Links and Minifeatures 2008 09 18 Thursday

House approves offshore drilling

Once Ms. Pelosi agreed to schedule the vote, the result was a foregone conclusion. I'm amazed the vote was as close as it was (236-189). However, what was in the bill they agreed to vote on was basically election year posturing so they can say they voted for drilling without actually having any new drilling enabled.

The Democrats' bill would allow drilling in waters 50 miles from shore almost everywhere from New England to Washington state as long as a state agrees to go along with energy development off its coast line. Beyond 100 miles, no state approval would be required. The drilling ban would remain in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

A difference that makes no difference is no difference.

This was a political trick by the house leadership. I'm sure it'll make a little bit of difference, but if fifty miles offshore the water is three miles deep, how much drilling are they likely to be able to do? The only spot where it is, in general, shallower than that is the Gulf of Mexico, which was specifically omitted from the bill.

The Democratic bill also would:

- Roll back $18 billion in tax breaks for the five largest oil companies and requires energy companies to pay billions of dollars in royalties avoided because of an Interior Department contracting error.

-Require the release of oil from the government's Strategic Petroleum Reserve to try to push down gasoline prices.

This is a stupid election year trick. That is not what the strategic reserve is for. The strategic reserve is for when we lose the ability to access oil we need, not when it simply gets a little expensive. Let another embargo like 1973 hit, and we'd all immediately know how stupid and short-sighted this is.

16 dead in attack at US Embassy in Yemen

Militants linked to al-Qaida launched a brazen attack against the U.S. Embassy in the Yemeni capital Wednesday, firing automatic weapons and setting off grenades and a car bomb in a furious fusillade that failed to breach the walls but killed 16 people, including a newly wed New York woman.

Armies of Liberation has ongoing updates including Flakey details. Good knowledgeable observers of the situation there are hard to find. Jane Novak is one.

The Anchoress on the hacking of Sarah Palin's email

Now the Obamaphiles - the angry, crazed, hate-filled part of the left who cannot understand the right and will not play fair - has hacked into Sarah Palin's email account. They've invaded her privacy and that of her family in a way so intrusive it can ONLY be perceived as threatening. People will not like that. WOMEN will not like that. Idiots.

You cannot be held accountable for everything your supporters do. But there is a line that has definitely been crossed. Once you get a certain number of incidents, there is a strong supposition of guilt induced by association. Obama needs to move on this, and move on it now, if he doesn't want to turn everybody off him.

Michelle Malkin has much more.

Question: What would happen if John McCain supporters had done this to Barack Obama?

Setting The Record Straight Department:

Investor's Business Daily

But it was the Clinton administration, obsessed with multiculturalism, that dictated where mortgage lenders could lend, and originally helped create the market for the high-risk subprime loans now infecting like a retrovirus the balance sheets of many of Wall Street's most revered institutions.

President Bush proposed an oversight agency five years ago but

Significant details must still be worked out before Congress can approve a bill. Among the groups denouncing the proposal today were the National Association of Home Builders and Congressional Democrats who fear that tighter regulation of the companies could sharply reduce their commitment to financing low-income and affordable housing.

''These two entities -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- are not facing any kind of financial crisis,'' said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. ''The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.''

Much more on Hot Air

A general primer on the phenomenon here

Powerline explains the Knik Arm Bridge (as opposed to the bridge to nowhere, which would have been hundreds of miles away).

John McCain lays out the facts of who has been walking the walk on the economy.

Facts on who tried to fix Fannie and Freddie, and who took massive amount of money from them.

Hot Air has more.

The only way to describe this is with a Monty Python Reference: Bravely ran Sir Harry, Ran Sir Nancy, Ran Away