A friend wrote Obama and asked him to respond with his energy plan for America. Here is the response. “I will give drivers immediate relief by: taxing the windfall profits of the biggest oil companies;providing a tax cut for working families;suspending the filling of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve; fixing the energy markets;ending oil industry tax breaks;and working with our allies to reduce demand worldwide.”
In his convention speech he said his plan would end energy dependence in ten years.
Let’s analyze these point by point. First, windfall profits tax. This was a Jimmy Carter idea. The result was less domestic production and higher prices. The money he will collect is to go to the government to create renewable energy. This is the same government that has a 31% fraud in Medicare. The same government that is already the biggest employer in America and has a huge number of people who just don’t come to work as we outlined in a prior entry.
Next, a tax cut. Does this increase energy and reduce dependence? I don’t see how. Is this just a band aid to get us by until the next round of crude and natural gas price increases?
Suspension of filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. This is our last hope if we are attacked and have to defend ourselves and crude imports are cut off. Do you want this suspended?
Fixing the energy markets. The energy markets are international. If Barack fixes energy trading in the U.S. by undue and unnecessary regulation, the traders will just move to London or Dubai. This is rhetoric and fixes nothing nor does it create a barrel of anything to reduce energy dependence.
Last, working with allies to reduce demand. This is the most illogical of all the points. We use 25% of the world’s energy with 3% of the population. And Barack will go forth and lecture the good people who have already reduced demand and are building new nuclear plants are a record pace and tell them to cut demand.
Can you understand why I am skeptical about the energy competence of Senator Obama. Barack speaks in cliches and never gets to the facts. Now we have the facts in writing. As T. Boone says in his ads, I’ve been a oil man all my life. Well, I was an oil man for my working life. I can tell you this is not an energy plan. This is a recipe for future disaster. This will rob all the hard working people in this country of their jobs, financial security , and their futures. And, if he taxes everyone who has anything left at 100%, which he would probably do, it won’t make up for the things we didn’t do for the next four years.
