President Obama’s speech to the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) this weekend was another rallying cry to pass his new jobs bill. Meanwhile, the country is losing faith in the “hope and change” people voted for less than four years ago. Some CBC members were upset with Obama after he told them to “stop complaining” about the country’s bad economic situation and high unemployment rates. The African-American unemployment rate stands at 16.7 percent—a 27-year high that is up 11.5 percent since Obama took office, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. …
More than 75% of the world’s oil reserves are controlled by national oil companies. Of the world’s top 20 oil-producing firms, 14 are state-run. Those areas where private companies have been able to drill have recently been shrinking, and remaining private companies are facing hostile governments that may try to nationalize them. Meanwhile, Congress, pandering to the least economically sound sentiments of the American public, recently tried to pass a bill to curb oil market speculation. This, lawmakers argued, was the way to get prices down. Speculation is just trading …
It is not rare for conservatives to use a bit of hyperbole when describing the policies of liberals and progressives. Often when words like “socialist” are bandied about, they are used for dramatic effect. This is not the case when it comes to liberals and energy policy. As this video of Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) (posted by the American Conservative Union) shows, the ideal liberal policy on energy is socialism: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU6GSl2yu_o[/youtube]
Earlier this month the U.S. Commission on Fine Arts rejected a proposed design for the future Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial because “the colossal scale and Social Realist style of the proposed statue recalls a genre of political sculpture that has recently been pulled down in other countries.” If only the commission could make a similar condemnation of the energy policies coming out of liberals in Congress. Like the show trials of Stalin’s Soviet Union, Democrats in Congress summoned the nation’s top oil executives before the House Judiciary Committee Thursday …
