Democrats Pass Sham Energy Bill

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Sep 172008
 

Well the Democrats continue to screw the American people. As usual, under the cover of darkness, they passed their “Hoax” Energy Bill (H.R. 6899). The bill passed 236-189 despite the objections of Republicans who said it would do little to boost offshore oil and gas production.

These corrupt a$$holes want to open up the strategic reserve, stating that it will cause speculators to drive down prices, but refuse to allow drilling for the exact same reason. Obviously Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats are banking on the idea that the American electorate is stupid. This can only lower their 9 percent approval rating and I think they are in for a big surprise in November. At least I hope so!

This may well die in the Senate. If that is not the case, President Bush, who recently lifted the executive order ban on drilling, may well veto it or refuse to sign it. Lets hope to God that is the case.

Here is the roll call vote.

Another Sham “No-Energy” Energy Bill

Highlights of the Democrat Energy Bill (H.R.6899):

· 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.

What isn’t 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.

Conservatism is Back and the Left is Trembling

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Sep 062008
 


This piece by Kathryn Jean Lopez at NRO is really well-written and really understands the feelings of Republican voters before and after Sarah Palin was chosen to be Vice President.

Hell, just 10 days ago I was going to have to get drunk and hold my nose to vote for John McCain. With his selection of Sarah Palin, I gained a new respect for McCain and have to agree with Rush Limbaugh; we should call him “John McGenius.”

The Rush Is on for Palin, GOP

Considering the location of the Republican convention, the theme song had already been written for Sarah Palin’s vice presidential campaign. It comes from The Mary Tyler Moore Show, based in the Twin Cities.

“Who can turn the world on with her smile? Who can take a nothing day, and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile? Well, it’s you, girl, and you should know it; with each glance and every little movement, you show it. Love is all around, no need to waste it. You can have a town, why don’t you take it? You’re gonna make it after all.”

With the announcement of Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running mate, the Republican Party transformed overnight from a lackluster, demoralized group of people largely willing to vote for McCain out of a lack of alternatives, to an eager and energized movement, ready to donate their time, money, and expertise. In the course of a few days, people who felt like they didn’t have a stake in the election became enthusiastically engaged. At one pro-life event here, a woman announced, “I’m really voting for Palin, not McCain.” There’s something about Palin that connects with and comforts members of the Right, while threatening those on the Left.

In the days after McCain’s pick became public, we saw left-wing blogs write salacious and unsubstantiated claims about Palin and her family. These digital scandalmongers even won a victory of sorts, when the Palins announced, through the McCain campaign, the pregnancy of their unwed teenage daughter. The Left evinced no small satisfaction from their time wallowing in the mud. As lurid, tabloid-ready stories issued forth, conservatives both rushed to defend Palin and got a little nervous. Had she been vetted properly? Could there be other, more dire skeletons lurking?

Creeping dread began to dampen the initial enthusiasm for the Alaskan governor. There were too many growing distractions, perhaps the biggest being the question of experience. McCain had previously said a vice president should be ready to assume the presidency from the get-go. Doubt and uncertainty grew.

But then on Wednesday night, Palin spoke.

Not only did she show the depth of her moral character, she demonstrated an aptitude for policy, both foreign and domestic. Most importantly, she exhibited a love of country, and a respect and support for military service. She came across as an everywoman. A mom who wanted to do her part at home and in the world — an instinct that led her into politics, and ultimately onto the podium of the Xcel Center as John McCain’s Number Two.

By the time she wrapped up her acceptance speech, the skepticism had vanished, and the dominant reaction now seems to be happiness and relief at McCain’s sagacious choice.

And for once, skeptics can’t cry tokenism. Commentators who compare Palin to George Bush’s gender-based, experience-blind pick for the Supreme Court, Harriet Miers, couldn’t be more off-base. One of Palin’s positives for McCain may have been her lack of a Y chromosome, but she’s also got everything else — including the fighting spirit to cross swords with a self-proclaimed scrapper, Joe Biden. Palin has the humor and winsome charm to hold an audience, the real-world wisdom to persuade, and the compassion to inspire — not to mention the executive experience that no one on either ticket can claim. Putting a play on an Obama phrase, conservatives have been saying, “She is the one we have been waiting for.” Comparisons to Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher are flying — all a tad premature, but it’s a good thing just the same.

What excites conservatives about Palin angers the Left. She’s an attractive (“The hottest governor from the coolest state,” one pin making the convention-hall rounds announced), conservative, pro-life, happy warrior who won’t play victim even when she and her family are attacked by a supposedly objective media. She threatens a dying feminist movement that thrives on victimization. With a gun in hand, ready to make moose burgers or caribou stew, Palin is not their kinda girl. And that’s exactly as it should be.

The “Temple of Obama”

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Aug 282008
 


Well we got our first glimpse of the stage where Barack Obama will deliver his acceptance speech at Invesco Field. It looks very similar to a “Greek temple.”

Imagine that…today is the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech, which was given on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. The Lincoln Memorial has Greek columns, so it’s probably meant to connect Obama with King. I think Obama is going to try to milk the Martin Luther King speech at the Lincoln Memorial for all its worth.

My words to Obama: Senator, I served with Martin Luther King: I knew Martin Luther King; Martin Luther King was a friend of mine. Senator, you’re no Martin Luther King.

TEMPLE OF DEM ON MT. O-LYMPUS GOP MOCKS GRAND STAGE FOR BAM AS GREEK HUBRIS

Democrats will kneel before the “Temple of Obama” tonight.

As if a Rocky Mountain coronation were not lofty enough, Barack Obama will aim for Mount Olympus when he accepts his party’s nomination atop an enormous, Greek-columned stage – designed by the same cheesy set team that put together Britney Spears’ last tour.

