If the network news wasn’t as awful as it is, Jack Cafferty would be THE laughinstock of the news industry. As it is, he’s just ONE of the laughingstocks. Imagine my surprise when I read Cafferty’s article claiming that John McCain is intellectually shallow:

Sen. John McCain takes weekends off and limits his campaign events to one a day. He made an exception for the religious forum on Saturday at Saddleback Church in Southern California.

I think he made a big mistake. When he was invited last spring to attend a discussion of the role of faith in his life with Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, at Messiah College in Pennsylvania, McCain didn’t bother to show up. Now I know why.

It occurs to me that John McCain is as intellectually shallow as our current president. When asked what his Christian faith means to him, his answer was a one-liner. “It means I’m saved and forgiven.” Great scholars have wrestled with the meaning of faith for centuries. McCain then retold a story we’ve all heard a hundred times about a guard in Vietnam drawing a cross in the sand. (continue reading post »)

Nancy Pelosi’s statement to Larry King that she’d consider drilling if it’s part of a bigger package (TRANSLATION: tax increases and government picking winners and losers) is a cruel hoax. Ms. Pelosi’s use of the Democrats’ Weekly Radio Address was a similar hoax.

It’s time that Republicans rallied around the American Energy Act. This upcoming week, Republicans everywhere should talk about the virtues of the American Energy Act. Whether it’s rebel legislators in Washington, bloggers across the nation or the NRCC running wall-to-wall ads on national TV, they should be touting the substantial legislation put together by House Republicans.

I’ve touted the AEA numerous times. Now it’s time that the NRCC capitalized. This is solid legislation that Americans would flock to if they knew about it. The fastest way to guarantee Americans finding out about the AEA’s provisions is for Pesident Bush and Sen. McCain to make a visit to Capitol Hill to hold a joint news conference touting the AEA.

Republicans should have graphics made to highlight the bill’s balanced approach to energy reform:

To increase the supply American-made energy in environmentally sound ways, the legislation will:

• Open our deep water ocean resources, which will provide an additional three
  million barrels of oil per day, as well as 76 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, as proposed in H.R. 6108 by Rep. Sue Myrick (R-NC). Rep. John Peterson (R-PA) has also worked tirelessly on this issue.
• Open the Arctic coastal plain, which will provide an additional one million
  barrels of oil per day, as proposed in H.R. 6107 by Rep. Don Young (R-AK); (continue reading post »)

Until now, I’ve tried focusing on what Republicans should do to press the energy fight to Democrats. I’ve focused on deficiencies in the House Democrats’ plans. It’s time to turn our attention to the Gang of 10 disaster that Lindsey Graham, Bob Corker, Johnny Isakson, Saxby Chambliss and John Thune signed onto. A contact of mine on Capital Hill sent me an outline of the Gang of 10’s bill. Let’s go through that outline. Here’s the part that bothers me the most:

Rather than using revenues from increased oil and gas production to fund competitive research into alternative fuels as proposed by House Republicans, the Gang of Ten proposal includes what the Wall Street Journal calls “a Democratic giveaway” that is funded by $84 billion in tax increases.

Why on God’s green earth would a Republican agree to these tax increases? Graham, Corker, Isakson, Chambliss and Thune couldn’t have been thinking when they signed onto this. God help us if they were.

Here’s another disastrous portion of the bill: (continue reading post »)

It’s becoming obvious that Democrats are getting hit hard on the energy issue. It’s becoming equally obvious that Republicans are stepping up the pressure on Ms. Pelosi. This WSJ article highlights how Republicans are attacking the issue.

In her attempt to outmaneuver Republicans, Ms. Pelosi may be using some of the same tools that Mr. Reid used in the recent Senate energy bill debate. Before the August recess, the majority leader offered the Republicans a vote on drilling, but conditioned it on Republican support for renewable energy tax credits, and the chamber failed to pass any energy legislation. Neither side appears to want to actually reach a compromise, but are simply using energy as an election-year bat with which to beat their opponents.

