Global Warming Swelter and Swill

On Monday, June 23, 2008, James Hansen, Director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, spoke to Congress. He warned,

"Earth's atmosphere can only stay this loaded with man-made carbon dioxide for a couple more decades without changes such as mass extinction, ecosystem collapse and dramatic sea level rises."

The address marked the twentieth anniversary of his speech before Congress to launch the claptrap about global warming. That speech was not based upon actual science and the speech was framed with stagecraft.

Senator Al Gore (D-TN) and Rep. Tim Wirth (D-CO) orchestrated Hansen’s time before Congress in 1988. For this and following information, see here and here. Wirth ". . . admitted they picked the day after calling the National Weather Service to ensure it was a hot day." It happened to be a hot day in a drought and hot spell on the east coast. Wirth ". . . admitted proudly later they opened all the windows the night before, making air conditioning ineffective and making sure all involved including Hansen would be seen mopping their brow for maximum effect."

Ministers should take a cue from the Goracle every time they preach about hell! There might be more conversions as Gore, Wirth and Hansen were hoping for 20 years ago. In truth, we would rightly condemn religious manipulation of the temperature of the setting for a sermon on hell, yet these political charlatans did not have any qualms about fakery. Gore is still at it, shamelessly acting the religious quack, pounding the pulpit about the doomsday of climate change.

These quacks are crying wolf when there is no wolf. Look at this temperature chart to see the quackery of Gore and Hansen. The average temperature is a half a degree cooler today than in 1988. The highest temperature in 1998 was only 0.4^o warmer than in 1988.

People like the false prophet Hansen would sell their soul to Gore’s snake-oil cure, all the while decrying the hawking televangelists. "In 2001, the Heinz Foundation "awarded" James Hansen with a payment of $250,000 for his work on global warming."

"In 2007, Hansen split a $1 million prize from the Dan David prize category of "Future Quest for Energy" (layman’s translation: a world without oil). In addition he also reported to have acted as a consultant to Gore’s global whining slide show, which was the impetus to the Prince of Peace’s film, "An Inconvenient Truth." In fact, in 2006 Hansen had the gall to appear on a New York City stage with Mr. Gore to promote the then upcoming film-though he did reportedly inform the audience, "I’m not speaking as a government employee."

A scientist looks at the facts and does not fudge facts and evidence. A scientist does not frame inconclusive evidence to tell an inconvenient lie. A scientist’s head is not turned by money. A scientist does not sell his soul. Any scientist who does, betrays science, evidence, principle and people.

FIVE DFL OFFICE HOLDERS RULE OUR LIVES IN THIS AREA

Here are the five principal DFL office holders who rule our lives in this area:

Klobuchar

Oberstar

Olseen

Kalin

Swanson - Attorney General




We certainly do not want to elect Barack Obama to make six of this mix.

"GHOST WRITERS" - An old DFL cover tactic!

Remember the blog of a few days ago critical of the Director of Heartland Express for using her position as a paid public employee to politically praise Kalin/Olseen in the local newspapers - praising them from her position not as a private citizen which would be her unquestionable right but as a paid public employee, by title, which certainly is ethically questionable.

But rather than respond to legitimate criticism a "ghost writer" was enlisted to write a letter to the editor (the Star) further supporting Kalin & Olseen on the same issue. That's nothing but "ghost writing" and that's a tactic the DFL uses.

The Director of Heartland Express owes a public apology for this lapse in judgment and Olseen and Kalin ought to request that the apology be made lest they be, by default, party to the same questionable issue.

Kalin the Resident of District 17B?

I would also be curious as to the number of days that Mr. Kalin actually spends at his 'residence' on loftman trail in North Branch.

KALIN THE EDUCATOR

LISTEN UP!

JUST A FRIENDLY REMINDER THAT REPRESENTATIVE JEREMY KALIN HAS, TO DATE, NOT NAMED THE SCHOOL, THE CITY, THE STATE NOR THE YEARS WHERE AND WHEN HE ALLEGEDLY SERVED FOUR YEARS AS A PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER ACCORDING TO HIS CAMPAIGN PROPAGANDA.

IT IS NOT AT ALL UNREASONABLE TO EXPECT THAT IF MR. KALIN WISHES TO SERVE THE PUBLIC HE SHOULD BE QUITE WILLING TO DOCUMENT AND PROVE HIS CREDENTIALS AND EMPLOYMENT HISTORY ESPECIALLY SINCE HE CITES THESE AS EXPERIENTIAL REASONS TO SUPPORT HIM.

SINCE THE HONORABLE REPRESENTATIVE CHOOSES TO IGNORE REPEATED BLOG INQUIRIES FOR THE REQUESTED INFORMATION PERHAPS AN INQUISITIVE NEWSPAPER REPORTER CAN BE SOLICITED TO ELICIT THE INFORMATION FROM REPRESENTATIVE KALIN. JUST A THOUGHT!

Listen to the real message…

If one listens carefully to the plans that Barack Obama has for our country if he becomes president, everyone should be very concerned and even a little afraid for what lies ahead. Besides the usual liberal mantra of repealing any and all tax cuts enacted in the past 100 years like the death tax, inheritance tax and the alternative minimum tax, he proposes to double the tax on income earned from stocks held. Think long and hard about this one, if you hold stocks now and cash them in for a gain prior to an Obama inauguration, you would pay a 15% tax on those earnings. Now wait until after an Obama inauguration and the subsequent doubling of this tax and you will have to pay 30% on those particular earnings. Envision what might happen to the stock market if in fact Mr. Obama succeeds in winning the presidential election in November. What will many investors do with their portfolios in order to head off this increase? The possible scenario is quite scary, investors might just sell off stocks and pay the 15% while they can and tuck that money off shore, the results may be a dark day for the stock market and the U.S. economy. While I hate to be a pessimist and am certainly not a doom and gloom kind of guy, I can see this scenario playing out this fall. Between the proposed universal health care for all including illegal aliens, to the raising of any and all taxes that he can get his hands on, this great country of ours cannot afford a liberal with the kind of ideas this man is proposing at this time in history or any other time for that matter. I can understand the appeal of this ‘newcomer’ and the ‘change’ message that has become his primary message, but everyone needs to understand the intent of this individual as an ultra liberal… a socialist minded individual with real life leanings toward marching our country into Marxism.

