GOP Revolt on the House Floor!

According to the Politico Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats adjourned the House and shut down the lights and microphones. But John Boehner and other Republicans are refusing to leave. It started out with just a handful but they are trying to round up other Republicans to return.

The Democrats turned off the lights and the microphones because they don't want this covered by the press. They don't want it covered by the press because they don't want you to know about it. This is good stuff and it's a crying shame that it's not being covered by the media. Doesn't anyone have a video camera? They're calling it a "new Boston Tea Party".

The Politico's last update was at 4:30, they are still there and apparently they aren't going anywhere soon. They've even brought in boy scouts! I wish I was there.

Update: C-Span issued a statement saying it isn't their fault they aren't covering the news on the House floor. The Speaker of the House (Nancy Pelosi) controls the cameras. So don't believe anyone who sayd that Nancy Pelosi isn't keeping the public from knowing what's going on in Washington.

Update: At 5:00 PM they ended their protest, singing "God Bless America".

That's a little bit disappointing. It's now up to President Bush to call them back.

Congress finally sticks around for a weekend and does this?!

While most Americans were enjoying a summer Saturday Congress went to work for a change. Unfortunately for the American people that's rarely good news. "Were they voting on allowing drilling in ANWR and off the Outer Continental Shelf?" you ask. Nope. "Did they meet to force Nancy Pelosi to step down as Speaker of the House?" As if we could be so fortunate.

Today, Saturday July 26, 2008 Congress met to pass a bill bailing out 400,000 of our fellow Americans who took out mortgages they couldn't afford. Yep, it's true and President Bush is going to sign this awful bill into law. He must not have gotten the memo about how out of control spending cost Republicans the House and the Senate not too long ago.

In short, nearly half a million Americans bought homes they could not afford. These people cannot afford to pay their mortgages. So what does this bill do? This bill will allow these delinquent borrows to refinance with new mortgages backed by....you guessed it...the American taxpayer. There's also some money thrown in for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. We can't let them go under, now can we?

Keep in mind, Congress does not make any money to add to the budget, all they do is spend it. The President does not generate income to add to the budget, he just signs the spending bills sent to him by Congress. This is not their money, this is our money. Our money is now being used to guarantee the mortgages of people who don't pay their bills.

Well, that's not really true either. It's more like our kids and grand kids money. We're already trillions of dollars in debt. Maybe we can send the Chosen One-the Messiah Obama go on another fundraising swing through Europe, so the Europeans can bail us out. They sort of owe us anyway, so why not?

If you would like some insight into how we got into this mess in the first place (no, it wasn't Bush's fault) check out Thomas Sowell's column in Investors Business Daily from earlier this week.

The US Chamber of Commerce Strongly Opposes HR 6515

The US Chamber of Commerce is letting Congress know they are opposed to H.R. 6515, a.k.a. the "Drill Responsibly in Leased Lands" bill. We've been hearing the Democrats whine for months now about the oil companies not extracting oil from the lands they currently lease.

According to the Chamber Post Blog, they have released a key vote letter to members of Congress urging them to vote against this bill. In part, the letter states that the Chamber:

strongly opposes H.R. 6515, the "Drill Responsibly in Leased Lands Act of 2008," because its few pro-energy provisions are far outweighed by its punitive antienergy provisions. H.R. 6515 could ultimately result in the production of less American oil and natural gas, which, in turn, would lead to higher prices
and even more pain at the pump for consumers.

Section 7 of H.R. 6515, more commonly referred to as "use it or lose it," is completely unnecessary because oil and gas producers already operate under binding, statutory time limits for their leases. For onshore production, Section 17(e) of the Mineral Leasing Act, 30 U.S.C. § 226(e), stipulates that an oil company must have a producing well within 10 years, or else surrender the lease. For offshore production, the Outer
Continental Shelf Lands Act, 43 U.S.C. § 1337(b), stipulates that an oil company must produce energy within either five or 10 years, or else surrender the lease. Simply put, leaseholders are already required to surrender leases that are not producing.

The cost of natural gas is expected to double this winter over last year's price. The cost of a gallon of gas is now over $4.00. Prices of everything are now going up. People are losing their jobs. The last thing we need is Congress passing another inane law that will drive energy costs up even further while doing nothing to increase domestic production.

We are supposed to have "representative government". Something is terribly wrong when the American people overwhelmingly support legislation to open up more federal lands for drilling and Congress ignores our wishes. Is it any wonder their approval rating is so low?

Investor's Business Daily Calls for Nancy Pelosi's Resignation

I was watching the Home Run Derby, but my favorite player, Chase Utley of the Philadelphia Phillies was out of the running so I thought I'd see what was going on out there in the blogosphere.

I came across a post from YID with LID about Investor's Business Daily calling for Nancy Pelosi to resign.

Feckless to Reckless: Pelosi Should Resign
Leadership: With oil hitting $147, Nancy Pelosi finally admits energy is a problem. But instead of drilling for it, she's cooked up a new drain-the-reserves scheme. It's pure politics at a time of crisis. She ought to resign.

They have it absolutely right. This woman is out of control and has become downright dangerous. There is absolutely no excuse for the way this woman is playing politics with our economy and our very lives. Enough is enough. Give her a call and tell her how you feel.

Nancy Pelosi: 202-225-0100.

Congress breaks a record with its new approval rating

A new poll shows that Congress' approval rating is at an all time low 9%. That's really surprising, who knew there is anyone in America that approves of Congress?

Who are these people that approve of Congress? Are they lobbyists or relatives of the politicians? Maybe they are people who don't drive, watch TV, read the newspaper or pay for anything. I've figured it out! 9% of the people polled are babies!

