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Press Releases Contact: Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami 202-226-7616 For Immediate Release 10/30/2008 Pelosi Statement on U.S. Economy Shrinking in Third Quarter Washington, D.C. — Speaker Nancy Pelosi today issued the following statement on third quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) numbers, which shrank at a 0.3 percent annual rate in the July-September, marking the worst showing since the 2001 recession, and weekly applications for unemployment benefits, which remained at 478,000, near an all time high. “Today’s GDP news and jobless claims report confirm what Americans already know: that our nation’s economy is shrinking; consumers are not spending; and businesses are producing fewer...

Pelosi: Money is Dems’ only obstacle By Alexander Bolton Posted: 10/17/08 03:30 PM [ET] House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) says Democrats will expand their majority to 250 seats in the House next year and might have gone further if the party had more money. Pelosi’s stunning claim to talk show host Charlie Rose — that resources are the only obstacle holding the party back in the fall elections — is surprising given that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has raised $120 million, or nearly $30 million more than the House Republican fundraising committee. “I have many more races I...

As the 110th Congress comes to a close, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says he's feeling pretty good about the work he and his colleagues accomplished. "Democrats were able to achieve many things for the American people," he said, offering as examples raising the minimum wage, increasing funding for veterans and helping consumers in a struggling economy. Add to that list new lobbying rules, an energy bill, a farm bill, and most recently an economic recover package. But as significant as those new laws are, Democrats have just as long a list of priorities they were not able to bring...

A number of Republican House members and staff, along with others who are plugged in, are telling me that Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats will come back with a new bill that includes all the left-wing stuff that was scrubbed from the bill that was defeated today in the House. As this scenario goes, the House Democrats need 218 votes, and they have to pick up a number of black and Hispanic House members who jumped ship because the Wall Street provisions, in their view, were too benign. So things like the bankruptcy judges setting mortgage terms and rates, the...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usvG-s_Ssb0 Explosive CEO calling Obama and Dems the "Family" "Conscience" of Fannie Mae The Banking Failures are because of the Housing Crisis, which was caused by mortgage lenders handing out bad loans and the biggest offenders: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac The Democrats have been taking PAYOFFS from Fannie and Freddie to look the other way FOR DECADES! NOW VIDEO FOUND of the CEO of Fannie Mae in 2005 explaining the "FAMILY" connection with Democrats And specifically Barack Obama and the Congressional Black Caucus

The Bush administration today recommended the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis a decade ago. Under the plan, [...] a new agency would be created within the Treasury Department to assume supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored companies that are the two largest players in the mortgage lending industry. The new agency would have the authority, [...]to set one of the two capital-reserve requirements for the companies. It would exercise authority over any new lines of business. And it would determine whether the two are adequately managing the...

What's more important to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, saving the nation's economy from collapse or promoting her book?Judging from her decision to promote her book, "Know Your Power, A Message To America's Daughters", tomorrow night in her native Baltimore, the California Democrat, who is second in line to the presidency, decided the fate of the nation can wait.Baltimore TV station WJZ reported today that Pelosi is scheduled to appear at the the Enoch Pratt Library at 7 p.m. Tuesday night.According to the library's website, copies of Pelosi's book will be available for sale at her appearance.

Senate Democrats issued a counterproposal to the Treasury Department's $700 billion Wall Street bailout plan Monday that would give the government a stake in firms unloading troubled assets under the plan, and limit the pay of corporate executives involved. There would also be assistance to homeowners and localities to prevent foreclosures, and more oversight of the Treasury's actions, under the proposal released by the office of Connecticut Democratic Sen. Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.

House Democrats are bypassing renewal of the offshore oil drilling ban by including the entire Pelosi “drill nothing” energy bill in a draft of a Continuing Resolution. HUMAN EVENTS obtained a copy of the most recent House draft CR this morning. The Pelosi bill, HR 6899, fails to open more than a miniscule part of the available offshore drilling areas and -- even worse -- it establishes permanent bans on development of most other domestic energy sources (natural gas, oil shale, etc.) and does nothing to develop nuclear power. It passed the House earlier this month and is now languishing...

