by Tom Sears
Now, to the Democrats’ idea of an energy plan. First they want to have a windfall profits tax against the oil companies. Who do you think will end up paying this tax? It will simply be passed down to the final consumer - you and me. We had a tax like this in 1980 and it was a disaster. We lost jobs overseas, energy costs increased, making us even more dependent on foreign oil. That Congress was at least smart enough to repeal it.
Second, Congress wants to impose sanctions and sue Saudi Arabia if it doesn’t
increase its output by a million barrels a day or more.
Here we have the Democrats insisting other countries increase their output while at the same time not allowing our reserves to be touched. This really makes a lot of sense, doesn’t it?
So who are the groups responsible for our present crisis? The usual ones. The leftist liberals, of whom probably 90 percent are Democrats, and their special-interest groups whose “campaign contributions” have our representatives right in their front pocket. Some of these wacko groups are the eco-terrorists, the environmental radicals, and the anti-capitalist crowd.
This winter is going to be a watershed moment in history. Already you have people spending anywhere from $60 to $100 simply to fill up their cars. Do you really think that families who are already struggling to make ends meet will be able to afford
$1,300 to $1,400 for heating oil when they fill their 275 gallon tanks two and maybe three times this winter?
So you people in the above-mentioned groups remember this: You are the ones responsible for parents and their children going to bed cold and hungry this winter.
You are responsible for all the jobs being lost and the companies that have gone under, which will continue, especially in the trucking industry.
You are the ones responsible for the rapidly rising costs for food and other necessities. You are the ones responsible for all the personal bankruptcies, the continuing trade imbalances and the exportation of high paying jobs overseas.
You are the ones responsible for parents not being able to provide for their children and give them all the things they should be able to.
Don’t you dare try to blame anyone else. You are simply self-labeled elitist intelligentsia and self-appointed do-gooders who are thinking only of yourselves and of controlling other peoples’ lives. I hope you’re proud.
Traveling Helps Open Our Eyes
By the time you’re reading this column I’ll be in Romania, continuing my research into the evolution of their tax system, including related investment, evasion, compliance, and corruption issues. It’s truly amazing to watch their relatively young tax code change and develop as well as look at the impact it has on employer and taxpayer lives.
However, an additional benefit of being there (and Bulgaria) is to have an opportunity to talk with people from all walks of life about their perceptions of us and other issues including politics, poverty, energy concerns, pollution, and so on.
You want to talk about pollution? Although vastly improved from 1989, some situations are still appalling. In the northeast industrial area you have towns like Baia Mare and Copsa Mica that still have pollution you can see, smell and taste.
The residents of some towns in the area have a life expectancy of 50 years. Lead in the soil is close to 100 times the permitted levels with vegetation lead levels close to 25 times accepted levels.
No meats or crops are sold outside the area; and the residents, being so poor, have no choice but to eat home grown crops. Also, there are hundreds of miles of polluted rivers from metal poisoning and cyanide spills from gold mines. And we complain about our industrial pollution?
As to poverty, how about living on less than $400 a month which is what the vast majority of the population does.
Three years ago, a friend took me to a peasant village where he was negotiating the purchase of land. We went three miles overland since there were no roads and basically no contact with the outside world, save marketplaces where they sold their produce.
Some of these people live on less than $5 a day. Their homes consist of one large, dirt floor room where chickens, pigs and ducks run in and out all day.
Obviously they have no electricity, no heat except for wood and coal, and bathing takes place in the nearby creek. There are no endless government handouts, but the people don’t complain a bit. Everyone was friendly, and they were even going to slaughter a lamb on my behalf until I begged them not to. All in all, an eye-opening experience. Our poor in contrast would be their upper middle class.
But enough on that topic. How about the oil situation last week, where the price of a barrel dropped almost $15 in three days. I’m sure we’ll hear Congress praising those dastardly futures speculators for selling short and saving the day. Didn’t they blame the same investors for causing the price to run up and for making “obscene” profits? Speculators/investors don’t care if the markets are rising or falling. They can profit either way as long as they GUESS right.
Most logical people will continue to see it as an economics result. Supply stays the same, demand decreases (people making painful choices) and the price goes down.
Also, the news of President Bush lifting an 18-year-old presidential ban on offshore drilling helped. All the world has to see is that we are serious about increasing our readily available supply, continue to conserve sensibly, and release some our strategic petroleum reserves; and OPEC and other suppliers will start sweating profusely. Your move, Congress.
Are you going to do what over 70 percent of the population desires, which is to start drilling where the oil is abundant, or do you want to continue your partisan whining?
Are you going to bring the issue up before your August recess, or are you going to let the pain continue for many people? I guess you can’t expect much from a Congress that has a 9 percent approval rating, according to recent polls. Even Bush is still at a 34 percent approval rating.
I don’t know whether logistics will prevent me from getting another column sent next time, so I would encourage you to go to an impressive website referred to me by a conservative friend.
