Reminiscent of Alaska’s infamous bridge to nowhere, Congress stands poised to repeat their spending folly with wind and solar farms… with no transmission lines to urban service areas, and inadequate capacitance needs..
Pelosi, Al Gore, and an army of DNC gullible, are hell bent on forcing the nation to create, in essence, and new national power grid in an unrealistic time frame. And if refusing to allow the oil and gas industry to increase supply vs demand - with additional exploration, leases and drilling - and instead keep gas prices high, they can force a desperate nation into compliance for the impossible. That will be fine with them…. damned be the consequences.
Al Gore’s challenge to be totally weaned off a petroleum or coal based power grid in 10 years is lofty in ideals, but more soaring in rhetoric… nay, BS… than all Obama speeches combined. As Kevin Bullis pointed out in his Technology Review article, “Al Gore’s Inconvenient Plan”,
One of the most coveted speaking slots of the Democratic National Convention will go to former Vice President Al Gore. He is scheduled to appear on the final night of the convention as Senator Barack Obama prepares to accept his party’s nomination.
Associates of Mr. Gore would not confirm the schedule, referring calls to the Obama campaign. Aides to Mr. Obama said the former vice president’s role at the convention would be announced in the coming days.
~~~
Mr. Clinton will speak on Aug. 27, the night that Mr. Obama’s vice-presidential choice will address the delegates, and Mrs. Clinton speaks on Aug. 26, the 88th anniversary of women’s suffrage in America. Both of their speeches will take place at the convention’s primary (but smaller) venue — the Pepsi Center.
Oh my… playing second fiddle to his former second fiddle. That’s gotta hurt.
In the wake of the astronomical prices at the pump, McCain stood aboard an offshore rig and repeated his 27 year old policy of “lifting the drilling bans covering the federal Outer Continental Shelf off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and the eastern Gulf of Mexico.”
McCain’s visit came a day ahead of the Minerals Management Service’s lease sale in New Orleans to auction off 18 million acres of the western Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas drilling. The tracts could potentially yield as much as 400 million barrels of oil, but that amount would only meet the nation’s oil needs for about 19 days, and it would be at least seven to 10 years until oil started flowing.
Ah yes… were the 400 million bbls the only source, that 19 days argument may make sense. But McCain’s recent change of heart, recognizing the importance of drilling as part of a larger energy package, is the approach most polled American’s prefer… an “all of the above” plan. And what better place to showcase the latest drilling technology than aboard the Chevron Genesis.
McCain flew by chopper the 130 miles to the Gulf of Mexico platform is located south of New Orleans, in 2600 ft of water, atop an Outer Continental Shelf field estimated at 160 million bbls. Post drilling flow tests were conducted in which the field produced at rates of up to 8,300 bbl/day. These estimates proved low, and the yield is approximate 10,000 bbl/day. Production at the time of construction/drilling was estimated to peak at about 55,000bbl of oil and 72 million ft³ of natural gas per day.
Two editorials in the WSJ today on Obama’s plans to rob from the rich to pay to the poor. First up is Peter Ferrara who notes that Obama’s plan is to raise rates for just about every federal tax and then give tax credits to those who pay very little or absolutely nothing in income taxes, as long as they participate in different government activities:
His trick is to make the tax credits “refundable.” Thus, if the tax credit is for $1,000, but the taxpayer would otherwise only pay $200 in taxes, the government would write a check to the taxpayer for $800. If the taxpayer pays nothing in federal income taxes, the government would pay him the whole $1,000.
Such credits are not tax cuts. Indeed, they should be called The New Tax Welfare. In effect, Mr. Obama is proposing to create or expand a slew of government spending programs that are disguised as tax credits. The spending on these programs is then subtracted from the total tax burden, in order to make the claim that his tax plan is a net tax cut overall.
2. Pick a running mate who is a conservative white guy or a general or a Republican.
Yes, it will seem like smart politics at first. Shore up Obama’s lack of military experience with a hawk. Be true to Obama’s message that he’ll be a president for everybody by having him run with a Republican. Make a pitch to the purple states of Virginia and Indiana by putting one of their own on the ticket. Or make the red state of Ohio happy by handing the vice presidential slot to its governor. Just so long as Obama’s running mate screams “same old, same old,” making it harder for him to attract the new voters he needs to win.
