August 01, 2008
The Economy Killers
Welcome to a preview of your future, now.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have recessed Congress without passing a single appropriations bill, and the WSJ informs us that this is the first time that has happened since the 1950s.
They've effectively shutdown Congress, because of one simple reason: despite a steady increase in global demand that assures energy prices will continue a relentless rise in the long term, they refuse to allow any new domestic energy production.
Oil.
Natural Gas.
Coal.
Nuclear.
It doesn't matter. We have it, we need it, but Democrats don't want us to tap it, dig it, drill it, or use it. They feel that it is their responsibility to force Americans into using unproven energy sources, many of which are still on the drawing board. They will simply starve the nation's economy of our current resources, forcing every higher energy prices, forcing us to try to migrate to energy sources we don't yet have and which may not work, relying on an infrastructure that hasn't been built, and which may cost trillions.
Nancy Pelosi wants you to pay ten dollars for a gallon of gas. You'll be forced to drive a smaller car, restrict your travel, and use less carbon-producing fuels.
Harry Reid wants fewer coal and nuclear-fired electricity plants, and to charge you ever more for your air conditioning, your cooking, your electronics, your necessities, and your toys.
You'll payer higher costs on everything—food, clothes, medicines—and those higher costs will be passed along to businesses. Those businesses may have to start laying off all but critical personnel, and those surviving businesses will pass along the higher prices of their products and services to you, if you still among those who have a job.
You'll be forced to cut back on usage, or consider pouring money into expensive more energy-efficient appliances and home upgrades to "save" the environment and what remains of your bank account. So much for that college fund for your kids, or saving for your retirement, or having money set aside for family emergencies or illnesses.
How bad do you think it will get if Barack Obama, the untested progressive freshman Senator who seems to think he is running a coronation instead of a campaign, is elected President?
Do you think think that the exalted candidate of the fringe left environmental movement and Friend of Gore is going to suddenly shift towards a common-sense energy policy if elected? He doesn't have one now, so why would he change when he was the unwavering support of global warming truthers and a unified far left Congress behind him?
Of course, this may not be an issue for you. You may not mind adjusting to newer, smaller vehicles that cost more and can do less. You might think that the increased taxes are worth it. You may have extra money in your home budget that you would otherwise waste on frivolous things if not required to use them to pay for necessities like natural gas and electricity. I'm thrilled for you. Really. I am.
But for those of us who don't have extra money laying around in piles, this should be your wake up call.
The obstinate stupidity of this stand is actually, as is often the case in politics, oddly reassuring. Proposition A): The entire Dem package has absolutely NO chance of reducing prices and is certain to RAISE them, even the serious prospect of their passage will spike oil ever higher. Proposition B): Americans will not stand for ever escalating prices when there is oil beneath their feet. C): The alleged popularity of "environmentalism" is chimeric, a paper-tiger at best that can only survive when it is nearly cost-free at the consumer level.
Do Pelosi/Reid know A? Unless they are fully whacked out, yes. B? Oh, you bet. That is why the determined deflection. Where they fall down is C. Greenism is their religion and as such is not amenable to revision or even inspection. The Green/Marxists who reliably return the obvious loon, Pelosi are actually a tiny and affluent minority even in California. Even Democrats are way over half in support of offshore. If they knew what the hell oil shales are they would be even more for that. ANWR may yet prove a tactical advantage for McCain. His willingness to leave that untapped (for today) can let those reluctantly abandoning the strictest tenates of the Green faith ally themselves with him in a "pragmatic" move. Johnnie has a serious opportunity here and it is not going away because, now or five weeks from now, the Dems will do nothing that has the merest chance of lowering prices. If they truly believe $10 and $12 dollar gas is in the national and global interest they had better be prepared to suffer at the polls. Suffer mightily.
Posted by: megapotamus at August 1, 2008 11:51 AMYa know something?
Ive been going through a program called troops2roughnecks. It is a class put on by the troops transition team.
Well we had our first class today, and I learned an interesting tidbit of information that the politicians seem to ignore.
Like any big business, oil and drilling companies do things with tactical intent. Back in the 70s and 80s the drilling companies drilled thousands and thousands of oil and natural gas wells off the coast of the US, then capped them. They do this because they, and everyone else, knows that business is an investment. So you drill and cap, then when market price rises you extract. That way you did a bulk of the work at a lower price. Then the ban was enacted, so these wells sat and were not exploited.
