Should ban on offshore drilling be lifted?
Nancy Pelosi now says she’d be open to a vote on offshore drilling. (PHOTO CREDIT: AP PHOTO)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has changed her mind when it comes to allowing a vote on offshore drilling.
Until now, Pelosi has called the idea a "hoax" and has refused to allow it to come to the floor for a vote, but now she's suggesting she'd be open to just that. But there are strings… lots and lots of strings.
Pelosi says a vote on offshore drilling would have to be part of a larger energy package that included things like releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Pelosi indicated that she might even back a package that includes drilling – if things like renewable energy resources are also included. Plus orthodontic work for her grandchildren.
As Americans got hammered with record high gas prices this summer, Republicans have been pushing hard for a vote to lift the ban on offshore drilling. Some Republicans even stayed in Washington during the summer recess to continue to demand the vote. It's one of the few issues the American people seem to agree with the Republicans on – which is why Pelosi decided to change her mind. It changes with the wind direction and the wind on offshore drilling began blowing against her. A recent poll shows 69% of Americans favor offshore drilling, just 30% oppose it.
Pelosi is following in the footsteps of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, who also recently reversed his position on the issue – saying he'd be open to drilling if it's part of a larger energy package. And John McCain also opposed offshore drilling before changing his mind and supporting it, too. Don't you love how they all stand firm on their principles?
Here’s my question to you: Should the ban on offshore drilling be lifted?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Have falling gas prices improved your outlook?
(PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
If you feel like you have some change left after filling up at the pump these days, it's not your imagination: Gas prices have now fallen for 26 days in a row.
AAA puts the national average at just below $3.80 a gallon. Gas prices have dropped more than 7% since hitting a record high of $4.12 last month. However prices are still a dollar more than they were a year ago. The almost month-long drop in gas prices has come as oil has also fallen from a record high of $147 a barrel.
This is good news for the average consumer. A new Gallup poll suggests that Americans have become more optimistic about gas prices as they continue to drop.
Last month, almost 90% of those surveyed said gas prices would be even higher by the end of the year. But now that percentage has dropped by more than half to 40% - an especially large change in opinion for just a month's time. Also, only 16% of Americans think gas prices will increase by "a lot" by the end of the year, compared to 52% who felt that way last month.
Gallup has also found that Americans' views about the economy haven't been quite as gloomy lately. 73% of Americans rate the current conditions as "fair" or "poor”. That's still a lot of people, but it's down from 83% who felt that way last month.
Here’s my question to you: Have 26 days in a row of falling gas prices improved your outlook?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Placing Hillary’s name in nomination?
Click the play button to see what Jack and our viewers had to say.
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Some Hillary Clinton supporters want to make sure that the upcoming Democratic Convention doesn't turn into a "coronation" of Barack Obama.
A humorless organization called "The Denver Group" ran an ad in a Capitol Hill newspaper demanding that Hillary's name be placed in nomination at the convention and demanding that speeches be allowed in support of her nomination. They're just full of demands.
Watch: Cafferty: Clinton in play?
And if they don't get their way they are threatening a revolt. The ad says, "Will Howard Dean and the DNC turn the Democratic Party into the Boston Tea Party?" More demands. They demand a roll call vote on her nomination... presumably after those speeches they are demanding. This despite the fact that she lost and dropped out of the race months ago.
Of course, Clinton herself hasn't ruled out the idea of placing her name in nomination – saying her supporters would experience a "catharsis" if their voices were heard. Another group of Clinton supporters is planning a march in Denver on the same day that she is expected to address the convention.
And there are Clinton delegates who have started collecting signatures to place Clinton's name into nomination.
They say their effort is about respect. Baloney. In their heart of hearts, what they really want is to wrestle the nomination away from Barack Obama. They won't be able to do it, but in the process of trying, they can go a long way toward diminishing the historic nature of Obama's achievement, disrupting the convention, taking the spotlight away from the nominee, and slowing his momentum going into November. Is this what they call party unity?
Here’s my question to you: In order to satisfy Hillary Clinton’s supporters, should her name be placed in nomination at the convention?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
@jackcafferty on Twitter
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