Former Counter-terrorism Czar from the Clinton Administration, Richard Clarke, would be the perfect Vice President candidate for Senator Obama. While not a general, he is a white, Republican man with a claim to being a veteran of the war on terror. He’s also a hero to the DNC party base. He’s the only person in the Bush Administration to apologize for the 911 attacks. He can claim (albeit falsely) that if it weren’t for Bushco and Darth Cheney then there’d never have been a 911 or an allegedly false pretext for invading Iraq and the subsequent six-eight years of war there. He can claim that while Sen McCain is a war hero, he’s a Vietnam war hero, and a fighter pilot….not a 21st Century counter-terrorism Czar; “hero.”
Will Obama go the smart route and pick a man who the American people will recognize and associate with the faux pre-911 peace sentiment? We shall see, but it would be a lot smarter than someone most Americans need to be introduced to.
I’m surprised he didn’t get in a dig at Condoleezza Rice while he was at it!
Plus: If Obama felt McCain had an unfair advantage, how about a rematch?
Why is it that a black man running for the highest office in the land as a Democrat is considered qualified by the left when a clearly qualified black man or woman who happens to be Republican is not only considered not qualified, but often vilified. You don’t have to look much further than the slurs against Condi Rice as Aunt Jemima, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as a lawn jockey or former Maryland Lt. Governor Michael Steele as an “Oreo cookie” for examples.
But when Senator Barack Obama was asked at the Saddleback Forum on Saturday which Supreme Court Justice he would NOT have nominated he almost tripped himself up on the answer:
Obama:“um, uh, I would not have nominated Clarence Thomas. Uh, I don’t think that he uh, uh, ah, uh, I, I, don’t think that he was an exp…[experienced] uh, a strong enough jurist or legal thinker uh, at the time…”
Good grief! And the left makes fun of the way President Bush talks? But put that aside for a moment. Isn’t it more revealing that Obama caught himself in mid word before saying Clarence Thomas wasn’t “experienced” enough to be elevated to the high court? This from the Chicago community organizer and a very junior senator who is running for President? Read the rest of this entry »
The problem of Barack Obama’s relationship with Bill Ayers will not go away. Ayers and his wife, Bernardine Dohrn were terrorists for the notorious Weather Underground during the turbulent 1960s, turning fugitive when a bomb — designed to kill army officers in New Jersey — accidentally exploded in a New York townhouse. Prior to that, Ayers and his cohorts succeeded in bombing the Pentagon. Ayers and Dohrn remain unrepentant for their terrorist past. Ayers was pictured in a 2001 article for Chicago magazine, stomping on an American flag, and told the New York Times just before 9/11 that the notion of the United States as a just and fair and decent place “makes me want to puke.” Although Obama actually launched his political career at an event at Ayers’s and Dohrn’s home, Obama has dismissed Ayers as just “a guy who lives in my neighborhood,” and “not somebody who I exchange ideas from on a regular basis.” For his part, Ayers refuses to discuss his relationship with Obama. Read the rest of this entry »
Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota is a much mentioned VP candidate. He is the past Chairman of the National Governors Association. Pawlenty has been supporting McCain since the start of the primary season and is one of his biggest backers. The major question that swirls around a possible Pawlenty pick is can he deliver Minnesota to McCain?
Pawlenty was first elected governor in 2002 and was reelected in 2006 with 46.7% of the vote. (the independent candidate got 6.4% of the vote) Republicans lost both the State House and Senate in the 2006 election. Pawlenty was the only Republican Constitutional officer in Minnesota to survive that election. Pawlenty took office with a 4.5 billion dollar deficit and started his second term with a surplus. However the bridge collapse in Minnesota could be a factor that keeps Pawlenty from being the VP on McCain’s ticket.
Pawlenty is undoubtly a fiscal conservative, he balanced Minnesota’s budget while cutting taxes, enacted a property tax cap, and elimated the marriage penalty. He also has a great record on education has Minnesota is first in ACT scores, first in percentage of residents with a high school diploma, and first in precentage of residents with a bachelors degree. This leads to a business environment that has the State first in Fortune 500 companies per capita. Minnesota is also first in quality of life and home ownership.
Back to my first question can Pawlenty deliver Minnesota? In his last election he garnered 46.7% of the vote. This was after winning his first election with even a smaller percentage 44.3. As best as I can tell Pawlenty tends to hold an approval rating between 50-55%. That would probably get him reelected, but I don’t think it’s high enough for McCain to steal that state from the Blue Column. Also the fact he never really came close to 50% in either election doesn’t bode well for McCain either. I don’t think Pawlenty can deliver Minnesota and outside of that he doesn’t have a great story line and wouldn’t generate any buzz for the campaign. On the other hand no one would be upset with this pick either. If McCain wants to play it safe this would be his best choice. If he’s going for a homerun he’s going to need to look to someone else.
