Redstate

Posted at 8:25am on Jun. 23, 2008 It's gas prices, stupid!

By RightMichigan.com

Cross-posted on Right Michigan at www.RightMichigan.com.

With the Barackstar insisting that gas prices need to continue their incremental rise, apparently attempting to teach us the "hard way" about energy independence John McCain is making waves this morning with a different solution to the same problem. He's got a new proposal to offer big-time tax incentives to Detroit's Big 3 ($5,000 a vehicle) for every flex-fuel auto they produce and sell along with a bigger prize, a $300,000,000 payday for the man or woman who can develop an automobile battery that'd be powerful enough to send a car screaming down the road and inexpensive enough to mass produce.  

Posted in Barack Obama | Breaking News | Detroit | drill | John McCain | Michigan | oil | refinery | taxes | www.RightMichigan.com — Comments (1) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 10:56pm on Jun. 19, 2008 2 Freshman House Ds From Fla. Ripe For Defeat

By pilgrim

Promoted from the diaries by Neil Stevens...

U.S. Reps. Ron Klein (left) and Tim Mahoney (right) join Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill. for 'Let's go Communist' bill to be introduced by Rahm Emanuel, Maurice Hinchey, Ed Markey, and Nick Rahall as co-sponsors. This is what Maurice Hinchley said on the House floor June 19, 2008:

We (the government) should own the refineries. Then we can control how much gets out into the market.

On Ron Klein's website he writes:

I am working to pass legislation
that gives the oil companies an ultimatum: “Drill It or Lose It.”

On Tim Mahoney's website he writes the following:

The Responsible Federal Oil and Gas Lease Act of 2008 employs a "use it or lose it" tactic that will compel oil and gas companies to either produce or give up the federal onshore and offshore leases they are stockpiling by barring the companies from obtaining any more leases unless they can demonstrate that they are producing oil and gas, or are diligently developing the leases they already hold.

Read on...

Posted in 2008 | FL-16 | FL-22 | Florida | Nationalization | oil | Rahm Emanuel | Ron Klein | Socialism | Tim Mahoney — Comments (48) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 2:30pm on Jun. 19, 2008 Congratulations Godfather

The New Democratic takeover crashes on

By Neil Stevens

Today, on the day of another Neocon Democratic victory, I must congratulate Godfather Jerome Armstrong. He and his new Democratic leadership clique have accomplished so much for Neocons recently, that he must be so proud of these accomplishments of the Howard Dean era of the Democratic party:

• Continuing war funding
• Agreeing on Telecom FISA immunity
• Thwarting Presidential and Vice Presidential impeachment

Yes, there is that as-yet failure to nominate Hillary Clinton, but it's quite a record. And yet, the great Vis Numar does not rest on his laurels, oh no. He's pressing on and continuing to set the Neocon agenda within the Gate-Crashed Democratic Party:

Congressional Dems should adopt the position [of promoting drilling for oil in America's coastal waters], include some safeguards, and alongside billions in funding for finding alternative fuel solutions, make it part of a long-term solution.... [T]he ideological purity position of there being an environmental/aesthetic argument against it is exactly the position the Republicans want us to adopt.

Armstrong, Moulitsas, and Dean have done so well in reshaping the Democratic party into one not merely able to follow Republican orders in Congress as a pliable minority, but to take the lead and implement the core pieces of the moderate Neocon agenda as the majority. All those centrist Democrats that the Netroots were told to get elected are truly paying off in crushing the radical left's say in the Democratic agenda. Winning over moderate Republicans must come before ideological purity, no matter how many Republican positions are adopted.

So for today I salute you, Vis Numar, as the triumphant enemy of my enemy.

