The White House War On Jobs

If Joeseph Goebbels were re-incarnated and alive today, he would be somewhere in the Obama administration writing press releases about how jobs were being created or had been thus far saved. Those proclamations from the Obama White House are certainly strange, especially when the concurrent news stories are about how jobless claims are increasing on a monthly basis.

I don't think that Baghdad Bob would approve of such efforts at misleading propaganda.

But, Obama still has trouble accepting responsibility for the failed stimulus package and preferes to continue assigning blame to George W. Bush, who has been out of office for over a year-and-a-half now. Joe Biden is loathe to go back to the "good old days" when people had stable jobs and steady paychecks.

Michelle Malkin has a great article regarding the jobs being lost, even as Obama and family enjoy an upper-class vacation at Martha's Vineyard when most Americans can barely afford to take any kind of vacation at all.

From her column:

These are not the wealthy fat cats and Big Business titans Democrats love to demonize. They're employees of companies like Assurant Health, which announced last week that it would slash 130 jobs at its offices in Milwaukee and Plymouth, Minn., to prepare for costly Obamacare mandates. They're employees of medical device firms in Massachusetts, where officials say they'll be forced to cut back on operational costs and jobs thanks to a little-noticed Obamacare tax on their products that goes into effect in 2013. They're employees of restaurants like White Castle and International House of Pancakes, whose executives say they will be forced into layoffs and premium hikes to cope with the federal law's $3,000-per-employee penalty on companies whose workers pay more than 9.5 percent of household income in premiums for company-provided insurance. They're mom-and-pop enterprises across the country that must now deal with Obamacare's onerous Section 9006 tax-filing mandate. It requires them to file 1099 forms with the IRS for every vendor from whom they purchase $600 or more in goods. Nebraska GOP Sen. Mike Johanns calls it one of many "job-crushing provisions" that will bury small business in paperwork and legal costs. They're the estimated 23,000 workers in the deepwater drilling industry whom the White House deliberately wrote off in pursuit of its junk science-based drilling moratorium. They're the estimated tens of thousands of workers employed by car dealers that were shut down by Obama's auto czars at a time, as the TARP inspector general pointed out last month, "when the country was experiencing the worst economic downturn in generations and the government was asking its taxpayers to support a $787 billion stimulus package designed primarily to preserve jobs... -- all based on a theory and without sufficient consideration of the decisions' broader economic impact." They're employees of Utah oil and gas companies whose leases have been pulled without cause by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. The Interior Department's own Inspector General rejected Salazar's explanation that the Bush administration had rushed the leases through. The Deseret News reports that "rescinding these leases has likely cost the state millions already. Officials in Uintah county estimate the county lost 3,000 jobs in 2009, and Duchesne lost 1,000 jobs." They're employees of commercial and recreational fishing businesses in New England, who have organized a flotilla on Martha's Vineyard on Thursday to protest the Obama administration's restrictive environmental policies and stealth regulatory ocean grab.

It's no wonder that Democrats up for re-election this year are stampeding as fast as they can away from the White House and its current occupant.

You can access the complete article on-line here:

The White House War on Jobs
Michelle Malkin
TownHall.com
August 25, 2010

2008 Presidential Candidate Talking Point Comparison

Check out the following blog post from my mirror site:

2008 Presidential Candidate Talking Point Comparison

(Sorry, but I could not get the html code to cooperate with me on this blog.)

New Taxes And Less Domestic Energy: H.R. 6899

In case you missed it yesterday, the Dems in the House forced through a fake Energy Bill (H.R. 6899) which will simply not work. Congressman John Campbell breaks it down for us.

Lack of Incentive:

The bill allows offshore drilling, only for States that choose it, no closer than 50 miles from the coast, however it also prohibits revenue sharing of new oil and gas proceeds, thereby removing any incentive for States to “opt in” and allow drilling off their coasts. Nor does the bill offer any lawsuit protection, so companies that do search for oil will continue to be hampered with limitless litigation by environmental groups.

So the bill will allow extreme environmental groups to launch lawsuit after lawsuit making it cost prohibitive for oil companies to explore and produce. The Dems are clearly bowing to environmental extremists to the detriment of Joe and Jane Average American.

The bill will raise taxes:

This bill raises taxes on large oil and gas companies engaged in domestic energy production by nearly $13.9 billion over 10 years, all to provide tax breaks to favored energy projects and products. The bill also limits the use of foreign tax credits on the international operations of oil and gas companies, which pushes the overall tax hike in the bill up to $17.7 billion.

And the Dems are still living in a fantasy world where higher taxes on businesses are actually paid "out of pocket" by those businesses rather than the tax being passed on to the customer in the form of higher prices, as happens here in the real world.

Reduces Revenue:

The Congressional Budget Office [CBO] has estimated the government could initially receive $5 billion in additional revenue without raising taxes by opening the OCS and allowing drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge [ANWR]. Yet this bill continues to limit drilling in the OCS. According to CBO, it reduces revenue to the Treasury by $1 billion.

And when the revenues go down, what is the first reaction of the Dems? Raise taxes again! This bill is designed to destroy the American economy. The really sad part is that the Dems have their blinders on and can't even see what is happening out here in Main Street America.

