President Obama can’t seem to get over what a lazy bunch of folks he leads. He has mentioned our sluggard ways again, for the second time in two months.
This time it was at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting he has been attending in Hawaii. POTUS said:
“We’ve been a little bit lazy over the last couple of decades. We’ve kind of taken for granted — ‘Well, people would want to come here’ — and we aren’t out there hungry, selling America and trying to attract new businesses into America."
Unlike George Bush, I’m going to complain vigorously about being blamed. It is particularly outrageous to blame the American people for our economic woes when just last week the administration made a craven decision to delay the Keystone XL pipeline that could have directly created 20,000 construction jobs. The decision is put off until after the 2012 presidential election.
Speaking of killing work for Americans, Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski has a must-read piece in this morning’s Wall Street Journal: “Obama’s Oil Abdication.” Murkowski notes that the administration is keeping Atlantic and Pacific sites off-limits for oil drilling, even as Cuba, Mexico, the Bahamas, Canada, and Russia move forward with offshore development.
The Senator writes:
Each of those nations has weighed the economic benefits of offshore production against the potential environmental risks. All five have decided it is in their best interest to proceed. This means two things for our nation.
First, we fail to boost our offshore production at our own expense. America's neighbors are not drilling for fun or for sport; they've chosen to proceed to create new jobs, generate new revenues, and increase the energy supply and prosperity of their citizens.
If America pursues greater offshore development—with appropriate safeguards—the same benefits will manifest within our borders. Jobs will be created. Federal and state treasuries will receive a much-needed boost from royalties and leasing revenues. Our tremendously costly and dangerous dependence on foreign oil will be slashed.
I bet a lot of non-lazy U.S. citizens would be willing to snap up these jobs in a heartbeat.