Posted in Democrats | drill here | Neocons | New Democrats | oil | The Great Netroots Betrayal | vis numar — Comments (3)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 12:35am on Jun. 19, 2008 If Only We Had Cars That Ran on Magic

By Ben Domenech

I had the pleasure of participating in a BBC debate this afternoon on the World Newshour show with Daniel Weiss of the Center for American Progress. We had an extensive discussion with the host on the President's announcement today in support of offshore drilling and other energy initiatives. Feel free to listen, and then a few points after:

Ben Domenech on BBC Radio (6:00 Minute Mark)

Posted in ANWR | Biofuels | Energy | ocs | oil | Oil Prices — Comments (17) / Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 6:38am on Jun. 18, 2008 How Republicans Can Win the Energy Debate in Congress

Let's Have an Old-Fashioned Filibuster

By Bluey

My fellow contributors at RedState have had no shortage of posts the past few days on the need to drill for oil. The message is finally resonating on Capitol Hill, where House Minority Whip Roy Blunt is producing a daily gas chart and Senate Republican leaders are beginning to talk tough.

These are positive developments, but rhetoric alone will not solve our energy problems. That requires leadership and action, two things that are hard to come by in Congress.

Fortunately for the GOP, oil drilling appears to be something everyone can agree on. Republicans who don't always see eye to eye -- Sens. Ted Stevens (Alaska) and Tom Coburn (Okla.) come to mind -- are in sync when it comes to this. The party's nominee, Sen. John McCain, gave his colleagues a big boost this week with an endorsement for offshore drilling.

While McCain's energy position is far from perfect -- ANWR remains off limits for him -- Republicans can't let that slow them down. They should take this fight to the Democrats at every opportunity. And they can begin by shutting down the Senate if Democrats refuse to allow offshore drilling.

I'm talking about an old-fashioned filibuster. I know it won't be like "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," but why not make a spectacle of it? The next time Majority Leader Harry Reid tries to do something, call his bluff.

There's a reason Newt Gingrich has collected nearly 900,000 names for his petition calling for more drilling. Americans are tired of inaction. Forcing a showdown on Capitol Hill is the best move Senate Republicans could make. Not only would it bolster the party in the short term, but it would also give GOP leaders some backbone for future fights.

Posted in Congress | Congress | Energy | filibuster | oil | Republicans — Comments (26)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 9:25pm on Dec. 23, 2007 What Hillary Clinton Doesn't Know About the Price of Oil

Ignorance would be bliss if it weren't so dangerous

By blackhedd

Hillary Clinton, campaigning in New Hampshire this weekend, appears to have promised that oil prices will fall as soon as she is inaugurated. Now observe, she didn't promise to reduce oil prices. She just said that they will fall on their own.

For the sake of argument, I'll assume that the reporters of the New York Daily News were actually present when Clinton made the statements they are reporting, and that they transcribed her words accurately. I add this caveat because I didn't know it was possible for anyone to be so ignorant. What exactly did Superwoman say?

Read on...

Posted in Economy | Energy alternatives | Hillary Clinton | oil — Comments (54)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 3:08am on Nov. 20, 2007 Hugo Chavez Is A Blowhard . . .

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

But that doesn't mean that comments like the ones reported on here won't serve to drive up oil prices and increase instability in the world. At some point in time, it becomes incumbent on OPEC to rein Chavez in and point out that in the long term, he is doing great damage to the cartel's ability to get along with the rest of the world. Chavez's statements lend an increasing air of unpredictability to energy policy and with that unpredictability comes an increased chance for serious and sustained trouble.

Eventually, that trouble could turn into violence. And that would be the last thing OPEC's member nations (at least, the more responsible among them) would need.

Posted in Economic Blackmail | Foreign Affairs | Hugo Chavez | oil — Comments (0)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 10:48pm on Nov. 16, 2007 Re: Dollar Collapse

By Neil Stevens

A dollar collapse combined with an OPEC change to Euros would, of course, be bad for OPEC because it would by necessity trigger a drastic reduction in US petroleum use, I imagine.

That's basic supply and demand. Message: The Saudis care more about extracting from our market than they do extracting from the Chinese or European markets?

