When politicians want to look busy while avoiding tough decisions during an election year, what do they do? They form commissions and councils.
And when President Barack Obama saw Americans struggling with higher
gasoline and home energy prices, did he encourage more domestic oil
exploration, off-shore drilling or coal production, while lowering
taxes on energy? Of course not. After all, with political observers
expecting a close presidential race this year, Obama needs the
financial and institutional support from far-left environmental groups. The
result has been the president anointing certain energy sources -- such
as wind and natural gas -- as energies of the future, while
implementing regulatory hurdles for more dependable fuels like oil and
coal.
Over the last decade, natural gas has exploded as an important energy
source in the United States, accounting for almost one quarter of all
energy consumed. Natural gas has boosted economic activity in states
like Ohio, North Dakota and Pennsylvania, and until recently has done
so largely without the benefit of preferential treatment from the
federal government.
But to expedite this natural gas boom, President Obama just recently
decided to form an interagency natural gas council run by Cecilia
Munoz, a former community organizer with La Raza and White House
bureaucrat with deep ties to George Soros, the billionaire investor
who made his fortune in currency trading throughout the world while
bankrolling liberal political efforts. Munoz formerly led the Open
Society Institute and the Center for Community Change, two
organizations which are directly connected to Soros, MoveOn.org,
ACORN and other fringe groups with a long record of opposing the
development of America's oil and coal resources.
If having a new council run by the far left was not enough, President
Obama continues to support major Democratic donors such as Soros by
picking winners and losers in the energy sector through risky subsidies,
through a bill known as the NAT GAS Act. This legislation attempts to
artificially encourage a transition to more natural gas usage, by
offering tax credits for natural gas vehicles, fueling stations, and
storage facilities. As we all saw with the collapse of inefficient
companies like Solyndra, when private investors are not willing to
fund a new project, politically connected firms try to force taxpayers
to fund their schemes.
But if natural gas is an already cheap and abundant source of energy,
why would we subsidize it?
The answer may be found with the Soros Management Fund, which is
Soros' investment vehicle that owns more than $90 million of shares in a
Vancouver, British Columbia, company which produces the same natural
gas-powered engines which the act would encourage the use of. Soros
has personally donated $5,000 to the act's co-sponsor Rep. Nita Lowey
of New York and his family donated $121,000 to the Democratic
Senatorial Campaign Committee, while the lead sponsor of the act,
Senator Robert Mendez of New Jersey, was chairman. This is in addition
to the countless (and often untraceable) millions of dollars Soros
pours into Democratic campaigns through the activities of his
non-profit organizations and political committees.
Natural gas is a valuable and commonly used fuel. But it is not a
silver bullet to our nation's massive energy conundrum. And just like
wind, solar, and nuclear, it should be left to succeed or fail based
on private market forces. Government should not have the legal
authority to hand your hard-earned dollars over to a private industry,
just because a handful of politicians think they have the right to
make decisions about what energy consumers use.
We have seen the costly errors of government manipulating energy
markets, and Obama must not allow wealthy activists to profit at the
expense of taxpayers. Conservatives should oppose the NAT GAS Act and
other measures that give one specific fuel a distinct marketplace
advantage over others.
Daniel Dicker: President Should Play Political Turnaround at Cushing - With Natural Gas
Natural Gas lets us exit the Opec world.. it slows or ends our reliance on Imported oil... this is a win win for America... it lets us be free of foreign rulers and countries that suck the money out of America.
Do you know how many old people and Disabled Veterans depended on ACORN for things around the country ?
ACORN took old people in rual areas who lived alone shopping for grocerys, to the doctors and hospitals, cleans homes for Disabled Veterans who could not do it themselves.
They delivered grocerys to home bound and bed ridden ! They did laundry ! They had people working in Nusing Homes with patients who had mental problems.
ACORN was a life line to many espically in the western states where towns, doctors and grocery stores can be 100 miles away or more.
So relish the lies and corruption of some film maker who will hire actors to pretend be aprt of some illegal operation ! O'keefe did a lot of harm to the elderly and disabled veterans who needed their help.
Did anyone put up the slack ? DO YOU REALLY CARE ?????
Okeefe never put out the truth. The Police were called been did not get there in time when he was at office. Then the Actors he hired the talk about moving young girls into prostitution came from a script that Okeefe wrote !
I can make a tape to make anyone look bad without a shred of proof , I bet you could too !
Apologizing like Roger Stone did when troops were comming home dead from Iraq for your actions that put someone like Bush in office who started an unnecessary war just don't cut it. If Roger Stone had not flown to Fla and lead a group of PAID men to stop the vote recount in Dade County they Supreme Court could not have made Bush President. Illegal actions can be deadly for others.
We need to end the entitlements to Big Business....
Increased oil production in the US doesn't lead to lower gas prices in the US because the oil doesn't stay here. It gets sold to the highest bidder (China, India) on that open market you idiots keep talking about. Remember that whole capitalism thingy, supply and demand? Any of this ringing a bell there Mr. Blackwell?
How about instead of sharing your ignorance with us, you and Tony Perkins head back into the closet for awhile and figure out new ways to screw people over or maybe in a true moment of inspiration you can come up with some creative way to starve people to death.
Remember the Memo in 2004 from the Bush Engery Department to Japan ?
The USA will sell Japan all the Natural Gas it needs BELOW market prices so we can keep prices high in the USA.
Oil exporters are not dependable.
Oil producers are not dependable.
In any case, the left has been making quite the stink about fracking, so ignoring reality does not make the desired point.
Ken thinks the wind will stop blowing too.
The whole Soros fixation without substantiation is right wing conspiracy theory territory. As in climbing into bed with nutters.
This seriously damages any credibility as objective.
1. Domestic energy production is at its highest point EVER. We have never produced this much oil and natural gas.
2. New tax breaks for energy producers???? Really?? They already pay almost zero taxes in the current tax code.
3. Soros wants natural gas??? Ummm how about Pickens wants natural gas. The minor investment in clean engines is nothing compared to the gas leases Pickens owns.
4. Solyndra failure?? We gave Solyndra a few hundred million in loan guarantees. CHINA crushed Solyndra by giving their competitor 30 billion in GRANTS!! Way to compete America. Way to compete.
http://www.alternet.org/economy/150908/exxon_pays_a_lower_effective_tax_rate_than_the_average_american
Like GM and Chrysler?