Let Them Ride Bikes

If you think for a minute that Barack Obama gives a rip about any of the economic strife going on in this country think again. If you think for a minute Barack Obama gives a rip about high gas prices, you need to think again and again and again. Not only does he not care about high gas prices, he approves. He is an ideologue, and that is his ideology.

Obama did the two-step yesterday and today on the now rapidly escalating cost of gasoline. He stood there and lied to the American public. He is not going to increase leasing. He is still closing off land to drilling. He said he is going to double down on green energy and make gasoline from algae. Oh boy!!! Where do I get some of that?

I am not opposed to making fuel from algae. I am not opposed to any green initiatives except those that are given to his friends who then steal the money ala Solyndra. I am for alternative energy. It is a good idea. But it doesn’t help us now. Sooner or later we will get there as oil supplies begin to deplete and it becomes economically feasible to do so. And yes, the government should fund research to allow this wondrous thing to happen. Brazil gets its all of its fuel for cars from sugar cane. It is a doable project. But we are years away from an practical implementation.

And it does nothing for the economic shock to our already fragile system that is coming over the next few months. We cannot tolerate another round of high fuel prices. I have written over and over and over again, energy is the key to the American economy. The financial industry was the fire that almost destroyed the American economy in 2008, but it was $4.00 plus gas that lit the fuse. Energy is THE center of our economy.

Obama hates fossil fuels. His ideology is not based on providing fuel for our cars. His ideology is based on redistribution of income and resources, and global warming. Fossil fuels, any fossil fuels, are anathema to him. He will pay lip service to taking care of the high cost of gasoline, but as in all things Obama, look at what he does, not what he says. He wants high gasoline prices to feed his ideological belief system. In the process, he may “open” areas for drilling, but the permit process will stop any drilling in its place. He is about to raid the big, bad oil companies. Public Employee Pension Funds…beware!!! You own the stock in those big bad oil companies. And he will continue his tax breaks for cars that take 12 hours to charge so you can drive 20 miles without gas. Of course, he hasn’t figured out what to do with those environmentally unsafe batteries when they wear out. Maybe he can store them with the spent nuclear reactor rods. Wait a minute. He hasn’t figured out where to put those either, or how to transport them without the environmental whack jobs laying across the train tracks.

Now he is mocking Republicans and their drilling proposals.  It will take 5 years before they produce any oil.  Guess what!!!  That's what they said five years ago, and five years from then is now.  Of course, approving the Keystone pipeline doesn't take any time at all. 

All energy is important from whatever the source. Right now, we need Drill Here…Drill Now!!! But don’t hold your breath…just hold onto your wallet when you go to vote in November. Anyone got a bike?

Whitney Houston's Gift to Chris Christie: The Republican Nomination

It’s time the Republican Party wakes up and smells the coffee. The Republican nomination for President should not be a longevity award like a gold watch. Unfortunately, it is that way more often than not, and when it happens, the Republicans lose. Over the past several years, two longevity candidates stand out: Bob Dole and John McCain. Both fine men, both lousy presidential nominees.

John McCain is the more blatant of the two. The rank and file of the party didn’t want him. Even his own mother said people should hold their noses and vote for John. When Mom knows the score, that’s pretty bad!!! Huckabee, Giuliani, and/or Romney would have made a better candidate in 2008. Financial collapse notwithstanding, could any candidate be more boring and uninspiring than John McCain?

Here’s one. Bob Dole in 1996. Another war hero, but geez oh man. Couldn’t we get somebody breathing? (Although combine his vote with Ross Perot’s vote, the total was only 1.5% less than Bill Clinton’s, which says more about Clinton and Perot than Dole).

This year we are facing the same situation again. The Republican establishment, and the press, and most everyone I know think that Romney should and will win the nomination. The problem is he is as inspiring as a rock. Nice guy, probably qualified, but he’s like watching grass grow. Sometimes slow and steady is good. This isn’t one of those times.

