Happy Earth Day!!

Video: “If I Wanted America to Fail”

40th (Now 42nd) Anniversary of 1st Earth Day – A Grim Reminder of Immigration and Devastation of a Vision

Please Pass It On

Paying at the Pump With Eric Bolling and Gov. Sarah Palin

If you missed the Eric Bolling – Sarah Palin Special: Paying at the Pump, aired on Fox News over the weekend, here it is.  Definitely worth the watch!

‘The Special’ offers input from experts, everyday people and some solutions including from Governor Sarah Palin and Eric Bolling…

Paying at the Pump with Eric Bolling and Sarah Palin

Video:  Paying at the Pump with Eric Bolling and Sarah Palin

The video clearly points out that energy production in America is directly related to the American economy… and in turn energy independence is directly related to American economic recovery.  This special touches on several common sense solutions.

And for the environmentalists out there, there are green solutions for clean-up.  Here’s one: check-out these products: DualZorb®, PondZorb® and AcidZorb® distributed domestically and globally by a growing company MC Endeavors, Inc. who just launched an Online Store.

Updated: 4.17.12 at 12:05 ET – National Review Online

(Curiously just on the heals of, but not a word for credit or even a mention of the Bolling- Palin special… so as stated below this seems to be the big ‘campaign’ initiative of the day, but nothing will come of it… and certainly no shared credit if something should!)

Obama Announces New ‘Oil Market Manipulator’ Hunt Four Years Straight by Jim Gerahty

President Obama’s big initiative for the day is yet another pledge to crack down on nefarious energy traders who are driving up prices of oil and gasoline.

Today: “Under pressure to take action on rising gasoline prices, President Barack Obama wants Congress to strengthen federal supervision of oil markets, increase penalties for market manipulation and empower regulators to increase the amount of money energy traders are required to put behind their transactions. The White House plan, which Obama was to unveil Tuesday, is more likely to draw sharp election-year distinctions with Republicans than have an immediate effect on prices at the pump. The measures seek to boost spending for Wall Street enforcement at a time when congressional Republicans are seeking to limit the reach of federal financial regulations.”

If this pledge sounds familiar… it’s because Obama and his administration announce some new initiative to do this every year, usually as spring turns to summer and the price of gas increases as Americans drive more. It’s almost like the Cherry Blossom Festival.

Last June: “The Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether oil companies have engaged in anticompetitive practices or manipulated crude oil prices, the government’s latest salvo to rein in high energy prices. The commission said on Monday it was also looking into whether oil companies had provided false or misleading information to a federal agency related to the wholesale price of oil or petroleum products. “We remain committed to preventing and prosecuting any anticompetitive, fraudulent, or otherwise illegal activity which we identify through the foregoing investigation,” commission Chairman Jon Leibowitz said in a letter to Senator John Rockefeller, who called on the FTC in March to launch an investigation.”

Just about one year ago today, April, 2011: “With U.S. gasoline pump prices soaring, the Obama administration on Thursday unveiled a working group of federal agencies to probe potential fraud in the energy markets. The White House is worried that if average gas prices rise above $4 a gallon, the economic and political fallout could dominate next year’s presidential campaign and drown out President Barack Obama’s message of economic recovery. Obama asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to assemble a team of agency officials to “root out” cases of oil market fraud that affect pump prices, including actions by speculators.”

March 2011: “Obama said he had ordered a review of why oil companies aren’t producing more petroleum on federal land, and said his administration would monitor “any possible manipulation in the oil markets” and work with state governments to monitor for potential price gouging at the gas pump.”

July 2010: “Traders will face new rules aimed at making it easier for regulators to prove manipulation in markets for commodities such as oil, wheat and natural gas under the financial overhaul awaiting President Barack Obama’s signature.”

And then in August 2009: “Energy traders and companies will face fines of up to $1 million a day if they manipulate oil markets, the Federal Trade Commission ruled on Thursday in a crackdown on fraud that they said causes widespread damage to the U.S. economy. The agency issued a rule, which takes effect November 4, to prohibit fraud or deceit both in the cash, or physical, energy markets and on the regulated futures exchanges.”

Now… with gas averaging $3.89 per gallon nationally and much higher in many parts of the country, we can conclude that either every previous initiative announced by the administration was spectacularly ineffective at containing the nefarious menace of oil price speculators… or that oil price speculators are not really the reason gas prices increase.

Define Gradual Adjustment

Shell shocked doesn’t quite convey what we felt last week when we filled up with gas here and the price per gallon jumped 35 cents in two days. We spoke to others filling their tanks and they were all dazed and angry as well. Our only difference is we saw this coming even before Obama was elected.

Then came the fun-filled trip to the store (we go to a variety of them here and all had similar results), where we witnessed a 20% jump in overall grocery prices in one week. We looked at each other and said, “How are we going to survive this?” Yep, we’ve put away some food, but with hubby losing his job recently and still looking, we have not had funds to prepare the way we know we need too. We are just getting by barely as the majority of Americans are. And like most of America, we are very, very worried.

Take a good look at what you are buying. For instance, my entire life we have bought 5 pound packages of sugar. Now, the bag is reduced to 4 pounds for the same price. Look at the astronomical increase in the price of coffee as well. Just staggering. And if you are weak of heart, don’t go near the meat counter. To get a package of rib eye this week, the price was a whopping $41.25. Cass Sunstein is that you?

Obama in 2008 – those were the days huh? They don’t come back evidently.

In 2008, Obama swore he would get us off that evil foreign oil. Looks like he’s doing just that – he’s just not replacing it with anything we can use. But he is giving millions to his crony capitalist buddies in the green industries. Green is the new red, don’t cha know… As for me and mine, drill, baby drill! And now!!

From Buzz Feed – Obama’s 2008 Gas Ads:

Two Videos - View on NoisyRoom

Good frickin’ times. How’s that Hope and Change crap working out for everyone? Gas is now$6 a gallon in Tampa, Florida and that’s not just Premium – it’s $5.89 a gallon for Regular. It’s $5 a gallon in Los Angeles. Giddy up baby, cause we haven’t even gotten started yet. With war coming in the Middle East that will no doubt engulf the globe, prices will rise even more. Obama will not allow drilling on American soil and that will raise prices more again. In fact, what he is doing is guaranteed to cause a collapse down the road and that is just what he wants. They blame it all on speculation – I blame it on Marxism and wealth redistribution.

Want more? Our water prices are about to triple due to a crumbling water distribution system. That’s an additional $900 a year in water bills on top of gas prices and the massive food inflation that the government claims doesn’t exist.