THE LULL BEFORE THE STORM - DFL TACTIC

The local (and State!) DFL have absolutely nothing to brag about pertaining to the most recent Session of the legislature - in fact DFL office holders (including certainly Kalin/Olseen for example) have been keeping a fairly low public political profile because they are keenly aware that the public knows all too well that the public got "burned" by the legislative extremism and legislative excesses in the recently concluded Session - excessive taxes, excessive regulation, excessive spending - and on and on - so the plan appears to be to keep a relatively low profile, for the time being, so that the public will have a "time of forgetting" what really went on in the legislative Session - and then they will overwhelm the public with massive publicity and advertising and signs paid for by outside forces of every stripe. They will lie, distort, cheat, criticize and out-advertise and out-spend Republican candidates. That is the future Republicans face and the sooner Republicans - candidates and supporters - face up to that reality the better will be our chances of victory. You can't win the battle without an accurate assessment of the resources and tactics of the opposition. And the DFL tactics will be ruthless and their resources massive provided by outside forces.

Cruising with the Candidates

The Taylors Falls Republican Precinct invites you for an evening of enjoyment. We ask you to support the Chisago County Republican Party through this fund-raiser.

Enjoy food and fellowship with other Republicans. Cruise through the upper and lower dalles of the St. Croix. The Taylors Falls Republicans want to share the beauty of the river with you. This area of the St. Croix is one of the most magnificent places in Chisago County. If you have never taken a boat tour of the river, or you want to appreciate it again, this is your opportunity to enjoy a relaxing evening, awesome scenery, good food and fellowship with others from the Republican Party.

We have invited Gov. Pawlenty, Senator Coleman and numerous other Republican dignitaries to spend the evening with us.

Meet GOP candidates who will represent us in government. Visit with Don Taylor, our endorsed candidate for the House seat in 17B. Talk with Don about how you can help get him elected.

Click on the above picture for a larger image. You can also print it.

For more information or to purchase tickets, send an e-mail by clicking on TFSummerFun@gmail.com.

For more information on the boat tours, click here. Directions can be found here.

TKO (Taxpayer Knock Out) Delivered by DFL Tax Team

The KALIN/OLSEEN "tax team" along with their DFL cohorts in the Senate and House succeeded in delivering a "knock out" blow to the people of Minnesota, to Senate District 17, to House District 17b and to the hardworking, tax-paying citizens of Chisago County with the passage of the so-called "TRANSPORTATION BILL" which is JUST ONE EXAMPLE of an endless stream of other tax consuming legislation passed in the legislative session recently ended.

There is a solution to this problem - the remedy is found at the ballot box. Don't let them pick your pocket another time. As the saying goes: "THROW THE RASCALS OUT!" We simply can't afford them. Their smiley faces and syrupy words don't pay your bills.

Taxing Kalin

Writing in the local papers, Kalin (D-17B) declared, "In this tough economy, we’ve all had to tighten our belts and stretch our household budgets. For most of us that means taking summer vacation closer to home or cooking more meals at home."

So Kalin acknowledges we have a tough economy which has stretched our budgets and forced us to tighten our belts. I’m glad he recognizes it. But there is something wrong with this picture. He has the audacity to say that and yet not acknowledge that he is blameworthy for creating some of the poorer economy.

He voted for the gas tax increase which hits the poor disproportionately hard. There is hardly ever a tax increase that he does not like. He hasn’t a clue that taking that much money out of the economy for taxes has a significant impact on slowing the economy. Taxpayers have that much less to spend. That is what forces us to tighten our belts. And then he tells us we need to be generous with the hungry. The man has no shame.

His chutzpah is endless. If the legislative session had not come to an end, Kalin would still be voting to increase our taxes. He and the Dems had $5 billion more in proposed legislation, ready to spend your money. He views the taxpayers of Chisago County as cash cows to fund his escapades in the legislature. It’s time to remove him because we cannot afford to have him become a fixture in the legislature.

Kalin Abuses the Hungry

In the local papers, Kalin (D-17B) wrote, "Last year, I took the "food stamp challenge" – to eat for a week off the average food stamp budget of just $3 a day. It was a humbling experience – to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes."

The $3 of food stamps per day is not meant to provide all the food for a person each day. It is a supplemental program. The government program rightly expects recipients to provide some money toward their own daily consumption of food. Kalin distorts the intent of the program.

He also claims, "I’ve since learned that most food stamp recipients are working families with children, and their struggles become even more difficult in the summer months." Well, what do you know?! This is consistent with the program.

With some exceptions, able-bodied adults between 16 and 60 must register for work, accept suitable employment, and take part in an employment and training program to which they are referred by the food stamp office. Failure to comply with these requirements can result in disqualification from the Program. In addition, able-bodied adults between 18 and 50 who do not have any dependent children can get food stamps only for 3 months in a 36-month period if they do not work or participate in a workfare or employment and training program other than job search. This requirement is waived in some locations.

The program rightly expects able-bodied people to work. The program is a supplement, not a replacement. The program aims to create some incentive to work.

While Kalin makes hay on the $3 food stamps per day, what does he collect? As a representative he can receive $77 per day for food and incidentals while the House is in session. In 2007, Kalin collected $8,448 of per diem on top of his $31,140 salary. The House was in session for 75 days. Kalin took less per diem than most legislators (to his credit). However, Kalin’s per diem of $8,448 spread over a year (8,448/365) amounts to $23 per day. On $23 per day, most of us would be eating better than we do. That is on top of his $31,140 salary.

And then this guy has the nerve to use the poor and hungry to leverage votes to keep him in office. That is despicable. Vote NO on Kalin in November.

Kalin Abuses the Hungry

Writing in the local papers, Kalin (D-17B) bemoaned, "Some of our neighbors in Chisago County are facing even tougher choices – which family member will go without dinner tonight, so that the others can eat."

OK Kalin. Tell us. Name one person you know who goes without a meal so the rest of the family gets to eat. Once, maybe. Consistently, no. This statement is so much political bunk meant to show your supposed political compassion with our money, not yours.

If it is actually happening, it is because they are not going to the food shelf or utilizing other programs. American businesses are extremely generous in making donations to a multitude of causes. Americans are very charitable to the Food Shelves, among other programs, and ultimately to the hungry. In fact, conservatives are consistently rated more generous than liberals. Maybe your liberal friends need your admonition, but we conservatives don’t.

It’s fine if Dems want to collect canned goods at their business meetings. It’s great if Dems bring food supplies for the Food Shelf to their annual picnics. Have at it. Do it quietly without fanfare. But collecting food as a feature of your political presence in parades is a ploy for votes. It stinks to use the hungry and poor to garner votes. Using the poor and hungry is self-serving. It places politics before people.

It’s clear as a nose on a face. Vote NO on Kalin this fall.

