Posted on 05/30/2008 6:22:46 AM PDT by kellynla
Former Speaker Newt Gingrichs 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. Theyre doing their best to create more obstacles to growing our energy supply. And while the price of energy is already unreasonably high, theyre 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 isnt 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 thats available, and then trying to find someone else to blame.
Thats 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 wifes 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. Its 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]ts 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 youre 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 were not willing to pump?
The vote to sue OPEC only produced another Kucinich moment for Nancy Pelosis Democrats. The little fact that no court would have the power to penalize OPEC didnt deter the Pelosicrats from this frivolity.
Gingrichs 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 Gingrichs 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:
Were 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 were going to take it up and give it to the US House, and then were 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 were 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 nations 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."
I’m still putting them on pumps. BTTT
Example:
Try again... :-)
Nice start, though...
Unbelievably, all the polls are predicting that the democRATS will make huge gains in the house and senate this coming November.
Google "ecotard" and check out the first search result.
Great ping — thanks.
“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!
You haven't been here very long, have you, newbie?
“Its working again. I just signed.”
Oh, it is. Excellent!
Thanks for the heads up!
I’ll try it again.
“Great graphic — thanks.”
You’re quite welcome.
It really sets the record straight.
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
See http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2023490/posts?page=72#72
Thanks.
The petition site is working now.
I too, just signed it.
See post 74.
Thanks...I signed and e-mailed it to others!
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.
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