But wait, there’s more! Credit card debt in the US is now at toxic levels. With unemployment in reality being closer to 22% in the US (don’t believe the fluffy numbers the government pushes), people are turning to whatever they can to survive the 2012 American Depression. They’ve got nothing more to lose and to feed their families they will use and are using every bit of credit left to them. This debt in most cases will never be repaid.

MyFoxDC:

(New York Post) – More American households are falling back into the debt hole, this time without the safety net of home values to help bail them out, the New York Post reported Sunday.

Last year, total US consumer debt reached its highest point in a decade, according to a credit card industry observer.

And:

The trend — month to month, quarter to quarter and year to year — is rising steeply.

“Consumer credit increased at an annual rate of 7.5 percent in the fourth quarter. Revolving credit increased at an annual rate of 4.5 percent, and non-revolving credit increased 9 percent in December,” the Fed wrote in a note along with the latest monthly report, which also reviewed 2011.

These numbers, Dvorkin warns, mean that many middle-class Americans are taking big risks.

In a weak economy with high unemployment, Dvorkin noted, many people with big card balances become vulnerable to financial catastrophe.

Ya think? We join the world in being broke and out of miracles – it’s all in the family now.

So, I’d like to ask President Obama… Define gradual adjustment. You planned all of this to bring us to our knees and destroy the America we all know and love. Well done and you are almost at Mission Accomplished. All you need is one more emergency and WWIII will do nicely. It looks like Obama’s ‘gradual adjustment’ more closely resembles a hockey stick graph.

By: Terresa Monroe-Hamilton  -  the NoisyRoom

The 2012 Check List for America’s Survival

Many people make resolutions to start the year, but I think a list of things that must be done to protect and preserve the Republic should be tallied…

1. President Obama must be defeated in 2012 and the obstructionist Democratic Party must lose power in the Senate to ensure both houses of Congress will be Republican and in a position to initiate real change.
2. The Environmental Protection Agency must be reined in with increased Congressional oversight and legislative limits on its rule-making capacity. Having fulfilled its 1970 mandate to clean the nation’s air and water, it should be scaled back to the maintenance of these functions.
3. Americans, despite the administration’s efforts to redefine and distract us, must keep clearly in mind the threat of Islam to the nation and the world. A Middle East in turmoil lays ahead for 2012.
4. To jump-start the economy, taxes and spending must be reduced across the board. A tax on consumption, rather than income would be a good start. Only 49% of Americans currently pay income taxes, the lowest in decades.
5. Obamacare must be repealed should the Supreme Court fail to rule that the Commerce Clause takes precedence over its requirement that Americans must purchase health insurance or be fined for not doing so.
6. A serious restructuring of Social Security and Medicare must be undertaken. Older Americans who have paid into the system—it is involuntary—must be ensured their benefits will be paid, but younger citizens should have the freedom and responsibility to structure their own retirement and health plans.
7. Access to the nation’s vast reserves of coal, natural gas, and oil should be increased and encouraged. Oil companies should be encouraged to build more refineries via tax credits and removal of “environmental” obstacles.
8. Congress needs to identify and fund the repair to the nation’s aging infrastructure.
9. Utilities should be encouraged via tax credits and other incentives to expand the national “grid” for the distribution of electricity.
10. Term limits for Senators and Representatives should be added to the U.S. Constitution in the same fashion the presidency is limited. Salaries, pensions, and perks should be capped. A permanent political class is a danger to citizens.
11. The Federal government should be downsized with the elimination of the Departments of Education, Labor, and Energy, along with the Environmental Protection Agency. These powers should be returned to the individual States. (10th Amendment)
12. The nation’s military which has been significantly reduced in size and structure should be expanded with attention to the upgrade and increase of its naval fleet and aircraft.
13. Congress should reject and rescind all legislation based on “global warming” or “climate change” as the former has been demonstrated to be a hoax and the latter is meaningless insofar as the climate is beyond the control of humans.
14. The United States should significantly reduce its contribution to the United Nations and refuse to ratify any of its treaties.
15. Tort reform should be instituted to reduce the costs of health care.
16. The corporate tax rate should be significantly reduced from its present rate, one of the highest in the world, to increase expansion, new jobs, and competitiveness.
17. Public service unions should be illegal. The federal government does not permit such unionization and neither should states.
18. National Public Radio should no longer be funded. The “government entities” of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be eliminated.
19. The federal government should be restricted or significantly limited from the acquisition of more of the nation’s landmass.
20. Strenuous efforts must be undertaken to reduce the national debt and deficit. A devalued dollar impoverishes everyone.

These are just a few changes which, if implemented, would go a long way to reducing the ills associated with a federal government grown too large, subject to crony capitalism, and corruption.

As John Adams said, “Let us disappoint the men who are raising themselves upon the ruin of this Country.”

© Alan Caruba, 2012

Alan Caruba  -  Most recent columns

Alan has a daily blog called Warning Signs. His latest book is Right Answers: Separating Fact from Fantasy.

Alan can be reached at acaruba@aol.com  -  Canada Free Press
Older articles by Alan Caruba

And prepare yourself for the worst and to help others!! – Preparedness and Survival

Dear Santa – We Have an Obama Problem Down Here

At my age, one would think it's too late to send a letter to Mr. Claus! This morning as I was crawling out of bed (that's what I do anymore - crawl), there wasn't any doubt in my mind that it was time to script a letter to that dear jolly little man who tries his best to bring joy to the little ones each holiday season.

Don't know if you get the news from down here Santa so I thought I'd get you up to speed on what is, what was and what should have been. First of all, it's been a H - - - of a year for all of us down here on "Ole Mother Earth."

You probably remember the man I told you about in 2009 the guy some call Obama who landed here from some foreign Country with sack full of promises and a funny looking teleprompter. Yep, he’s the one who did that soft shoe thing, reached in his hat and tossed out something called “hope and change.”

Well forget the hope part Santa – he’s fractured our hope and the American Dream, but he darn sure came through with changes that will knock you right out of your sleigh.

Along with his promises, came the raving reviews from CNN, NBC, MSNBC stating that. Obama was a man of his word, honest, respectable and extremely personable (whatever that's suppose to mean.) In other word this smooth talkin’ man was an answer to our prayers. So much for the Liberal News media.

He gleefully handed us a healthcare plan called “Obamacare” promising to save us money and make life more comfortable for all of us; it’s costing us an arm and a leg Santa. The old saying, “if it’s too good to be true – it probably isn’t. We played with fire and Obama darn sure burned us. It’s got to go!