Kalin Takes Candy from the Kids

Writing in the local papers, Kalin (D-17B) said, "Rather than throw candy or litter the streets with campaign material at this summer’s parades, we’ll be collecting food for the Food Shelf – starting with the North Branch Midsummer Days Parade on Sunday, June 22."

I thought Dems always do it for the children. What more does a kid enjoy in a parade than collecting and eating candy? Adults gain pleasure from watching the kids get excited about all the candy they can gather. We adults even reflect on how much fun we had as kids at parades, running to swoop up the sweets.

Candy and parades go together like ice cream and a cone. What’s a parade without candy? What’s the cone without ice cream? It’s Americana. It’s motherhood, baseball and apple pie. But this Dem doesn’t want the kids to enjoy life American style. What a killjoy!

Since he votes NO on candy, vote NO on Kalin.

Get the word out!

I have reviewed some of the recent posts on Representative Kalins state web site and I have to say that this young fellow is quite the artist. Although his skills are very rudimentary at best, his weaving of the facts are very interesting. Mr. Kalin states “One of my highest priorities this session was a broad economic stimulus package to help stimulate job growth and revitalize Minnesota’s economy.” Voting to add yet another gas tax burden to his many constituents who commute was a great addition that will certainly help stimulate growth in personal budget defecits! Mr. Kalin also touted the 08 bonding bill which heavily invests in the state colleges and universities including the University of Minnesota. I have had two daughters graduate from the University of Minnesota in the past two years and a third will be graduating next year, take it from me, the massive increases in tuition each and every year to attend the University of Minnesota has certainly had an impact on my personal economic situation and I can assure you that it has not been a positive one.
Mr. Kalin also mentioned the ‘skyrocketing’ property taxes in the state over the past five years, what Mr. Kalin would understand if he were actually a property owner in this district, is that property values have increased over the past five years and property taxes are based on value.
The simple facts are these, what experience does Mr. Kalin have running a small business, providing health insurance for employees, feeling the pain of yet another gas tax increase as he commutes to his job, or feeling the economic pain of yet another increase in tuition costs to the University of Minnesota? Well, the answer is, he has no experience in any of these matters. Mr. Kalin would blog and release press statements touting all of the good he has accomplished and if even the slightest scrutiny was paid to his actual voting record and the facts as they actually are, you would see that Mr. Kalin is an inexperienced young man who has no business representing us in this district. He quickly figured out that in this world of politics you can throw out some key phrases and words that catch the attention of those not really interested in doing their homework and they will vote for you. Well, we as conservatives are doing our homework and we will get out the word and this election year we will send Mr. Kalin packing. He can walk three pairs of shoes right off his feet and it won’t matter. We are going to send Don Taylor to the capital to represent everyone of this district, everyone who is in small business, everyone who shops at small businesses, everyone who pays property taxes, everyone who has children in school and college or will have someday, everyone who winces every time they fill up their cars with gas, Don Taylor will represent us well and I encourage everyone to get this word out.

Conservative Dissatisfaction

We are hearing conservatives express displeasure ranging from disappointment to disgust with many Republicans in office, from would be President, Senator John McCain, to Senator Norm Coleman, to state Representatives and Senators. Some are considering not even bothering to vote because they cannot vote in good conscience for them because they are not conservative enough.

I would urge and even beg my fellow disappointed conservatives to go to the polls this fall and vote. Even encourage others who are hesitant to vote for the following reasons.

Vote because voting is perhaps the chief way of influencing government. Voting is your right; exercise it so you don’t lose it. Voting is your privilege; a large percentage of the world’s peoples does not have that honor afforded to them. Voting is your responsibility; your choice of leaders is just as much an obligation as is self-government.

If you have problems voting for the top of the ticket, go and vote anyway for school board members, township supervisors, city council members, county commissioners, sheriffs, treasurers and auditors. We need conservative people in these positions to give us the best government possible at our local levels. Then too, these are the positions from which most candidates come who move on to the higher levels of government. Conservatives in higher office come from lower offices.

The Reagan Revolution started in 1964 with the move to put conservatives in office at the grassroots level. If you have trouble with candidates at the higher level now, vote to start a new Conservative Revolution that will benefit your children and grandchildren. Don’t throw in the towel because of frustration. Get in there to start afresh. Think long-term. Voting for conservatives on the local level is like drilling for oil. If Congress had permitted drilling for oil twenty years ago, we would have the supply we need today and cheaper gasoline. If conservatives stay out of the voting booths today, twenty years from now will be the liberal, even Marxist, consequences of your failure today. Don’t let that happen. We need clear-headed, calculated thinking, not erratic, emotional, gut reactions.

While you are in the voting booth, voting for your local conservatives, vote for Don Taylor for the House seat in 17B. He is a true conservative. The difference between conservative Don Taylor and liberal Jeremy Kalin is night and day. This vote is a no-brainer! We need to stop Kalin from becoming a career politician. He doesn’t have a job; his "job" is being Representative. He has never earned as much money as he is collecting now as a politician. He is happy as a clam, helping you, at your expense, by taxing you more.

Senator Coleman disappoints many, but don’t throw in the towel. Coleman is coming around, for example, on supporting drilling off-shore. That is significant. Thank you Senator Coleman. If you can’t vote wholeheartedly for Coleman, vote against Franken. That should be motivation enough to get all hesitators to the polls. It should be very easy to vote against Franken.

Senator McCain gives many fits, but Senator Obama will give you severe convulsions. And your children may never have the republic you were given by your parents. Don’t fail the next generation of Americans; they are counting on you as you counted on your parents.

You may think your vote doesn’t count. That’s wrong! Your vote always counts. If you stay home and don’t vote or if you vote for your local choices, but not Coleman and McCain, you have voted for Franken and Obama. That’s right, you as a conservative have voted for two lousy liberals by not voting. You see, your conservative vote at least cancels out a liberal vote. If enough conservatives don’t vote, that gives the equal number of votes to the liberals and that’s all it takes to put them in office by default, by conservatives giving up.

Disappointed and hesitating conservatives, please think. Set your emotions aside and think!! See you at the polls.

It’s Great to be Alive

As the sun was setting in the far northwest this evening, the full moon was rising in the far southeast. This capped a perfect day of grand weather on June 18th.

Reddy Kilowatt at Gore’s Service

In the year since Al Gore took steps to make his home more energy-efficient, the former Vice President’s home energy use surged more than 10%, according to the Tennessee Center for Policy Research. . .

