In a recent oped piece for IBD, Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne made the following statement: "Promises that more offshore drilling will magically bring down prices are not backed up by the evidence."
Twisted logic. First of all, there is no evidence available, because we can't drill for more offshore oil. Only if we were drilling for more oil would there be evidence one way or another. Second of all, the economic principles of supply and demand aren't "magic."
Next, he quotes Al "I invented the internet" Gore: "We have been drilling for more oil, and the prices have gone up," Gore said in the interview. "A lot more oil has been found, a lot more has been produced."
Typical of liberals, they forget the supply side of the equation. We could drill 10 times more oil, but if it didn't meet needs, the price would probably go up.
But more typical, Gore's statement is not true. Our domestic production of oil has fallen 12 percent over the last several years.
According to the American Petroleum Institute, between 2000 and 2007, drilling of exploratory wells increased 138% while domestic crude oil production fell 12.4% to its lowest level since 1947.
Besides just ignoring the facts, this liberal non-logic is the same as stating that drilling for more oil won't lower the price of gasoline, but syphoning off 70 million barrels or so of oil from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve will. If you put 70 million barrels in the market all at once, this new supply would last no more than three days, based on our consumption of 20 million per day.
The liberal tactic here is to convince us they know best, though the proper use of correct logic would invalidate their premiss, and if that doesn't work, just make up some "facts" to validate their case.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Who Would You Call?
If you had a problem with your plumbing, you'd call a plumber, right? A broken tooth, the dentist. Your car broken down? An auto mechanic. We typically call the experts to help us in areas where we have less expertise.
So if we have an oil "crisis" who are you going to call? An oilman, or a vineyard owner?
George Bush was a successful Texas oilman, before becoming part-owner of the Texas Rangers and then governor of Texas. Then of course, two terms as President.
Nancy Pelosi and her husband own vineyards in northern California, and other than being a congresswoman, she doesn't have any experience with oil exploration or production.
So who are we going to call?
So if we have an oil "crisis" who are you going to call? An oilman, or a vineyard owner?
George Bush was a successful Texas oilman, before becoming part-owner of the Texas Rangers and then governor of Texas. Then of course, two terms as President.
Nancy Pelosi and her husband own vineyards in northern California, and other than being a congresswoman, she doesn't have any experience with oil exploration or production.
So who are we going to call?
Pelosi's Priorities: Dog Walkers
Our favorite Speaker of the House has her priorities in order. While we are debating gas prices, oil drilling, financial melt-downs, and other problems affecting our way of life, Nancy is worried about the name of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.
From the San Jose Mercury News:
When President Harry Truman called his Congress a "do-nothing Congress" he had no idea of how do-nothing it would eventually become. Why would any sane person, at this time, even think about spending time on this non-issue today? I guess I answered my own question.
God help us all.
From the San Jose Mercury News:
Dog walkers say House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's attempt to change the name of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area to Golden Gate National Parks could bar their pooches from running free.
"Pelosi Betrays Her Constituents!" blares one headline on a dog walking Web site, which goes on to say a change to the name from "recreation area" to "national park" would make it easier for the federal government to restrict dogs in areas such as Rodeo, Muir and other Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo beaches.
Under current rules, dogs generally must be kept on leash in national parks. Rules in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area allow dogs to be off the leash in certain areas as long as they are under "voice command."
"I think a lot of dog groups are pretty concerned about the name change," said Sally Stephens of the San Francisco Dog Owners Group. "And this could not only affect dog walkers, but other forms of recreation as well."
Pelosi last month introduced a bill that would change the name, saying she wanted better recognition for the park areas. The proposal will be reviewed by the House's Resource Committee Tuesday.
When President Harry Truman called his Congress a "do-nothing Congress" he had no idea of how do-nothing it would eventually become. Why would any sane person, at this time, even think about spending time on this non-issue today? I guess I answered my own question.
God help us all.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Pelosi: Drilling Issue is an 'Absolute Hoax'
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Speaker of the House, is stuck in the "we can't drill our way out of this problem." She recently told The Hill newspaper that "this call for drilling in areas that are protected is a hoax, it's an absolute hoax on the part of the Republicans and this administration."