WASHINGTON — Leading congressional Democrats called Monday for a cautious, deliberative approach to stabilizing troubled financial markets as lawmakers confronted this vexing issue with an election-year recess drawing near.

For at least at least a year, Americans struggling to pay record gasoline, heating oil and natural-gas prices have begged Congress to permit energy exploration off the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf coasts, where 80 percent of the nation's known energy reserves sit just waiting to be tapped. But every time Congress had a chance to lift its moratorium on offshore drilling, Democrats and liberal Republicans told consumers to stop their whining. But with the public now solidly behind more drilling and with the congressional elections just seven weeks off, House Democrats found themselves between a rock — voters — and...

Democrats in the U.S. House want you to think that they support expanded drilling for oil and natural gas. They don't. Their vote on Tuesday proved it. New Hampshire Reps. Carol Shea-Porter and Paul Hodes voted along with the rest of Speaker Nancy Pelosi's poodle army for what they claim is a comprehensive energy bill that responsibly expands domestic drilling off our coasts. In the Atlantic and Pacific, the bill allows drilling from 100 to 200 miles offshore. It allows drilling from 50 to 100 miles offshore with state approval. The eastern Gulf of Mexico would remain off limits. Click...

How lame is the energy bill that Speaker Nancy Pelosi had her House Democrats pass through the House on Tuesday? Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu said before the vote that Pelosi's handiwork would be "dead on arrival" in the Senate. This from a Democrat who's up for re-election in an oil-and-gas state that would seem to gain from the bill's much-ballyhooed expansion of offshore drilling? What gives? For starters, Landrieu knows that the limited drilling the House leadership allows in principle -- it opens up waters 50 miles from shore with state approval -- is made next to impossible in practice....

Press Releases Contact: Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami 202-226-7616 For Immediate Release 09/16/2008 Pelosi Statement on $85 Billion AIG Loan Washington, D.C. -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement tonight on the announcement by the Federal Reserve that it will lend up to $85 billion to the American International Group: “The Bush Administration’s eight long years of failed deregulation policies have resulted in our nation’s largest bailout ever, leaving the American taxpayers on the hook potentially for billions of dollars. An $85 billion loan is a staggering sum and is just too enormous for the American people to bear the risk;...

It took 4.2 million gallons of oil spewing from a blowout at a rig in the Santa Barbara Channel 40 years ago to ignite the modern conservation movement, trigger new environmental protections and lead to a moratorium on new offshore oil drilling. But the high price of a gallon of gasoline is fueling a change in attitude. Recent national polls indicate that seven out of 10 people support new drilling offshore along the federal outer continental shelf, which extends from three to 200 miles beyond the shore. If costly new exploration in those areas is allowed, oil from those fields...

Nancy Pelosi’s House of Representatives yesterday passed on a party line vote a drilling bill that effectively allows no drilling. She hates drilling, and this bill was solely an attempt to avoid becoming the Former Speaker of the House. The Senate bills aren’t any better. Wherever the House bill would allow limited drilling, say in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, the Senate bill would forbid it. The real story is that the Republicans know they are on the winning side of this issue and if they can kill this legislation, the moratorium will expire on September 30, and drilling can...

FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 599(Democrats in roman; Republicans in italic; Independents underlined)       H R 6899      RECORDED VOTE      16-Sep-2008      10:04 PM      QUESTION:  On Passage      BILL TITLE: Comprehensive American Energy Security and Consumer Protection Act Ayes Noes PRES NV Democratic 221 13   1 Republican 15 176   8 Independent         TOTALS 236 189   9 ---- AYES    236 --- AbercrombieAckermanAllenAltmireAndrewsArcuriBacaBairdBaldwinBeanBecerraBerkleyBermanBerryBishop (GA)Bishop (NY)BlumenauerBorenBoswellBoucherBoyd (FL)Boyda (KS)Brady (PA)Braley (IA)Brown, CorrineBuchananButterfieldCapuanoCardozaCarnahanCarneyCarsonCastleCastorChandlerChildersClarkeClayCleaverClyburnCohenConyersCooperCostaCostelloCourtneyCramerCrowleyCuellarCummingsDavis (AL)Davis (CA)Davis (IL)Davis, LincolnDeFazioDeGetteDelahuntDeLauroDicksDingellDoggettDonnellyDoyleEdwards (MD)Edwards (TX)EllisonEllsworthEmanuelEngelEshooEtheridgeFattahFosterFrank (MA)GiffordsGilchrestGillibrandGonzalezGordon Green, AlGreen, GeneGrijalvaGutierrezHall (NY)HareHarmanHastings (FL)HayesHerseth SandlinHigginsHillHincheyHinojosaHironoHodesHoldenHondaHooleyHoyerInglis (SC)InsleeIsraelJackson (IL)Jackson-Lee (TX)JeffersonJohnson (GA)Johnson, E. B.Jones (NC)KagenKanjorskiKapturKennedyKildeeKilpatrickKindKirkKlein (FL)KnollenbergKucinichLaHoodLangevinLarsen (WA)Larson (CT)LeeLevinLewis (GA)LipinskiLoBiondoLoebsackLofgren, ZoeLoweyLynchMahoney (FL)Maloney (NY)MarkeyMathesonMatsuiMcCarthy (NY)McCollum (MN)McDermottMcGovernMcIntyreMcNerneyMcNultyMeek (FL)Meeks (NY)MelanconMichaudMiller (NC)Miller, GeorgeMitchellMollohanMoore (KS)Moore (WI)Moran (VA)Murphy (CT)Murphy,...

Yesterday, Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., the Democrats' vice-presidential nominee, told those gathered to hear him in St. Clair Shores, Mich., "I could walk from here to Lansing, and I wouldn't run into a single person who thought our economy was doing well, unless I ran into John McCain." The Obama campaign announced: "Sen. Obama did a call this morning with some of his key economic advisors including Paul Volcker, Bob Rubin, Lawrence Summers and Laura D'Andrea Tyson about the state of the financial markets ... and what steps should be taken to address the problems in our financial markets and...

The House introduced new energy legislation late last night. Finally…right? The House also wants to bring the 290-page bill, which can be found here, to the floor today. You think the 435 Members in the House of Representatives are going to meticulously read all 290 pages? A bill that makes fundamental changes to thousands of pages of earlier energy bills as well as the tax code. Please. This isn’t Harry Potter. You can’t just cruise through something as complex as energy policy in one short night. It’s true that Congress should craft an energy policy as expeditiously as possible to...

Latest on Democrat No-Drill Bill/ Neil Boortz Radio Coming up on CSPAN

As the U.S. economy teeters on the brink of recession, Democratic leaders are revisiting an idea born of the Great Depression: gas stamps to help Americans cope with high fuel prices. The proposal to subsidize fuel costs for lower-income families and individuals would almost certainly be popular with white, working-class voters and could boost Barack Obama’s appeal with that critical voting bloc in this year’s presidential election. Democratic lawmakers and their leaders say they are serious about including it in a second economic stimulus package expected to move this month. Meanwhile, Republicans ridicule the idea as a return to welfare-state...

WASHINGTON -- The 110th Congress, whose term officially ends in January, hasn't passed any spending bills or attacked high gasoline prices. But it has used its powers to celebrate watermelons and to decree the origins of the word "baseball."

Press Releases Contact: Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami 202-226-7616 For Immediate Release 09/15/2008 Pelosi on Financial Market Turmoil: We Cannot Afford to Continue Failed Republican Economic Policies Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement today in response to the troubling news in the financial markets: “In the midst of a dire economic situation, President Bush this morning characterized recent market developments as an ‘adjustment’ that can be painful for investors and employees of the firms, while Senator McCain said the ‘fundamentals of our economy are strong.’ President Bush, Senator McCain, and their Republican Party are out of touch and...

I suppose that after the selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as John McCain’s vice-presidential running mate, I should neither doubt the McCain campaign brain trust nor presume to know better than they how to win an election. Nevertheless, there is an avenue that would appear to be very fruitful which they, up until this point at least, seem to be neglecting – save for one mention in Palin's convention speech. And that is to take Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the least-popular in history Democratic-run Congress, and hang them around Barack Obama's neck. There are several big advantages to this,...