What happened next, you'll find hard to believe - we're still shaking from Obama's magic trick that he pulled out of his hat. It was a stimulus package wrapped up in fancy paper and ribbons, filled with mounds of fluff and amounting to about 787 billion dollars of taxpayer’s money.

He actually convinced Americans that he'd do some earth shaking reforms if we just hand him the money. He promised jobs, lots of jobs – that didn’t happen. He said he would downsize the Government, remove earmarks, give us transparency, help homeowners, keep unemployment at 8% and straighten out our foreign affairs and we’re still waiting. Actual unemployment is probably hovering around 20% right now, he’s charged 4 trillion more on our charge card and millions of people are still losing their homes.

There was a big problem here that Obama didn’t share with taxpayers. He Obama owed every Tom, Richard (Dick) and Harry a favor. By the time he paid off the Unions, all of his bundlers, the special interest groups and funded the corrupt corporations and lending institutions there wasn’t any money left for us.

Santa, if you have a list for corrupt and evil this Obama person needs to be on top of the list. Every time he gets on National TV, which is way too often, he does his soft shoe reaches in his hat and throws us another Obama scheme that’s going to cost us billions of dollars.

About 20,000 of us could be working right now on the Keystone Pipeline but he won’t approve the project. In fact he’s been missing in action since January 2009 – he’s allergic to work and addicted to spending better known as “redistribution.” Santa, you’d better sit down because the Obama tragedy only gets worse!

Obama and a guy named Holder came up with a plan to take our guns away and abolish the 2nd Amendment as we know it. They devised a scheme called the “Fast and Furious” operation which allowed our high powered weapons to walk across the Mexican border into the hands of the drug cartel. These guns murdered two of our finest, Brian Terry and Jaime Zapata along with hundreds of Mexican men, women and children.

Santa, I know you’re busy so will close for now – here’s what millions of Americans want for Christmas.

Obama: Gone!
Borders: Closed!

Congress: Obey it's own laws
Language: English only
Culture: Constitution, and the Bill of Rights!
Drug Free: Mandatory Drug Screening before Welfare!
NO freebies to: Non-Citizens!

Merry Christmas Santa

God Bless America
As Always, Little Tboca

Source:  TPN

Related:

The War on Christmas is real, and the atheist barbarians are winning it

Simpler Times

Adopt a Pet This Christmas… or Give Someone a New Friend for Christmas (or Hanukah)

Merry Christmas From Hollywood – Hollywood Movie Classics

Say Merry Christmas – American Christian Life United (ACLU) – Vocal by Carrie Rinderer

Ben Stein on Christmas

PG&E Shuts Off Power to Sickened Families 2 Weeks Before Christmas

Obama’s Choice: Dirty Oil (Keystone XL Oil Pipeline) or Clean Water and Land?

By Syver Alton Larsen and MJ

One big decision looms ominously on Obama’s horizon and he will not be able to blame anyone but himself for the consequences.  Obama must render the momentous verdict by November 1 to give or not to give approval for the historical Keystone XL Pipeline Project.  This pipeline will carry one of the world’s dirtiest fuels… tar sand oil which is vastly different from regular oil being ten times heavier than water and very corrosive.

Presidential permission is required because the 2,147-mile pipeline crosses the border between Canada and eight states of the United States.  The present route is scheduled to cross prime agriculture heartland, 19,000 square mile wetlands, and the world’s largest fresh water aquifer—the Ogallala. 

The Keystone XL pipeline would carry 900,000 barrels of dirty tar sands oil into the United States daily, doubling our country's reliance on it and resulting in climate-damaging emissions equal to adding more than six million new cars to U.S. roads.

Originally proposed on February 9, 2005, it is still in the making.   It began supplying oil to Illinois and Missouri in 2010. Phase II of the project, launched in February 2011, would extend the pipeline from Steele City, Nebraska, to Cushing, Oklahoma — a pivotal crude oil refining and pipeline hub and then on to the Gulf of Mexico.

According to The New American, the new segment of this project is waiting for Obama’s approval, but the Keystone XL is facing fierce opposition from landowners and concerned citizens.

“Though the pipeline has been in operation for almost a year, a new segment of the project, the Keystone Gulf Coast Expansion, also known as Keystone XL — which would originate in Hardisty, Alberta Canada, and run southeast through Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska, while incorporating Phase II of the pipeline to extend to Oklahoma markets and the Texas Gulf Coast ports of Houston and Port Arthur — is facing formidable hurdles. The Canadian government’s National Energy Board approved the expansion in 2010, but is awaiting final approval from the Obama administration”

According to the Nebraska Farmers Union, many landowners have been intimidated and threatened with the Right of Eminent Domain.  Does a foreign country owned business have that right?

In 2007, Congress passed and President George Bush signed into law Section 526 which disallows the U.S. purchase of tar sands oil.  Congressman Henry Waxman, Chair of the House Energy Committee, wrote to the Senate Commerce Committee in 2008, the law "applies to fuels derived from unconventional petroleum sources such as tar sands which produce significantly higher greenhouse gas emissions than are produced by comparable fuel from conventional sources." 

In the article it also states that the Canadian government and big oil are working  behind the scenes to get section 526 changed.

“Meanwhile, the Canadian government has been working behind the scenes to strike Section 526 from the books to clear the way for tar sands extraction. Using Freedom of Information requests, the Pembina Institute and Climate Action Network Canada uncovered a 2008 strategy memo by Canadian Embassy official Hélène Viau which urged U.S. oil lobbyists to send letters to the U.S. Department of Energy and the Department of State to show "concerns with regard to section 526 and argue that oil sands products should not be targeted by this provision," and to develop "a comprehensive oil sands advocacy strategy to focus on outreach to allies, influencers, legislators, etc."

And Big Oil lobbyists have taken Viau's suggestions to heart. Matt Fox, senior vice president of oil sands for ConocoPhillips warned U.S. legislators that Section 526 "could bring [oil sands] development to a screeching halt. You'd have to think twice about oil sands development if your intention was to deliver oil to the lower '48."

The debate regarding the Keystone XL involves the economic issues versus environmental issues. The final impact statement was released by the White House in August.

Video:  Why Oil Sands Pipeline Is Just Too Risky

Those who favor the pipeline list these benefits:

1. Making money for states tax revenues

2. Providing jobs

3. Advancing national security by less foreign oil dependence

Those who are against the pipeline submit:

1. Money cannot replace clean water and land

2. Jobs provided will be temporary

3. The U.S. already imports three-fourths of its oil from western sources

Quote from the Nebraska Senator Tony Fulton:

"I would be doing a bad job if I didn't step up and say that I have some concern about the proposed route of this pipeline. If that puts me on the same side as environmentalists, or folks that I don't typically see eye to eye with, so be it."