John McCain’s campaign mocked the massive neoclassical set created for Obama’s speech at 75,000-seat Invesco Field. Some Republicans have dubbed it the “Barackopolis,” while others suggested the delegates should wear togas to fit in among the same Doric columns the ancient Greeks believed would stroke the egos of Zeus and Athena.

“It’s only appropriate that Barack Obama would descend down from the heavens and spend a little time with us mere mortals when accepting the Democratic nomination,” said Republican National Committee spokesman Danny Diaz.

The McCain campaign quickly dispatched a memo calling the stage the “Temple of Obama.”

“We would have expected to read something like this in The Onion. Fortunately for us, it’s true. Unfortunately for Obama, it’s true,” a McCain adviser told The Post.

But the set is designed to evoke the White House and the Lincoln Memorial, not the Acropolis, said staging supervisor Bobby Allen, a Spears set vet.

“We’ve done Britney’s sets and a whole bunch of rock shows, but this was far more elaborate and complicated and we had to do it in far less time,” said Allen, of RDA Entertainment.

“The biggest challenge has been making sure we don’t damage the playing field underneath.”

Asked who is harder to sat isfy – the Democrats or Britney – Allen replied: “I better not answer that.”

The curved, columned backdrop does resemble the portico of the White House, and blue carpeting and podium surrounded by white stars is suggestive of the Oval Office, other crew members said.

Democrats quickly pointed out that George W. Bush accepted the Republican nomination before a similar, though less elaborate, stage in 2004.

Obama chose to accept the nomination at Invesco Field and not at the Pepsi Center, where the rest of the convention is being held, so he can reach out to a larger number of supporters – a move John F. Kennedy employed in 1960.

The late decision to move the speech to the football stadium did not give Allen and the other contractors much time to make the Olympian stage a reality.

“We knew about it for only a few weeks, and had only one week to actually assemble this,” he said.

The structure has an aluminum frame, and the faux-stone walls and columns are made of wood.

Obama has been called “the biggest celebrity in the world” by the McCain campaign. Republicans say that even though Obama will share the stage with Stevie Wonder, the candidate is proving their point.

Asked about McCain’s criticism of the Democratic convention stage, Obama adviser David Axelrod jabbed at McCain for “shooting barbs about the opulence of our convention from the mountaintop in Sedona.”

Democratic delegates defended the grandiosity as fitting with the monumental importance of this election.

“If you ask me, it kind of looks like the columns in the White House,” Ohio delegate Eileen Krupinski said.

Kathy Knight, a North Carolina delegate, said the Republicans will say anything to bring Obama down.

“All they can reach for is what’s negative,” she said. “That’s just tacky.”

Regardless of questions about the temple, people are still clamoring to get inside.

Despite Democratic efforts to stop rampant ticket-scalping for Obama’s big speech tonight, craigslist.com has been filled with ads offering the impossible-to-get seats for as much as $1,000.

Standing on this temple podium, Obama will recall Rev. Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech while mourning the victims of Hurricane Katrina when he accepts his party’s nomination tonight – fusing two events central to the African-American experience into his call for national unity and change.

“He’s going to lay out the case for change. He’s going to set the stakes for this election – the risks of continuing down the road we’re on,” said Axelrod, previewing the speech.

Although Obama was still working on his speech yesterday, he will continue to try to paint McCain as someone who “doesn’t get” the struggles of ordinary Americans.

Obama has been refining his text for weeks, working with a team of aides and speechwriters to polish a speech he drafted on his own. For guidance, he has reviewed three speeches of interest: Bill Clinton in 1992, John Kennedy in 1960, and Ronald Reagan in 1980. Obama, who arrived in Denver yesterday, was sharpening his attacks on McCain at a riverside park in Billings, Mont., in preparation for his address.

“Do we have a president who gets that veterans are struggling every day, or do we have somebody who doesn’t get it?” he asked.

“Who wants to give more tax cuts to big corporations including ExxonMobil – $300 billion worth – while we get 100 million people without any tax relief whatsoever?” he continued.

“I am going to fight as hard as I can over the next 70 days to make clear to the American people that they deserve a president and a White House that’s fighting for them. It’s not fighting for the special interests . . . It’s fighting for you,” he said.

On energy, Obama said McCain was “asleep at the switch” – a dig that hinted at his advanced age.

Joke Of The Day

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Aug 252008
 

The Presidential election was too close to call. Neither the Republican candidate nor the Democratic candidate had enough votes to win. There was much talk about ballot recounting, court challenges, etc., but a week-long ice fishing competition seemed the sportsmanlike way to settle things. The candidate that caught the most fish at the end of the week would win the election.

Therefore, it was decided that there should be an ice fishing contest between the two candidates to determine the winner. After much of back and forth discussion, it was decided that the contest take place on a remote frozen lake in northern Minnesota. There were to be no observers present, and both men were to be sent out separately on this isolated lake and return at 5 P.M. with their catch for counting and verification by a team of neutral parties.

At the end of the first day, John McCain returned to the starting line and he had ten fish. Soon, Obama returned and had no fish. Well, everyone assumed he was just having another ‘bad hair’ day or something and hopefully, he would catch up the next day.

At the end of the 2nd day John McCain came in with 20 fish and Obama came in again with none.

That evening, Harry Reid got together secretly with Obama and said, “Obama, I think John McCain is a low-life, cheatin’ son-of-a-gun. I want you to go out tomorrow and don’t even bother with fishing. Just spy on him and see just how he is cheating.”

The next night (after John McCain returns with 50 fish), Harry said to Obama, “Well, tell me, how is John McCain cheating?”

Obama replied, “Harry, you’re not going to believe this, but he’s cutting holes in the ice”.

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