Thinking Out Loud

A column by Austin Hill last week summarized President Obama’s philosophical Achilles heel this way: Anytime there is a problem to be solved, this president’s first instinct is always to form a committee, establish a commission, appoint a czar, or put together a new government board. His inclination is simple. In all aspects of governing, Obama feels we must first look to government to protect us, particularly from the horrible functions of free markets. This week the president provided an ample illustration of Hill’s assertion. Apparently, White House focus group specialists suddenly discovered that high gas prices are really hurting their polling numbers. Accordingly, a new boogie man is required in the endless blame game. The president announced that the newest White House committee will be headed by Guantanamo Bay reformer, Eric Holder. And get this, Holder will be “investigating” the influence of “speculators” in the energy markets.
Of course the fact that every energy-related White House policy (including the attack on Libya) has actually reduced the “supply” of oil and gas is not likely to be a topic explored by Holder's "committee.” And so it is, that the unanimous choice for the “Dumbing Down of America Award” this week, goes to White House efforts to divert America’s attention away from acknowledging how the forces of supply and demand interact in the real world.
Speaking of dumb, we find it curious in a period when both the GOP and the Democrats talk about the “dire need” for fiscal reform….that most elected officials were not in Washington at work on this pressing problem this week. Obama was out in California most of the week raking in tens of millions in 2012 campaign donations. And most Congressional members have taken a couple of weeks off. So we are in dire straits eh?
Each time we read a story involving the funding of something (or proposed funding of something) shouldn’t we be asking ourselves if this idea is something we are willing to BORROW money to pay for? Along these lines one has to wonder what the cost to taxpayers was for commissioning the composing of a new "rap" song for the EPA. Should we actually be borrowing money to compose government-approved rap songs that support radical environmentalist causes?
We Cannot Afford to Stop This
Most sensible Americans understand the language of spending. We cannot afford a new car this year. We cannot afford a swimming pool for the back yard. We cannot afford to refurnish the house. Or do we? “We cannot afford” is the new catch phrase White House policymakers are using. However, their use of the word "afford" is not associated with spending. In the White House world, the phrase “We cannot afford,” actually precedes NOT increasing the rate at which we confiscate people’s property. How could this be? It is pretty simple really. It is all in the polling. White House Focus Groups have discovered that fomenting anger and re-directing it towards millionaires and billionaires is a pretty easy political sell. And what the heck; with 47% of all Americans who file a federal tax return not actually paying any federal income taxes, the idea of demanding more from those who actually do pay and pay plenty is a polling slam dunk. The math is easy.
Jeremiah Wright
Just snare a few percentage points from the taxpaying population, and join them with the 47% of the population that puts no tax skin into the governing game (but still gets to vote). It’s political genius because it's an electoral piece of cake! How can you do it? Use some carefully crafted rhetoric. Label nearly one half of America, "the less fortunate.” Then, simply explain to this half how we can’t “afford” to NOT take more property away from the other half of the country. What is that you ask? No, don't be silly. Of course this sort of process will NOT create any jobs. But remember, it is the audacity of hope and change that political tacticians have realized can convince more than half of the people to believe in. What? You say you still can't see why this approach is good for the country? Alright, try this. Google the name of "spiritual mentor" Jeremiah Wright. Then use the video search words, “Goddamn America” or “The Chickens Have Come Home to Roost.” Listen to the sermons. Then you'll understand social justice.........silly.

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Napolitano Travels to Artesia

Janet Napolitano
From therepublic.com -Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says there have been historic gains in protecting the nation's border and seizing illegal contraband.  The Roswell Daily Record reports Napolitano spoke in southeastern New Mexico on Thursday at a change of command ceremony at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Artesia. She says the work at the center's U.S. Customs and Border Protection Border Patrol Academy is important because the academy ensures that agents have the skills they need.  More News New Mexico
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Can A Lizard Raise Your Gas Prices?

From americanthinker.com -Our nation is struggling to come out of a long, debilitating recession and hoping to stave off a double dip back into a recessionary economy. Rising prices in the petroleum industry and the inflation that results may very well be the determining factors in pushing America's economy back into an even deeper trough. Here we are, looking at $5.00 a gallon gas and rocketing prices on consumer goods and what are the feds doing here in New Mexico, one of the nation's leading oil and gas producing states, to help alleviate our pain?  Would you believe me if I told you they may be trying to drastically reduce gas and petroleum production in Southeast New Mexico, and perhaps West Texas for the really important reason of protecting the continuing viability of a creature I'm sure you all know and love, the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard? More News New Mexico
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Fifteen Foolish Forecasts From Earth Day 1970