Narrator: Fulton wants TransCanada to re-route the pipeline. He is promoting legislation he hopes would give state government the power to force the company to by-pass the aquifer. He says building this pipeline without the Nebraska's input is a violation of state's rights. We ought to have some say as to how that pipeline makes its way through Nebraska. And at this point it has been President Obama, Secretary Clinton and TransCanada who have chosen this route.

Environmentalists site the Enbridge tragic tar sand oil leak in the Kalamazoo River occurring in July 2010, as an example of what will be repeated again.  Enbridge, competitor of TransCanada, says that there is no oil remaining in the river.  The EPA has estimated that over one million gallons of oil leaked into the Kalamazoo River and has still not been totally cleaned up.  Because the tar sand oil is heavier than water, it has sunk down into the river and the only way to remove it is through drudging. 

China has actively been investing in Canadian oil and many believe that the true intent of the oil pipeline is to make it easier to ship the oil from Texas ports to Asian markets.  The pipeline happens to follow part of the same route as the notorious North American Free Trade Association (NAFTA) Super Highway.

The only thing Obama fears more than the Environmentalists are the Labor Unions.  The political reality is that Obama would risk losing the votes and campaign donations of ALL 1.8 million Nebraskans whose lives depend on the Ogallala for clean drinking water and even most of the Environmentalists, but he cannot afford to lose the support of ANY Labor Unions that want the pipeline built at any and all costs for the jobs and tax-base it will generate.

TransCanada has refused to reroute the Keystone from going over the Ogallala, so they are trying to save money with pipe line construction, and is choosing economic concerns over environmental concerns that relate to the aquifer. Does greed always win in this world? 

We will know for sure by November 1, which one Obama will choose… Dirty Oil or Clean Water and Land.

Related:

Obama Allies’ Interests Collide Over Keystone Pipeline

House Turns Out the Lights on Bulb Ban - Update

How can they fix the debt crisis when they can’t even correct the light bulb mess??

As part of the panel of ‘The Five’, Fox’s summer replacement for the Glenn Beck show, George Bush’s former press secretary talked about how she had been stocking up on light bulbs ever since her ex-boss signed the energy bill that included the incandescent light bulb phase out and about how both she and former President Bush were not in favor of that measure.  She seemed sure that Congress was going to rescind that measure… but sure enough, they didn’t.  Further discussion on the panel was about how dangerous the new bulbs are… how you need a ‘hasmat’ team if one breaks… how they can’t go in the landfills and how old people cannot see to read with them.

The House of Representatives voted to preserve a scheduled phase out of incandescent light bulbs Monday evening.

The Better Use of Light Bulbs (BULB) Act, would have rescinded efficiency standards for incandescent bulbs included in a 2007 energy bill.

233 members voted yes and 193 cast nay votes. But the House required a supermajority to approve this particular package. In this case, it would have needed 285 yea votes to pass.

Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT) voted present.

The measure gained support after the 2010 elections, as tea party Republicans seized on the prohibition as an example of government overreach.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, says that the increased efficiency standards have the government picking winners and losers in the lighting market.

"To take off the market something that's cheap, effective, and average use costs two or three cents a week to use seems to me to be overkill by the federal government," Barton said of the move away from incandescent bulbs. Supporters of the bill also claim that the compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs designed to replace incandescent bulbs are too expensive and don't work as well as their 19th century competitor."Here's the bottom line, those of us at a certain age, under a compact florescent bulb, we don't look as good as an incandescent bulb," said Rep. Michael Burgess, R-Texas, "The American people should be able to choose what type of light bulb they use in their home. They should not be constrained to all the romance of a Soviet stairwell when they go home in the evening."

Democrats were quick to point out that the bulb ban wasn't their idea. "Our current (Energy and Commerce) Chairman Mr. (Fred) Upton (R-Mich.) introduced the bill to set the standards. our former Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) supported it along with many other republicans, and finally President George W. Bush signed these standards into law," noted Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Penn.

The energy efficiency law Doyle cites passed the House with more than 300 votes in the House and over 80 in the Senate.

Upton co-wrote the light bulb language in that energy bill with former Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif. Action on the BULB Act was seen by some as a concession to the loser of the Energy and Commerce Chairmanship, Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, who highlighted Upton's light legislation during their leadership contest last year. Barton has since thanked Upton for taking action on the proposal.

The Obama administration issued a statement announcing its opposition to the repeal, saying it would "result in negative economic consequences for U.S. consumers and the economy."

The statement of administration policy issued by the Office of Management and Budget cited Department of Energy figures that say the law "could collectively save U.S. households nearly $6 billion in 2015 alone." That's because even though CFL bulbs cost more off the shelf, they last longer and use less energy than incandescent bulbs, and could ultimately save the consumer money over the light's lifetime.

The legislation, considered under an expedited rules procedure, required a two-thirds majority for passage.

Despite its failure in the House, a way forward in the Democratically-controlled Senate is uncertain. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., supports the current efficiency standards and is unlikely to support action on a similar measure in committee.

Fox News Producer John Brandt contributed to this report  -  by Chad Pergram | July 12, 2011

Here is just another example of how what is right, good or even safe for Americans and America is not important to Washington!

Options… stock up on light bulbs while you can get them or move to Texas.

Related:

Smart Meter Rebellion

The Toxic Poisoning of America

Still Keeping the Light On

As anticipated, the House vote on Tuesday to repeal the ban on the Thomas Edison standard incandescent light bulb failed, 233-193, primarily because the legislation was considered under a special rule which required a two-thirds majority of the House. However, Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX) will offer a similar amendment attached to another bill which will likely be voted upon on Friday. This vote will only require a simple majority.

Freedom Action produced a short spoof which is, sadly, too close to the truth about the government’s level of overreach into the private lives of Americans.

Video:  Future of the Light Bulb Ban

According to Common American Journal, ten Republicans voted against the repeal of the light bulb ban. These ten are:

• Charlie Bass, New Hampshire
• Brian Brillbray, California
• Scott Garrett, New Jersey
• Morgan Griffith, Virginia
• Richard Hanna, New York
• Tim Huelskamp, Kansas
• Tom Reed, New York
• Dave Reichert, Washington
• Scott Rigell, Virginia
• Glenn Thompson, Pennsylvania

Citizens of these states are hereby warned.

h/t to Big Government

Energy… The Costs and Why It Is Going to Go Up and Change Our Lives

An audience of small business owners and energy moguls gather to discuss about their concerns with the administration’s policies toward small business and energy.  A video worth watching because it will affect all of us in a negative way if we and they don’t stand together and stand up!