Opposing him are Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, and Ron Paul. No matter what Romney does, he still can’t get over 38% of the vote. Right now, Santorum is the anti-Romney candidate after taking it over from Gingrich who shot himself in the foot as always. Nobody is sure Santorum can hold on, but he is showing strength in Ohio and Michigan, while Gingrich will probably win Georgia.

All of this is leading to a brokered convention. Romney cannot with a majority of delegates going into the convention with 38% of the vote.  Do you really think that Santorum or Gingrich or Ron Paul will release their delegates to Romney? Paul might because he has a personal relationship with Romney, but Santorum and Gingrich are shrewd. And I think in their heart of hearts they know they can’t beat Obama, and they don't like Romney.

Sitting in the wings is Chris Christie of New Jersey who just bought himself 5% of the black vote by ordering the flag flown at ½ mast for Whitney Houston and sticking by his decision against military criticism. He attended the 4 hour marathon funeral, and got praise from the pulpit.  What a masterful stroke of political genius!!!

Christie is the only candidate who can beat Barack Obama this fall. He sounds like a conservative and has stood up to the unions bolstering his conservative credentials. But he basically a Romney moderate with Santorum’s east coast blue collar appeal. He is the perfect candidate.

He appeals to independents by appearing on shows like Oprah. He has now endeared himself to the black community opening up an alternative to African Americans who would feel unable to vote for a white bread Mormon. All Christie has to do is to attract 2 or 3% of the African American community, and Obama is done. If he adds Marco Rubio to the ticket, it is a political strategist's dream: bringing together conservatives, moderates, Latino’s, and African American’s.  Christie can win New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, and even maybe New York. 

Christie continues to impress me. He is taking advantage of every possibility to appear as a reasonable and sensible alternative to those who tearing each other apart in this bizarre primary season. One should not only look to where he is appearing, but where he is not. As the primary approaches on February 28 in Michigan and Arizona, don’t look for Christie in either of those states campaigning for Romney. On Super Tuesday, don’t look for Christie in Ohio, which is where Santorum has chosen to make his stand.  He has dutifully stood by Romney like a good little, well not so little, Republican.  Now it's every man for himself.

Here’s the deal. The Republicans will give the nod to Christie at the convention. They will give the nod to Rubio at the convention. Romney will be tapped to be Secretary of State, and Santorum can have his pick of whatever is left. Energy Secretary might be a good choice.

You can bet on it!!!!!

The Death of the Constitution: Obama/Ginsburg/New York Times

If you had any doubt as to how the progressive movement feels about our Constitution, this past week should eliminate it. These folks have finally exposed themselves for what they are. From the President, to the Supreme Court, to the press, we now have confirmation of their disdain for the founding documents of this country. This is why President Obama and his progressive movement colleagues are dangerous to America and our way of life. They view the Constitution as a flawed document and America as a flawed country. Their goal is to get around the Constitution rather than uphold it. Are you ready to throw the Constitution under the bus?

1) Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a justice on the Supreme Court of the United States, said in an interview aired in Egypt of all places: “I would not look to the U.S. Constitution if I were drafting a constitution in the year 2012…I might look at the constitution of South Africa. That was a deliberate attempt to have a fundamental instrument of government that embraced basic human rights, had an independent judiciary….You would almost certainly look at the European Convention on Human Rights…” Really? Further references were made to human rights protected in other countries and not in the United States, including the right to a free education, free health care, and food. Guess how she is going to vote on Obama care?