WASHINGTON: Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives attacked a Democratic offshore drilling plan Friday for including a 50-mile coastal buffer that they said would leave untouched most of the 18 billion barrels of oil in waters now off-limits to energy companies. A Democratic drilling proposal expected to be taken up by the House next week would allow energy development access to waters 50 to 100 miles from shore along almost all the country's coastlines as long as a coastal state agrees to drilling off its shores. Waters off Florida's Gulf coast and a nationwide 50-mile coastal buffer would remain...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats sought on Saturday to drum up support for compromise legislation on offshore drilling, challenging Republicans to break from Bush administration policies that neglect development of alternative energy sources.

Press Releases Contact: Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami 202-226-7616 For Immediate Release 09/12/2008 Pelosi Responds to Boehner Letter On Energy, Economy and Rangel Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent the following letter to House Republican Leader John Boehner in response to his disingenuous and inaccurate letter of September 9 on energy, the economy and Chairman Charles Rangel. Below is a text of the letter: September 12, 2008 The Honorable John A. Boehner House Republican Leader H-204, The Capitol Washington, D.C. 20515 Dear Leader Boehner: It is with great curiosity and concern that I read your letter of September 9, 2008. It...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is promising Florida House members that she will not allow an energy bill to get through her chamber if it includes oil drilling off Florida's Gulf Coast. Florida's nine Democratic House members met with Pelosi twice on Wednesday to seek protection for the state's coast. Pelosi's office confirmed Thursday that she agreed to help, assuring Florida's delegation that legislation moving through the House would have to adhere to a moratorium on drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico through 2022.

Lost amidst the many speeches delivered at the Democrat Convention was one by Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada. He is the Senate Majority Leader and, as such, controls the legislative agenda in that upper house of Congress. Harry Reid hates oil, but then, so does the Democrat Party. The reason this nation is held hostage to other oil producing nations is that the Democrats, going back to President Jimmy Carter, have waged war on the American oil industry. This is especially important insofar as nations ruled by monarchies, corrupt, and communist governments, control 75% of the world’s oil. Seldon B....

Pelosi Statement on Comprehensive Energy Plan of New Direction CongressTue Sep 2, 5:43 PM ET **SNIP** WASHINGTON, Sept. 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement in response to President Bush's comments today on energy: "For too long, the President's and Republicans' 'drill only' energy policies have reflected the demands of Big Oil. "The New Direction Congress is crafting a comprehensive energy strategy that will provide relief for consumers, end our dependence on foreign oil, create millions of jobs and grow our economy. The Democratic plan will promote efficiency and invest in renewable sources of energy, responsibly increase...

We need to tell our Representatives and our Senators who are running for reelection this year we won't vote for them unless they vote to authorize drilling for oil in Alaska, off shore, in national parks and in my back yard. I doubt that anyone would want to drill for oil in my backyard, but Congress shouldn't prevent oil companies from drilling for oil where ever it may be. Drilling for new oil is part of the solution for the emerging fuel shortage. Another part is development of alternative biofuels. Backward Democrats oppose drilling for new oil because it might...

Be sure to READ THIS!!Please continue prayers for TrueblackmanPoll: 74% Support Drilling CONGRESSMAN MIKE PENCE Joins Bill Collier of DontGo on BTR!Today, Tuesday, August 26th at 4:30 pm EDT!DON'T MISS THIS SHOW!  Brokaw, Pelosi and Pickens"Media" Tries to Downplay Pelosi's Abuse of PowerBut the REAL Media Says "NOT SO FAST!"  DON'T STOP FOLKS!!JUST SAY NO TO GANGS!!Congressman John R Carter of Texas says Gang of 10 a "Bad Deal"Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed a total lack of our "Establishment Media/Misinformation Socialist Monarchy" reporting on the price of gas and food for the past 2 weeks?New FTC Rule Could Apply...

Aug 25, 2008 Several Politicians Named as Punishers of the Poor at Press Conference Denver, CO—A coalition of leaders from the African American, civil rights, faith-based and veteran communities this week blasted several Members of Congress as “Punishers of the Poor,” saying that they all scored a perfect zero on an affordable energy voting scorecard. The six politicians who earned top honors as the “worst of the worst” among those supporting higher energy prices—and who were memoralized in a Punishers of the Poor deck of playing cards—are these: Joker: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Joker: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Ace...