For a man that demands civility in politics, and touts himself as a different kind of politician, his record and behavior are anything but. As more and more pieces of the puzzle are fit together on Obama’s scant past experiences, we’re getting a better picture of a man that had political ambitions from the get go, and engaged in Chicago style politics to knock any opposition out of his path.
A summary from Tim Harper, appearing in the Toronto Star today looks back at Obama’s political strong arm tactics in his 1996 IL Senate run…. with reflections from one of his early civil rights and community organizer advisors, Timuel Black.
There was Obama’s first, aggressive foray into politics, the 1996 election to the Illinois state Senate in which he elbowed an elder off the ballot.
~~~
Alice Palmer, a popular state senator from the Hyde Park district, decided to run for the U.S. Congress and endorsed Obama as her successor.
But she lost badly against the unexpected candidacy of Jesse Jackson Jr. and came back to reclaim her state Senate seat.
Obama would not budge and Black was Palmer’s representative as they tried to get the upstart to move aside at a meeting at the home of the late state legislator Lovana “Lou” Jones.
“He said he had already begun to organize and he would not be able to do that,” Black recalls. “He was matter-of-fact. He was not hostile.
“You had to know him as a person. He was very aggressive. Focused. Consider his upbringing and what he had to overcome. I think his attitude was different than a black man raised in black America.”
But Black says he understood Obama’s position, even as it angered many in Hyde Park, including Palmer. “She was very angry,” Black said. “Still is.”
These are relatively kind words from Black. The true story is fraught with examples of a young politican and his handlers, determined to remove all competition from the ballot.
Posted by: Skye @ 11:46 am in Rallies Viewed 170 times, 10 so far today
A late summer day is made sweeter when I stand side by side with my fellow sheepdogs! The weather could not have been more perfect for a pro victory rally in West Chester, Pa. I have to take a moment to give kudos to Mark for standing with us S/P emergent appendectomy, he still was wearing his patient identification bands on his wrist when he arrived at our rally. The dedication of our Sheepdogs continues to amaze me! We welcomed into our midst, SPC John Kromer, a combat medic who recently returned from a 15 month tour in Afghanistan.
I’ve got some great footage from this week and the previous Saturday’s coin pass. I promise to post the combined video as soon a possible.
We rally every Saturday at the corner of High and Market streets in West Chester, Pa 11:45am till 12:15pm. Sean’s photos of this rally can be found HERE Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by: Skye @ 11:40 am in Rallies Viewed 142 times, 12 so far today
On a sunny Saturday, 41+ Sheepdogs gathered on the steps of the Chester County Courthouse exercising their constitutionally guaranteed right of free speech. Under a blue sky, we greeted returning friends and welcomed newcomers into our midst as we proudly honored our troops and our nation.
It was a beautiful day indeed, with many patriots and few pinheads present.
Congratulations to a Sheepdog turned Bulldog! Sharon Hyland Keyser graduated from Marine Officer Candidate School (OCS) recieving Second Lieutenant Bars in Quantico, Va. Read the rest of this entry »
The inventiveness of the Greens, when it comes to creating a new crisis after an old one has run its course, is truly extraordinary.
Since the 1980s we have been living with and refuting the notion that carbon dioxide (CO2) has so filled the Earth’s atmosphere that we are all doomed if we don’t shut down every industry known to man and God. The name given to this invented crisis is “global warming.” The problem for the Greens is that the Earth, since around 1998, is not warming. It’s cooling.
~~~
Peter Tatchell published an article in The Guardian, a very liberal British newspaper, entitled “The Oxygen Crisis”…The August 13 article suggested that there had been a “long-term fall in oxygen concentrations” around the Earth. The basis for the next great crisis, an Earth with less oxygen, was being tested to see if it had any legs.
Dr. Roy Spencer, a NASA scientist, summed up the reaction of his colleagues. “It doesn’t get much more stupid than this.”
When displayed either horizontally or vertically against a wall, the union should be in the uppermost corner and to the flags own right, that is, to the observer’s left.
~~~
The flag should never be dipped to any person or thing. It is flown upside down only as a distress signal.
Obama camps comments? First, on the design…
In fact, Matt Chandler speaking on behalf of the Obama campaign states:
“…it is a stylized flag designed to blend the stars on Senator Obama’s shirt with the flag blowing in the wind.”
Then in true BHO Chicago style politics, the denial:
Help send Skye to the Republican National Convention. Please consider donating a few bucks. All the info can be found here.
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JustADude They are really shooting themselves in the foot here. The latest I saw on this is the archive is saying the ‘ownership’ of the files have not been transferred is...
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