“Raising taxes will ultimately hurt consumers by forcing them to pay even higher gas prices, and Republicans will oppose them,” Kevin Smith, spokesman for House Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) said in an email.

Mr. Smith said Ms. Pelosi’s plan was “largely more of the same failed proposals they’ve been trotting out for months,” and is “designed to give political cover to vulnerable Democrats who are losing ground,” he said.

I said here that tax increases of any sort should be immediately rejected. Much to my delight, they’ve been rejected faster than I’d expected. Here’s what President Bush said: (continue reading post »)

When the energy debate got intense, Speaker Pelosi spoke for the Democrats, calling drilling a hoax on the American people. Just three days ago, when the American people told pollsters in strong majorities that they favored drilling, Democrat Pelosi told Larry King that she’s open to voting on drilling…sorta. It’s a different day and a different tweak of her policy:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday firmly rejected the idea of a House vote solely on the issue of offshore oil drilling, calling it “a hoax on the American people” backed by oil companies.

Instead, she said, she wants Congress to tackle a compromise comprehensive energy plan that would include alternative energy sources and curtailing tax breaks for oil companies.

“You want to drill? We want the royalties for the American people, and we want that to pay for renewable energy resources,” the San Francisco Democrat said in an interview for KQED television’s weekly news show, “This Week in Northern California.” “We want to connect all that together.”

Let’s first stipulate that Democrats aren’t dealing from a position of strength here. They’ve seen the polling. They’ve seen that the majority of independents and conservatives favor drilling. They’ve seen the polling that shows almost 60 percent of the people said that they’d vote for someone who is pro-drilling instead of those that don’t favor drilling. (continue reading post »)

President Bush took some justified criticism for not laying down the law sooner with regards to Russia’s invasion of Georgia. Yesterday, he upped the ante by announcing SecDef Gates’ putting together humanitarian relief missions to Georgia. He also said that he was sending Condi Rice to Georgia after first stopping in France to meet with President Sarkozy. This morning, he recommitted the United States to the other countries bordering Russia and to the existing Georgian administration:

US President George W. Bush assured leaders of Ukraine and Lithuania on Thursday that he remains fully committed to “a sovereign, free Georgia and its territorial integrity,” the White House said.

In his conversations with Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus and Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, Bush stressed US “solidarity” with Georgia in its conflict with Russia, according to spokeswoman Dana Perino.

“All the leaders stressed the importance of standing by a sovereign, free Georgia and its territorial integrity, and agreed on the need for Russia to stop the violence, abide by the ceasefire and withdraw its forces,” she said.

This is a classic case of better late than never. This is a rarity; President Bush was very sure-footed almost from the get-go after the terrorist attacks. I was surprised that it took him this long to face down Putin’s totalitarian ambitions and his brutal attack of a fledgling democracy. The President Bush of 2004 would’ve been critical of this almost instantly. (continue reading post »)

I never thought that Nancy Pelosi’s admission that she’d allow a vote on drilling during last night’s interview with Larry King was a genuine offer. Tonight, I’m proven right in my suspicion. According to this article, Pelosi and the Democrat majority plan on throwing one poison pill into the bill after another. Here’s what the Hill is reporting:

A leadership aide said many of the energy proposals that were put forward by Democrats in July would wind up in the package. Many of them won majority House support but failed because of a parliamentary maneuver used to block GOP amendments.

In the CNN interview, she indicated that drilling, which she’s opposed for years, could be accompanied by “great things” like expansion of wind power, solar energy and biofuels. She hinted that the package could include the Democratic leadership’s “use it or lose it” plan to force drillers to produce their existing federal leases, more regulation of greenhouse gases, and that the federal government should get more money for the oil.

It’s time we started playing hardball.

Republicans must insist on doing the CR first. A CR is inevitable because Democrats haven’t started working on the appropriations bills.