New Fees For Energy Companies

The bill raises $5.8 billion by imposing new fees on certain leases that currently pay no royalties. It also imposes $1.8 billion of new fees on non-producing Gulf of Mexico leases, and requires retroactive lease payments back to 1 October 2007 on certain leases.

Pop-quiz: If taxes get passed along to the consumer in the form of higher prices, who do you think is ultimately going to pay these fees? If you said: "The consumer," then you are absolutely correct. So not only will prices be forced higher with higher taxes, they will be forced even higher with these new fees. It seems as though the Dems have somehow convinced themselves that everyone in the U.S. has a limitless supply of money and all of it should be confiscated by the government.

Higher Spending, No Deficit Reduction:

The bill increases the top line for appropriated spending by $6.6 billion, so that total 2009 nonemergency discretionary spending increases by 9.3 percent over 2008. All new revenue in the bill is set aside in a reserve fund to offset future appropriated spending increases. There is no guarantee this funding will be used to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

Remember all the talk the Dems did back in 2004 about how the deficit was a bad thing? Amazing how quickly they changed their tune when they took control of Congress in 2006.

More Earmarked Spending:

The bill restructures the New York Liberty Zone Program, making it a $2-billion earmark that can be used for any transportation infrastructure project in New York City. The measure also earmarks $25 million to establish a so-called “National Energy Center of Excellence.”

Yep. You can thank Charlie Rangel for that one. He can't even figure out the tax code that he, above all, has the most influence on, yet he knows how to gouge the taxpayer for more money. I wonder if the "National Energy Center of Excellence" will actually have a grip on reality or if it will be some leftist fantasy world where everything is power by pixie dust and unicorn whiskers.

Exploiting the Fannie-Freddie Bailout:

The bill seeks to make Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac green when the problem is they are insolvent. It directs the two financially ailing firms to develop loan products and flexible underwriting guidelines to facilitate a secondary market for energy- and location-efficient mortgages on low- and moderate-income housing. The bill also calls for Fannie and Freddie to facilitate second and junior mortgages for energy-efficiency and renewable energy improvements.

And those "energy efficient" homes are among the most expensive in the United States. Let's see if middle to lower income families can take on those loans without defaulting.

Congressman Campbell puts it into a nice little nutshell: "This bill is designed to fail." But the Dems will wrongly claim they did something about the energy crisis while the reality is that they are simply trying to screw the American people with more of their old, tired-out, bound to fail Socialist agenda.

You can access the original article on-line here:

New Taxes For Energy That Won’t Produce
Congressman John Campbell
TownHall.com
Spetember 16, 2008

New Taxes And Less Domestic Energy: H.R. 6899

In case you missed it yesterday, the Dems in the House forced through a fake Energy Bill (H.R. 6899) which will simply not work. Congressman John Campbell breaks it down for us.

Lack of Incentive:

The bill allows offshore drilling, only for States that choose it, no closer than 50 miles from the coast, however it also prohibits revenue sharing of new oil and gas proceeds, thereby removing any incentive for States to “opt in” and allow drilling off their coasts. Nor does the bill offer any lawsuit protection, so companies that do search for oil will continue to be hampered with limitless litigation by environmental groups.

So the bill will allow extreme environmental groups to launch lawsuit after lawsuit making it cost prohibitive for oil companies to explore and produce. The Dems are clearly bowing to environmental extremists to the detriment of Joe and Jane Average American.

The bill will raise taxes:

This bill raises taxes on large oil and gas companies engaged in domestic energy production by nearly $13.9 billion over 10 years, all to provide tax breaks to favored energy projects and products. The bill also limits the use of foreign tax credits on the international operations of oil and gas companies, which pushes the overall tax hike in the bill up to $17.7 billion.

And the Dems are still living in a fantasy world where higher taxes on businesses are actually paid "out of pocket" by those businesses rather than the tax being passed on to the customer in the form of higher prices, as happens here in the real world.

Reduces Revenue:

The Congressional Budget Office [CBO] has estimated the government could initially receive $5 billion in additional revenue without raising taxes by opening the OCS and allowing drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge [ANWR]. Yet this bill continues to limit drilling in the OCS. According to CBO, it reduces revenue to the Treasury by $1 billion.

And when the revenues go down, what is the first reaction of the Dems? Raise taxes again! This bill is designed to destroy the American economy. The really sad part is that the Dems have their blinders on and can't even see what is happening out here in Main Street America.

New Fees For Energy Companies

The bill raises $5.8 billion by imposing new fees on certain leases that currently pay no royalties. It also imposes $1.8 billion of new fees on non-producing Gulf of Mexico leases, and requires retroactive lease payments back to 1 October 2007 on certain leases.

Pop-quiz: If taxes get passed along to the consumer in the form of higher prices, who do you think is ultimately going to pay these fees? If you said: "The consumer," then you are absolutely correct. So not only will prices be forced higher with higher taxes, they will be forced even higher with these new fees. It seems as though the Dems have somehow convinced themselves that everyone in the U.S. has a limitless supply of money and all of it should be confiscated by the government.