Video: Energy Concerns and Small Businesses

Video:  It Begins… WOMAN ARRESTED For Protesting Smart Meter Installation

It’s an Obama World…
You will do as you’re told. You will keep your temperature at an Obama-approved level… Despite the double-standard set by our president.

A woman was arrested this past weekend for not allowing officials to install a smart meters in her neighborhood.

SmartMeter.org reported:

An activist protesting against the installation of ‘smart’ meters was arrested today for civil disobedience. Amy O’Hair was arrested at Monterey and Edna in the Sunnyside neighborhood of San Francisco at 9.30 on Saturday 18 June 2011.

She sat on the hood of a smart meter installation truck to prevent installation of smart meters and refused to move. The police were called and arrested her. It was early in the morning, and few people were around, but a bystander waiting at a bus stop gave support. Amy was taken to 425 Seventh Street (Bryant Police station) to be cited.

The Obama EPA-approved smart grid will track CO2 emissions and internet use.

The Smart Meter Rebellion

DICK MORRIS: NEXT TO FALL: SAUDI ARABIA

We can do without Libya's two million barrels a day of oil albeit with significant disruptions in the global economy.  But if we lose Saudi Arabia's nine million, we will face a global catastrophe.

And the Saudi monarchy will be the next casualty of the Middle East revolutionary wave.  The king is 86 years old and very ill.  The next two men in line are both over 80 and both sick.  And, behind those three in line are 7,000 princes, each ambitious and at war with one another.  The monarchy will not be able to buy off the opposition for long with cash subsidies.  (We are indebted to Bret Stephens of the Wall Street Journal for these insights).

The fall of Saudi Arabia will accelerate the stagflation that will mar the final two years of the one-term Obama Presidency.

Republicans need to ratchet up their rhetoric about new drilling for oil.  The 2008 liberal counter-argument that new drilling is not a short term solution begs the question of why the Administration has not used the intervening two years to effectuate the longer term solution that it offered.

Republicans need to be more vocal in criticizing the Administration for its defacto moratorium on off-shore drilling.  Obama's people are so sensitive to these criticisms that they just approved the first permit since the BP spill.

Republicans must call for reining in the regulatory hoops that on-shore slate drilling has to go through to get approval.

Republicans should press for much, much shorter approval times for nuclear power and a ban on EPA regulation and taxation of carbon and coal.

The Party should attack Obama's proposed elimination of the Oil Depletion Allowance and other energy tax breaks and make clear that these incentives are vital for new energy development.
Finally, the Republicans should resurrect the issue of drilling in the ANWR Preserve in Alaska.

Sarah Palin should take the lead in this critique since energy development is her major field of real substantive expertise.  It is an ideal opportunity for her to speak to a broader constituency.

Republicans should also propose a moratorium on the federal gas tax by passing legislation in the House to trigger a reduction once gas goes above $4 and total suspension if it rises above $5 per gallon.  When the price drops again below $4, the gas tax can come back on line.  Such a proposal will mean a cessation of campaign funding from highway contractors, but so be it.

Obama's opposition to fossil fuels is his real Achilles Heel. At some level of gas prices, everybody is for fossil fuel development. Nobody is "green" at $6 a gallon!

By DICK MORRIS & EILEEN MCGANN  -  Published on DickMorris.com on March 9, 2011

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Please Vote:  Should Obama Release Strategic Oil Reserves?

*** The other night on Hannity, Dick Morris explained that the best thing to do rather than dig into our reserves, because those really should never be touched, is for the government to drop the federal taxes on gasoline/oil until prices go back down.  And for anyone with common sense, the answer is obvious… we must begin to open up more areas and drill.  Developing electric cars and biofuel and  moving forward on wind, solar, tidal, wave, nuclear and hydroelectricity are all needed and suggested… as well as continuing to develop more and better mass transportation, but bottom-line we are far from any of those meeting our energy or transportation needs.  In order to survive as a nation, fix our economy and protect our independence and sovereignty… we must be drilling for more of our own oil, gas and oil shale. ***

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Drillgate: Internal Emails Shows Obama Team Lying to Public

If you’re the President of the United States or one of his political appointees and you’re ideologically opposed to new oil and natural gas development offshore, what do you do when the public registers its overwhelming support for new drilling in public opinion polls?

You dance, delay, and deceive. You speak melodious words about seeking the wisdom of the public in making these decisions and then ignore evidence of the public will when you get it, or worse, you hide it.

First came the dance. In August 2008, after soaring gas prices and a dramatic shift in public opinion caused President Bush, Florida Governor Charlie Crist, and Republican presidential candidate John McCain to reverse their positions on offshore drilling, then-Senator Obama also changed. The Democratic presidential nominee reversed his own position and that of his party, saying he was open to offshore drilling as part of an overall energy plan. The Democratic Congress followed a month later by quietly dropping the 25-year Congressional ban on offshore drilling.

Then came the delay. In January 2009, President Obama inherited a draft five year offshore drilling plan prepared by the outgoing Bush administration. The plan was already receiving public comment as part of the elaborate rule making process followed by federal agencies. Ken Salazar, Obama’s new Secretary of Interior, determined the decision about new offshore drilling was so important that he ordered a six-month extension to the comment period.

Third comes the dishonesty.

In April of 2009, during a discussion about offshore exploration in San Francisco, Salazar said that President Obama directed him to “to make sure that we have an open and transparent government” and that “these are not decisions that are going to be made behind closed doors.” Salazar went on to say that President Obama wanted to make sure that DOI was “maximizing the opportunity for the public to give us guidance on what it is that they want to do.”

Yet, more than four months after the comment period ended, the Department of the Interior has failed to make any public announcement about the results, even though sources have told American Solutions for months the comments show a 2-1 advantage in support of offshore drilling.

It took American Solutions almost four months and the power of the Freedom of Information Act to finally uncover indirect confirmation that, out of over 530,000 comments submitted, pro-drilling comments outnumbered anti-drilling comments by a 2-1 margin.

In an email dated October 27, 2009, Liz Birnbaum, director of the Minerals Management Service, informs other Interior officials that a preliminary tabulation of the results of the comment period had not yet gone to Secretary Salazar, adding “[s]o the Secretary can honestly say in response to any questions that he’s [SIC] has not yet seen the analysis of the comments – staff is still working on it. I did, however, confirm to him the 2-1 split that these guys [at American Solutions] are emphasizing.”

