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Drill Here, Drill Now
humanevents.com ^ | 05/30/2008 | Jed Babbin

Posted on 05/30/2008 6:22:46 AM PDT by kellynla

Former Speaker Newt Gingrich’s petition to Congress demanding the removal of government obstacles to increasing our energy supplies is gathering momentum by the minute, while the Democrats’ do-nothing Congress wants to raise fuel prices.

Actually, labeling Congress a bunch of “do-nothings” is almost right, but not quite. They’re doing their best to create more obstacles to growing our energy supply. And while the price of energy is already unreasonably high, they’re working hard on a liberal agenda that will raise the prices consumers pay for gasoline, diesel fuel, natural gas and home heating oil.

With the summer upon us (and the November election fast approaching) the price of gasoline should be on the mind of every member who wants to keep his job after November. There is a conservative approach to the problem: relieve government burdens on the energy market. But Congress isn’t controlled by conservatives: the Democrats rule both houses of Congress and – even with gasoline prices reaching all-time highs almost daily -- the Dems are doing their best to raise the burden on the voters.

As Speaker Gingrich told me in a Wednesday interview, “Every time I turn around I see Congress and bureaucracy making it harder to produce energy, increasing the price you and I are paying, reducing the amount that’s available, and then trying to find someone else to blame.”

That’s right: while many Americans are paying more than $4/gallon for gasoline (add another 75¢ for a gallon of diesel fuel), Congress is coming back on Monday to try to pass legislation such as the Warner-Lieberman “cap and trade” anti-global warming bill which -- by itself, and without the costs added by other Democratic initiatives -- would boost the price of a gallon of gas to levels paid in Europe. (Yesterday, the price of a gallon of gas in England was about $6.23.)

Gingrich told me:

At a time when the Congress should be finding ways to lower the amount of cost to put gas in your wife’s car, they are actually proposing to increase the cost of gasoline, increase the cost of diesel fuel, increase the cost of aviation fuel, increase the cost natural gas, and increase the cost of coal. This is at a time when truckers are at a danger of being put out of business. Airlines are in danger of being put out of business. It’s just absolutely amazing.

It is amazing, because there are so many government obstacles to energy development that Congress could eliminate, if it chose to. Gingrich explained:

[I]t’s currently illegal to explore the Atlantic. It is illegal to explore the Pacific. It is illegal to explore the Eastern Gulf Of Mexico. It is illegal to explore Alaska and it is currently illegal to look for shale oil. Now, if you basically…and this is what makes the recent decision by the House to vote to sue OPEC an act of absolute childishness. If you’re not prepared to allow Americans in America to look for oil and gas in America, how can you have the arrogance to say to some foreign country they have to pump more of the stuff we’re not willing to pump?

The vote to sue OPEC only produced another “Kucinich moment” for Nancy Pelosi’s Democrats. The little fact that no court would have the power to penalize OPEC didn’t deter the Pelosicrats from this frivolity.

Gingrich’s petition starts with the commonsensical proposition that instead of creating more burdens on the energy market, Congress should go about taking down the old barriers. In Gingrich’s characteristically plain English the petition says:

We, therefore, the undersigned citizens of the United States, petition the U.S. Congress to act immediately to lower gasoline prices by authorizing the exploration of proven energy reserves to reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources from unstable countries.

As of about 8:30 pm Thursday, the petition had about 150,700 signatures. Gingrich aims to get 200,000 signatures by this coming Monday. Every conservative -- and every voter who wants to see energy prices go down and not up -- should sign the petition. (You can sign the petition by clicking on this link).

And after Monday?

Gingrich said:

“We’re going to print out the petition, take it up and give it to the US Senate. Then, we are going to continue to gather names. When we get to 500 thousand we’re going to take it up and give it to the US House, and then we’re going to try to gather an excess of a million signatures before the Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Convention.

He proposed that we have a “straight-up” argument in this country on energy and on the Dems’ elitist view that we’re not paying enough. The Dems apparently believe that the answer to economic pain is more pain. As conservatives, we should view this debate to be equal in importance to the illegal immigration debate we forced last year.

It is, like the illegal immigration debate, a question of our nation’s economic survival, our national security. Last year, conservatives prevented passage of the “comprehensive immigration reform” -- i.e., amnesty -- bill. This year, we can -- at least -- prevent passage of legislation that will make our energy supplies more expensive.

And next year?

HUMAN EVENTS is researching and will soon publish a conservative energy agenda, one designed to remove government barriers to exploration, development and distribution of energy in the United States. We believe this is exactly the kind of mess that Ronald Reagan had in mind when he said, “Government is not a solution to our problem, government is the problem."


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Editorial; Government
KEYWORDS: 110th; americansolutions; babbin; diesel; drilling; energy; fueloil; gasoline; gingrich; naturalgas; newt; newtgingrich; oil
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To: RandallFlagg

I’m still putting them on pumps. BTTT


61 posted on 05/30/2008 9:41:55 AM PDT by bmwcyle (If God wanted us to be Socialist, Karl Marx would have been born in America.)
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To: RandallFlagg
First rule in bumper stickers: They must be readable from a safe following distance.

Example:

Try again... :-)

62 posted on 05/30/2008 9:52:07 AM PDT by TXnMA ("Allah": Satan's current alias...!!)
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To: RandallFlagg; kittymyrib
Ah... Gas pump stickers... Different rules...

  1. Will placing them on pumps be considered "vandalism"?

  2. That is still a lot of verbiage to read and (for most of the ignorant sheeple) to comprehend.

Nice start, though...

63 posted on 05/30/2008 9:59:46 AM PDT by TXnMA ("Allah": Satan's current alias...!!)
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To: kellynla

Unbelievably, all the polls are predicting that the democRATS will make huge gains in the house and senate this coming November.