It was a response by a person rebutting Howard Dean, teachers, professors, and the media’s description of a Republican as “a rich, greedy, egotistical individual, motivated only by money and the desire to accumulate more and more of it, at the expense of the government, the working poor and all whom they exploit…”
The person’s response, in a paid advertisement in the Washington Post, certainly was a slap in the face to the above groups and made them look pretty foolish. Since it’s hard to distinguish between a Republican and a Democrat, I choose to read it as conservative versus liberal. You’ll find a reprint of the ad at www.whatiam.net. I hope you enjoy it.
GOP Sides with Voters On Issues
Pretty soon all the attention will be on the final 75 or so days until Election Day and I certainly have a lot of ammunition to fire at Saint Obama, but I also am having a tough time supporting John McCain.
If he pulls another stunt that ignores his conservative base and instead shamelessly panders for the independents and left of center Democrats not in love with Barack, maybe I and a lot of other conservatives will sit out this election (at least at the presidential level).
Barack, Harry and Queen Nancy will run the country disastrously and wake people up when their incompetence is revealed. That will give us four years to come up with a conservative candidate with a backbone, along with other conservative congressional candidates to take back both houses.
But, focusing on the congressional races, the Republicans have been served a golden opportunity through the actions of the Dems’ exalted leader, the power hungry, incompetent, autocratic, and ineffective leader of the House, Nancy Pelosi.
In addition to leading Congress to a historically low approval rating of 9 percent, she has now closed down the House, showing total disdain for the average American who is struggling to make ends meet because of the current energy crisis. If voters, other than those in Pelosi’s congres
sional district, could express their approval of Nancy and only Nancy, I guarantee her approval rating would be even less than the 9 percent.
All the Republicans wanted to do was introduce the American Energy Act and have a public up-or-down vote in the house. The legislation simply called for the development of domestic energy resources (making us more independent from Saudi princes, terrorists, and despots and creating good paying jobs for Americans) and using this oil resource as a bridge to the development of efficient alternative energy sources.
That’s it. Very simple. Yes or no, up or down. Don’t you think the voters should know where their respective representatives stand on the issue? Seventy-five percent of Americans want domestic oil sources to be tapped, 71 percent are in favor of off shore sources and 54 percent favor drilling in the ANWR region. What are the Dems afraid of if they are confident of their stance?
Queen Nancy and her minions, however, ignored the polls and voters’ wishes and simply closed up shop and went on a five week vacation. I seem to remember her promising change by stating “Democrats are offering a new direction, putting the common good of all Americans first for a change, and will make health care more affordable, lower gas prices, help working families, cut college costs, ensure dignified retirement – and do it all in a fiscally sound way.”
At the time gasoline was selling for $2.32 per gallon. How does going on her book tour, which by the way is another dismal failure, help solve the problems facing us ordinary Americans? Especially since after coming back tanned and fit and spending only three weeks in session, they will adjourn again and focus on the elections. How do you define hypocrisy?
If the Republicans can’t take this issue and run with it aggressively during their campaigns, they shouldn’t be elected to office anyway.
The Democrats are in a pickle also. If they change their mind and vote for the energy issue, it reveals their hypocrisy by proving they are only interested in votes rather than standing up for what the voter wants. This is happening already, as Nancy has given her regal okay to those Dems up for tough re-election bids this year to not vote their consciences but rather vote for political expediency.
If, on the other hand, those Dems allow themselves to be led by the nose and stay in lockstep with Her Majesty, the always shocked-looking, unblinking Pelosi, they are going to have a lot of explaining to do when they get home to their constituencies.
Either way, this race will be fun to watch. I think if events continue down this path, the Republicans have a chance to pick up seats in both Houses. It might be wishful thinking at this point however.
We Republicans are now on the right side of most, if not all, of the issues important to Americans. These are energy relief, lower taxes and national security. It should be very difficult to blow the elections with this fact in mind. McCain should also win if he re-attracts the conservative base. After all, he is running against a candidate with no experience, an energy plan based on inflating our tires (remind you of Carter?) and only vacuous rhetoric.
Obama Should Throw In The Towel
Ballgame over! Sarah Palin, govenor of Alaska, was absolutely the best pick McCain could have made for a VP running mate. She is young, conservative, a leader, the only one of the four candidates who has executive experience, pro-gun, pro-life, and on and on.
After she spoke Friday afternoon, it was obvious she is going to be too much for Joe, the mouth, Biden to take on. I can’t wait for the debates. We might as well have the inauguration now and save the public a lot of taxpayer dollars.
As a matter of fact, my liberal friend who bet me a lunch over the winner of the election might as well buy it for me now and start licking his wounds. I seem to remember his calling or e-mailing me and reminding me how much he was going to enjoy his free meal. I can’t wait to pull that e-mail out for future use.
It was amazing (and showed how scared the Democrats are) how the Obama campaign came out immediately to disparage her background. They described her background as simply being a mayor of a small town of 9,000. Other than being petty and childish it was extremely stupid. I hope all the small towns across the US see how much saint Barack really thinks of them and remember his statement in November.
Also, she has more executive experience and a longer record of accomplishment than Barack Obama and Little Joe Biden combined. As a matter of fact, as a conservative friend just pointed out, even Cindy McCain has more executive experience than the both of them.