When a public employee is on record condoning purposeful deception of the American people, the taxpayer should no longer have to fund his or her job. Secretary Salazar should immediately fire Liz Birnbaum for purposefully deceiving him, and in turn, the American people. It’s not possible for the Secretary to honor pledges of openness, honestly, and transparency in government if his staff is going to deliberately undermine such pledges.

Public opinion polls already measure near 70% support for offshore drilling, so the results from a public comment period that reflect the same public sentiment should not be surprising. But after all this talk of wanting the public’s input, Secretary Salazar and his team must find it a real stumbling block to have to explain all their anti-energy development actions in light of the comment period results to which they previously attached such great importance.

This newly gained insight into the anti-energy exploration mindset within the Department of the Interior allows a new perspective of President Obama’s mention of offshore development in his recent State of the Union address. Here is the one paragraph in which the President described offshore development:

But to create more of these clean energy jobs, we need more production, more efficiency, more incentives. And that means building a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in this country. It means making tough decisions about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development. It means continued investment in advanced biofuels and clean coal technologies. And, yes, it means passing a comprehensive energy and climate bill with incentives that will finally make clean energy the profitable kind of energy in America.

To the passive listener, it sounded like President Obama expressed at least rhetorical support for offshore drilling.

But the President only says we must make “tough decisions” on offshore drilling, deliberately refusing to apply that standard to other decisions on energy.

But tough for whom? Certainly not for the public that overwhelmingly supports more offshore drilling.

Indeed, the only person facing a tough decision is the President since an important part of his political base is opposed to new American energy development.

Bucking public opinion would indeed be a tough decision for this President, but he has shown himself quite comfortable with bucking public opinion to pursue stunningly unpopular policies on health care and cap and trade.

In short, it’s a fair conclusion that the tough decisions the President identified in his State of the Union was his intended decision not to pursue any new offshore oil and gas development. The actions by Salazar and his team are entirely consistent with that conclusion.

What makes all of this dispiriting, especially this month, is that with 15 million Americans out of work and with the President’s recently submitted budget projecting trillion dollar annual deficits for the next ten years and a near tripling of the national debt by 2020, the President is throwing away a golden opportunity over the next three decades to create millions of new jobs and generate more than $270 billion in annual economic growth from new oil and gas development, including $54 billion annually in federal tax receipts that could help lower the federal deficit and the national debt.

These extraordinary benefits of job creation and economic growth – all without requiring any federal spending – are, sadly, not on President Obama’s agenda, notwithstanding all the phony rhetoric to the contrary.

Indeed, we can look forward to the President’s continued strategy of dance, delay, and deceive.

by Vince Haley

New (Green) Wind Farms Bring No New Jobs

Despite all the talk of green jobs, the overwhelming majority of stimulus money spent on wind power has gone to foreign companies, according to a new report by the Investigative Reporting Workshop at the American University's School of Communication in Washington, D.C.

Wind turbines are powered by strong prevailing winds in Palm Springs, Calif. The American Wind...

(David McNew/Getty Images)

Nearly $2 billion in money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has been spent on wind power, funding the creation of enough new wind farms to power 2.4 million homes over the past year. But the study found that nearly 80 percent of that money has gone to foreign manufacturers of wind turbines.

So Where Are the Jobs?

"Most of the jobs are going overseas," said Russ Choma at the Investigative Reporting Workshop. He analyzed which foreign firms had accepted the most stimulus money. "According to our estimates, about 6,000 jobs have been created overseas, and maybe a couple hundred have been created in the U.S."

Boycott Citgo Oil and Gasoline – Owned by Venezuelan Government… O’s Friend Chavez

Did you know that Citgo is owned by the Venezuelan government…?? That’s Hugo Chávez… Marxist dictator who openly hates America and is known for his civil rights violations.

Citgo Petroleum Corporation or Citgo, a subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., the Venezuelan state-owned petroleum company, is a United States-incorporated firm refiner and marketer of gasoline, lubricants, petrochemicals and other petroleum products. PDVSA is controlled by the Venezuelan government. The Citgo gasoline brand was inaugurated in 1965 by the Cities Service Company, a United States based energy company that first rose to prominence in the early 1900s. Cities Service Company was acquired by Occidental Petroleum Corporation in 1982. That same year, Cities Service Company transferred all of the assets of its Refining, Marketing and Transportation division (which comprised its refining and retail petroleum business) into the newly formed Citgo Petroleum Corporation subsidiary, to ease the divestiture of the division. In 1983, Citgo and the Citgo brand was sold by Occidental to Southland Corporation, owners of the 7-Eleven chain of convenience stores; 50% was sold to Petróleos de Venezuela in 1986, and the remainder in 1990. As of 2004, it is headquartered in Houston, Texas, with over 4,000 employees and annual revenue in excess of $32 billion. Citgo has supplied 14,000 retailers, but in July 2006 announced plans to cease serving 14% of their independent retailers in the United States. Before relocating its headquarters to Houston, Citgo was headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. (Cities Service Company continued on under various Occidental names as a part of OXY's domestic exploration and production business, but all Cities Service trademarks are now owned by Citgo.)

A number of 7-Eleven stores in the U.S. are licensed to sell motor fuel and lubricants under the Citgo brand.

Has Citgo become a political tool for Hugo Chávez?

By David J. Lynch, USA TODAY

HOUSTON — From the glass-walled building and manicured lawn to the security guard who greets visitors in a cheerful Texas drawl, everything at Citgo Petroleum seems perfectly ordinary.

Motorists pump gas at a Citgo gas station in October. Chavez could destroy the U.S. economy in 90 days, an energy banker said.

By Tim Boyle, Getty Images

But in fact there's nothing ordinary about Citgo. One of the USA's largest refiners, Citgo is a subsidiary of Venezuela's state-owned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA). As such, it ultimately belongs to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, an avowedly anti-American leader who counts Fidel Castro among his closest friends and mocks President Bush as a "genocidal murderer."

The question of Chávez's influence over Citgo was highlighted by the company's recent provision of 25 million gallons of subsidized home-heating oil to poor people in the northeast USA. More than 100,000 households in four states should eventually benefit from the low-cost heating aid.

But some worry that Venezuela's ownership of more than 6% of U.S. refinery capacity gives Chávez, a former paratrooper given to wearing red berets and military fatigues, the power to cripple as well as comfort.

As Hurricanes Katrina and Rita demonstrated, any disruption to the nation's refining industry instantly increases gas prices. What if Chávez, who periodically threatens to curtail oil shipments to the USA, closed Citgo's refineries? (Read Full Article)

Chavez Furiously Backtracking As Venezuela Petro-Economy Deteriorates

(Translation: Chavez Begs for Foreign $$ After Running Economy Into Ground)

In anticipation of Thursday's Carabobo oil field auction, outspoken Marxist president Hugo Chavez quietly pleaded for foreign investment.