She doesn't care about the price of gasoline. Worth some $50 million, she is not hurting at the gasoline pump. In fact, she probably likes gasoline at $4. It means we'll use less, which will help the battle on global warming (a recent study suggests that more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will increase crop yields, but I digress once again).
Even if new drilling only reduced the price of gasoline by a few cents, at least my dollars would be buying American oil, not Saudi, Iranian, Nigerian, Venezuelan, etc. Instead of funding rogue regimes, we would be funding our own economy.
How can our Speaker of the House and many other democrats deny us that?
She is intent on preventing votes on opening more areas to offshore drilling despite the stirring of a revolt by rank-and-file Democrats after months of concerted effort by House Republicans. In other words, she has ordained herself Queen of America, and nothing gets voted on without her O.K. Even George Bush doesn't have that kind of power.
We send our representatives to Congress to vote on issues. But not in Pelosi's House, where she, and she alone calls the shots. No wonder the approval rating for Congress is only 9 percent, according to some polls (and at the most, 18 percent).
Even Sen. Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader, who is normally just as liberal as Pelosi, is twisting, saying that "I'm not knee-jerk-opposed to anything." Of course, we won't include his "The War is Lost" mentality of recent past.
The Democrat solution is more regulation (always the mantra of the left) of oil futures traders, more hearings and grilling of oil executives, and yet surprisingly a couple of good ideas: the Bureau of Land Management should speed up the leasing of approved areas, ban the export of American oil, and urge the completion of the Alaskan oil and gas pipelines.
But no more drilling or using our own resources. We'll just ask the Saudis nicely to provide us more, and I'm sure they will.
How naive. To solve the current energy "crisis" will take a multi-front strategy, and getting more of our own resources is one part of the attack. We have enough to supply our own needs, if only the Democrats had a brain enough to let us.
She doesn't care about the price of gasoline. Worth some $50 million, she is not hurting at the gasoline pump. In fact, she probably likes gasoline at $4. It means we'll use less, which will help the battle on global warming (a recent study suggests that more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will increase crop yields, but I digress once again).
Even if new drilling only reduced the price of gasoline by a few cents, at least my dollars would be buying American oil, not Saudi, Iranian, Nigerian, Venezuelan, etc. Instead of funding rogue regimes, we would be funding our own economy.
How can our Speaker of the House and many other democrats deny us that?
She is intent on preventing votes on opening more areas to offshore drilling despite the stirring of a revolt by rank-and-file Democrats after months of concerted effort by House Republicans. In other words, she has ordained herself Queen of America, and nothing gets voted on without her O.K. Even George Bush doesn't have that kind of power.
We send our representatives to Congress to vote on issues. But not in Pelosi's House, where she, and she alone calls the shots. No wonder the approval rating for Congress is only 9 percent, according to some polls (and at the most, 18 percent).
Even Sen. Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader, who is normally just as liberal as Pelosi, is twisting, saying that "I'm not knee-jerk-opposed to anything." Of course, we won't include his "The War is Lost" mentality of recent past.
The Democrat solution is more regulation (always the mantra of the left) of oil futures traders, more hearings and grilling of oil executives, and yet surprisingly a couple of good ideas: the Bureau of Land Management should speed up the leasing of approved areas, ban the export of American oil, and urge the completion of the Alaskan oil and gas pipelines.
But no more drilling or using our own resources. We'll just ask the Saudis nicely to provide us more, and I'm sure they will.
How naive. To solve the current energy "crisis" will take a multi-front strategy, and getting more of our own resources is one part of the attack. We have enough to supply our own needs, if only the Democrats had a brain enough to let us.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Gramm's Comments Hide Bigger Story
Phil, you're not helping the conservative or Republican cause when you stay stupid shit. Of course, it doesn't matter that the "mental recession" comment was made in private and then later relayed to a journalist. It gave the liberals more ammunition about insensitive conservatives.
I know everyone with a blog or computer or typewriter will be commenting on Phil Gramm's idiotic comments yesterday. If you really want to know what some people think or feel, take a look at Melody's rant at the DailyKos.