It's too bad the babies don't know Congress is mortgaging their future and making the present quite unbearable for their parents. When the babies grow up and a gallon of gas costs $15 we can tell them that liberal politicians said it would take too long to drill for oil here at home. I'm sure they'll understand.

Sign the American Solutions Petition to drill here, drill now and pay less.

It's the Congress, Stupid

Everyone's attention is on the Presidential campaigns. Nobody's paying much attention to Congressional campaigns. Who we send to Congress is just as important as who we elect to be our next President. As we have seen, the current Congress is worse than useless.

Even if McCain is elected, with a Democratic majority we won't see any new refineries, nuclear power plants or domestic oil drilling. I keep hearing that Republicans are going to lose House and Senate seats this fall. Maybe that's correct, but I would argue it's too soon to tell.

Let's support conservative Congressional candidates. I have a link for Dale Sweetland who is running for the open House seat in my district. Dale is in favor of drilling domestically.

I was contacted by a backer of Hazelton, PA Mayor Lou Barletta who is running for Congress against 12 term Democratic incumbent Paul Kanjorski. I remember hearing about Lou Barletta because he's the mayor who cracked down on illegal immigration. He is also for a sensible energy policy.

Neither of these candidates is a "Washington Insider". These are the sort of people we need to send to Congress this fall. If you know of any others please let me know and I will post links to their websites as well.

Links: Lou Barletta-Congress 2008, Sweetland 08

US Wheat Imports on the Rise

Why on earth is the United States of America importing wheat? You could ask the same about oil and the answer wouldn't change. It's because of politicians who routinely violate the Constitution to push an agenda.

Back in the 70's Jimmy Carter and Congress decided it was a good idea to cap oil wells and place a moratorium on further exploration. They developed an "energy policy". Apparently it wasn't a very good policy, look where we are today. Now we're begging Saudi Arabia to increase output. The Democrats continue to block any attempts to extract the bountiful oil beneath our feet.

Fast forward to the current Congress with their ethanol subsidies and mandates. The farmers are taking food and using tons of fuel to convert that food into fuel. There is less food for feeding people, hence the need to import wheat.

I wish someone, anyone, would ask these politicians where in the Constitution are they granted this authority.

Let there be light.

This is Republican Congressman Ted Poe talking on the House floor about the stupid energy policy that outlaws incandescent light bulbs. He does a fine job of highlighting the idiocy of the current Congress.

The light bulbs we'll be stuck with are the CFL bulbs which are filled with mercury. They come with warning labels and instructions about how to dispose of them and what to do if you break one. Needless to say, we won't be seeing this speech on the 6 o'clock news.

The current Congress cares more about polar bears and pleasing AlGore then it cares about humanity. Ridiculous!

Dan Maffei - Big Thinker?

Washington Insider Dan Maffei moved home from DC to run for Congress. He lost, but that didn't stop him so he's trying again. The DNC has given him lots of money and lots of talking points. In fact, I wonder if any of his "thoughts" are his at all.

His op-ed piece in today's opinion section of the Syracuse Post Standard is titled "Part of 'thinking big' is working for US energy independence". Something tells me he didn't put a whole lot of thought into this.

Maffei opines "If we need any further reminder of how far American power and prestige have fallen over the last eight years, we got it when the Saudis told President Bush they weren't going to lift a finger to help us." Why should they "help us"? Are we helpless? We have our own oil, we just need to get it out of the ground and refine it.

He tells us he is "running for Congress because we need change." Where have we heard that before? Hmmm....change....who said that?

His plan will take "the power away from Big Oil by taxing their huge windfall profits ". Maffei concedes that "not everything we try will work". Really? Like using the taxpayer's money to subsidize biofuels and driving up food prices?

If I were Mr. Maffei I would be very angry with the Democratic party and all of their candidates (and some Republicans, too) for stealing his ideas.

Finally, he promises that if he is "elected to Congress, (he) will never support measures that do not benefit hard-working men and women." If that's the case, he will need to completely abandon his party's platform and his environmental agenda.

Miracles Do Happen!

I nearly fell out of my chair a moment ago when I came across this article on my local newspaper's website.

It looks like Rep. Jim Walsh, R-NY, has changed his mind about drilling in ANWR! Wonders never cease. I have been increasing displeased with my congressman, who has announced his retirement. I forgave his goofy vote last year against the Iraq war because I understood that it was a symbolic vote and meaningless. But his position on drilling for domestic oil, to me was unforgiveable.

Since he's retiring he no longer needs to pander for votes and can do the right thing. It's too bad he didn't have a change of heart when his vote may have made a difference, but hey, maybe the Republican leadership is finally taking the blinders off.

Get Ready for the Gas Lines

Yesterday the gang of buffoons we know as Congress passed a bill to sue OPEC over oil prices. These people have no grasp of basic economics. According to the sponsor of the legislation, Rep. Steve Kagen, D-Wisconsin, Americans are "at the mercy" of OPEC. Well, of course we are, you moron! When you won't allow companies to drill for oil here in the US we have to look to other countries to supply our oil. Duh!

According to the White House this sort of action "would likely spur retaliatory action against American interests in those countries and lead to a reduction in oil available to U.S. refiners." That's code for "expect gas lines soon".

Today, to show how much they feel your pain, Congress summoned oil company executives to testify yet again. They put on their little dog and pony show, and again the oil execs tried to explain basic economic principles to these imbeciles. If I weren't so mad I would have laughed it was so ridiculous. If you can stomach it click here for more on this story.

If Congress really cared about gas prices, they would lift the moratorium on drilling for oil here in the US. According to reports, the Bakken Formation could have 3 to 4.3 billion barrels of "undiscovered, technically recoverable oil". Wouldn't it be refreshing to hear them talking about how the oil companies can use their profits to drill for oil and build refineries right here at home? Don't hold your breath.