Since taking steps to make his home more environmentally-friendly last June, Gore devours an average of 17,768 kWh per month –1,638 kWh more energy per month than before the renovations – at a cost of $16,533. By comparison, the average American household consumes 11,040 kWh in an entire year, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Read the whole article.

___________________________________________

The Goracle has a right to spend his money how he sees fit. He is free to consume enough energy to power 232 homes. He has the liberty to consume more in his domain than many entire small towns in the US. That is not a problem.

The problem is he shoots off his mouth. The problem is he expects us to consume less, significantly less than he does and then conserve on top of that. We like leaders who conserve along with us. We don’t like those who tell us how to live while they exempt themselves. We don’t like an empty shell, a fraud, a phoney.

We despise an elitist telling us to reduce our carbon footprint when ours is extremely small compared to his. We disdain members of the self-proclaimed elite who won’t leave us alone and continually manipulate our lives to help us.

Leave us alone; we don’t want your help. Then we will leave you alone to spend whatever you want. That’s your right. It’s also our right to have whatever size carbon footprint we choose just like Al[mighty] Gore does.

Media: Worse for military than terrorists

by Matt Sanchez

Anyone who believes unfair and biased press on Iraq is a recent phenomenon has a short memory.

In 2003, following the fastest advance in the history of warfare, the media began to wring their collective hands, as one microphone holder after the next cautioned of Marines and soldiers outrunning their support in the charge to Baghdad.

Read the rest of these reflections.

There is an Epidemic in our Country

There is a disease growing in our great country and it is breaching the epidemic proportion. The core family structure is under attack and the result of this attack is rearing its ugly head nation wide. Teenage children are murdering women, children, and each other daily. The absence of a family structure during the growth of these children is widespread and the cultural influence present is not a positive one. When the music they are listening to glorifies crime, drugs, gangs and the unilateral disrespect of women, there can be no doubt as to why we have a plague of young gangsters running our streets day and night.

Our education system is having to deal with these little thugs, our teachers are being asked to tame these kids if even for a 50 minute period at a time and the cost of education is skyrocketing due to this epidemic. Video games that glorify felonious crimes, music and videos that do the same, and the obvious absence of a male presence is creating a generation of criminals that our current justice system is not equipped to deal with. If a child of 15 steals, rapes, and maybe even murders, can this child be rehabilitated? I’m afraid that the answer is one that most do not want to hear. Children learn and model at a very young age and if a child is immersed in an environment that is laden with drugs, alcohol, violence and crime, this will become the norm. Certain cultures have decided to embrace this type of behavior as their own and actually become proud of this cultural identity.

Much to the liberal lefts surprise the government cannot step in and remedy this problem. The communities that are being hit the hardest by this issue need to step up, educate their own and rid themselves of these issues. This problem cannot be legislated out of existence by rules, laws and more regulations. The community leaders nationwide need to educate their youth, rid their culture of the glorification of gangs and violence, and teach these young men to stand up and be role models for the children that they are bringing into this world. The entitlement mentality needs to be replaced with the opportunity mentality, with the right influence any child can achieve any thing in this country but it has to begin at home. The vaccine for this particular plague exists and it is in the form of a strong family presence in the home.

Remember who we are….

We are conservatives and I urge the conservatives of our precinct, of our district, of our state and of our country to remember who we are. We are the conservatives who remember the connection between economic justice and economic growth. Growth in our economy will not only create jobs everywhere but it will enhance family stability which our country needs as a backbone to survive. A strong healthy economy encourages optimism about the future. We need to encourage our elected officials to maintain tax cuts, cut more, and when that has been accomplished, we need to cut even more! Our government has to be reigned in, draw down on the overwhelming regulations and encourage a free market system with open competition. Barack Obama and the liberal left will have you believe that they need to be elected into office in order to save us from ourselves. We cannot provide health care for ourselves and our families so they will provide it for us. They will have the average American believe that all will be better with a socialistic government in place and all will be good. In their system there will be no rich, no poor, there will be no class system because that just simply is not fair. Does that sound familiar? Karl Marx sang that tune some time ago and generations of people paid the price of having it ‘fair’ for everyone.
We as Americans need to get the word out. We need to converse with our neighbors, our children and our friends. We need to create a ground swell of support for the ideals that made our party great. We need to remind people that the Grand Old Party is made up of good, decent people, creative people who raise their families, go to church, and help out in the community when needed because we are the community. This will be a struggle in the future that we cannot give up on it, we need to educate those ignorant to the obvious, and remember as my old boss used to say, ‘this is not Right versus Left, it is Right versus Wrong.”

Liberal Scare Tactics

The wants of most liberals is universal health care for all. The numbers are thrown out there regarding the staggering number of Americans who do not have health care insurance. The real question that should be asked is how many Americans do not get care when they are in need of it? The staggering number of people on public assistance in this country are not included in the figures relied on to make these outrageous claims. Since they are on assistance, they are considered to have no health insurance coverage, yet they get medical care in the form of public assistance, and the care they get is very good.
These number games have become the liberal lefts way of manipulating scare tactics to the masses. From health insurance to global warming, from tax cuts to oil company profits, the liberal left has become quite skilled at playing the numbers game and it has become increasingly easy with the mainstream media on their team.
I remember a Republican Party that aggressively pursued its agenda and was not afraid to state its case to the people and stand up for family values. The Republican Party I grew up in helped protect our country, protect our rights, and protect our checkbooks! This party was vastly popular and was at its height when it conveyed its message loud and clear and followed through on campaign promises after elected.
The liberal left has done a good job at scaring the national GOP into a more moderate, politically correct path that only differentiates itself from the Democratic Party on a select few topics. While I don’t propose to climb all the way out on that religious right wing plank and embrace the radical right wing agenda entirely, I do propose a return to the roots of what made a generation of us ‘Reagan Republicans.”
The left will play that numbers game and label all Republicans as religious right wing extremists and that fits their goal of turning enough of the people from the center towards the left. It is important that we get our message out loud and clear to everyone that will listen. The Republican Party is the ‘Grand Old Party,’ lower the tax burden on the people of this country through fiscal responsibility by those we elect, protect our country from those that would do us harm, by force if necessary, and protect the rights set forth by the founders of our country and the Constitution of these United states of America.
God Bless.

The Model T

If elected, Tinklenberg proposes to make, "Sensible, progressive increases in CAFE fleet standards for fuel usage of automobiles and trucks. Henry Ford's Model-T got better gas mileage than most cars on the road today. America can do better!"

Is that really true that our vehicles are less efficient than the Model T, Mr. Tinklenberg?

The 99 inch wheelbase Model T had a fuel economy of 13 to 21 mpg. It weighed 1,200 pounds.