Pelosi: Census Report Shows Americans Are Worse Off Because of Bush-McCain Economic Policies Washington, D.C. – Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement on today’s Census Bureau report on income, poverty, and health insurance coverage. Despite a small increase in 2007, real median household income is still below that of 2000, and the number of people living in poverty grew to 37.3 million last year, up from 36.5 million last year: “Today’s Census report confirms that the economic worries of American families are all too real and underscore the urgent need for a New Direction on the kitchen table issues...

Democrats convened in Denver on Monday with the economy's woes muscling to the top of political concerns, as reflected in further drops in stocks and housing prices. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 241.81 points, or 2.1%, to 11386.25, amid continuing worry over the economic and credit problems. Inventories of unsold homes rose to a record, while prices continued to slip, threatening to delay the housing market's recovery. Sen. Barack Obama, whom the party will nominate for president this week, addressed one of the key issues, the parlous state of the government-sponsored buyers of mortgages. "I don't think we can...

Be sure to READ THIS!!Please continue prayers for TrueblackmanCONGRESSMAN MIKE PENCE Joins Bill Collier of DontGo on BTR!Today, Tuesday, August 26th at 4:30 pm EDT!DON'T MISS THIS SHOW!  Brokaw, Pelosi and Pickens"Media" Tries to Downplay Pelosi's Abuse of PowerBut the REAL Media Says "NOT SO FAST!"  DON'T STOP FOLKS!!JUST SAY NO TO GANGS!!Congressman John R Carter of Texas says Gang of 10 a "Bad Deal"Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed a total lack of our "Establishment Media/Misinformation Socialist Monarchy" reporting on the price of gas and food for the past 2 weeks?New FTC Rule Could Apply To Pelosi After...

Pelosi Sunday on Meet the Press : "We have to look after the consumer, we have to increase the supply" ..."Just because they made a political point doesn’t mean we have to follow that"... “If you drill offshore today you wont see any change in the price at the pump for 10 years"... "Releasing oil from the petroleum reserve will bring down the price in 10 days" ... "So this is a fight we have to make , popular or not, so we have to .. ..to the consumer, but not fold because they are not misrepresenting what will happen...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Sunday that expanded oil drilling in federal waters could be included in a broader energy bill if advocates can prove its viability as a solution to America's energy problems. Pelosi, a California Democrat who reversed her outright opposition to expanded offshore drilling earlier this month, said the oil industry and its allies in Congress must also agree to royalties on oil profits to fund the development of renewable energy resources. She criticized President George W. Bush and other Republicans for presenting offshore drilling as an answer to the...

Be sure to READ THIS!!Please continue prayers for Trueblackman Brokaw, Pelosi and Pickens"Media" Tries to Downplay Pelosi's Abuse of PowerBut the REAL Media Says "NOT SO FAST!"  DON'T STOP FOLKS!!JUST SAY NO TO GANGS!!Congressman John R Carter of Texas says Gang of 10 a "Bad Deal"Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed a total lack of our "Establishment Media/Misinformation Socialist Monarchy" reporting on the price of gas and food for the past 2 weeks?New FTC Rule Could Apply To Pelosi After reading this post I decided to pull up her financial disclosure report and look for any other natural gas producers....

I had an epiphany this morning. I was trying to figure a way to explain American Politics and the U.S. Federal Government to the lay person. While pondering these things, I believe I stumbled on to an apt example. Let’s say that The United States of America is an automobile (a car for those of you with a government education). If America is that car, then the American people are the engine in that car. That engine at time roars with raw power and at other times is at idol. The engine oil in that car would then be the...

Energy: Russia's invasion of neighboring Georgia has revealed the West's major weakness: Our dependence on questionable governments around the world for oil, the very lifeblood of our prosperity. So what do we do?Rather than shrugging, as Congress' defeatist Democrats would have us do, or groveling, as much of Western Europe seems content to do, America should seize its energy future now — by opening drilling not just in a few selected areas off our coasts, but everywhere there might be oil. Offshore, onshore, in the Arctic, in the Caribbean, in the oil-rich waters off California, deep in the mountain shale...

