Obama Underwrites Offshore Drilling...

[Henry Hawk]

Obama Underwrites Offshore Drilling...

The U.S. is going to lend billions of dollars to Brazil's state-owned oil company, Petrobras, to finance exploration of the huge offshore discovery in Brazil's Tupi oil field in the Santos Basin near Rio de Janeiro. Brazil's planning minister confirmed that White House National Security Adviser James Jones met this month with Brazilian officials to talk about the loan.

The U.S. Export-Import Bank tells us it has issued a "preliminary commitment" letter to Petrobras in the amount of $2 billion and has discussed with Brazil the possibility of increasing that amount. Ex-Im Bank says it has not decided whether the money will come in the form of a direct loan or loan guarantees. Either way, this corporate foreign aid may strike some readers as odd, given that the U.S. Treasury seems desperate for cash and Petrobras is one of the largest corporations in the Americas.

But look on the bright side. If President Obama has embraced offshore drilling in Brazil, why not in the old U.S.A.? The land of the sorta free and the home of the heavily indebted has enormous offshore oil deposits, and last year ahead of the November elections, with gasoline at $4 a gallon, Congress let a ban on offshore drilling expire.

[Bo D]

And now for something completely different ... the FACTS!

.........

Charge: The U.S. government is giving away more than $2 billion in taxpayer dollars to Brazil's largest oil and gas company to drill for oil in Brazil.

Fact: The Bank has approved a preliminary commitment to lend up to $2 billion to Petrobras for the purchase of American-made goods and services. The funds will go to American exporters as payment for their sales to the company. Of note, the Bank is self-sustaining and no taxpayer dollars are involved.


Charge: The loans to Petrobras represent a giveaway of U.S. tax dollars.

Fact: The Bank's activities do not cost the American taxpayer a dime. In fact, since 1992 the American people netted more than $4.9 billion and the jobs those exports created.

Charge: America is exporting jobs to Brazil as a result of the loans.

Fact: Only American made goods and services qualify for Ex-Im Bank loans or guarantees. This is the government doing what it's supposed to do - helping to create U.S. jobs, making sure that Americans get a fair shot at selling goods and services, and helping American workers compete on a level playing field against foreign competition.

Charge: The loan to Petrobras represents a reversal of the Obama Administration's policies on off-shore drilling.

Fact: The Bank's bipartisan Board unanimously approved the preliminary commitment to Petrobras on April 14, 2009, before any Obama appointees joined the Bank. In fact, at the time the Bank's Board consisted of three Republicans and two Democrats, all of whom were appointed by George W. Bush.

http://www.exim.gov/brazil/pressrelease_082009.cfm
.........

[Henry Hawk]

Fact: Soros Invests $811 Million In Brazilian Oil

interesting...

[Bo D]

Fact: Soros Invests $811 Million In Brazilian Oil

interesting...

Are you saying that Soros was in bed with the Bush administration?

Fact: The Bank's bipartisan Board unanimously approved the preliminary commitment to Petrobras on April 14, 2009, before any Obama appointees joined the Bank. In fact, at the time the Bank's Board consisted of three Republicans and two Democrats, all of whom were appointed by George W. Bush.

Especially since the article you cite is dated August 15, 2008!

[Henry Hawk]

i'm stating nothing....just that it is interesting....that is all.

[Bo D]

i'm stating nothing....just that it is interesting....that is all.

Sure...Henry...sure!

Might want to check that timeline again.

[LOsborne]

You're confusing him with facts, again. (And verifiable facts, at that!)

[me]

i'm stating nothing....just that it is interesting....that is all.

Henry they just don't get it. 

[LOsborne]

Henry they just don't get it.

no, me, we get it, and I think you do, too.

Henry will post anything he can find which casts the president in an unfavorable light, without bothering to check either the facts or the source. And when the source is revealed (in case nobody else checked, its a WSJ -- Rupert Murdoch's OWN! -- opinion piece, but the author was too ashamed to put his name on it. It's unattributed) and the facts are presented in opposition to the innuendo, Henry back pedals with "I just thought it was interesting."

What is so interesting about the Import-Export bank lending committee approving a loan back in April, in which no taxpayer dollars are part of the money? And what is so interesting about a year old article concerning a private investor purchasing shares in Petroleo Brasileiro? What is interesting is that Henry bought the hate-mongering shit-stirrers effort to paint this as some kind of nefarious deed perpetrated by the current president. Somebody needs to buy Henry a calendar. And a little discernment.

You support your friends, me. Okay... that's what we do. But I noticed you supported him with a nonspecific "they don't get it," because you couldn't, as a reader with the ability and desire to find the truth, support him by endorsing the posts. 

[Henry Hawk]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a.V5sgGzdsQY

It won't let me cut n paste.......but AGAIN, it get's REAL interesting....

it is funny they can post ANYTHING and simply refer them as facts....we post, and it is written by a biased person....

I am simply laying out the story here.....see if it does not develop into something larger.....but with the vast majority of the media BEING liberal....it usually does not make it to the front page except for WSJ or Bloomberg....everything I have posted is out there.....btw, I DID read the dateline, and that ONLY makes it ALL fit together.....Soros is a liberal crook.....and he knows DAMN well what he is doing....and he is calling in the FAVOR's now.

[LOsborne]

it is funny they can post ANYTHING and simply refer them as facts....we post, and it is written by a biased person....

Shiny side out, Henry. You're being mind-controlled again. You might also get out that dictionary and learn what a "fact" is. The bias of the reporter isn't important. That the piece was opinion, rather than news, is important. No sources, no signature.

I also find it very strange that you couldn't cut and paste from this source. I had no problem.

The hedge fund also sold its stake in Macy's Inc., the second-biggest U.S. department-store chain.

Now why didn't you refer to that statement from the article as clear evidence of .... who the hell knows? I can't figure out why you think swapping out common stock for preferred stock is significant either. Or what trading around with Hess, SunCor, ConocoPhillips, Potash and Monsanto means to you liberal-global conspiracies loons.

[Henry Hawk]

seriously...maybe there is and maybe there isn't........I just don't trust Soros and company....He does have an agenda or he would not have moveon.org...so, I'm just following the money trail.....

and even MORE on a serious note.........for whatever reason....I could NOT copy from that link....I have had this happen to me before.....sometimes I can....sometimes I can't....I never had a problem with my computer at work....but my home one is the one I have noticed this problem.

and don't go all exterminator on me.........I am here doing what I do......I point out REAL articles that are out there........by well established sources......wsj IS a respectable source.

I am not claiming anything at this point to be the gospel.....except I don't like Obama as my POTUS.....but, I'm good with our system....and more than likely things are going to swing back the other direction next time.....this is STILL a GREAT Country....

[LOsborne]

Henry, you are adorable. Liberal or conservative, it doesn't matter. You really are well intentioned, honorable, and sincere. You are a joy to know.  Why are you never on the ballot.

[Exterminator]

no, me, we get it, and I think you do, too.

Are you kidding?

...as a reader with the ability and desire to find the truth...

Now I know this is a joke.