Higher Spending, No Deficit Reduction:

The bill increases the top line for appropriated spending by $6.6 billion, so that total 2009 nonemergency discretionary spending increases by 9.3 percent over 2008. All new revenue in the bill is set aside in a reserve fund to offset future appropriated spending increases. There is no guarantee this funding will be used to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

Remember all the talk the Dems did back in 2004 about how the deficit was a bad thing? Amazing how quickly they changed their tune when they took control of Congress in 2006.

More Earmarked Spending:

The bill restructures the New York Liberty Zone Program, making it a $2-billion earmark that can be used for any transportation infrastructure project in New York City. The measure also earmarks $25 million to establish a so-called “National Energy Center of Excellence.”

Yep. You can thank Charlie Rangel for that one. He can't even figure out the tax code that he, above all, has the most influence on, yet he knows how to gouge the taxpayer for more money. I wonder if the "National Energy Center of Excellence" will actually have a grip on reality or if it will be some leftist fantasy world where everything is power by pixie dust and unicorn whiskers.

Exploiting the Fannie-Freddie Bailout:

The bill seeks to make Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac green when the problem is they are insolvent. It directs the two financially ailing firms to develop loan products and flexible underwriting guidelines to facilitate a secondary market for energy- and location-efficient mortgages on low- and moderate-income housing. The bill also calls for Fannie and Freddie to facilitate second and junior mortgages for energy-efficiency and renewable energy improvements.

And those "energy efficient" homes are among the most expensive in the United States. Let's see if middle to lower income families can take on those loans without defaulting.

Congressman Campbell puts it into a nice little nutshell: "This bill is designed to fail." But the Dems will wrongly claim they did something about the energy crisis while the reality is that they are simply trying to screw the American people with more of their old, tired-out, bound to fail Socialist agenda.

You can access the original article on-line here:

New Taxes For Energy That Won’t Produce
Congressman John Campbell
TownHall.com
Spetember 16, 2008

Democrats Pass Their Fake 'No Energy' Bill And Rangel's Tax Tangles

It was done under the cover of the night. No committees, no public scrutiny. The Democrats, once again thumbing their collective noses at their own 2006 promise of bipartisanship and transparency, passed H.R. 6899, 236-189. 15 Republicans sided with the Dems and 13 Democrats voted "no."

Instead of increasing our energy supply here at home and bringing down energy prices, here is what the bill does:

· Implements vast restrictions on energy drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) compared to what would otherwise be allowed if the current moratorium on OCS energy development were allowed to expire on October 1, 2008. · Provides states no incentive to allow for the expanded OCS drilling. That is, states would not get revenue shares in any of the newly leased areas. · Repeals the moratorium on oil shale on federal lands, but prohibits any actual oil shale leasing unless a state allows it via state law. Allowing the current moratorium to simply expire in two weeks would allow for oil shale leasing on federal lands without state approvals. · Releases 70 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) and provides for a subsequent replenishment with a less desirable grade of oil. · Authorizes $1.7 billion taxpayer dollars to subsidize public transportation ridership already at record levels. · Includes a requirement, commonly known as the Renewable Portfolio Standard or the Renewable Electricity Standard, that electric suppliers, other than governmental entities and rural electric cooperatives, provide 2.75% of their electricity using renewable energy resources by the year 2010—and increasing incrementally to 15% by the year 2020. · Directs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to develop loan products and flexible underwriting guidelines to facilitate a secondary market for energy-efficient and location-efficient mortgages on housing for low and moderate income families—and for second and junior mortgages made for the purposes of energy efficiency or renewable energy improvements. · Mandates gas stations owned by larger oil and gas companies to install at least one alternative fuel pump (natural gas, E-85, biodiesel, or hydrogen) by 2018. · Includes the Charlie Rangel transportation earmark for New York by terminating the remaining portions of the New York Liberty Zone tax incentives program (implemented to encourage business investment in lower Manhattan). · Includes several tax increases—primarily the special carve-out of large (and foreign-government-owned) oil and gas producers from the domestic manufacturing tax deduction, the freeze of this tax deduction for all other oil and gas companies, and a restriction of how foreign oil and gas extraction income is determined for purposes of the foreign income tax credit. The bill also includes a PAYGO gimmick that will force energy companies to remit $3 billion in estimated taxes in FY2013 sooner than they otherwise would have to.

So, we Americans are left with record high energy prices and in addition to that, the Dems have saddled us with even higher taxes which will mean even higher prices as those taxes go into effect and they are passed along to us consumers. Apparently, the leftists are still living in the fantasy world where everyone believes that higher taxes somehow help a sagging economy, rather than the real world knowledge that high taxes will more deeply hurt an already sluggish economy.

Here is what is not in the bill:

· Litigation reform, so that American energy exploration and development, including that authorized by this legislation, is not further halted by environmentalist lawsuits. · Allowing energy exploration and development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). · Expedited petroleum refinery permitting. · Expedited nuclear reactor permitting. · There is also no language regarding futures markets speculation.

In short, this bill bows to the extreme left while brushing aside the concern of mainstream Americans.