I hope The Daily Star and other media have the courage to tell the public of her background. But, nevertheless, keep it up, Barack. I certainly don’t want to silence you. Whenever you don’t have a pre-written script to read, you keep putting your foot in your mouth.
But I have plenty of time in the future to talk about our Republican team. I can’t wait until this week’s Republican convention, since I know it will be run in a more adult-like fashion, avoiding the rock-star gimmickry and proceeding to put holes in every non-policy, liberal, nonsensical idea Obama and his ilk talked about this last week.
It’s our turn now, guys, and you ultra-libs better not watch because it will be painful. However, just as a reminder, you have to hear both sides in order to be informed and to carry on an intelligent discussion.
Yes, as a matter of fact, I did go through pain and suffering and watched the circus of a convention the Dems put on last week. It was very hard, but I watched at least 20 hours of the dog-and-pony show and all the related commentary from both Republican and Democrat spin doctors. I think I deserve a medal for this heroic act. I listened to Nancy, Teddy K, Harry, Michelle, Joe the mouth Biden, Billy C., Hillary, and others perform their special acts, and like I said, it was quite a circus they put on.
I do, however, think Hillary showed what a mistake the party made, first for selecting lord Obama over her and then ignoring her as a VP pick. Thank you so much, Democrat strategists. You just handed us the election.
As I said, I watched a lot of the Democrat convention and have a bookful of thoughts and comments to use for my next columns. They won’t be pretty for you libs, so I have rated them for mature audiences only. That lets you off the hook. The column will go over the Democrat convention unless the Republican convention is so good that I can ignore yours.
What is important now are the House and Senate races. I think the McCain/Palin ticket will have a positive impact on those also.
Just a final note. One of the statements made by Barack was a challenge to debate Senator McCain anytime, anywhere. If you remember Barack, he already offered to debate you 10 times in a town hall setting. You originally accepted and then mysteriously backed out. Probably because you remembered that you had to think on your feet and offer specifics rather than read from a prepared speech. You aren’t very good in that environment, are you?
However, if I remember correctly, the offer is still out there. All you have to do is call and accept.
Dems, Media Using Lies To Paint Palin
Can you believe how scared the cowardly left is about Sarah Palin? Their petty, immature attempts to insult and demean her and her family seem to know no boundaries, and worse, their lackeys, the mainstream media, continue the lies.
It’s getting harder and harder to distinguish between the wacko extreme leftist groups like The Daily Kos and the Huffington Post and the media. They are more than happy to perpetuate the lies. And to all you Democrats and liberals out there who don’t speak out against this viciousness, you are just as bad as the wackos. Do you guys have any sense of fair play and integrity at all?
There are lots of examples to point out. They have tried to besmirch her by calling her “the beauty queen” and “the stewardess.” Then there are the outrageous lies. They have claimed that Sarah faked a pregnancy to protect her 17-year-old daughter and claim that Trig is really the daughter’s child. They have even gone so far as to demand DNA testing. Where’s the outrage?
And how about some more? The left have claimed that she has banned library books
, speaks in tongues, said that the Iraq war was God’s will, cut spending for mentally disabled children, cut funding for pregnant teens, and on and on.
All have since been proven to be either taken out of context (Iraq war and God’s will) or bald-faced lies. The New York Times had to run an apology. How about the rest of you?
Don’t forget the insult thrown at her when South Carolina’s Democrat Party Chair, Carol Fowler, said, “Her primary qualification seems to be that she hasn’t had an abortion.” Pretty classy, huh? She’s one of yours and had to issue an apology only when the opinion polls found that it had backfired. Thank you Carol. How can a true feminist take that kind of statement sitting down? Are you really for women role models as strong and successful as Sarah Palin in both her family and career as you have repeatedly said you are, or only for those who are liberal?
Even the Obama campaign isn’t immune to throwing around insults. Obama himself has a hard time referring to her as other than the “mayor” of a small town. When you get a presidential candidate going after the other party’s VP candidate, you know he is in trouble. Isn’t that Joe Biden’s role?
His worst gaffe yet? The time he insulted both the Republican candidates with his “You can put lipstick on a pig, but its still a pig” and “You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called ‘change;’ it’s still going to stink after eight years.” Barack, don’t deny that you meant it the way over 90 percent of Americans interpreted it. Your crowd ate it up and you reveled in their cheers.
Now, their latest feeble attempt to destroy her. Alaskan Democrats are conducting an ethics campaign regarding their claim that she pressured the state’s Public Safety Commissioner to fire state trooper Mike Wooten, who went through a bitter divorce with her sister.
Remember, Democrats have set up this witch hunt and a Democrat, Kim Elton, appointed a Democrat, Hollis, to lead the investigation. The McCain campaign has referred to the OBAMA website that identifies members of this committee, including French and Elton, as strong Obama supporters. Already this commission, not very far into their “investigation,” has promised a potential “October” surprise, with their report coming out October 31, a convenient 4 days before the elections.
