Author: Bill Scher

If Washington conservatives are worried about the upcoming federal elections, then you can bet Big Oil is worried too. Sure, at the moment, Senate conservatives can filibuster legislation that would repeal oil subsidies, implement tax policy that prods oil companies to invest in renewable energy and refinery expansion, and crack down on oil speculators. But…

Much of the political discussion surrounding the call from President George Bush and Senator John McCain for more coastal drilling centers on Florida, a crucial swing state that has long protected its coastline to keep its tourism industry thriving. With Obama inching ahead in Florida, McCain\’s new stance carries major political risk. But Bush\’s address…

President George Bush. The former oilman who had to know that higher oil prices were inevitable yet did nothing in eight years to increase the supply of clean energy alternatives and expand energy-efficiency. The man who said in every single State of the Union address that we needed to reduce oil consumption then did nothing…

Fox News Sunday invited the head of the American Petroleum Institute, the lobbying arm of Big Oil, to discuss high energy prices. MSNBC\’s Morning Joe just had on former CEO of General Electric Jack Welch, who deemed more drilling for tiny amounts of oil in environmentally-sensitive areas to be sensible long-term energy policy. But I…

As Sen. John McCain gears up to give a speech in Houston, repeating his call to lift the moratorium on most drilling off America\’s shores, MSNBC\’s First Read suggests, \”McCain’s call for lifting the ban could … be seen as a pragmatic, short-term solution to high energy costs that could play well in places like…

As chronicled here, first Sen. John McCain delivered a incoherent global warming speech, offering a set of principles for legislation that are contradictory. The incoherence continued, when he expressed support for global warming legislation from his close ally Sen. Joe Lieberman, only to oppose it three weeks later. Today, the incoherence express rolls on. Grist\’s…

In the latest Bloggingheads.tv installment of \”The Week In Blog\” with The Heritage Foundation\’s Conn Carroll and myself, Conn offered a talking point I\’ve been hearing a lot from conservatives lately: that America has the second highest corporate tax rate in the world. Watch it below. You\’ll likely hear this a lot more because Sen.…

Earlier this week, I noted that media stars Charlie Gibson and Maria Batriromo have pushed the idea that households earning $200,000 are not wealthy, even though they are in the top 3.5% of the country. This morning, conservative commentator Ben Stein upped the ante, decreeing on Fox and Friends that $250,000 a year to be…

Last month, Democrats and Republicans released competing energy bills. The only thing they agreed on was a temporary suspension of filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, although estimates said it would knock 5 cents, at best, off the per gallon price. That compromise passed Congress and was signed into law on May 19. Glorious pundit-friendly bipartisanship…

Not fair to say the Sunday shows were bereft of issues on Sunday, yet they still flinched from the tough questions and went 0-for-3 for the Watchdog. No supporter of the Iraq invasion and occupation was asked about the bipartisan Senate report finding the Bush administration statements on WMD contradicted what was in the intelligence.…