Let’s compare it to the Ford Focus with a 102.9 inch wheelbase and a weight of 2,617 pounds. With more than double the weight, it gets significantly better mileage than the Model T—24-35 mpg.

Even a Crown Victoria, at 4,057 pounds and 114.7 inch wheelbase, gets 17-25 mpg. With more than three times the weight of the Model T, the Crown Victoria gets better gas mileage than it did.

Tell me again, why would anyone who looks at the numbers ever want to vote for Tinklenberg?

Tax and Spend, Tax and Spend

So what are Tinklenberg’s solutions to the non-problem?

• Give tax breaks to conserve energy. (Somebody has to pay for those tax breaks.)
• Create a carbon tax on carbon-based fuels.
• Tax to encourage development of alternative and sustainable fuels.
• Increase fuel standards for vehicles (Congress has already done that).
• Increase taxes to fund more light rail.
• Pass a windfall profit tax on Big Oil.

That ought to do it. Just tax us to death so we can’t use any more oil. What other solution is there for a Democrat? Government must do it all and you must pay for it.

Liberal Gibberish

Having declared without proof that ". . . global climate change is real . . . ," Elwyn Tinklenberg declared, "We need to reduce America's dependence on the coal and petroleum products that are the primary causes of global warming."

This liberal mantra is so accepted among the elite that they do not even bother explaining the connection between the energy source and global warming. To them it does not need any more explanation than it gets warm in the summer. Indeed, you accept it by faith, faith in Tinklenberg.

When the effect (climate change) is accepted without any evidence offered and the cause (coal and oil) is accepted without proof, we are truly in trouble. This man claims he has the solution to a problem that no one can prove even exists and in the face of significant evidence that it does not exist.

A doctor may prescribe a cure for an ill patient that is temporarily worse than the disease in an effort to bring healing. But a prescription for a debilitating cure for a healthy person would be deadly.

Such is Tinklenberg, only he is worse. Tinklenberg is an opportunist. Put him in office precisely because he has prescribed the cure for the non-existent problem that is ". . .the biggest long-term challenge our nation and world face." This man is not a leader, a statesman, a public servant; he is a messiah. He offers himself as the savior of the world. But read on. In the end, this messiah has a non-cure for a non-problem.

Tinklenberg subtly moves from the alarmism of global warming to the more palpable alarmism of national security in the face of dependence on foreign oil and squandering our wealth to make foreigners rich. He writes, "These problems [companions to the big non-problem] are long-range and complex. No immediate or simple remedies are available that will correct the current situation, but prompt action by our nation is essential." Get that?! ". . .[N]o immediate or simple remedies are available that will correct the current situation . . . "

But not having any ". . . immediate or simple remedies . . . " available, he insists ". . . prompt action by our nation is essential." Now that is a real problem solver and leader!

Typical of liberals, he thinks something has caused a problem, when he doesn’t know there is not a problem. He doesn’t know there is not a need for a solution. He hypes two things (national security and loss of wealth) he regards as problems that exist totally apart from his imaginary problem. Then he tells us he has the solution. And then tells us there is not any solution. But we must act! We must do it for our kids and grand kids!

Get that? This man knows where he has been, where he is and where he is going. Follow him over the cliff. He is the blind leading the blind. This man gave us light rail.

THE "NEW MATH" - DFL STYLE!!

If you have followed the news releases and other public comments by our esteemed State Senator OLSEEN and State Representative KALIN you must have noticed how frequently they take cover for their wrong votes on a number of bad Bills by stressing that there was "bi-partisan" support.

Every time they turn around and make a comment on bad legislation which they supported OLSEEN and KALIN invoke the jingo that a bill had "bi-partisan support."

One such instance, out of many, was the infamous Transportation Bill that OLSEEN and KALIN both voted for and supported in the legislative session and praised back home in the District and under which taxpayers will suffer for years to come - far out into the future!

Just look behind the vaunted "bi-partisan" smokescreen behind which OLSEEN and KALIN both seek to hide and take cover. On the 'Transportation Bill" for example - keep in mind there are 134 House Members (Representatives) and out of those 134 Members only six Republicans voted for the bill - 6 out of 134 - boy that surely makes the outcome "bipartisan" does it not?

And remember how popular the "Transportation Bill" was to the folks back home in their Districts by recalling what happened to those silly six Republicans who voted for the Bill in order to be Bi-partisan!!

SENATOR OLSEEN and REPRESENTATIVE KALIN please come up with better excuses or more honest explanations for your votes - we see through your smokescreen! Your "new math" doesn't cut it - you have flunked the course!

Political Pundit Tinklenberg Speaks!

Elwyn Tinklenberg, who is running against Rep. Michele Bachmann, declares:

The evidence is in and speaks overwhelmingly — global climate change is real.

I guess that settles it. While global warming may not be real, global climate change is. When the Pundit speaks, we should listen. Even though he says, "The evidence is in," he does not give us the evidence. We just need to trust him. Daddy knows best. We can rely on him.

Perhaps he thinks we are incapable of examining the evidence. No, more importantly, he writes as if we don’t need to evaluate the evidence. He writes as if he has examined the evidence and drawn the infallible conclusion that he wants us to accept. Trust the Pundit. Then you don’t have to trust the evidence. Just blindly follow the cult leader on this one because he will provide the answers that solve the problem of climate change.

Give your mind over to the cult leader. Drink his Kool-Aid. Don’t think. Do what he says. It will be good for you.

No reputable authority on any subject would ask you to check your mind at the door, ignore the evidence and just accept an assertion on his authority. Reputable authorities gain their authority from a judicious study of the evidence. Reputable authorities know that examined evidence is what allows them to draw conclusions and then speak with authority on a subject. Reputable authorities then share that evidence with us for us to examine to draw our own conclusions.

Such an approach respects the dignity of the individual to make a free and educated choice.

Tinklenberg treats his readers as mindless sheep and regards himself as a cultic guru. What an insult to the personhood of each of his readers!

DFL-DEFINED SUCCESS IS RATHER "PEDESTRIAN!"

Senator Rick Olseen and Representative Jeremy Kalin have been prating about the successful outcome of the recently concluded 2008 legislative session.

In fact they came in for high praise from the Chisago-Isanti County Heartland Express transit system Director (see letter to editor - "Thanks to our legislators" - ECM Post Review, May 28, 2008).

