Tomorrow night President Obama and Governor Mitt Romney will meet in Denver, Colorado, to debate domestic policy. The first point on Romney's five point economic plan is for the United States to become energy independent. In his first term, Obama has been no friend to the oil industry, but has taken credit for its success--a 4.5% growth in 2011, while overall GDP grew by 1.7%. Here are some talking points to consider before Romney and Obama spar over energy policy tomorrow night:
◼ Obama planned to open 75 percent of our offshore oil and gas resources for production, but only areas that have already been explored are included in that figure. According to the American Petroleum Institute (API), 85 percent of all offshore areas are still off-limits.For more reading on the disparity of treatment for the oil industry vs. the solar and wind industry, read ◼ Big Oil, Bigger Taxes and ◼ The Solar Painted Desert from the Wall Street Journal. Check out the American Petroleum Institute's pamphlet ◼ Energy Myths & Facts for a breakdown of some of Obama's claims about the oil industry.
◼ The oil industry has a difficult time obtaining leases and then producing on that land because of regulations, slowing production. For example, the API reports that the oil industry spent $2.6 billion to obtain 487 leases in the Chukchi Sea, but so far the Obama administration has not allowed any wells to be drilled on that land.
◼ In February, Obama famously claimed that the United States only has 2 percent of the world's oil reserves, but he did not take into account our undiscovered resource potential or our shale gas resources, which are ten times the amount of our current oil reserves. These resources put the U.S. ahead of Saudi Arabia in the amount of oil and natural gas that can be recovered.
◼ Obama calls for an end to subsidizing oil companies, but in truth "there is not a single targeted tax credit in the Internal Revenue Code available to the oil and gas industry," according to the API. The oil and gas industry is allowed the same tax deductions that other businesses take, but at a lower rate. All U.S. manufacturers take a 9 percent tax deduction on their costs, while the oil and gas industry is allowed a 6 percent tax deduction.
◼ While making it more difficult for the oil industry to conduct business, the solar and wind industry received $9 billion in taxpayer subsidies between 2009 and 2011, according to the Wall Street Journal. These are direct handouts from taxpayer coffers, unlike the tax deductions the oil industry receives.
◼ While the oil industry struggles to build wells on land it already has leases for, the Department of Interior is opening 19 million acres for solar installations, which is a collection of land larger than Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont combined, according to the Wall Street Journal.
◼ Obama's 2013 budget called for raising taxes on the oil industry by $85 billion.
Planned Parenthood Begins Ad Blitz Against Romney
In its Tuesday, October 2, 2012 issue, The Hill newspaper reported that "Planned Parenthood's political wing is targeting Mitt Romney." The Planned Parenthood Action Fund and the Planned Parenthood Votes have prepared a new slew of anti-Romney messaging efforts. Both groups have been running ads against Romney and will renew their efforts against him starting with Colorado, ahead of the first debate on Wednesday.
Colorado is considered a swing state and its female voters may very well be decisive in the presidential race. Between the two Planned Parenthood groups, they plant to target television, mobile and on-line ads, and will hold a rally on Tuesday. The group also intends to place a large, movable chalk board on which passers-by can paint questions they have for Governor Romney to answer.
Romney campaign spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg has replied that Obama has "made it more difficult for women to start businesses, keep more money in the bank, or see their children graduate with good jobs on the horizon...despite what the Obama campaign says, women are concerned about what's happened over the last four years--and they can't afford another four years of the same."
October Debate Schedule
There are three presidential debates this month before the election on Tuesday, November 6. Here is a schedule of the debates and their topics:
◼ October 3, 2012: The candidates will discuss domestic policy with questions from Jim Lehrer, the host of NewsHour on PBS. Jim Lehrer has opened all of the presidential debates since 1988. This debate will be held at the University of Denver in Denver, Colorado, starting at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time.All of the debates are sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates. To visit their website and learn more about the history of these debates, ◼ click here. To learn more about the debates this month, check out the ◼ 2012 Election Central.
◼ October 11, 2012: This is the only debate featuring the Vice Presidential candidates, who will discuss foreign and domestic policy at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. It will start at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time with Martha Raddatz, an ABC News Chief Foreign Correspondent, as moderator.
◼ October 16, 2012: The candidates will meet at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York for a town hall meeting debate on foreign and domestic policy. It will be moderated by Candy Crowley, the CNN Chief Political Correspondent. The Gallup organization will select undecided voters as the town hall meeting participants. The debate will start at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
◼ October 22, 2012: The candidates will meet at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida, to discuss foreign policy. Bob Schieffer, host of Face the Nation on CBS, will moderate. Like the previous debates, this one starts at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
