Sharing the Blame: Both Sides of Congress Creating the Fuel Crisis

For a long time it's been the norm to blame Big Oil for rising gas prices. But Congress has created much of the problem with their incessant pandering to special interest groups. The Democrats have the Environmental Lobby, that blocks nuclear use, coal use and off shoring or ANWR drilling for domestic crude. The Republicans aren't willing to set meaningful limits on fuel consumption or to subsidize individual access to alternative power. So here's why I think they all need to go!

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Excerpt:

"...The Democrats have an obvious motive for their denial of Econ 101 reality: They are so beholden to the environmental lobby that they can't advocate increased domestic oil and natural gas production.

To save the planet from global warming, the greens want to end mankind's use of fossil fuels, so they oppose drilling for natural gas offshore, for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and exploiting America's vast coal reserves. And Democrats obey, as do some Republicans, recently including Sen. John McCain (Ariz.).

The greens for years have also blocked new nuclear plants, although some have changed their tune because nuclear is carbon-free. Most Democrats remain opposed, while Obama is wishy-washy on the subject. McCain, to his credit, favors nuclear and always has...."

Shutting Down the Opposition

One of our basic freedoms is that of free speech. While I may not like what you say, and you may not like what I say, we are entitled to state our relative opinions publicly. So imagine this, it seems that Google has decided to weigh in by allowing an organized effort to shut down websites that oppose Barak Obama. Now granted, I don't think websites that slander or spread spam should be allowed to function, but there are people out here, like ME, who don't think this man is ready for the White House and I will continue to bring up the various doubts about his qualifications along with some of the other questionable candidates we are offered this year. People, you should be VERY ALARMED about this because this means that you are getting filtered news. And filtered news could be arranged to make sure you only see one point of view.
Anti-Obama Blogsites Shut Down

The Argument FOR Drilling

When I was younger, I was debating getting my Master's degree. With three small kids and a house, I was concerned about my age in comparison to other students. I was also concerned that it would take too long and I would be ridiculously old when I finished.

When I posed this to an advisor, he asked, "So how long do you think it will take you to complete the degree"
I answered, "Five, maybe six years."
"And how old will you be then?" He asked. I stated my age in five years.
"And how old will you be in five years if you don't get the degree?" he replied.

I post this for a reason. I watched for several years as the Thunderhorse drilling platform was being constructed at Port Aransas. It's not a quick, nor an easy process. You are basically construction a building to float at sea. Daunting to say the least. So here we have two sides.
On one side, they say, "oh if we start now, we won't see results for five, ten, maybe fifteen years." So my question is-when will we see results if we DON'T START NOW?

The other side is demurring on the side of avoiding drilling oil where it exists. Any oil man will tell you that for every strike, there are ten to twenty dry holes. Oil is not a migratory beast you can hunt, it forms and exists where it is. Which means that you can have leases from here to Kingdom Come and that doesn't insure there is oil on ANY OF IT.

We need to drill. The polling of the American public concurs with that opinion. The only people that do not are the politicians and that is strictly due to their income sources for campaigns. If you believe that the sooner we start drilling, the better, then let you representatives know.

This is not to say we shouldn't develop alternative fuel sources. Nuclear power plants are safer and more efficient than the old Three Mile Island model. Gassification of coal, natural gas and biofuels are all something we need to develop. This isn't a one answer solution, our energy needs are multi-faceted. But for those tunnel visioned true believers that think wind farms and solar arrays are going to supply all of our energy needs, think again. Right now, the pure electric cars have a storage capacity of about 40 miles. That may work for commuting to school or going to work, but it's not going to haul goods or provide the services needed in our community. For now, and for the foreseeable future, we will still need oil. And the sooner we start the process, the further down that road to energy independence we will be.

Dancing Around The Issue

Once upon a time, a few months ago, Barak Obama claimed he would not take private funds for his candidacy. He thought it was bad in that it allowed big rollers a chance to sway a candidate's idea via bankroll. So what is up with this? Now Mr. Obama is saying he WON'T use public funds. Could that be because more than 55% of his donations are from "big spenders"
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Spreading It Around

Politicians, along with used car salesmen and snake oil purveryors, are known for spreading "it" around. Evidently, Countrywide is doing the same thing. I could list all the recipients of Countrywide's largesse here, but the list is long-and very bipartisan. Shame on them for taking this money. And folks, there is a reason nobody publicly wants to address how deep so many of these candidates are in this economic muck.
The whole list is here.
I also highly recommend that you visit OpenSecrets.com. It's a very eye-opening website.

Mean What You Say Part Deux

The article I am linking below has more to do with the presidential election than with Congressional grandstanding per se, however, it does discuss how the Democrat party as a whole has embraced the idea of pulling out of Iraq REGARDLESS of current success or the power vacuum that could ensue if we precipitously remove our military from that region. That, boys and girls, is EXACTLY what Obama and his supporters are proposing to do. And in order to stay on message, they are picking and choosing what information they will acknowledge and what information they will ignore. That's a pretty risky policy for people who claim to know what they are doing in regards to national security. And while the presidency is the head of the ticket issue, there are down ticket defenders of these policies that have blind allegiance for what is increasingly becoming nothing more than a western wing of the Green (World Workers') Party. Just look at their platform if you don't believe me. And frankly, when even the Washington Post, no bastion of conservatism there, starts to question Obama and his party's motives, there is smoke. Remember-where there's smoke......
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Green Party

Scandal Brewing OR Who's Under the Bus This Week?

The media has given a free pass to the Democrats by and large because the president and Republicans in general were a more popular target for venom and ridicule. So here we have this economic situation fueled largely by dropping dollars from the mortgage "crisis" (did you ever notice how every liberal issue is a "crisis"?) Anyway, where is the outcry in the media about these stories? They go very high up in the DNC echelon and hardly anyone is giving them page one treatment. Where's the angst folks? Where's the accusations and calls for censure? Pay special attention to the very close alliance between current and former Countrywide executives and the Obama campaign. Heck, one of them is vetting potential VP candidates. *pensive" Do you think that the views potential candidates have toward litigation of the folks involved with subprime loans will play into who is chosen? Just wondering
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