Apart from the very questionable ethics and impropriety of a publicly salaried employee who stands to benefit directly from the legislation for which Olseen and Kalin are praised by the Director is the fact that the Director wrote the letter to the editor in her capacity as a public employee - "Transit Director" - rather than expressing her views as a private citizen for which she would be unquestioned in any venue. Where lies the supervisory discipline for this serious ethical infraction?

Contrast this then with the report by the North Branch Area School District 138 Superintendent, Dr. Deb Henton, in the same issue of the ECM Post Review wherein the Superintendent announces, flat out, that "transportation for secondary studcnts (living within a two-mile radius of schools) will be discontinued" beginning Fall 2008. This latter commentary, by the school superintendent, is important information for public consumption not a personal partisan political statement - it is simply a stated fact for which the Superintendent is to be commended for bringing it to public attention.

Should You Trust What Rep. Kalin Says - Or How He Votes?

Representative Jeremy Kalin tells the public that he is a "fiscal conservative." You have undoubtedly seen his public comments declaring that.

But the TAXPAYERS LEAGUE OF MINNESOTA - a "nonpartisan, nonprofit grassroots taxpayer advocacy organization representing thousands of Minnesotans" gives Representative Kalin a (ZERO) - that is right - a zero rating - in the organization's 2007 Legislative Scorecard.

For detailed and further information on ALL legislators (REPUBLICAN and DFL) contact the TAXPAYERS LEAGUE OF MINNESOTA at 651-294-3590. You will be interested to discover the difference between what Representative Kalin (and also Senator Olseen) tell you or what they put into their news releases carried by the local press and how they actually vote.

You owe it to yourself. Or as former President Ronald Reagan said of relations with the former Soviet Union - "TRUST - BUT VERIFY!"

We owe it to the Gov

Al Franken is his own worst enemy and we as conservatives can be thankful that the Democratic party has decided that he is their candidate of choice for the Senate this fall. State Senator Olseen is squarely in support of Franken and this puts us as conservatives in a very good position for his seat in the next election cycle. I have reviewed the legislation that Olseen has authored and co-authored during his tenure at the capital and it is embarrassing at best. Senator Olseen is very much married to Representative Kalin on many of his bills and these two are like bumbling dolts when it comes to addressing the issues that need attention. What we have here are marching soldiers of the state Dfl who are told how to vote and when to vote by the party leadership. The partisan state DFL party has decided that a state budget increase of anything less than 10% across the board is a tax cut. They have bred their state legislators to fall right in line with this inept thought process. Thank goodness for Gov. Pawlenty and the common sense of the GOP. This is a tough battle for us but the Gov. has done an admirable job of holding as much ground as possible considering the political landscape at this particular time in history. Let us begin here and now, we need to continue an aggressive campaign to throw out Kalin this fall, send Coleman back to Washington, and line up a candidate as soon as possible to replace Olseen in the Senate. It is never too early to start and we owe it to Gov. Pawlenty to send him some support in the House and Senate.

Crass Franken

In a former post, we noted that Dennis Prager said, "Today, people at work, to cite but one example, are far less free to speak naturally. Every word, gesture and look, even one's illustrated calendar, is now monitored lest a fellow employee feel offended and bring charges of sexual harassment or creating a "hostile work environment" or being racially, religiously or ethnically insensitive, or insensitive to another's sexual orientation."

Contrast that to Al Franken’s insensitivity to women while in his "work" of making "jokes." Leftists love to create the environment that Prager detests, but at the same time leftists practice that very activity. What is good for Franken to do is improper for others to practice. He is entitled to an exemption from what is dumped upon others and demanded as proper decorum.

Some Minnesota Dems are leery of Franken’s past because of its implication on his political chances, but how many have an ounce of concern for what Prager says? Some Dem women spoke out against Franken for his sexually demeaning writing about women, but they are booed and dismissed. Far too many Dems are devoid of family values, having no shame to endorse a crass person for the US Senate.

Senator Rick Olseen (D-17) falls into this category, having endorsed Franken. Franken is an embarrassment to the human race and Olseen has the stupidity to endorse him. I echo Freedomwriter. Will Olseen host another party for crass Franken? Indeed, will the Chisago County DFL invite Franken for any events?

Party Party?

Will the DFL Party soon have another party at the Olseen residence celebrating Al Franken's endorsement by the DFL Party?

Another Al Franken Celebration

Just Wondering!

We are wondering if Senator Olseen and the local DFLers will be having another hilarious party soon celebrating with the presence of AL FRANKEN as the endorsed U. S. Senate Candidate. Representative Kalin clearly enjoyed it as evidenced by the party pictures. Or will they try to distance themselves from Franken like some of the other DFLers?

As we say - "Just Wondering!"

When I was a boy, America was a better place

By Dennis Prager

When I was a boy, America was a freer society than it is today. If Americans had been told the extent and number of laws that would govern their speech and behavior within one generation, they would have been certain that they were being told about some dictatorship, not the Land of the Free. Today, people at work, to cite but one example, are far less free to speak naturally. Every word, gesture and look, even one's illustrated calendar, is now monitored lest a fellow employee feel offended and bring charges of sexual harassment or creating a "hostile work environment" or being racially, religiously or ethnically insensitive, or insensitive to another's sexual orientation.

Read the whole article.

GOOD POLITICAL ADVICE FROM ANOTHER COUNTY

The following is a copy of a Letter to the Editor that appeared in local papers exactly as written by a Mora, Minnesota resident concerning DFL Senator Tony Lourey and DFL Representative Tim Faust of that legislative district.

It is interesting to read the letter carefully to see if you can find any significant place that ultra-liberals SENATOR RICK OLSEEN and REPRESENTATIVE JEREMY KALIN voted differently from ultra-liberals Lourey and Faust and the rest of the free-spending liberals.

Clearly DFL legislators are captives of the special interest groups that own them and they are not about to vote against those who fund them. Back home they put on a smiley face and down at the Capitol they do what they are told and you and I pay the bills they rack up.

The letter follows:

"Dear Editor: Now that the 2008 legislative session is over I thought it would be a good time to look at just what our State Senator Tony Lourey (Rick Olseen?) and State Representative Tim Faust (Jeremy Kalin?) accomplished during this last session in regards to our taxpayer dollars. Both of the gentlemen were given the opportunity to vote on eleven bills that could either raise our taxpayer dollars or not.

Senator Lourey chose to increase our tax spending 10 of the 11 times, while Representative Faust had a 100 percent voting record of increasing our tax dollars. I don't know about you, but that doesn't seem to me like they're working in our best interests.