Earth Day 1970
From ihatethemedia.com -Here are some of the hilarious, remarkably wrong predictions made on Earth Day 1970.  The world has been chilling sharply for about twenty years. If present trends continue, the world will be about four degrees colder for the global mean temperature in 1990, but eleven degrees colder in the year 2000. This is about twice what it would take to put us into an ice age.” • Kenneth Watt, Ecologist “It is already too late to avoid mass starvation.” • Denis Hayes, chief organizer for Earth Day  “Scientists have solid experimental and theoretical evidence to support…the following predictions: In a decade, urban dwellers will have to wear gas masks to survive air pollution…by 1985 air pollution will have reduced the amount of sunlight reaching earth by one half….” • Life Magazine, January 1970  “By the year 2000, if present trends continue, we will be using up crude oil at such a rate…that there won’t be any more crude oil. You’ll drive up to the pump and say, `Fill ‘er up, buddy,’ and he’ll say, `I am very sorry, there isn’t any.’”• Kenneth Watt, Ecologist  “Dr. S. Dillon Ripley, secretary of the Smithsonian Institute, believes that in 25 years, somewhere between 75 and 80 percent of all the species of living animals will be extinct.”• Sen. Gaylord Nelson  More News New Mexico
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Tax Relief Is Not "Spending" Unless You Assume Your Money is the Government's First

Jim Gilmore
Townhall - Though the bi-partisan deficit commission put forward some good and thoughtful ideas in its final report, it also endorsed a mix of spending cuts combined with tax increases. And of course the President weighed in during a major speech on deficit reduction last week. He managed to score a perfect 10 in rhetorical gymnastics by labeling the Bush-era tax relief as “spending” in the tax code. Are there special interest tax breaks that should be eliminated in favor of lower, simpler and fairer tax rates? Absolutely. But referring to tax cuts as “spending” is immoral and offensive. It’s an assumption that your money is the government’s first. This false choice—that we cannot rein in spending without raising taxes—is showered on us as time runs short. Tune it out. We need spending cuts and growth, not higher taxes. Read full column here: News New Mexico
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Larry Elder: Obama's EPA is a Train Wreck

Larry Elder
Townhall - During a recent speech at Cleveland State University focused on small business in Ohio, President Obama described a goal of “knocking down barriers that stand in the way of your growth.” Unfortunately, his EPA couldn’t be more in the dark about how to translate that message into practice – with the agency poised to adopt more than 30 new, major regulations and over 170 major policy rules in the next several months. Even with 14 million Americans out of work and an economy still searching for light at the end of the tunnel, the EPA is poised to enact a series of back-door mandates that will stifle economic growth.
And with the speed that this runaway train is traveling, people in states like Ohio should be scared of the “Train Wreck” headed towards a town near you. Unfortunately, everyday Americans may not realize the impact of the EPA’s “Train Wreck” of new regulations on jobs, the economy and price of essential energy until it’s too late. The truth is, even the EPA itself doesn’t quite know what these regulations might cost to implement – although various outside analysts seem to agree that, at minimum, the 10 major rules that the EPA issued in 2010 could cost the economy at least $23 billion and nearly one million jobs. Read full column here: News New Mexico
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Introducing Radical Environmentalist's Latest Industry and Job Killer: The Sand Dune Lizard

Sand Dune Lizard
Capitol Report New Mexico - It’s just a little ole thing — no more than three inches long and its skin practically blends into the dusty ground of southeast New Mexico. It’s the dunes sagebrush lizard – known as Sceloporous arenicolus in scientific terms — and the reptile has become the centerpiece of a fight between environmentalists who want to see it put on the endangered species list and supporters of oil and natural gas interests who fear federal protection for a creature so hard to find that almost nobody in the Oil Patch has ever even seen one could shut down an industry vital to the New Mexico economy. The US Fish and Wildlife Service says the dunes sagebrush lizard is in danger of extinction in southeast New Mexico and parts of west Texas. Last December, the agency proposed listing the lizard under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, which would give the reptile federal protection. But the lizard’s habitat includes a large portion of land — much of it on federal property — that is leased by oil and gas companies and some people in the area fear that aggressive enforcement of the Endangered Species Act would threaten their means of making a living. Rep. Steve Pearce (R-New Mexico) of the US House of Representatives is the leading the charge against placing the lizard on the endangered species list. “Most of the oil and gas jobs in southeast New Mexico are at risk,” Pearce told the Carlsbad Current-Argus in an article published April 18. “In the ’70s, they listed the spotted owl as endangered and it killed the entire timber industry.” Read full story here: News New Mexico
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Denish and Chavez Considering House Run

Diane Denish
NMPolitics - Former Lt. Gov. Diane Denish and former Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chávez are considering running for the 1st Congressional District seat being vacated by Martin Heinrich, NMPolitics.net has learned. Denish and Chávez, both former gubernatorial nominees, are the best-known Democrats to publicly surface as potential candidates thus far. Chávez is meeting this week with the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the fundraising arm of Democrats in the U.S. House, to talk about the possibility of running, a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed. Another source said Denish “has been getting a lot of encouragement from inside the district, and with solid name ID and a strong base there, she has time to test the waters.”
Martin Chavez
Denish had been considering running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Jeff Bingaman. Whether she is still considering the Senate race isn’t clear. Heinrich is the best-known Democrat to have entered the Senate race. His departure from the U.S. House has led many to consider running for the seat. No Democrats have formally entered the race to replace Heinrich, but state Sen. Eric Griego of Albuquerque has formed an exploratory committee. In addition, state Rep. Antonio “Moe” Maestas of Albuquerque and Terry Brunner, Bingaman’s former state director who now heads USDA Rural Development in New Mexico, say they are seriously considering running. Read full story here: News New Mexico
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