Posted at 10:51am on Nov. 16, 2007 Petrodollars flowing to Silicon Valley

The United Arab Emirates shops for computer chips

By blackhedd

Mubadaba Development Co, an investment firm based in Abu Dhabi, just purchased about 8% of Advanced Micro Devices. AMD is based in Sunnyvale, California, and is Intel's competitor in the computer chip business. The transaction is structured as a simple minority investment with no board representation, so it won't trigger a government review.

The first point is political. Let's see if Congress has enough chutzpah left over from trashing our successes in Iraq to try mucking this deal up.

The more-important point is financial. This is the third major news story to come out of the Emirates this week. I wrote about their purchase of Airbus products here, and mentioned their announced intent to consider dropping their currency's peg to the US dollar.

Emirates is emerging as one of the most sophisticated states to come out of the modern era of the oil industry. No longer dominated by huge private corporations, oil is now controlled mostly by governments. Which in effect means, by a tiny handful of exceptionally powerful individuals and their families.

Hugo Chavez gets all the headlines, perhaps because he's so intent on turning his country's oil wealth into poverty and, eventually, bloody social disorder.

The oil-igarchs in a handful of other countries, however, are in the process of building up thousand-year fortunes, that will shape the world's constellation of political power long after the last drop of oil has been converted into global warming.

Disclosure: I personally and beneficially own AMD stock.

Posted in Congress | Dollar | Economy | oil — Comments (13)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 2:52am on Nov. 14, 2007 Think That Hugo Chavez Doesn't Threaten American Security Interests?

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Well, think again:

On Dec. 2, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez can tip the world into a recession.

On that day, if Venezuelan citizens pass the dozens of constitutional amendments on the ballot, Chavez will essentially be granted dictatorial powers -- an elected strongman reminiscent of Spain's Franco, Italy's Mussolini and Orwell's Big Brother. The day could easily deteriorate into one of violence, martial law and suspension of oil production, the latter calculated to inflict maximum damage on the U.S. economy.

With the price of oil hovering near $100 a barrel and markets skittish because of the sub-prime housing crisis (not to mention the stability of U.S. banks, the U.S. trade deficit, the weak dollar and deteriorating domestic consumer confidence), such a move on Chavez's part would go a long way in triggering a recession. An oil crisis during the Christmas season -- with its 40% share of annual retail sales -- would be especially detrimental in the U.S.

Rising oil prices have caused global recessions in the past. The Saudis and other oil-producing countries have tried to increase output to offset rising costs. But working against stability and for high oil prices are Chavez and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who are in a strategic alliance to push up the price of oil.

Oil economists calculate that on a supply-and-demand basis alone, the price of oil would be about $50; the remaining $45 in the current price is a political premium caused by uncertainty in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iran's suspected nuclear plans, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and social unrest in Pakistan, Nigeria and Venezuela. But where the world sees a threat, Ahmadinejad and Chavez see opportunity: Civil discord lines their pockets.

The presence of dictatorial powers in Venezuela directly affects the quality of life here in the United States. Never let it be said that we weren't warned. And at some point, we are going to have to address this threat. So, for that matter, might the Spaniards; interesting how Spanish banks get threatened with retribution merely because King Juan Carlos properly observed that Hugo Chavez mouthes off way too much. Name another leader as sensitive as the Venezuelan dictator or one as willing to throw the fate of his own economy to the winds merely because he felt slighted.

Posted in Foreign Affairs | Hugo Chavez | National Security | oil — Comments (8)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 9:40am on Nov. 7, 2007 The Dollar is Now the World's Most Hated Currency

America's Newest Export Is Inflation

By blackhedd

The US dollar is in a full-fledged rout. It's trading at historic lows against every major currency except the Japanese yen, and against a raft of minor currencies as well. Dollar-prices for commodities like oil and gold are at record highs.

Dollar weakness is an expected consequence of the Federal Reserve's two recent cuts in its benchmark short-term interest rate. But dollar sentiment around the world has become extraordinarily negative over the past week or so, and people are starting to pile on.

Is this behavior normal? Or is something new and different going on?

More...

Posted in Dollar | Economy | gold | oil — Comments (25)/ Email this page » / Read More »