You can access the roll call vote on-line here:

FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 599

House of Representatives
September 16, 2008

And you can access the highlights of the bill on-line here:

Blackburn Denounces Another Sham “No-Energy” Energy Bill
Terry Frank
TerryFrank.net
September 16, 2008

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So what does it mean when the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee doesn't understand the tax code? It means that the current tax system must be scrapped and rebuilt.

From the Associated Press:

Rep. Charles Rangel paid no mortgage interest on a beach resort property for about 15 years, a lawyer for the powerful House committee chairman said Friday. The New York congressman's lawyer, Lanny Davis, told The Associated Press that Rangel got his no-interest deal for the villa in the Dominican Republic because he was an original buyer in the resort development. The Democratic chairman of the Ways and Means tax-writing committee has come under scrutiny for his vacation property and apartments he rents in his home district of Harlem. Davis said Rangel failed to report rental income from the resort property on his taxes, but didn't realize it was necessary because of the way the deal was structured.

Uh-huh. Rep. Rangel is supposed to be the foremost expert on tax law in America and we are supposed to believe he doesn't understand the system? I've got two competing theories on that.

1) He does understand the system and was trying to game it for personal gain.
2) The tax code is now so complicated and convoluted that it is no longer a workable tool and must be done away with.

Either way, Rangel's little caper shows, with clarity, yet another reason why we must get rid of the current tax code and replace it with the FairTax.

The FairTax plan is a comprehensive proposal that replaces all federal income and payroll based taxes with an integrated approach including a progressive national retail sales tax, a prebate to ensure no American pays federal taxes on spending up to the poverty level, dollar-for-dollar federal revenue neutrality, and, through companion legislation, the repeal of the 16th Amendment.

The FairTax Act (HR 25, S 1025) is nonpartisan legislation. It abolishes all federal personal and corporate income taxes, gift, estate, capital gains, alternative minimum, Social Security, Medicare, and self-employment taxes and replaces them with one simple, visible, federal retail sales tax administered primarily by existing state sales tax authorities.

The FairTax taxes us only on what we choose to spend on new goods or services, not on what we earn. The FairTax is a fair, efficient, transparent, and intelligent solution to the frustration and inequity of our current tax system.

The FairTax:

• Enables workers to keep their entire paychecks
  
• Enables retirees to keep their entire pensions
  
• Refunds in advance the tax on purchases of basic necessities
  
• Allows American products to compete fairly
  
• Brings transparency and accountability to tax policy
  
• Ensures Social Security and Medicare funding
  
• Closes all loopholes and brings fairness to taxation
  
• Abolishes the IRS
  

The FairTax also addresses three end-goals that no other tax reform plan speaks to:

1) It removes forever the power of the IRS to intrude on private American lives.
2) It removes forever the power of K Street lobbyists to influence Congressional tax legislation.
3) It prevents hidden taxes from being passed along to the consumer.

You can access the original article on-line here:

When The Ways And Means Chairman Doesn't Understand The Tax Code...
Associated Press via Americans For Fair Taxation
September 2008

Boehner: They're 'Gonna Hang' Pelosi

Pitchforks and tar and feathers, anyone? Could be. The American people are pretty fed up at this point with high energy prices and the fact that the Dems went on vacation without even a cursory attempt at fixing the problem.

And now, Pelosi shows her ultra-Socialist side by hinting that there could be a special session of Congress in which every issue on her Socialist agenda will be discussed but not the one issue causing Americans the most grief today. John Boehner made a pretty profound comment about that:

From the Chicago Tribune blogs:

"She's gonna bring us back and not deal with it?" asked the Ohio Republican, as quoted by Politico. "The American people are gonna hang her."

Count me in as one of those who will be wielding a pitchfork in front of the Capital soon.

But, the Dems are never the type of party to pass up an opportunity to say something stupid, as evidenced by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD):

[T]he Maryland Democrat said. "I hope the Minority Leader will apologize for his remarks, and work with Democrats in a bipartisan, constructive manner to increase our domestic oil supply, invest in renewable energy and end our dependence on foreign oil."

Memo to Steny: bipartisan efforts can only be made when both parties are present in Congress and both parties are discussing the same issue.

You can access the complete entry on-line here:

Boehner: They're 'Gonna Hang' Pelosi
Matthew Hay Brown
The Swamp at the Chicago Tribune
August 11, 2008

Republican Energy Fumble: Five Senate Republicans Stab The GOP In The Back With 'Gang Of 10' Dagger

I simply could not believe this when I heard about it. The energy issue was the one defining issue that the GOP had that could make national headlines and definitively underscore how inept, incompetent and out-of-touch the Dems were. So, what do Republicans Lindsey Graham, John Thune, Saxby Chambliss, Bob Corker and Johnny Isakson do with this potent ammunition? They throw it all away for nothing in a deal that will only hurt the GOP and the American consumer.

That's right. These five RINOs teamed up with five Dems in the Senate and worked out a bill that gives the Dems everything they want and simply screws the GOP and more importantly, the American people.