The last few days have seen left wing anti-energy Democrats scrambling to find a survivable position. When we first launched the Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less petition drive at American Solutions, left wing anti-energy Democrats were deeply and decisively opposed. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced that she was "saving the planet" by stopping drilling. Senator Obama made fun of drilling and announced that inflating your tires would increase energy availability as much as drilling. Congressman Mark Udall (D-CO), a hard line environmental extremist and anti-energy Democrat (and the author in the House of the ban on developing oil...

Members of Congress Love a Good Resolution; Watermelons and Undertakers Fit the Bill WASHINGTON -- The 110th Congress, whose term officially ends in January, hasn't passed any spending bills or attacked high gasoline prices. But it has used its powers to celebrate watermelons and to decree the origins of the word "baseball." Barring a burst of legislative activity after Labor Day, this group of 535 men and women will have accomplished a rare feat. In two decades of record keeping, no sitting Congress has passed fewer public laws at this point in the session -- 294 so far -- than...

One major problem with politics -- as we've all probably figured out by now -- is that politicians view every human challenge as political in nature, meaning, particularly these last few years. Objective No. 1 in the political trade is sticking to it The Other Party. What else could explain Democratic obstinacy and obfuscation over offshore oil drilling? The national interest certainly couldn't explain it. A basic principle of oil exploration is that you look for oil where it is, instead of where you'd like it to be. Assuming, in the Democrats' case, there's any place they would like it...

THE PRESIDENT: I want to thank members of the Coalition for Affordable American Energy for joining me today. We just had a very interesting and informative discussion. I heard from businesses, large and small. They -- these folks are representing a lot of workers, people who are really concerned about the energy situation here in America, a lot of people wondering why their government is not doing something about the supply of crude oil. One of the things that came out in this discussion was there's a lot of folks in our country who understand we could be doing something...

Still Blocking Vote on the American Energy Act, Speaker Pelosi Crafts “No Energy” Bill Loaded With Poison Pills Dow Jones News: Instead Of Allowing Vote on All-of-the-Above Energy Reforms, Speaker to Load Bill With Killer Provisions “Dooming the Election-Year Effort to Failure” Washington, Aug 18 - All year long, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has blocked a meaningful vote on the “all of the above” energy reforms the American people want – and she’s still blocking one. Congress’ five-week summer break continues to drag on – and there’s been no indication from the Speaker that she will allow an honest...

We're almost through the summer driving season - with no relief in sight since the Democratic majority in Congress left Washington, D.C. for a five-week break. Still, as gas prices remain high and home heating costs expected to soar this fall and winter, I remain hopeful that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., will finally allow a vote on the American Energy Act, which is the House Republicans' plan to lower gas prices by increasing production of American energy, promoting more conservation and efficiency, and encouraging more use of alternative and renewable fuels. Along with the vast majority of Americans, I...

Republicans lambasted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) energy plan Saturday advising her to “get out of the way” if she was not going to accept GOP solutions to the energy crisis. In her Saturday radio address Pelosi announced that Democrats would consider opening up parts of the outer continental shelf for drilling as a part of a broad new energy plan that will be unveiled in the coming weeks. The Democratic initiative will also seek to release oil from the 700 million barrel Strategic Petroleum Reserve, require oil companies to pay billions of dollars Democrats believe they owe to invest...

Thursday’s report on consumer inflation helps to confirm what many American households have suspected for months — that rising prices are forcing consumers to lower their standard of living to make ends meet. U.S. consumer prices shot up faster than expected in July, fueling the biggest year-over-year jump in more than 17 years, according to the latest government data. Prices were 5.6 percent higher in July than they were a year earlier. Energy prices were up 29.3 percent for the year and food costs were 6 percent higher. Excluding volatile food and energy items, the so-called core CPI rose 0.3...

U.S. Inflation Hits 17-Year High As Increases Move Beyond Food, Oil By BRIAN BLACKSTONE August 14, 2008 9:15 a.m. WASHINGTON -- U.S. inflation soared to a 17-year-high annual rate in July, a government report showed, led by gains in food, energy, airline fares and apparel. Separately, the number of U.S. workers filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell slightly as expected last week but remained at high levels consistent with a rapid erosion in labor markets.