Political commentary, opinion & insight into the state of the United States of America.

I find it disturbing that some energy issues get a free pass from environmentalists.

CFL light bulbs, for example, no problem with that mercury. Batteries for electric cars, no problem with the disposal of those batteries when there are will be millions of them to dispose.Solar energy, no problem that they scrape the desert floor and destroy all plant and animal life. Usually, a square mileper farm. With hundreds in the plan. Woe to he who proposes extraction of oil from shale. It does too much damage to the earth and requires too much water. Excuse me, recent estimates say the solar plants in the U.S. will require 16 billion gallons of water per year to operate. Is water not scare in the Sourthwest United States?.

Lets’ see, windmills kill 2.2 birds a day not to mention several bats. That’s OK. Why is it OK?

There is a definite bias against all forms of fossil fuels, and nuclear as well as coal. That bias creates a blind spot when it comes to all other so-called green energy initiatives. Ethanol, one thousand gallons of water for each gallon of ethanol. No problem. More usage of ethanol is mandated with plans in the works to make it even more with 15% blends under consideration. 

It strikes me that we don’t have an energy strategy in this country that hangs together.

Ultimately, there will be those who oppose the power lines to bring the solar from the desert. Already happened in California.There will be those who realize we have a serious water problem in the Southwest and we are going to use 16 billion gallons for solar power. There will be those who oppose the birds and bats and noise pollution for wind power. And, the power lines again.Someone will scream some day that all the CFL bulbs are polluting our neighborhoods and landfills with mercury.There will those who feel we have blighted out seascapes with windmills.

There will be a hue and cry that all the CFL bulbs come from China and our bulbs used to come from Kentucky.The solar panels and windmills now are  mainly produced outside the U.S. 

Eventually, reality will set in and the green projects that get a free pass will come under attack. When that happens, they will be stopped, just like fossil fuels, nuclear, shale, clean coal, and all others.

The nutcases that really run this country want our energy we need to move about, make things, heat , light, and cool our homes to come from Mother Nature. And, we all know it’s not nice to fool with Mother Nature.

So, go back to course we’ve been on. Stop all forms of new energy and pray. Pray real hard, since it might be your ass that freezes, not the widows and orphans we froze in the past when we had government-made energy shortages. 

I recommend a second Tea Party called the Green Tea Party.I believe this is timely since Waxman is holding hearings in congress to move forward with a very aggressive energy bill.This bill would put a huge strain on an already strained economy.Some estimates say it would raise utility bills by as much as $3000 per household.This doesn’t take into consideration that fact that costs for every product manufactured in this country would go up significantly. Supporters of this bill scoff at both suggestions.

There are examples, like Spain, where studies show huge jobs losses and unbearable costs for each new green job produced.

I don’t believe congress will present the truth.Too many are too dependent on the environmental vote.I don’t believe the president will seek the truth.

In addition, there are other questions I would like to have answered. When Drill Here, Drill Now presented millions of petitions to Washington last fall, candidate Obama went on record saying he favored drilling here.When do we start?

I want the EPA to measure the mercury in landfills. Enough CFL bulbs have gone there and been broken by now to determine whether this is doing significant damage. I want to know.

I want to know what the water conservationists are saying about a report that says it takes 1,000 gallons of water to produce one gallon of ethanol.

I want to know if there is any concern about the new round of refinery closings in the U.S.Just last year President Bush was suggesting we build refineries on military bases.

I think a Green Tea Party would bring out as many or more than the 1,000,000 who came to the Tea Parties. I believe many Democrats and Independents as well as Republicans and Libertarians are not on the same page as the President, Congress and Al Gore occupy when it comes to an energy strategy for America.

Let’s try it and see how many show up. 

The official count is in. Over 1,000,000 Americans attended Tea Parties around the country. A non-event to mainstream media. Or, is being spun by mainstream media  part of the reason these folks were out there? As more mainstream media go broke, new options will emerge. 

 America is starting to feel more and more like the old USSR. Or, even the Russia that preceded that. They had TASS and we have MSNBC. But, not for long.

Speaking of Russia, what’s with all the czars? The Obama administration now has more czars than the Romanov Dynasty had. The Romanov’s ruled from 1613 to 1917. In that time, they had 18 czars. Obama has 18 with the announcement of Border Czar Alan Bersin. I won’t name them all, but just a few. Carol Browner, energy czar, urban czar Aldolfo Carrion, Jr. Guantanamo closure czar Daniel Fried. I don’t know whether to add car czar Steve Rattner, since he may be going to jail. But, if we add him, there are 19. Are the people who run things in this administration wanting us to think like Czarist Russia? Does it make it easier to finish the job?

Then we have the cramdown. At this time there is only one official cramdown. The one where judges who handle bankruptcy proceedings that include a house. The cramdown will force the bank to accept a mortgage set by the judge. This bill hasn’t passed the Senate. If passed, it would authorize the judges to modify mortgages closer to the new market value of the house. The judge could reduce principal, lower the interest rate, change the maturity, or convert it to a fixed rate. The House version, which has passed, would apply this to all mortgages, not just sub prime.

So, is this the first of many cramdowns yet to come? A health care cramdown. A cap and tax cramdown. An education cram down that doesn’t address the  systemic problems with education today. But, it will appease the teachers’ union, throw more money at a bad system, and add entitlements and cost. A spend trillions cramdown. An already corrupt stimulus bill” expanded” cramdown. A government nationalization cramdown.

I’m starting to make a connection between the czars and the cramdowns. You need a lot of czars to do the cramming. If the Tea Party idea expands, we will need an anti-Tea Party czar to get names and find ways to punish the attendees. Will everyone who attends a Tea Party get a tax audit?

What is happening to my country? When did the use of “czars” become acceptable to a public that despised all that Russia stood for and wanted no part of their structure. What’s next?

When government can force banks to take TARP money, what’s next? When government can use the bank failures as a reason for bailouts and then pass a bill that will inflict serious damage on newly bailed banks, what’s next? When Barney Frank can cramdown a student who asks him a reasonable question, what’s next?

And, all these czars aren’t free. Plus, we all know enough about Washington politics to know the more egos you add to the massive ego pile, the more infighting you get, and less, not more, gets done. 

Enough with the czars and the cramdowns. Let’s get back to being a Republic.