From Kimberly A. Strassel over at the Wall Street Journal:

This "Gang of 10" announced a "sweeping" and "bipartisan" energy plan to break Washington's energy "stalemate." What they did was throw every vulnerable Democrat, and Mr. Obama, a life preserver. That's because the plan is a Democratic giveaway. New production on offshore federal lands is left to state legislatures, and then in only four coastal states. The regulatory hurdles are huge. And the bill bars drilling within 50 miles of the coast -- putting off limits some of the most productive areas. Alaska's oil-rich Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is still a no-go.

In other words, these five Senators agreed with the Dems that there should be no drilling in any area where oil actually exists.

Further:

The highlight is instead $84 billion in tax credits, subsidies and federal handouts for alternative fuels and renewables. The Gang of 10 intends to pay for all this in part by raising taxes on . . . oil companies!

So, not only will there be no new exploration nor new domestic production, but we consumers can look forward to higher prices since the oil companies are simply going to pass those new taxes on to us consumers at the gas pump!

What were these five thinking? This has got to be the biggest bone-head play in the history of the Senatorial GOP! Not only have they agreed to screw-over the American people with higher gas prices, but they have also cut their own party off at the knees!

Read on:

And pity poor Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has been working overtime to stanch GOP losses this fall and head off a filibuster-proof Democratic Senate. His dogged efforts to highlight Democratic opposition to drilling has kept energy in the news and laid the groundwork for GOP candidates to use the issue to their advantage. In the Colorado Senate race, Democrats had christened former GOP Rep. Bob Schaffer "Big Oil Bob" -- hoping to smear his oil industry career. "Big Oil Bob" has instead embraced his pro-drilling positions and is pummeling opponent Mark Udall for his antidrilling stance. In recent weeks, Mr. Schaffer has erased Mr. Udall's lead. Polls show Republican Sens. Norm Coleman (Minnesota) and John Sununu (New Hampshire) both climbing in the polls on the back of strong energy arguments. As two of the GOP's most vulnerable senators, both might well have run for cover with the Gang of 10. Instead they're fighting on the merits. The "bipartisan" Republican senators have undercut these efforts, and boosted Ms. Landrieu. They've even put a smile on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's face. He'd been struggling to tamp down the energy debate through November, where he hopes to increase his majority and permanently shelve drilling. He's now counting on the Gang to fruitlessly continue "negotiations" straight through the Senate's short September session and solve his problem for him.

Effectively say "no" to new domestic energy production? Push gas prices higher by raising taxes in order to pay for research on technologies that don't exist on any usable scale for viability as an alternative?

These five are going to have a lot of explaining to do. And they may have to explain it to a filibuster-proof Senate that will be nothing more than an economy destroying Socialist rubber-stamp to America's next Socialist President: Barack Obama.

You can access the complete article on-line here:

Republican Energy Fumble
Kimberly A. Strassel
The Wall Street Journal
August 8, 2008

Nancy Pelosi's Delusional Comments, Breaks Yet Another Promise From 2006

9%. That's all. 9%. That's how many people think the Democrat controlled Congress has been doing a good job. But if you look at their record, the only thing they've done is said, "No."

"No" to lower gas prices. "No" to new refineries. "No" to new nuclear power plants. "No" to keeping taxes low. In fact, they haven't been able to keep a single promise they made back in 2006 in order to get themselves elected to power.

Nancy Peolsi recently gave and interview to CNN and clearly, she has deluded herself into believing that she and the other libs who now control Congress are doing something good. She is doing this in the context of the criticisms that President Bush rightly leveled at Congress, but mostly she is doing it to try and deflect the fact that the President's criticisms are right on the mark.

From CNN:

"God bless him, bless his heart, president of the United States -- a total failure, losing all credibility with the American people on the economy, on the war, on energy, you name the subject," Pelosi told CNN's Wolf Blitzer in an exclusive interview. The comments came two days after the president sharply criticized Congress over what he described as relative inaction over the course of the legislative term. At the White House on Wednesday, Bush noted that there were only 26 legislative days left in the fiscal year and said Congress would need to pass a spending bill every other day to "get their fundamental job done."

And what President Bush said was absolutely correct. Despite promises of bi-partisanship (a promise that was broken in less than a week after assuming power), the libs and Dems have absolutely nothing to show for their time in office while the American people languish under high energy costs and a looming economic disaster when the 2001 tax cuts expire and billions of dollars get sucked out of the economy.

More:

"For him to be challenging Congress when we are trying to sweep up after his mess over and over and over again -- at the end of the day, Congress will have passed its responsibility to pass legislation," she said. But Pelosi's comments come as a new Gallup poll registers the lowest level of congressional approval among Americans in the polling organization's 30-year history of conducting that survey. That poll showed that its approval rating had reached an anemic 14 percent, while more than 70 percent of those polled said they disapproved of the job Congress is doing. The House speaker said she doesn't consider those numbers a negative referendum on the Democrats in charge, saying she thinks they stem largely from Congress' failure to end the war in Iraq.

But, what Pelosi fails to see here is that we are winning the war in Iraq and it is no longer a major concern to us mainstream Americans. The big concern to us is energy costs and gasoline prices which have skyrocketed under the Democrat-controlled Congress. This is what makes her comments delusional. She cannot accept reality and must instead fabricate her own rationalizations.

