by Tait Trussell
September 02, 2009
from
FrontPageMag Website
President
Obama is
adept at rewarding those who put him into office. And hard-left financier
George Soros is emerging as a leader of the patronage pack.
A
payback to Soros was due.
As the chief moneyman behind left-wing political
action committees like MoveOn.org, Soros, an
early supporter of Obama, played an
instrumental role in drumming up voter mobilization and political
advertising on the novice candidate’s behalf. In no small part, Obama’s
triumph in the Democratic primary over better-known rivals was a testament
to Soros’s deep pockets and his political commitment.
Now it’s time for Soros to collect on his investment. The Wall Street
Journal recently reported that the Obama administration has committed up to
$10 billion to Brazil’s state-owned oil company Petrobras to finance
oil exploration off of Brazil’s coast.
Yet
Obama historically has opposed expanded oil
drilling. This was not only a strategic decision, aimed at pleasing the
environmental Left, but also a personal choice, since Obama sincerely
believes that drilling is deeply destructive to the natural environment.
Thus, as a Senator,
Obama voted against permitting the U.S. to
drill for oil and natural gas in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge on the
grounds that it would be a crime to despoil such “beautiful real estate.”
Similarly, during last year’s presidential
campaign, he warned of the “environmental consequences” of oil drilling, and
insisted that “we cannot drill our way out of the [energy] problem.”
But apparently George Soros can.
The president has elected to help another nation
with the same type of drilling that he opposes so vehemently for this
country, and the reason seems to be
Soros’s $811-millon investment in Petrobras.
The company just happens to be the largest holding in Soros’s investment
fund. Soros’s connection to the company is no secret; he has been investing
in Petrobras since 2007.
A profitable venture, Petrobras has estimated
recoverable reserves for the so-called Tupi oil field of between
5 and 8 billion barrels. With his
billion-dollar loan, Obama has taken patronage politics to striking new
level.
The Petrobras loan may be a windfall for Soros and Brazil, but it is a bad
deal for the US. The administration is prepared to lend
up to $10 billion to a foreign company to
drill off its coast, when it could bring in
$1.7 trillion in government revenue, as
well as create thousands of new jobs, by allowing drilling off the coast of
the United States.
This is no empty speculation. The American Petroleum Institute estimates
that oil exploration in the U.S. could create 160,000 new, well-paying jobs,
as well as $1.7 trillion in revenues to federal, state, and local
governments, all while fostering greater energy security. Federal data from
the Minerals Management Service of the U.S. Department of Interior says
the U.S. has enough oil and natural gas to
fuel more than 65 million cars for 60 years, and enough natural gas to heat
60 million homes for 160 years.
In fact, the government estimates that there are
30 billion barrels of undiscovered technically recoverable oil on federal
lands currently closed to development. But rather than investing in the
country’s energy future, the administration seems to be offering an
expensive kickback to a political ally in a time of economic recession and
high unemployment.
The oil deal stinks for other reasons, as well. For instance, there is the
rank hypocrisy of Soros – an enthusiastic proponent of global warming theory
and environmental liberalism – investing in the fossil fuels whose use he
otherwise condemns – and doing so in part with the aid of taxpayer funds.
For years, Soros has urged the adoption of a global carbon tax that would
punish companies that contribute to global warming.
But that didn’t prevent him from plowing money
into Petrobras.
The cozy Soros-Obama alliance goes beyond favorable oil deals. It’s
also playing a role in the health care debate. Huge demonstrations dedicated
to enacting Obama’s universal health care are
largely a Soros-financed operation.
When
tens of thousands of people rallied in the nation’s capital in support of
Obama’s health care plan, the demonstrations were organized by Health
Care for America Now! (HCAN), a new national grassroots movement of more
than 1,000 organizations in 46 states encompassing 30 million people
dedicated to winning health reform now.
The “grassroots” organization appears to be more like a gang of
interconnected ultra-liberal pressure groups. Among the 21 members of its
steering committee are such Soros-funded groups as ACORN, MoveOn.org, and
the Center for American Progress (CAP), headed by Clinton former chief of
staff John Podesta, who also has been a key adviser to Obama.
Soros’s charity, the Open Society Institute,
in 2007 gave CAP $1.75 million and approved added grants of $1.25 million.
Obama’s collusion with Soros and his agenda-driven squadrons is an
unfortunate turn from an administration that entered office promising
unprecedented transparency in the White House.
Soros certainly did his share for Obama.
Now, with his backing for a billion-dollar oil
loan to a Brazilian company, the president has proven more generous to
Soros than to the American voters who put him in office.