2) In one of his hard hitting interviews, Matt Lauer asked Barack Obama how he feels about his supporters being upset he was not the transformational president he promised to be. Obama responded that people are frustrated but “It turns out our Founders designed a system that makes it more difficult to bring about change than I would like sometimes.” Really? Let’s see. You circumvented the congressional oversight of your cabinet by appointing a bunch of czars. You made “recess” appointments to various positions in your administration when Congress was not in recess. You are attempting to strangle the carbon fuel industry by fiat after Congress refused to pass your cap and trade bill. And now you are forcing the Catholic Church to give its employees an insurance policy that provides contraception, which is against the Catholic religion, while giving exemptions to all of your union buddies who don’t want to comply with Obamacare. Hail Caesar. The emperor is alive and well and living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

3) The New York Times, in an editorial written by Adam Liptak, states that the United States Constitution is in decline, and thus the country is in decline. He compares it to Windows 3.1, because it doesn’t guarantee things like health care, housing and education. He further states that most countries look to the framework provided in the constitutions of India, South Africa, and New Zealand…which are more “progressive.”

In a rebuttal commentary, Ben Shapiro stated that the United States is moving towards an international constitution rather than an historic constitution because the citizens of this country are coming to believe that the government is there to provide for them rather than to protect our liberties. Mr. Shapiro is exactly right. That is the fundamental change Barack Obama wants to impose on our country. Real rights, real freedom are perverted.  “The rest of the world has relied on America’s constitutional mindset to support it through trials and tribulations for well over a century. Who will support us when we abandon the philosophy that has stood for American freedom for centuries?” Amen, Mr. Shapiro. Amen!

Who Killed the Middle Class?

Ever wonder what happened to the middle class in America? Are you joining the class warfare whack jobs led by Barack Obama blaming the rich for the decline of the middle class? Do you think the rich got rich off the backs of the middle of the middle class? If you do, read Karl Marx…except for him it was the middle class who got rich off the working class. Who knew?

Folks, the middle class has declined in America not because of the rich, but because government policy has encouraged the decline and demise of things that allowed the growth of the middle class.  It’s the government stupid. Here are 5 reasons for the decline of the middle class.

1) Bad Tax Policy: It’s very simple. If you can build your factory over there and pay a lower tax rate….you will build your factory over there and pay a lower tax rate, and leave the money over there along with the jobs that go with it.

2) Minimum Wage: What a scam on the American public. Not all jobs should justify a wage that will support a family of four. The largest segment of unemployed people is those under the age of 25. Entry level jobs have become so expensive they just don’t hire grocery baggers anymore. It’s cheaper to buy a scanner.

3) Union Regulations: If you can build a factory where workers don’t have to join a union as opposed to where they have to join a union, you will go to where the workers don’t have to join a union. And unfortunately for union advocates, one doesn’t have to join a union in China or Mexico or Indonesia or Korea or Vietnam. Even within the United States, job growth occurs in "right to work" states unless there is a compelling reason for the manufacturer to be in a union state peculiar to that business.  Watch Catepillar, Canada, and Indiana.  America should take a lesson.

4) The EPA: If you can build your factory where you can get through a reasonable regulatory process without having to worry about the welfare of some obscure bug and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to make sure you have high efficiency toilets…you will build your factory where there is a reasonable and timely regulatory process. As the man said, we fought WWII and beat the Nazis and Japanese in 3 ½ years in a world war…but it has taken more than 8 years to study the Keystone XL pipeline and Obama deferred it for political reasons. That's not funny.

5) Government Regs: Pretend you are Boeing. If you could build your plant in China where the government will not tell you what state you must build in through a fascist NLRB, you will build your plant in China. Contrary to what has been in the papers, Boeing will never build another plant in the United States.

And here is the interesting thing. Obama thinks that a muffin shop is the be all and end all of small business. It’s not. Small business is a factory that employs a couple hundred to a couple thousand people. As those companies move overseas to get away from all of that stuff, the owners of those small business GET RICH!!!!!! What a surprise as these folks learn how easy it is to do business over there as opposed to over here.

So…if you want to know where all those middle class jobs went, and you want to blame the rich robber barons, you better take a look at that government, the supposed defender of the middle and the working classes in America. With friends like that, who need enemies? This is not complicated stuff. Faced with the above, where would you build your factory?