Check this out:

In the wide-ranging interview, the entirety of which will air Sunday on CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer," Pelosi also reiterated her longtime opposition to lifting a congressional ban on offshore drilling as well as opening up areas such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska for oil exploration. Bush and congressional Republicans have pushed for those two policy changes. Pelosi has long opposed drilling offshore, a popular policy position among Californians, many of whom fear its environmental consequences along the state's coastline. But a recent CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll showed that more than 73 percent of Americans polled approved of lifting the 1981 ban, and the move holds support among many in Pelosi's own party, whose constituents are growing increasingly angry over rising gas prices.

Yet again, a reality that Nancy Pelosi cannot see since she and the libs have completely fallen out of touch with the American people. Like other Dems, she has been parroting the line that oil companies should be drilling on lands that are already leased out. The disconnect with reality here is that the reason the oil companies are not drilling on those lands is because there is no oil underneath them. I wonder if Wolf Blitzer pointed that out to her during the interview? Probably not.

We need to get her and her delusional friends out of office. Her detachment from reality is causing nothing but harm to the American people. But all she can say is: "Bush is a total failure."

She truly is the worst Speaker of the House in history.

You can access the complete article on-line here:

Pelosi: Bush 'A Total Failure'
Alexander Mooney
CNN.com
July 17, 2008

Will To Drill Is Strong And A New Political Cliche

Two items today that go right to the heart of our energy crisis. The first is from Investor's Business Daily. Just the first paragraph alone sets a very telling tone:

Contrary to claims by Al Gore and others that global warming is the greatest challenge of our time, Americans by better than 3-to-1 say the price of gasoline is a bigger problem now, according to the latest IBD/TIPP Poll. Moreover, they stand willing to do something about it, including and especially drilling for oil in the Outer Continental Shelf and in federal shale reserves in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah. Even drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is backed by a plurality of Americans. ... Only 23% say climate change is more important. The sentiment prevails across the board — among men and women, old and young, rich and poor, and Republicans, independents and Democrats, two-thirds of whom say gas prices are more important.

That really says it all. So, when is Congress going to do something about it? More importantly, when are we Americans going to get rid of the do-nothing members and vote in people who will get things done?

You can access the complete column on-line here:

Will To Drill Is Strong, Poll Finds; Climate Change Pales As Concern
Investor's Business Daily
July, 14, 2008

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And why should we boot out the Congress we elected in 2006? Hugh Hewitt gives us the answer, once again right from the very first paragraph:

The economic mess the country confronts can be laid at the feet of Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. The Don’t Drill Democrats are forcing deindustrialization through depression brought about by soaring energy costs. This is a man-made meltdown, and make no mistake: The Democrats could halt and reverse the skyrocketing cost of oil, but they are choosing not to.

The results of their inaction/choice not to act have been staggering and will only get worse:

The impact of the massive oil shock brought about by the rise of oil to more than $140 a barrel has just begun to be felt. The airline industry has gotten organized to alert everyone it can that it cannot continue to stagger along at this price. Eight airlines are completely gone that flew a year ago, and many others are on the brink. Layoffs and new charges to battle soaring costs are hardly worth noting they arrive so frequently. Tremors continue to course through Wall Street as investors shunned mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and yesterday worried Congressmen throw questions at the Fed Chairman and the secretary of the Treasury: How bad can it get?

Very bad. As I noted in another blog posting, oil is not our lifeblood; it is our energy. We need it like the human body needs food. To repeat the idiotic mantra that we need to "wean ourselves off of oil" is like saying that we humans need to "wean ourselves off of food." Only an idiot would believe such a claim.

More:

The environmental lobby owns Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, and Barack Obama –the brave new leader—doesn’t dare take it or them on. That lobby is applauding the deindustrialization underway, and their attitude is that a depression wouldn’t be such a bad thing as a lesson in learning how to live within our environmental means. Their jobs aren’t on the line, after all, and their disdain for the impacted industries is complete. What they and the Triple D Democrats hasn’t counted on, though, was America making the connection between the deteriorating economy and their anti-energy agenda. Energy is freedom. Energy is prosperity. Every Democrat on the fall ballot is part of the anti-energy party which is wrecking havoc on the economy and every family’s budget. A vote for any Democrat is a vote for shortages, rising gas prices, rising unemployment, and falling production.

I don't like political cliches, but the one for 2008 is "It's the oil, stupid!"

You can access the complete column on-line here:

It's The Oil, Stupid
Hugh Hewitt
TownHall.com
July 11, 2008

Companies Begin Quest For Oil Offshore: Oil And Gas Prices Emerging As #1 Issue

So, how much have you been paying to fill your gas tank? Quite a bit more than you were when the Democrats took control of Congress back in 2007. Gas prices have gone up over 38% since then. The American people want change. Not the change Barack Obama is proposing (i.e. more disastrous Socialism), but a change in domestic energy production policy.

