Barack Obama Would Make Energy Prices 'Skyrocket'

Those are his own words from January 2008. (I love the internet and how we can dig up just about any information we need to dig up.) Here is his quote:

The problem is not technical, uh, and the problem is not mastery of the legislative intricacies of Washington. The problem is, uh, can you get the American people to say, “This is really important,” and force their representatives to do the right thing? That requires mobilizing a citizenry. That requires them understanding what is at stake. Uh, and climate change is a great example. You know, when I was asked earlier about the issue of coal, uh, you know — Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. Even regardless of what I say about whether coal is good or bad. Because I’m capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, you know, natural gas, you name it — whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, uh, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers. They — you — you can already see what the arguments will be during the general election. People will say, “Ah, Obama and Al Gore, these folks, they’re going to destroy the economy, this is going to cost us eight trillion dollars,” or whatever their number is. Um, if you can’t persuade the American people that yes, there is going to be some increase in electricity rates on the front end ...

Does Obama relly believe that those rates are going to come down? Is he really that ignorant of economic reality that he thinks an entire infrastructure of electricity production can be seamlessly replaced without causing a major disruption to the economy?

Where was Obama when soaring oil prices dramatically slowed our economy? Does he not think that the same would happen if electricity prices were made artificially high for a longer period of time?

He is definitely not the man for the Oval Office.

You can access the complete video on-line here:

Obama: I’ll Make Energy Prices “Skyrocket”
Ed Morrissey
HotAir.com
November 2, 2008

Democrats' Energy Plan: Tax, Sue, And Investigate by Sen. John Cornyn

Over at TownHall.com, Sen. Cornyn's column cuts right to the chase about current energy policy and the effects such policy has had on us:

More than two years ago, now-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her Democratic colleagues promised what they called a “common sense” energy plan to bring down prices at the gas pump. Since that time, the average cost of a gallon of gas has soared from $2.33 to $3.62, an all-time high.

That's it in a nutshell. That is the grand result of what a Dem-controlled Congress has brought to the American people.

So, what are the new plans? Read on:

A central component of the Democrats’ energy bill is to increase taxes on U.S. energy companies. This is almost bizarre. Democrats have clearly not learned the lesson from the 1980s when the windfall profits tax—a tax on oil produced in the U.S.—was first enacted. We know now as a matter of certainty that this tax had the opposite effect than what was intended. It led to lower domestic oil production—not lower prices at the gas pump. In fact, the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service estimates the windfall profits tax decreased domestic oil production by as much as 1.2 billion barrels between 1980 and 1986.

Not only did it result in decreased production, but the taxes were simply passed on to the consumer in the form of higher prices. Further, if these new taxes are enacted, anyone who has a 401k with investments in Oil Companies will see the size of their retirement checks reduced as a result.

In addition to other idiotic ideas such as bringing back the Federal Tax Commission, the Dems have this little gem in store for us:

The final component of the Democrats’ energy plan is to sue OPEC to force them to release more oil in the market. This is clearly an exercise in futility, and I suspect my Democratic colleagues know that. The idea of threatening foreign governments, and particularly our Middle East allies, is particularly ironic coming from the same Democrats who have routinely accused the Bush Administration of damaging our relationships with other nations. It is also ironic to sue other countries in an effort to get them to produce more oil, while at the same time preventing production here at home and making us even more dependent on foreign oil.

Whoo boy! I wish all Republicans and Conservatives had the cojones to tell it like this.

You can access the complete column on-line here:

Democrats' Energy Plan: Tax, Sue, And Investigate
Sen. John Cornyn
TownHall.com
May 7, 2008