Yes, I occasionally peruse sites like DailyKos and Huffington Post. If you have any stake in what's going on, you gotta know what other people who might disagree with you are thinking. Then you need to think about what they're thinking before you throw it out. Otherwise, you're no better than the left-wing koolaid drinkers.
Anyway, Melody makes some valid points, even though some things aren't quite right factually (like her whining about it being hot in Texas, which it is every summer and this one is not even close to a record, the public pool has closed because the Democrat leadership in Dallas can't manage their budget; like her "cottage" decreasing in value by $50K; home prices in Dallas have been relatively stable, unless you're living in a $750K house, which in Dallas equates to a $3 million house in L.A.), and telling him to stick it up his ass several times losses its one-time punch.
But as a fellow middle-class American, I have to agree with her point that the recent rise in price of gas, energy, and food have made an impact on us, and it's just not mental. So Gramm has done everyone a disservice, and a great one at that.
But he does have somewhat of a point: we are becoming a nation of whiners, especially on the left.
But there is more to this story than meets the eye, especially at first glance. At nearly the same time Phill is making an idiot of himself, Michelle Obama put her foot in her mouth as well. Phil sounds elitist, but so does Michelle when she says, "Barack's approach is that the short-term quick fix kinda stuff sounds good," she continued. "And it may even feel good that first month when you get that check. And then you go out and you buy a pair of earrings..." I assume she's talking about the May rebate checks (this isn't a gift from the government, they're just returning my money). Full story here.
Earrings? My wife and I received $1,200 in rebate checks; we're not going to go buy earrings for God's sake, or anything else frivolous. We used it on things we need.
But where is the outrage? The Obamas get a free pass again from the main street media. The conservative gets hammered, and rightly so, but the liberal is so cute. Even the somewhat-more-conservative-than-most U.S. News and World Report ignores it...
That's the bigger story.
I know everyone with a blog or computer or typewriter will be commenting on Phil Gramm's idiotic comments yesterday. If you really want to know what some people think or feel, take a look at Melody's rant at the DailyKos.
Yes, I occasionally peruse sites like DailyKos and Huffington Post. If you have any stake in what's going on, you gotta know what other people who might disagree with you are thinking. Then you need to think about what they're thinking before you throw it out. Otherwise, you're no better than the left-wing koolaid drinkers.
Anyway, Melody makes some valid points, even though some things aren't quite right factually (like her whining about it being hot in Texas, which it is every summer and this one is not even close to a record, the public pool has closed because the Democrat leadership in Dallas can't manage their budget; like her "cottage" decreasing in value by $50K; home prices in Dallas have been relatively stable, unless you're living in a $750K house, which in Dallas equates to a $3 million house in L.A.), and telling him to stick it up his ass several times losses its one-time punch.
But as a fellow middle-class American, I have to agree with her point that the recent rise in price of gas, energy, and food have made an impact on us, and it's just not mental. So Gramm has done everyone a disservice, and a great one at that.
But he does have somewhat of a point: we are becoming a nation of whiners, especially on the left.
But there is more to this story than meets the eye, especially at first glance. At nearly the same time Phill is making an idiot of himself, Michelle Obama put her foot in her mouth as well. Phil sounds elitist, but so does Michelle when she says, "Barack's approach is that the short-term quick fix kinda stuff sounds good," she continued. "And it may even feel good that first month when you get that check. And then you go out and you buy a pair of earrings..." I assume she's talking about the May rebate checks (this isn't a gift from the government, they're just returning my money). Full story here.
Earrings? My wife and I received $1,200 in rebate checks; we're not going to go buy earrings for God's sake, or anything else frivolous. We used it on things we need.
But where is the outrage? The Obamas get a free pass again from the main street media. The conservative gets hammered, and rightly so, but the liberal is so cute. Even the somewhat-more-conservative-than-most U.S. News and World Report ignores it...
That's the bigger story.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Random Thoughts
A liberal would have written the headline above as "Random Musings." It sounds more intellectual. But simple words have an impact as well. Hemmingway and Stephen King wrote at the fifth-grade level.