""Investment and experience from foreign oil firms is necessary in Venezuela. We need it," Chavez said, according to Dow Jones.

The statement is a serious turnaround for a government that has nationalized dozens of foreign oil companies in recent years. But they 'need' foreign investment because mismanagement is turning the country into just another failed petro-state.

This is also the second instance of Chavez backtracking today.

Chavez reversed a six-year ban on the sale of U.S. dollars by Venezuela's central bank, in an effort to control the vast amount of money that was leaving the country through unregulated exchange, according to Bloomberg.

He had previously threatened to "burn the hands" of speculators who speculated against the bolivar.

Hopefully the president understands that if the U.S .government sends (more) aid to his Marxist friend, it could mean curtains for him!!

And Americans need to stop purchasing Citgo products and invest in U.S. stocks and US friendly (country) stocks.

Russia alarmed over new EU pact

As predicted, the summit failed to produce any breakthroughs

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has warned the European Union not to turn a proposed partnership with former Soviet countries against Moscow.

Mr. Medvedev was speaking at the end of a Russia-EU summit held against a background of deep divisions over security, trade and energy supplies.

He also signaled a new gas crisis may lie ahead, suggesting Ukraine lacks the money to pay for gas Russia provides.

A row over prices severely affected supplies to Europe in January.

The BBC's Richard Galpin in Moscow says divisions between Russia and the European Union seem to be growing ever wider, and this latest summit, held in the far east of Russia, made that abundantly clear, with little sign of progress on any significant topic.

'Anti-Russian bent'

"We would not want the Eastern Partnership to turn into partnership against Russia. There are various examples," Mr Mevedev told a news conference at the end of the summit.

"I would simply not want this partnership to consolidate certain individual states, which are of an anti-Russian bent, with other European states," he said.

Moscow has accused the 27-member bloc of creating new dividing lines in Europe by offering closer ties to six former Soviet republics.

The Eastern Partnership Initiative aims to forge close political and economic ties in exchange for democratic reforms.

Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine have signed up to the initiative, which seeks to bolster stability in the region.

However it does not offer the prospect of eventual EU membership.

Divisive issue

On the divisive issue of energy supplies, President Medvedev raised questions about whether Ukraine can afford billions of dollars to top up its gas stocks.

"We have doubts about Ukraine's ability to pay," he said.

He also proposed that Moscow and the EU should help Ukraine get a loan for gas payments.

Ukraine has denied there is any problem.

Russia supplies 42% of EU gas imports. Its decision to cut all gas to Ukraine - a vital transit country - meant that many EU member states also lost their supplies of gas for two weeks in January.

Speaking in Khabarovsk, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso warned there should be no more disruptions to gas supplies from Russia.

And this is what Obama wants to tie the United States into even more that we already are…  fuel issues, shortages, rationing, long waits for healthcare and health procedures, and socialistic countries telling us to:  accept their atheistic ways; give up our guns, give up our freedom of speech (example Michael Savage issue in Britain) tell us how to raise our kids, who to support and to take care of everyone.  Beware America…

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Posted:  Knowledge Creates Power

California Mess is a Microcosm of What's in Store for the Rest of Us

RUSH (LIMBAUGH): In California today, voters are going to go to the polls to decide the fate of six ballot initiatives.  Four of them would, if they pass, raise taxes on Californians.  The Governator is not there.  The Governator is in Washington along with Jennifer Granholm to celebrate the announcement by Obama today of these new auto emissions rules.  They're going to add about -- well, if they're going to say $1,600 to the cost of the American family, double it at least by the time we get to 2016. 

Schwarzenegger has pushed heavily for all six ballot measures.  They are designed to close California's $15 billion budget shortfall.  But as the Heritage Foundation points out in a great story called Californication: "Even though Schwarzenegger's legacy depends on the passage of these initiatives, he will not be in California tonight to see the results. The Los Angeles Times reports: 'His absence in the face of widely forecast defeat drew mockery from his foes.' Instead Schwarzenegger will be in Washington, DC, where he is scheduled to join President Barack Obama at the White House to celebrate the federal adoption of auto emissions standards that mirror standards previously adopted by California."

Now, this is being called a win for California.  The LA Times here is saying that the Governator succeeding in getting California emissions adopted for the nation is a big win for California.  Well, that may be, folks, but it is a huge loss for the rest of the nation, and it may just be the first of many losses for the rest of the nation.  Heritage Foundation points out today that for decades, California's been a leader in public policy innovation.  Stick with me on this 'cause this is where the rubber meets the road here.  A generation ago, 25, 30 years ago, California was at the forefront of a taxpayer revolt that eventually helped elect President Reagan and usher in three decades of prosperity.  California is still exporting its public policy ideas.  So how is California's experiment with the green economy going?  Do you know what Channel 4 in LA has discovered?  LA is called the greenest city in the country (laughing)  and they have discovered that the street lights are on 24/7.  The street lights are on in the daytime, and customers and citizens have been complaining about this waste, and the city hasn't been doing anything about it, they've been looking to blame the contractor or blame the department of public works or some such thing. 

But it's even better than that.  LA, the greenest city in the country, California with all of these great auto emissions standards, California imports more energy than any state in the country.  When you drive through that state you're going to see solar panels everywhere, and you will see windmills everywhere.  You are going to see cars on the highways everywhere.  You're going to see traffic everywhere as you know it, and yet California imports more energy than any state in the country.  As a result of that, it has some of the highest energy costs in the country, including the second highest commercial sector energy prices.  Only Hawaii, which is ocean bound, has higher rates.  Now, in addition to all the greening that's gone on in California resulting in the largest amount of energy imports in the country, California's unemployment rate hit 9.3% last December.  That was up from 4.9% in December 2006.  There are now one-and-a-half million Californians out of work.  The state has the fourth highest housing foreclosure rate in the nation.  California has lost more businesses than any state in recent years.  California is facing a $40 billion budget deficit.  In some small towns, unemployment is now running close to 35%, rivaling unemployment rates during the Great Depression.  And what is the benefit to the environment of all of this?  Absolutely zilch, zero, nada. 

All of this economic pain supposedly for environmental gain has resulted in zero environmental gain.  This is the exact same formula that the Waxman-Markey energy tax legislation offers the United States, cap and trade.  It is the exact same thing this nation is headed for.  It has been a disaster for California; it will be a disaster for the nation at large and as a whole.  But you know how insistent Californians have been.  They've got their own fuel emissions standards; they have their own fuel mixtures and blends.  California imports more energy than any state in the country. 