That change would be to lift the stifling rules and regulations that prevent us from producing our own energy right here at home. Conceivably, our domestic oil companies could produce oil at $60/bbl instead of having to pay $145/bbl or even $200/bbl when the price gets that high.

According to the Associated Press:

Oil companies once viewed drilling in the deep waters off Florida as cost prohibitive. Politicians feared even the slightest sign of support would be career suicide. No more. Record crude oil prices are fueling support for oil and natural gas exploration off the nation's shores. In Florida, movement was under way even before President Bush called on Congress last month to lift a federal moratorium that's barred new offshore drilling since 1981. The early activity here stems from a 2006 Congressional compromise that allows drilling on 8.3 million acres more than 125 miles off the Panhandle — an area that had been covered by the moratorium, which was enacted out of environmental concerns. In exchange, the state got a no-drilling buffer along the rest of its beaches.

2006. That's when the Republicans controlled Congress. They had more than enough votes to force the issue, but certain Republicans decided to become obstructionists, including the GOP Presidential candidate John McCain.

McCain better be singing a different tune today, because Barack Obama is the one constantly saying "no" to viable solutions to our energy crisis. Here's what the American voter is thinking:

With gas topping $4 a gallon, recent polls show Americans, Floridians included, more supportive of drilling in protected areas. Some politicians — including Gov. Charlie Crist — have switched sides. "We think the public is way out ahead of the politicians on these issues. People are more open to (offshore drilling) now," said Tom Moskitis, spokesman for the American Gas Association, a trade group. At the same time, oil companies, driven by the record energy price, are more willing to risk $100 million or more to begin exploring new regions. The Interior Department estimates there could be 18 billion barrels of oil and 77 trillion cubic feet of natural gas beneath the 574 million acres of federal coastal waters that are now off-limits.

And when people realize that the energy crisis is going to threaten the family vacation to Disney World, they will end up voting for the candidate who will work the hardest to remove the threat. That is why John McCain had better be listening to the people on this one.

More:

But politicians who once supported the ban are changing their minds. Sen. John McCain supports lifting the ban and allowing states to decide whether to approve drilling of their shores. Crist, Florida's Republican governor and a possible vice presidential candidate, reversed his long-standing opposition to lifting the ban last month. The ban won't be lifted without a fight. Sen. Bill Nelson, who has led opposition to offshore drilling among the state's congressional delegation, criticized the governor for reversing his position, accusing Crist and McCain of putting oil company profits before protecting the state's $65 billion annual tourism industry.

But Nelson seems to be completely ignorant of the fact that if people can't put gas in their cars, or airlines can't put fuel into airplanes, then the tourist industry in Florida is going to take a huge hit. People aren't going to walk hundreds of miles to get to Florida, especially if they have children.

You can access the complete article on-line here:

Companies Begin Quest For Oil, Gas Off Florida
Associated Press via MSNBC.com
July 4, 2008

CNN's Glenn Beck: Your Gas Money For A Flat Screen?

I was watching Glenn last night when he had Rudy Giuliani on talking about the current oil crisis. Yes, I said "crisis" because that is what we are in. When the price of a barrel of oil has gone up so dramatically in the space of a year and a half, I'd say we are in a crisis.

Mayor Giuliani has the right ideas about what to do. Drill, drill, drill. There is no other solution. Right now, the Democrat controlled Congress seems to want to do nothing but wait and watch gas prices go higher, our economy sink lower and then sit back, enjoy their perks and privilidges while pointing the finger of blame in the wrong direction.

Glenn Beck has a few words to say about that. In fact, it is clear that drilling at home and producing domestically is the only rational solution. The alternative is to wreck our economy and turn the U.S. to chaos. But what about the standard stock arguments from the greens? What do those arguments really mean and are they even valid? From CNN:

"It's not going to help for another 10 years!" Here's the thing. America is a long-term plan for me. I don't know where these people plan to be in 10 years, but I plan to be here. This is, of course, the same argument heard around President Clinton's veto of ANWR drilling in 1995. Among other things, if we had started drilling ANWR then, oil would be already flowing. At its peak, ANWR could supply 1.45 million barrels per day, enough to tell Hugo Chavez and all his Venezuelan oil to shove it (with a little change left over). Of course, Clinton didn't have Chavez to deal with back then. If only he were thinking 10 years into the future.

And this:

"We can't drill ourselves out of this problem!" Maybe not solely, or forever, but it sure can help. With new technology, who knows what we can do over time? The government estimates that the outer continental shelf alone has 76 billion barrels of oil that are recoverable, and that's just with today's technology. To put that number into perspective, it's equal to every barrel of oil that we'd import from everywhere outside of North America for 31 years at our current pace. But instead of developing these resources, we throw up endless roadblocks. If you don't think that pumping more of our own oil would affect prices, ask yourself what would happen if we did the opposite. What if we announced today that we were turning all of our existing pumps off?