So, if they are not working on our behalf whose behalf are they working on? Well here again voting records can show that. Back in 2007 one of the first issues taken up by Senate lawmakers was a 45 percent increase in their "per diem", a daily allowance for meals and incidental expenses. The increase from $66 per day to $96 per day is on top of a legislator's annual salary of $31,140, plus monthly housing and travel expenses paid year round. And guess where all that money comes from? You guessed it, the taxpayers pockets.

As long as we are on the topic of tax increases I wanted to inform the readers that they will have the opportunity to vote on a 3/8 of a cent sales tax increase on the ballot on November 4th. As projected by the Minnesota Revenue Department, by 2011 this tax increase will siphon $276 million out of taxpayers' pockets to be divided up among four new pots of money: 33 percent to the Outdoor Heritage Fund, 33 percent to the Clean Water Fund, 14 percent to the Parks and Trails fund, and 20 percent to the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. It's not often that we Minnesotans get a clear choice between between raising taxes and fiscal responsibility. . . . . . . . . . ."

End of quoted letter to the Editor

Proud to 'not be a Democrat'

I used to work for a guy that once stated “ Republicans believe that every day is the 4th of July, Democrats believe that every day is April 15th.” I was an impressionable young lad at the time and I came from a long line of Kennedy worshiping liberals and I liked what I heard from this new boss of mine. Ronald Reagan was his name and I was serving my country as a in the military at the time. The more I learned and listened to him, the more I believed in his message. Ronald Reagan made a lot of very difficult decisions during his tenure as President of these United States, and many of those decisions vilified him as a tyrant and aggressive war monger with all the military spending and weapons build up from the cold war era. Our young country, and in fact the world was fortunate to have had a leader like him at that particular time in history. Communism was defeated and the bell of freedom began to ring in places long thought to have been swallowed by the darkness of a communist way of life forever.

I was drawn to this message of ‘pride in my country’ and became a lifelong Republican, a Reagan Republican I guess you could say. There is a generation of us out here, we were relatively young during the beginning of the Reagan years but we grew up during the Reagan presidency and we flew flags on our porches, put bumper stickers on our cars and were openly proud to be American’s first, and Republican’s next.

We (my Reagan Generation) are now in the midst of our chosen careers and the majority of us are paying our taxes, providing for our families and nesting away some for that rainy day. We are putting our children through school, teaching them right from wrong, and providing a religious base for their lives. Yes, that’s right, I said it out loud, ‘religious base!’ Religion has become the ‘R’ word that so many have come to speak about in a hushed voice in only the closest of circles these days. This same ‘Boss’ from those younger days of mine also said, “If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we are one nation gone under”. I am not a religious zealot and do not consider myself to be a ‘far right wing conservative’ but I am proud to be a republican who cut his teeth during the Reagan years. I am proud of the fact that we rear our children to be patriots, to be God fearing, and of a very high moral character.

There are many of us out here and it is time we wake up and take back that which we hold very dear to our hearts. It is time to put back up those flags, find a candidate that we believe in and put that bumper sticker on our cars, maybe even plant a lawn sign or two and stand up for what we believe in. I can assure you that no one more than this writer recognizes the fact that the candidate pool is pretty thin right now but we have to start now. Before it gets any worse, here at the hometown level we must seed the growth of our party and our country. From the school boards to local city councils and township boards, county government to state government, we have to seed these governmental seats with fresh ideas and fresh faces. We must provide strong leadership that is not afraid to make some difficult decisions as that is what is needed at this time in history.

This writer is as guilty as many from my generation of failing to ‘keep my eye on the ball’ over the past 20 years or so and I could give you a hundred reasons as to why I have been too busy to ‘get involved’. That being said, enough is enough, it has become the right time again in history when our country needs to call upon my generation of Reagan Republicans to stand up and be counted. We are proud to be Americans, be proud to be Republicans and we need to get this country back on track. The pendulum is getting ready to swing way far in the ‘other’ direction and there is likely little we can do about that in the immediate future. But change takes time, Reagan knew that, he began in the early 1960’s and our country only realized the benefits of his vision after his presidency had concluded in the late 1980’s. Now is the time to get our feet wet and give back to this great country that has provided us with the opportunities available no where else in the world. We have benefited greatly from all this country has to offer and we now need to offer some pay back by means of service. It will be tough, it will mean sacrifice, it will mean meetings on nights we would rather go fishing of play golf, but our country needs us now and it is time to serve. Get a bumper sticker, put up a yard sign, get involved, don’t be afraid to let your neighbors know that you are a Republican. It is time be ‘Proud to be a Republican’ again instead of just being ‘ Proud to not be a Democrat’.

Disgusting Franken

Lori Sturdevant: Franken's 'I'm sorry' was a key first step
Franken still has work to do among skeptical DFL legislators -- and a recent rival might help.

ROCHESTER - Officially, Al Franken was endorsed by acclamation at the DFL state convention Saturday. That's the nicety that happens when the loser at these affairs is as classy as Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, and responds to defeat with a graceful motion for unanimity.

As a result, the tally on the one and only ballot wasn't announced. But as authoritatively whispered at the media tables, it contained an oddity: 2.9 percent of the 1,274.5 votes were cast for "no endorsement."

It's rare that "none of the above" does that well early in a major state party endorsement fight. For an explanation, I headed to the clusters of state legislators that formed and reformed all day at the back of the convention hall.

A half-dozen of them -- products of the endorsement system all -- were known to have preferred to let the primary voters decide the party's Senate nomination this time. Why?

"I'm already hearing about this at the door," said Rep. Jeremy Kalin of Lindstrom.

He has heard voters react to references to sex and rape in the 30-year body of work Franken produced as one of the nation's leading jokesters. The "ouch" that material causes has escalated to the political danger level in recent weeks.

Kalin, a first-termer in a swing district, said he isn't worried about how a poor Franken showing would affect his own prospects. His support isn't dependent on coattails.

"Legislators are nervous about this, but not for themselves," he said. "We're worried that, in what should be a good year for the DFL, we won't be able to win this Senate seat."

Party endorsement brings Kalin and most other good-soldier DFL office-holders at least nominally into the Franken fold. Still, some of their support has a tepid, tentative quality to it that could be trouble for the Senate endorsee -- especially if he pays it no heed.

Read the whole editorial in the Strib.

___________________________________________

The recent DFL endorsement of Al Franken was less than enthusiastic. Some delegates did not vote for either Franken or Nelson-Pallmeyer, a rarity.

Rep. Jeremy Kalin (D-17B) acknowledged he was hearing that some at the convention ". . . preferred to let the primary voters decide the party's Senate nomination this time . . . " That speaks of great enthusiasm for their candidates, doesn’t it? That’s what you get when your candidate moves to Minnesota to enter politics without moving up through the ranks and writes vile stuff.