Now we are looking at the ban being lifted.
According to the instructor who has over thirty years of experience in the oil fields, and has worked in everything from a routabout to CEO claims that the oil (and these are proven wells) can be turned over to market within six months. SIX MONTHS!
According to him, there were over 3000 wells dug in the Gulf, around a thousand dug off the coast of California, and between 500 and a thousand dug off the east coast. He says that something like 90% of them were proven oil.
Posted by: Matt at August 1, 2008 04:48 PMHere's an interesting little tidbit:
Today Sen. McConnell offered several Unanimous Consent requests to lift the ban on deep-sea exploration. Democrats objected.But it got worse!
He asked if Democrats would allow increased deep-sea exploration if the price of gas reached a national average of $4.50. Democrats objected.
He asked if Democrats would allow increased deep-sea exploration if the price of gas reached a national average of $5.00. Democrats objected.
He asked if Democrats would allow increased deep-sea exploration if the price of gas reached a national average of $7.50. Democrats objected.
He asked if Democrats would allow increased deep-sea exploration if the price of gas reached a national average of $10.00. Democrats objected.
The designated objector was Sen. Salazar of Colorado, for those who are interested.
The video can be found here.
Posted by: C-C-G at August 1, 2008 07:56 PMYup, sounds about right.
I am just about convinced that the left is deliberately attempting to destroy this country.
And they wonder why their approval rating is lower than any other.
Posted by: Matt at August 1, 2008 08:19 PMWe're printing up signs and tacking them to gas pumps in Iowa: Please Vote Democratic this fall for $10/gal gas. Save our environment!
Chickens coming home to roost, indeed.
Posted by: redherkey at August 1, 2008 10:31 PM"...the oil (and these are proven wells) can be turned over to market within six months. SIX MONTHS!"
This is the perfect fact to use to explain to people why the oil futures prices, that is, the oil price quoted by the media, always drop at the mere SUGGESTION that we may once again start producing our own oil. There are other, more obscure reasons, too, but this one everyone can grasp instantly.
The world oil markets know all about those capped wells even if our fuzzy headed media elites do not.
Posted by: Bill Smith at August 1, 2008 11:18 PMFirst and last time I'll read this blog.
What is the obsession with promoting filthy, dangerous forms of energy? The off-shore drilling will be included in a final bill. The dems are just making sure it won't be the same Big Oil Party jackpot the wingers have provided in the past.
Yours is the party that can't see beyond the next quarterly profit. Yours is the party that sold America out to foreign investment with abandon, killing environmental and labor conditions in trade packages that would make trade fair, not free. Your party has never seen a body of pristine water as anything other than a convenient place to dump your industrial and human waste. Your party is brain damaged by drinking at the Big Oil well for decades. A huge majority of the world hates you, except, of course all those Mid-East billionaires you happily transferred our wealth to all these years, killing alternative energy transportation innovations (but lo-ooving those "financial innovations the Market conjured up!) until the floor gave out.
The 527's write themselves.
Posted by: Becca at August 2, 2008 08:36 AMAnd what would you suggest we do to fix our energy problem? Let me guess, NOTHING!
Posted by: Matt at August 2, 2008 09:48 AMBecca, what are we going to use, if not oil, to power our vehicles? Gonna put a sail on top of your oh-so-fashionable VW Bug? Enjoy walking to work on a calm day. Same with solar and a cloudy day (like we have today--and all too often--in the northwestern USA).
Electric? Well, where are we gonna get the electricity? Wind and solar have the same problems listed above... besides, the high-and-mighty (read: Senators Kennedy and Kerry, among others) don't want windmills on their coast, where it would spoil the view they've spend so many millions to get. Coal and natural gas, which are used now, are also "dirty." And you greenies won't let us use nuclear power, despite the fact that Europe gets a lot of its power from nuclear; one of the few times that the left doesn't want us to follow Europe.
So would you have us return to the days of horse and buggy? You realize that the "emissions" from a horse are even dirtier than those from a gas engine, and are a perfect breeding ground for lots of illnesses. Or maybe you lefties would call that animal cruelty towards horses and have us all walk?
I could go on, but I think I've poked enough holes in your wacky post. Please, feel free to stay away.
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