The American Left keeps looking for institutions, organizations or people to blame for the rapid increase in energy prices. Who is it now? Ronald Reagan, of course. See Richard Cohen's column in the Washington Post. You can read it at IDB editorials; that way, you don't have to register if you don't want to, because the Post will make you register. Interesting quote from the column: "The worst part of Reaganism was its political success."
Somebody shoot me, ok?
Sometimes Liberal Logic doesn't compute. With Obama's lean toward the center, some on the left want to make sure we know that McCain has been flip-flopping on Iraq. The U.S. and Iraq are negotiating a security treaty, and the Iraqis want our departure as part of that treaty. This is great news, because the Iraqis are beginning to stand up for themselves. (I guess the surge worked, but I digress). But Jon Soltz at the Huffington Post wrote "There you have it. The Iraqis are basically telling the US that they endorse Obama's policy..." He continues with twists and turns to accuse McCain of twisting and turning. McCain is a flip-flopper because he hasn't come out immediately and say he'll support immediate withdrawal.
Somebody shoot me, ok?
Why is it that we have to cut our "carbon output" by 50 percent by some future date, but the Chinese, Indians and basically the entire third world get a free pass. Are they trying to spend us to death, like Reagan did to the Soviet Union?
Obama thinks we should be embarrassed because we (Americans) aren't all bi-lingual. Europeans come here and they can speak English, he says, but all we can say is merci beau coup (French for thank you very much, in case you're not bi-lingual). He says we should make sure all of our children speak Spanish. Obama is clueless. I lived in Europe for five years, and while many Europeans do speak English, many do not. English is the world-wide language of business, air traffic control, diplomacy, etc. If the world-wide language was French, as it was around the founding of this country, more of us would speak French, as our founding fathers did. If you're going to blame someone for the dominance of English, blame the British.
Nothing wrong with being bi-lingual, but I get the feeling the American Left would make it a requirement, enforced by government decree.
Leave Europe for the Europeans, America for Americans.
I'm I dead yet?
The American Left keeps looking for institutions, organizations or people to blame for the rapid increase in energy prices. Who is it now? Ronald Reagan, of course. See Richard Cohen's column in the Washington Post. You can read it at IDB editorials; that way, you don't have to register if you don't want to, because the Post will make you register. Interesting quote from the column: "The worst part of Reaganism was its political success."
Somebody shoot me, ok?
Sometimes Liberal Logic doesn't compute. With Obama's lean toward the center, some on the left want to make sure we know that McCain has been flip-flopping on Iraq. The U.S. and Iraq are negotiating a security treaty, and the Iraqis want our departure as part of that treaty. This is great news, because the Iraqis are beginning to stand up for themselves. (I guess the surge worked, but I digress). But Jon Soltz at the Huffington Post wrote "There you have it. The Iraqis are basically telling the US that they endorse Obama's policy..." He continues with twists and turns to accuse McCain of twisting and turning. McCain is a flip-flopper because he hasn't come out immediately and say he'll support immediate withdrawal.
Somebody shoot me, ok?
Why is it that we have to cut our "carbon output" by 50 percent by some future date, but the Chinese, Indians and basically the entire third world get a free pass. Are they trying to spend us to death, like Reagan did to the Soviet Union?
Obama thinks we should be embarrassed because we (Americans) aren't all bi-lingual. Europeans come here and they can speak English, he says, but all we can say is merci beau coup (French for thank you very much, in case you're not bi-lingual). He says we should make sure all of our children speak Spanish. Obama is clueless. I lived in Europe for five years, and while many Europeans do speak English, many do not. English is the world-wide language of business, air traffic control, diplomacy, etc. If the world-wide language was French, as it was around the founding of this country, more of us would speak French, as our founding fathers did. If you're going to blame someone for the dominance of English, blame the British.
Nothing wrong with being bi-lingual, but I get the feeling the American Left would make it a requirement, enforced by government decree.
Leave Europe for the Europeans, America for Americans.
I'm I dead yet?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)