Kalin spoke of hearing voters react to Franken’s sexually explicit and debasing writing that has riled so many. Kalin stated, "We're worried that, in what should be a good year for the DFL, we won't be able to win this Senate seat." There is reason to worry. People want a statesman, not a sexual fantasizer and classless jerk to represent them in the US Senate.

But Kalin isn’t worried for himself— "Kalin, a first-termer in a swing district, said he isn't worried about how a poor Franken showing would affect his own prospects. His support isn't dependent on coattails." Apparently Kalin doesn’t believe Mark Foley had any coattails either. Or maybe those kinds of coattails affect only the Republicans. If Franken doesn’t have any coattail affect on Kalin, then we will know once again that the Party that claims to stand up for women, actually doesn’t.

Kalin did not stand up for women against Franken in this interview. All he is concerned about is winning his seat. Sturdevant herself did not report that Rep. Betty McCollum was booed by her fellow Dems when she disavowed Franken for his vile writing. Dem women speaking up for women are harried. Where were you Kalin? If you won’t stand up for Dem women against a man who obviously disturbs you (politically, not morally), you will certainly not stand up for women.

Where is your courage? Where is your character? We will not forget.

No profits, no oil

Below is a paragraph from a great article.

For most of the 25 years between 1981 and 2006, says foundation president Scott Hodge, taxes collected from oil companies by federal, state, and local governments were nearly double the industry's profits in any given year. For all the clucking over ExxonMobil's $10.9 billion in profits last quarter, little attention was paid to its total tax bill in the same period: more than $29 billion.

Read the whole article by Jeff Jacoby.

___________________________________________

Additional comment: June 9

I would like to restate Jacoby's statement for its proper effect. When ExxonMobil made a $10.9 billion profit last quarter, that was our money--the money of petroleum purchasers. Some of that profit will be plowed back into the company, as all good private enterprises do, to develop more oil production for we consumers to buy in the next decades.

Some of that profit belongs to stockholders who invest in the company in order to make a profit on the use of their money (stockholders take risks with their money). Average Americans are stockholders, many of them owning mutual funds of which oil stocks are a share of the portfolio. So when Congress castigates ExxonMobil for a large profit, or Clinton or Obama aim to throw a windfall profits tax on the oil companies, they are sticking their finger in the eye of the average American, insulting the average American for making too much profit.

And then when they snub ExxonMobil by not recognizing that the company paid $29 billion in taxes in the last quarter, they are snubbing the average American because the consumer paid all those taxes in the end. Congress has the audacity to condemn Big Oil in a capitalist economy, believing that consumers and stockholders are too occuppied or too ignorant to realize it's their money in the end.

Multiply all of ExxonMobil's profit and taxes by the rest of the oil companies which are in business. That is the enormity of the audacity of Congress towards we the consumers and we the stockholders.

The Crime of Not Committing a Crime

Academia touts itself as open-minded and tolerant of diverse views and the rest of us as close-minded and intolerant. Yet academia is one of the most intolerant segments of our society. Here are two important articles by Selwyn Duke.

Read a Book, Get Charged with Racial Harassment

The Crime of Being White

A Conservative Energy Policy

Dan Kish
This article is well worth reading. It presents a history of the strangle hold the Congress has on domestic energy resources. The members of Congress are the problem.

They say "we can’t drill our way to cheaper gasoline" to hide the fact that they won’t let anyone drill here in the US. They argue adding 70,000 barrels of oil per day from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve – sequestered from use - will help lower prices at the pump but Ronald Reagan’s 1987 recommendation to open ANWR’s million barrels per day will not.

We conservatives believe in conserving and not wasting, for example, water, metals, food or energy. But we also do not believe in living with scarcity when there is no scarcity. If temporarily lost in the woods on a hunting trip, we will conserve and ration our water and food because of its scarcity.

But the US is not lost in a land with a very limited supply of energy. Our continent is enormously wealthy with energy supplies. Congress is creating scarcity by refusing to let vast oil reserves be developed. Scarcity is the talk of demagogues. Scarcity is used to control the masses. Scarcity is the talk of those ridden with guilt from any number of sources.

We conservatives believe in making machines more energy efficient, not just to save energy, but to be more cost effective and make it available for others to use to improve their lives. We also know that physical laws limit energy efficiency. It takes x calories of heat to move x pounds of a car through x miles. Physical laws impose limits on conservation. To be more energy efficient and/or reduce energy consumption, one of four things must happen:

• make the burning of energy more complete to extract all the stored energy
• make the transfer of the resulting heat more efficient in its ability to do work
• reduce the weight of the machine so less energy is needed to move it
• reduce the number of miles traveled

At some point all of these measures will reach maximum efficiency and we must seek more energy. A conservation program alone will always lead to scarcity. Scarcity is relieved by tapping the vast known reserves of energy. In the meantime, we need to develop new sources of energy and other types of energy. But there is no reason to embrace scarcity while developing new energies when there is plenty of oil energy to go around for decades to come.

The cost of gasoline is being influenced by speculation in the futures market. The prerequisite to such speculation is scarcity. An abundant, available supply negates wild speculation in the futures price.

___________________________________________

Addition made on June 10, 2008

Read economist Walter E. Williams' instructive comments regarding futures markets.

Propping up the Goracle

The Lieberman-Warner bill (America's Climate Security Act, aka the Climate Change Bill) is being considered in Congress. Mr. James Inhofe, Republican senator from Oklahoma, asks and answers this question:

Why are many in Washington proposing a bill that will do so much economic harm? The answer is simple. The American people are being asked to pay significantly more for energy merely so some lawmakers in Washington can say they did something about global warming.

They are assuaging their guilt with your tax dollars.

Read the whole op-ed.

So Much for Equality

The College Republicans at Susquehanna University in Pennsylvania wanted to invite a black speaker to campus to talk about affirmative action. They even asked Susquehanna’s Office of Multicultural Affairs to co-sponsor the event, which it would not do unless the Office could provide their own speaker. The students were not permitted to advertize the event on the university’s web page as long as the school’s selected speaker was not a participant.

The speaker, Joseph C. Phillips, posted his comments here. Read his whole piece, but this paragraph should get your attention.

It is truly a sign of how mixed up the world is when a Black man telling Black students that there is no monopoly on brain power is decried as a sellout while White folk that believe Black students are only in attendance on campus because of lowered standards and that without lowered standards they would not be in school at all are seen as comrades in arms. Let’s just call that madness.