Now, you might say, "Well, yeah, but, Rush, they got more population."  Well, they're also the greenest.  They have embarked on policies to reduce the need to import.  What is the whole impetus behind Obama's cap-and-trade program?  To reduce our dependence on foreign oil, to make us less susceptible to people who hate us and what's California showing us?  It's a microcosm of what is ahead for the United States of America.  They import more energy than any state in the country.  Unemployment through the roof; budget deficits through the roof; six ballot initiatives today, four of which would raise taxes.  The governor out of town; doesn't want to be anywhere near there when the results come in tonight. 

The polls indicate that these things are going to go down in flames, that despite all, Californians don't want to pay higher taxes, even the majority lib population out there because they're starting to say, "It's not our fault, it's not our fault.  The fact that we're not paying enough taxes is not the reason why you people in Sacramento can't control your spending."  So all of these liberal do-good ideas, all of these feel-good things, all of these proposals and ideas that are going to make California the beacon of the country and show us the way on energy independence, have all failed miserably.  Schwarzenegger is in Washington today to join Obama in spreading the same kind of energy policy nationwide that California has adopted for years, and this is being called in the LA Times a big win for California.  Nothing could be further from the truth. 

BREAK TRANSCRIPT

RUSH:  Liberty Township, Ohio, this is Adelee, nice to have you on the program.  Hi.
CALLER:  Hello, Rush.  I was just calling you to say that Europe uses nuclear power so if we were actually trying for energy independence we wouldn't be going for the wind or the solar.  If we are trying to follow what Europe does, we'd be using nuclear power.

RUSH:  Well, especially it's a good point about France.  France is big into nuclear power, but you raise a good point here, Adelee.  There's a way to reduce our dependence on foreign oil tremendously and there's a way to reduce the use of coal and that's nuclear.  Oh, no, we can't have nuclear.  Why?  Because nuclear, well nuclear, we'll all melt, radiation, we'll die of radiation poisoning.  We know that because of a movie called The China Syndrome in which Jane Fonda starred.  That movie killed the nuclear industry and it was done on purpose.  But there is an added reason why we don't go nuclear, and I want to take you back to my example.  Obama is going to have us all driving putt-putts -- they get 35 1/2 to 39 miles a gallon -- by 2016.  The purpose: use less oil, use less gasoline.  This is to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.  We don't like those sheiks in the oil-producing states in the Middle East and we don't like being vulnerable so we're going to go driving little putt-putts.  At the same time we do this, guess what we're going to do?  We are going to save the planet from whatever this hoax climate change is.  But then, understand something. When we're all driving these putt-putts and using less gasoline, that is going to equal less sales tax revenue, gas tax revenue, both to the feds and to the states.  Any time you use less of a product, the tax take from it is less, so one of two things is going to happen.  They're either going to have to raise taxes, which is the next step to come, raise taxes on gasoline.

Folks, this is the point.  It is not that anybody at this press conference today, from Obama to Carol Browner or anybody else, they don't care about being dependent on foreign oil.  There are ways that are much more efficient and make much more sense than 35 or 39 miles to the gallon in a putt-putt to reduce our use of foreign oil.  They want the use of oil to continue.  They just want the money for it.  They don't want the sheiks getting the money, and they don't want foreign oil companies getting the money; Obama wants it.  Washington wants the money.  This is the first step, the universal or a national fuel efficiency standard is the first step toward them shifting the expenditure of dollars for oil overseas to Washington, one way or the other.  Another thing that's going to happen here is that we're not going to use less oil.  If we do, then you're going to see an appropriate contraction and decline in your standard of living and in the overall national economy. 

You do not grow an economy by making things more expensive for average people to utilize.  You do not grow an economy by raising the cost of living and with tamping down the standard of living.  You don't do that.  What you do is you encourage and facilitate the growth of government which is going to be collecting all of the revenue that would normally be used as disposable income in your own family.  They're going to get it.  The states are going to get it, the federal government is going to get it, and you're going to have less of what you earn because you're going to be spending more of it, even though you're told today that you're going to have to drive a car that gets 35 to 39 miles a gallon and, voila, you're going to be using less gasoline.  If you think that's going to add up to a lot of savings, you wait.  We've already seen the evidence.  In North Carolina they had a drought, so they reduced water usage.  They did the same thing here.  Had a drought, you can only use water once a week.  Then they found out wait, wait a minute, our taxes from the water utility are going way down, so they raised the rates, water prices, if you will, utility prices in North Carolina and Florida, after they enforced less usage.  Same thing is going to happen here. 

In fact, it's already happened in California.  When people already started buying putt-putts on their own and started using less gasoline, didn't take long for Sacramento to realize that their gas tax revenue was down.  So they started talking about how to raise taxes, and in California today, after all of these brilliant, massive economic improvements, after all of this cutting-edge environmental improvements, all of these green adds, windmills and solar panels and new formulations of gasoline, California today, which imports more energy than any state in the country, and today there are six ballot initiatives, people going to the polls in California and four of them are to raise taxes after all of these steps were taken to save the state, to save the planet, to save the country, to save on our environmental expenditures.  And it just hasn't worked, has it?  So what you're seeing in California today is a little microcosm of what's headed our way, now specifically since Obama and Carol Browner have announced this silly nationwide CAFE standard tailpipe emissions limit and mileage of 35.9 miles per gallon. 

Now, I know some of you saying, "Rush, what is wrong with cars that pollute less?" Nothing.  There's not a thing in the world wrong with that.  But that's not what this is about, folks.  None of what Obama says is his motive is his motive.  His motive is designed to get you on board and in love with the idea of how much he cares about saving the planet, the country and you.  This is all about increasing revenue to the states and the federal government while at the same time taking money away from you and having a little bit more control over what you do.  If you want to drive a putt-putt you ought to be able to drive a putt-putt, but if you don't want to drive a putt-putt you shouldn't have to drive a putt-putt.  Once they make us all start driving putt-putts then they're going to say you can't get the big TV you want or whatever it is.  There are going to be limits on it because it's destroying the country or the planet or somehow it's unfair to those who can't have it, you name it. There will be limits.

END TRANSCRIPT

Source:  Fox Nation

California Voters Say 'No' to Tax Hikes

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• HotAir: California Tax Revolt: What Next?
• Los Angeles Times: State Budget Now in Hands Of the Voters

Posted:  Knowledge Creates Power