64 posted on 05/30/2008 10:00:39 AM PDT by Mogollon (Vote straight GOP for congress....our only protection against Obama-Clinton, or McCain.)
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To: shadowgovernment
Did I read that Newt is a big global warming supporter?

Google "ecotard" and check out the first search result.

65 posted on 05/30/2008 10:02:25 AM PDT by xjcsa (Has anyone seen my cornballer?)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

Great ping — thanks.


66 posted on 05/30/2008 10:16:24 AM PDT by Albion Wilde (Poor people been voting for Democrats for the last 50 years, and they still poor. --Charles Barkley)
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To: Mogollon

“Unbelievably, all the polls are predicting that the democRATS will make huge gains in the house and senate this coming November.”

the only “poll” that matters is the one on 11/4.

I don’t pay any attention to these “polls” anymore because; who the heck even has a land line telephone much less even answers the phone when it rings. LOL

So the “sample” for these polls aside from being small, is probably not very accurate...can you say “credibility”

Bottom line, I expect Obama to win the Primary and lose the General election. And I expect the ‘Rats to maintain a majority in the House & Senate. Which will & should infuriate the conservatives in this country to vote the congressional ‘Rats out of the majority if not in 2010 then 2012 and then we can start turning this whole mess around!


67 posted on 05/30/2008 10:19:22 AM PDT by kellynla (Freedom of speech makes it easier to spot the idiots! Semper Fi!)
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To: shadowgovernment
gotta laugh, Newt was in congress how long? Newt was House leader how long?? Now he wants to drill when he holds no office? The chutzpah of these GOP leaders is amazing to behold..

You haven't been here very long, have you, newbie?

68 posted on 05/30/2008 10:19:35 AM PDT by Albion Wilde (Poor people been voting for Democrats for the last 50 years, and they still poor. --Charles Barkley)
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To: kellynla
Great graphic -- thanks.


69 posted on 05/30/2008 10:21:04 AM PDT by Albion Wilde (Poor people been voting for Democrats for the last 50 years, and they still poor. --Charles Barkley)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks

“It’s working again. I just signed.”

Oh, it is. Excellent!
Thanks for the heads up!
I’ll try it again.


70 posted on 05/30/2008 10:31:36 AM PDT by kellynla (Freedom of speech makes it easier to spot the idiots! Semper Fi!)
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To: Albion Wilde

“Great graphic — thanks.”

You’re quite welcome.

It really sets the record straight.


71 posted on 05/30/2008 10:33:32 AM PDT by kellynla (Freedom of speech makes it easier to spot the idiots! Semper Fi!)
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To: edcoil
While he was doing tv commericals with the speaker telling us we need to do with less and not use oil?

He said no such thing in a commercial, but he is for more "greener" and cheaper energy, such as nuclear (not wind or solar which he said elsewhere will not be cheap or generate more than a tiny fraction of all electricity needs) and categorically said that US companies use "cleanest possible" methods of extracting oil, gas and coal "compared, for instance, with Chinese drilling for oil 50 miles from Florida, where environmentalist regulations prevent us from drilling".

It really pays to hear firsthand what the man himself says, rather than rely on what is said about him secondhand, by other people - some with agenda, some due to hearsay, some due to misunderstanding of what he is saying or trying to do:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2015453/posts?page=23#23

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2015453/posts?page=24#24

72 posted on 05/30/2008 10:35:52 AM PDT by CutePuppy (If you don't ask the right questions you may not get the right answers)
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To: TXnMA
Will placing them on pumps be considered "vandalism"?

The glue on the back of the stickersheets I use is pretty weak. They come off easily.
73 posted on 05/30/2008 10:36:56 AM PDT by RandallFlagg (Satisfaction was my sin)
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To: TXnMA
Photobucket
74 posted on 05/30/2008 10:39:53 AM PDT by Tatze (I'm in a state of taglinelessness!)
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To: CWWren
Did you like the spot he made with Nancy Pelosi for the pro-global warming ninnyhammers?

See http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2023490/posts?page=72#72

75 posted on 05/30/2008 10:42:05 AM PDT by CutePuppy (If you don't ask the right questions you may not get the right answers)
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To: Tolerance Sucks Rocks; ozark hilljilly; Puppage; Old Grumpy; EnigmaticAnomaly; ...

Thanks.

The petition site is working now.
I too, just signed it.


76 posted on 05/30/2008 10:43:14 AM PDT by kellynla (Freedom of speech makes it easier to spot the idiots! Semper Fi!)
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To: CutePuppy
I heard Gingrich asking the audience to make and put these bumper stickers on cars:

Drill more - pay less!

See post 74.

77 posted on 05/30/2008 10:43:32 AM PDT by Tatze (I'm in a state of taglinelessness!)
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To: kellynla

Thanks...I signed and e-mailed it to others!


78 posted on 05/30/2008 10:55:55 AM PDT by rightinthemiddle (The Mainstream Media Controls Our Party. Go, RINOS!)
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To: what_not2007; CWWren

Newt is a man with ideas, action plan and record of achieving. He is not perfect. He has plenty of human flaws. Some of his ideas are dumb. (He irritates me to no end with his green triangulation). But most of his ideas are right on money. There is nobody around in any kind of conservative leadership who is better than he is. He should have been a RNC chairman already. Any conservative leader who won’t draw from Newt’s well is crippling himself. IMHO of course.


79 posted on 05/30/2008 10:58:16 AM PDT by Tolik
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To: WOSG
Small correction. ANWR bill was part of Contract with America and was passed and vetoed by Clinton in 1995, first year of Republican control of Congress.
80 posted on 05/30/2008 10:59:53 AM PDT by CutePuppy (If you don't ask the right questions you may not get the right answers)
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