Barack Obama released his “New Energy for America” plan today during his speech at Michigan State University. His entire energy plan is laid out here. Relieving America from its foreign oil addiction was the gist of his speech: Without a doubt, this addiction is one of the most dangerous and urgent threats this nation has ever faced – from the gas prices that are wiping out your paychecks and straining businesses to the jobs that are disappearing from this state; from the instability and terror bred in the Middle East …
On June 10, when CNBC’s John Harwood asked if high energy costs were good for America, Barack Obama replied: “I think that I would have preferred a gradual adjustment.” Obama did not say it directly, but the logical conclusion from his statement is that Obama does not believe the government should pursue policies that reduce the price Americans pay for energy. The “emergency plan” Obama released Friday is entirely consistent with Obama’s pro-high-energy-cost position. Nothing in the plan even attempts to lower energy costs. All it does is promise checks …
Killing two birds with one stone; Barack Obama has it all figured out. To compensate for the high costs of gas and energy prices and revamp the struggling economy, presidential nominee Barack Obama conjured up a plan to give $500 to individuals and $1000 to families as soon as this fall. Speaking in Florida he said, “This rebate will be enough to offset the increased cost of gas for a working family over the next four months. Or, if you live in a state where it gets very cold in …
Unless the House acts today, it will be the first time since the 1950s that lawmakers left for August recess without passing a single appropriations bill. It took one issue to bring the appropriations process to a screeching halt: energy. Instead of allowing even a single debate or vote on the issue, the liberals who control Congress have shut down all work on setting spending priorities for the federal government. Explaining why she refuses to allow a vote on expanded offshore drilling Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Politico: “I’m trying to …
The Atlantic’s Megan McArdle looks over Barack Obama’s economic plans and doesn’t like what she sees. Focusing on taxes she writes: As if those things [trade and labor law] weren’t enough, he wants to raise the capital gains tax. There is a reason that most [countries] tax capital lightly–actually several reasons. The first is that capital is mobile, and the second is that capital means new investment, which gives us shiny new things we like, such as fMRI machines and electric cars and yes, iPhones. Savings represents a tradeoff between …
The economy is by far the No. 1 issue on most Americans’ minds. Gas prices are a close second. The two issues are intimately related. But the spike in oil prices this year is just the tip of the iceberg. Due to similar developments in supply and demand, electricity prices are set to skyrocket next year. While American oil consumption has grown only 15% since 1973, electricity use has shot up 115%. Right now the U.S. has 760 gigawatts of power to meet consumption. We will need 135 gigawatts of …
Following up on his apologia for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae today, Paul Krugman blogs: What you need to know here is that the right — the WSJ editorial page, Heritage, etc. — hates, hates, hates Fannie and Freddie. Why? Because they don’t want quasi-public entities competing with Angelo Mozilo. And it’s true: We do hate Fannie and Freddie. But not for the reason the Krugman conjures up. We’re not afraid of Fannie competing with the likes of Countrywide Financial CEO Angelo Mozilo. If only that were the case! The …
In 2004, after a tip from a whistle blower who was later fired, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (Ofheo) issued a report finding that the government-sponsored entity Fannie Mae had engaged in Enron-like accounting machinations that allowed Fannie to overstate its earnings and underestimate the risk the company faced. The accounting wizardry Fannie engaged in was designed so that Fannie could meet profit targets to maximize bonus payments to company executives like Clinton administration deputy attorney general Jamie Gorelick and Carter administration assistant director for domestic policy Franklin …
According to the non-partisan Annenberg Political Fact Check, Sen. Barack Obama’s tax plan would increase gross tax receipts by $103.3 billion in 2011 alone. That number by itself would make it the largest single-year tax increase in American history since World War II, and measured as a percentage of gross national product, it would be the fifth-largest tax increase since 1943. Even with these record-breaking levels of taxation, Obama still would not be able to cover all of his promised increases in domestic spending. Commenting on Obama’s tax and spending …
Noting the U.S. military’s return of Anbar Province to Iraqi control, the Christian Science Monitor’s Sam Dagher reports from Fallujah: This is a city literally rising from the ashes. While reminders of two major US assaults here in April and November 2004 are inescapable, signs of rebirth are plenty. Men in jumpsuits busily work on construction sites, sewers are being installed, and a hospital is nearly completed. … In the past two years, a strategy of turning tribal leaders against [Al-Qaeda in Iraq] worked and led to a significant turnabout …