Republicans must insist that the CR be stripped of any language that keeps any of the moratoria intact. That’s the critical first step because it says that Democrats are acting on a good faith basis. If they aren’t willing to take that first step, then Republicans should start a nationwide advertising campaign asking why Democrats won’t lift the drilling moratoria. (continue reading post »)

Over the weekend, some bizarre things happened in connection to Russia’s military invasion of Georgia. There are lots of things to be learned from this weekend’s developments. The biggest lesson to be re-inforced is that we shouldn’t abandon our democratic allies. That’s essentially what President Saakhashvili’s op-ed reminds us of. What’s eye-opening about President Saakhashvilil’s op-ed is the provocative language contained in it. Here’s what I’m talking about:

The Kremlin designed this war. Earlier this year, Russia tried to provoke Georgia by effectively annexing another of our separatist territories, Abkhazia. When we responded with restraint, Moscow brought the fight to South Ossetia.

Ostensibly, this war is about an unresolved separatist conflict. Yet in reality, it is a war about the independence and the future of Georgia. And above all, it is a war over the kind of Europe our children will live in. Let us be frank: This conflict is about the future of freedom in Europe.

No country of the former Soviet Union has made more progress toward consolidating democracy, eradicating corruption and building an independent foreign policy than Georgia. This is precisely what Russia seeks to crush.

This conflict is therefore about our common trans-Atlantic values of liberty and democracy. It is about the right of small nations to live freely and determine their own future. It is about the great power struggles for influence of the 20th century, versus the path of integration and unity defined by the European Union of the 21st. Georgia has made its choice.

Russia has sought to control its former ‘colonies’ throughout Putin’s time in office. Let’s remember how he tried installing a pro-Moscow candidate in the Ukraine through fraud in 2004. The thought of Ukraine having its own foreign policy threatened Putin.

Don’t think that it’s coincidence that Viktor Yushchenko was poisoned during the campaign. But I digress. (continue reading post »)

It’s been 10 days since Speaker Nancy Pelosi shut off the lights in the House chamber and the power to the microphones without allowing a vote on any pro-drilling amendments. While it’s true that most Americans aren’t partisan, it’s equally true that they know when someone’s acting like a tyrant. In this case, the tyrant’s name is Nancy Pelosi.

Before we villify her as the sole culprit, let’s set the record straight. Ms. Pelosi is the ‘Culprit-in-Chief’ but she’s had lots of help in obstructing legislation that would lessen our dependence on foreign oil.

First, it’s important to understand that every Democrat that voted to shut down for their August recess was a Pelosi enabler. Several Democrats joined every Republican in voting against adjournment. The motion to adjourn passed by a single vote. Had more of the so-called pro-drilling Democrats walked the walk, Speaker Pelosi wouldn’t have been able to adjourn.

Let’s not gloss over this point because it’s a huge point. If the so-called pro-drilling Democrats stood up to her, it would’ve put alot of pressure on Speaker Pelosi. It likely would’ve forced her to grant an up-or-down vote on Republicans’ American Energy Act.

The entire point of calling the August recess was to avoid dealing with that legislation. Speaker Pelosi wants to avoid that legislation like a vampire wants to avoid making contact with wooden stakes. (continue reading post »)

This morning, Rep. Ed Markey, (D-Taxachusetts), wrote an editorial in the WSJ criticizing Republicans for their insistence on drilling. This is my response to Rep. Markey:

Rep. Markey, I find this section of your Wall Street Journal editorial highly objectionable:

Ask most Americans how to break our dependence on oil and expensive fossil fuels and bring down prices, and they’ll tell you to expand renewable energy production, produce more fuel-efficient cars and trucks, and be smart about using energy. Ask the oil industry, or their allies in Congress and the White House, and they’ll have a singular answer: drill.

The problem is, a fire sale of our nation’s beaches to oil companies won’t bring down prices for at least a decade, and even then the effect would be insignificant. And that’s according to the oil-centric Bush administration.

Considering the fact that you chair the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, I’d expect you to know about production levels of oil rigs on the OCS. Whether you agree or disagree with the report, certainly you’ve heard of this report by the Institute for Energy Research. IER’s study debunks the myth you and other Democarts are spreading that drilling won’t “bring down prices for at least a decade.” (continue reading post »)