More:

"What about the environment?" This may surprise those who think I'm the pre-eminent murderer of the Earth, but the only real argument against owning our own oil destiny is an environmental one. Under this theory: High gas prices equal less gas usage, which equals a saved planet. Thomas Friedman, in a recent column, laid it out in an honest fashion: "Now that [gas] is $4 a gallon, the government should at least keep it there, since it is really having the right effect." He went on to describe Chrysler's promotion that guarantees cheaper gas as "the moral equivalent of tobacco companies offering discounted cigarettes to teenagers." Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, apparently agrees, saying that coal and oil are making us sick along with "ruining our country" and "ruining our world." If you believe such nonsense, then it's perfectly rational to ignore our ample energy resources. (It's not rational to combine that with complaints about high gas prices, sorry Harry Reid.) For the rest of us, while visions of the Exxon Valdez may dance through your head, the National Academy of Sciences found that the offshore industry is among the safest industrial activities in the United States. And please, next time you hear someone complaining about environmental risks of drilling at home, remember this from a 2003 speech from the director of the US Minerals Management Services: "Imports present an environmental risk of spills about 13 times greater than domestic production" and "natural seeps account for 150-175 times more oil in the ocean than outer continental shelf oil and gas operations." NATURAL SEEPS? Now we know who the real polluter is -- that evil wench -- Mother Nature.

Some very profound words of wisdon in their. Domestic production is the way to go until the day comes when we do build cars, freight trains and ships that run on pixie dust and unicorn whiskers. But those technologies are years into the future, if they are even possible at all. Solar power, wind power and ethanol could only supply us a fraction of what we need. Right now, domestic production would supply us all that we need.

You can access the complete column on-line here:

Commentary: Your Gas Money For A Flat Screen?
Glenn Beck
CNN.com
July 3, 2008

John McCain’s Energy IndependencePolicies And How They Compare With Democrat Claims

Here's a good little article from Front Page Magazine. It puts energy policy into context, not just Democrat vs. Republican but also McCain vs. Obama. If the Republicans and McCain come out swinging on this issue, it will be the knockout punch that will put the Dems back into the minority where they belong.

Last week, McCain pledged to end the 1982 moratorium on offshore gas and oil drilling in the continental United States. This week, he proposed offering $300 million to any automaker or individual that can develop a better car battery, as well as $5,000 in tax credits to consumers who buy zero-emission vehicles. Speaking directly to Americans’ concerns about an energy crisis, McCain's two-pronged offensive also has put Democrats on the defensive. Despite their advantage in the polls, Democrats are especially vulnerable on energy issues. In 2006, they promised a "common sense" solution to oil prices. All they have done, however, is blame oil companies and threaten new taxes.

Yep. That is all the Dems have done. They have not proposed one single new initiative that will help ease our pain at the gas pumps. They have only proposed that which will make our pain worse.

The article continues:

The United States has the largest oil shale deposits in the world in the Green River basin, from which it is (conservatively) estimated that 800 billion barrels of oil can be recovered. Meanwhile, according to a 1998 U.S. Geological Survey, ANWR probably could produce another 10 billion barrels. With resources like these, America would no longer need oil from adversarial oil-rich nations. And this is just scratching the surface. Technologies that convert coal into synthetic fuel are already economical and feasible, and America has 25 percent of all the coal reserves in the world. No wonder many conservatives want these regions included in future exploration. And not just conservatives. As quoted in news reports, even some Democratic insiders and strategists "admit privately" that that "they are impressed with the new Republican campaign” because "gives the GOP an opportunity to talk about taking action on a matter of huge importance to the voters.”

And therein lies the opportunity that I mentioned above. We are very angry at the Dems. We are angry that gas, energy and food prices have gone up beyond the national inflation rate ever since they took control of Congress and passed that idiotic ethanol law.

More:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi recently captured her party’s deafness to national concerns on energy. “We cannot drill our way out of this,” she insisted. Instead, the California Democrat fell back on conspiracy theory, blaming the president and vice-president for high gas prices. "A barrel of oil now costs four times more than it did when President Bush took office," she argued. "Two oil men in the White House, cost of oil four times higher. Price at the pump: $4 a gallon." The claim will not withstand scrutiny. Experts have argued for some time now that the growing economies of China and India and their demand for oil are the main reason for higher energy prices worldwide. But it's hard for liberals to abandon their old, anti-capitalist orthodoxies. Listen to Maurice Hinchey, a left wing New York Democrat, who contends that oil companies are not drilling on the lands they already lease because they are waiting for the price of oil to go up to "$200 or $300 a barrel so they can make even greater profits." Acting on that assumption, Democratic congressmen are introducing legislation that will force oil companies to explore the properties they already lease or pay fees (an indirect tax) that will increase over time. This idea is almost as bad as Hinchey's proposal last week (from which he later retreated) that the federal government should own oil refineries to gain some control of the supply. Lost on these politicians is that any new fees oil companies pay will be passed on to consumers at the pump. Barack Obama's plan for a tax on oil profits would have exactly this effect. Drivers would simply pay more.

The Dems are so far out of touch on this one, most important issue that we really need to get them out of office before they send us flying head first into a new Great Depression. Nancy Pelosi's embrace of hair-brained conspiracy theories is proof positive of that.

You can access the complete column on-line here:

McCain’s Energy Independence
Stephen Brown and Sean Daniels
FrontPageMag.com
June 24, 2008