asked, “Did you plug the hole yet, Daddy?”

But for talk show host Glenn Beck, the comment was an opportunity to mock Malia and suggest the Obamas’ education standards aren’t up to snuff.

“That’s the level of their education, that they’re coming to … daddy and saying ‘Daddy, did you plug the hole yet?'” Beck said on his radio show Friday.

Beck launched into a surprisingly long skit with his co-host Pat Gray, imitating Malia Obama’s voice as she asked a series of baffling questions of her “father.”

“Daddy, why do you hate black people so much?” Beck as Malia asks at one point.
“I’m part white, honey,” Gray responds as Obama.

In another segment, “Malia” says, “Daddy you’re a puppet. did you know that? … Mommy said your presidency is like a puppet show. Somebody has their hand in your back.”

On Wednesday, Beck told his radio audience, “Leave peoples’ families alone.” He had been referring to the recent feud between Sarah Palin and her new next-door neighbor, author Joe McGinniss, who is writing a book about Palin.

For some conservative commentators, the Obama children appear to be fair game. Last summer, the right-wing news forum Free Republic was criticized for allowing commenters to call Malia a “typical street whore” and “ghetto street trash” after she appeared in public wearing a peace sign.

Energy Villains In Your Government – Moving away from our addiction to oil seems like a difficult task, but when you see members of Congress fighting to maintain the status quo, it seems impossible. While the Gulf oil spill has given some pause on the expansion of oil drilling, it has emboldened others, who have used the spill to make a case for, of all things, expanded oil drilling. We’ve compiled seven of the worst clean energy offenders in Congress for their efforts to go out of their way to stand up for the oil industry and block clean energy legislation.

Lisa Murkowski – Lisa Murkowski is a ranking member on the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, and she has a clear stance– her voting record shows her relentless efforts to clear paths for oil drilling while disregarding the consequences. In the past eight years, Murkowski has received $426,989 from the oil and gas industries, leading many to question her ulterior motives in pushing for more oil drilling. She has spoken out against the EPA regulating greenhouse gases from major industries under the Clean Air Act and created her own “Dirty Air Act,” which is slated to be voted on June 10. Murkowski has also called for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, stating that she would not support the newly-released American Power Act if it did not allow for it. Murkowski most recently blocked a bill to increase the liability cap for oil spills from $75 million to $10 billion.

 

John Boehner – John Boehner has made it his mission to stand in the way of energy reform. Just last year, Boehner attempted to block a vote on the American Clean Energy and Security Act by reading from the 300-page bill for more than an hour. Boehner has consistently voted down clean energy legislation, from investing in homegrown biofuels to tax credits for renewable energy. Similar to Landrieu, Boehner used the Gulf oil spill tragedy to draw attention to expanded drilling: ““This tragedy should remind us that America needs a real, comprehensive energy plan, like Republicans’ ‘all-of-the-above’ strategy,” Boehner said. This Sierra Club ad conveys Boehner’s cozy relationship with Big Oil.

 

Mary Landrieu – Mary Landrieu has had a mixed record on energy– all the way back in 1999, she voted yes to defund renewable and solar energy, and has voted in favor of oil and gas expansion on most issues, with the occasional vote for in favor of renewable energy. However, her commitment to expanding oil drilling was apparent when, even as the BP oil rig was gushing oil into the Gulf of Mexico, threatening her state’s coastlines, Mary Landrieu insisted that we “not react with fear” and “not to retreat” from oil drilling expansion. “We must continue to drill,” Landrieu said in a speech.

 

Sam Graves – Sam Graves is currently serving his fourth term in the House of Representatives. In that time, he has repeatedly voted against legislation that promotes clean energy. He voted no on tax credits for renewable electricity in September of 2008, as well as on tax incentives for energy production and conservation earlier that year. He also voted no on enforcing limits on CO2 global warming pollution in June of 2009. And even amid the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, Graves made a statement promoting oil drilling:

“The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska is a perfect example of how we can drill safely and in an environmentally responsible way on land we already control. ANWR is the size of South Carolina and it holds millions of barrels of oil. Contrary to what some might have you believe, we would only need to make a footprint the size of Kansas City International Airport within ANWR in order to access those reserves.”

 

Lamar Smith – Lamar Smith was elected to the House of Representatives in 1986. voted along the same lines as Graves on limiting CO2 emissions, renewable electricity, and energy production/conservation, in addition to voting against investing in homegrown biofuels. The Providence Journal reported in 2008 that Smith had written the Federal Aviation Administration in an effort to sabotage Cape Wind, the offshore wind farm that gained approval last month, by “bringing up the sort of bogus air-safety concerns that the Oyster Harbors Club crowd has pressed to protect members’ idea of the perfect summer view from their houses and yachts. Mr. Smith is a rich Texas congressman.” Smith allegedly spends most of his time at his Cape Cod residence.

 

Michele Bachmann – Michele Bachmann has made some wild assertions to further her agenda of continuing business as usual when it comes to energy. She was a leading advocate for the expansion of oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve after gas prices hiked to $4/gallon in the summer of 2008. She went so far as to claim that drilling in the ANWR would be beneficial to the wildlife (caribou in particular): “Some suggestions are that perhaps we would see an enhancement of wildlife expansion because of the warmth of the pipeline,” Bachmann said in a radio interview. In 2008, Bachmann introduced the “Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act” to stop the phase-out of incandescent light bulbs, making baseless arguments that fluorescent light bulbs are more polluting. She voted against the American Clean Energy & Security Act and got herself a “People’s Choice” award on the League of Conservation Voters’ 2010 Dirty Dozen list, which targets candidates for Congress who consistently vote against clean energy in areas where LCV could have an impact. “Representative Bachmann’s landslide win as the ‘People’s Choice’ clearly shows voters are fed up with her over-the-top, anti-science rhetoric in which she continually parrots the talking points of Big Oil and other corporate polluters,” Tony Massaro, LCV Senior Vice President for Political Affairs, said.

 

Blanche Lincoln – Blanche Lincoln cosponsored Murkowski’s “Dirty Air Act that takes aim at EPA regulations on greenhouse gases. Lincoln has been the top recipient of oil and gas money in the Senate since 2005. Lincoln was honored at a Women in Government Relations soiree earlier this month, and one of the major sponsors was BP, along with other major oil companies including Shell and ConocoPhillips. Lincoln also made it onto the League of Conservation Voters’ Dirty Dozen list, and was recently targeted by the Sierra Club and Moveon.org for her support of Murkowski’s legislation and being sympathetic to polluters.

Regards,

Jim