VOLuntarilyConservative

It cost less for a barrel of oil yesterday than at any time in the past year. In fact, oil prices have dropped over 30% from its high earlier this year.

So why haven't the price of goods also seen a likewise decline? We have seen prices rise at retailers over the past couple of years under the guise of energy costs haven risen. Since energy prices are dropping, shouldn't the savings be passed along to the consumers?

Labels: Economy, Energy, Oil

There are some early rumblings that the so-called "Energy Tax" - also known as "cap-and-trade" - might hit the floor in the House tomorrow. Tennesseans should be concerned, because a recent study said that Tennessee could lose 80,000 jobs as a direct consequence of cap-and-trade. Even conservative estimates from the CBO say that every family would basically suffer a $1,600 annual "tax" from the passing of cap-and-trade.

Labels: Energy, Taxes, Videos

Wednesday morning began with speeches to the Tennessee and Alaska delegations by Senator Lamar Alexander, Senator Bob Corker, and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. Bob Corker touched a little on his recent trip to Georgia to view the unrest in that nation. Lamar Alexander showed a strong states' rights streak with his hammering of the need to stop unfunded federal mandates.

Governor Huckabee (pictured above with Chip Saltsman and Susan Williams) spoke mostly about Governor Sarah Palin. He pointed out that Palin received more votes while running for Mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, than Joe Biden received in two presidential bids. Huckabee predicted that value voters will not turn from Palin due the recent pregnancy discussions, citing that she will become "like family" to the American people, and families stick together and offer forgiveness when needed. He pointed to Obama's meager record, and Huckabee hammered Obama when he said that the closest Obama has ever come to dealing with a terrorist is when he met with William Ayres. Huckabee closed a strong speech with a proposal that the nation's energy problem could be solved if the hot air could somehow be harnessed from Nancy Pelosi's speeches.
In the afternoon, an event was held with Senators Corker and Alexander at the Minnesota Science and Energy Museum.

From the veranda of the museum, several of us from Knox County were struck by how similar St. Paul and Knoxville were. The picture above greatly resembles the view off of the South End Zone seats at Neyland Stadium. We were also able to speak with Lamar Alexander about new historical exhibits in Tennessee, the importance of knowing one's genealogy, and how Tennessee's history is shaping its future. It was an intriguing informal discussion that I enjoyed greatly. Lamar is a great student of history, that is for sure.

During his program remarks, Bob Corker told details of his trip to Georgia. He also told of an interesting aspect of John McCain's foreign relations experience, of how world leaders to whom Corker has spoken don't speak of "Senator McCain," but of "John."

Lamar also addressed the crowd. He told of specific goals and predictions regarding energy, which is without a doubt the biggest issue being discussed here in the Twin Cities. Lamar believes that within 15-20 years that 50% of our cars will be electrically powered. He believes that this help our national dependency on foreign oil, but he realizes that 50% of our cars at that time would still be dependent on gasoline. In order to help all Americans and not create economic hardships based on what people could afford, Lamar believes that we need to increase American drilling. He pointed out that Republicans are the only party with a two-pronged approach - conservation, but also finding more and better energy sources.

From there, we went to the convention for the best night of speakers thus far. I will have to provide my notes, pictures, and thoughts on those at a later time, as my schedule here in Minnesota demands that I be at one function or another for the remainder of the day. I will attempt to add Part 2 (at the least) before I board my plane for Atlanta in the wee hours of Friday morning.

Labels: 2008 Republican National Convention, Bob Corker, Energy, Lamar

There is an interesting story in Maryville's Daily Times regarding an appearance by Congressman Jimmy Duncan, long known as a "straight shooter" and not one to sugarcoat items for sake of his Party.

Duncan is realistic in saying that the Republicans could lose up to five seats in both chambers of Congress. However, Duncan is not all gloom and doom for the Republicans, as he sees the race for the White House as McCain's to lose. Jimmy is often right when predicting such matters, so it would be wise for people to take notice of his assessment.

Duncan also spoke about other American issues, such as energy sources and road projects.

Labels: 2008 General Election, Energy

Here's a letter that Tennessee Republican Todd Loveday recently sent to Senator Bob Corker, who appears to have turned away from the latest Republican push to open up more domestic drilling.

Senator Corker,

In past correspondence regarding the global poverty act, you indicated your concerns about worldwide poverty. In the past week, you have signed on to support a bill that increases subsidies for ethanol. Ethanol is not very energy efficient. Outrageous amounts of corn, water, and energy are required just to produce one gallon of ethanol. Fuel mileage for autos is even less when running gasoline containing ethanol.

In addition to this, increased production of ethanol has caused a spike in the price of several foodstuffs including corn, soybeans, wheat, poultry, beef, and pork. It has been reported that the hunger issue in third world countries is being exacerbated globally as a result of the decrease in corn for food on the market and subsequent price increases in regards to other food commodities.

We have ample amounts of oil off our coasts, in ANWR, and eventually in the oil shale areas of the West. We do not need to cave in by allowing increased regulation and other legal hurdles that can be set up by PETA, the EPA, and other entities. These groups are filled with left-leaning environmentalists who will simply increase the amount of red tape involved in building oil wells, refineries, and exploring.

There hasn't been a catastrophe involving offshore rigs or pipelines in over 30 years. The oil industry proved its safety and technological advancements when it passed the test of Katrina in the Gulf a couple of years ago. Why does your proposed legislation set the barrier for 50 miles off the coast and limit the number of states that would drill? Many experts believe that greater supply could be found if drilling commences from 20-30 miles off the coast.

The drill here, drill now movement is a winning issue for America. The pressure is on the left to stop allowing our economy and national security to be hamstrung by the environmental lobby. I encourage you to be steadfast in your resolve to stand up to this powerful lobby. Push for us to use all our resources, and help remove all of the red tape involved in expanding the oil, gas, and nuclear industries.

Sincerely,

Todd Loveday

Labels: Corker, Energy

It seems that the GOP has finally gotten it - oil as a form of energy is a big issue with Americans.

Of course, this is in contrast to the Democrats, who just don't get it.

Last week, the Tennessee Republican Party started pushing bumper stickers that reflect what many Americans want - increased domestic drilling. According to what I've heard, hundreds of those stickers were bought within hours of their release thanks to simply references to them on blogs.

Today comes news that Louisiana State Treasurer John Kennedy, the GOP nominee for the U.S. Senate, is taking on incumbent U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu on the issue of oil, leases, and drilling.

This is going to be a common theme, folks. Who would have guessed that the Republicans - post-Bush - would emerge as the party working for energy solutions to help out the American people?

Labels: 2008 Senate Races, Energy

Ain't that the truth.

Labels: Democrats, Energy

Joseph Farah of WorldNetDaily says that not only is the U.S. government to blame for our domestic oil and natural gas shortage, but that it behooves the government to remain obstructionist as its people suffer economically.

Well, I suppose that's correct to a point - that point being where the citizens raise arms against their oppressors...

Labels: Energy

Here's the latest video from the Tennessee Republican Party focusing on Barack Obama's lack of vision on our looming energy problem:



Strange musical choices might override the message that Obama has no energy policy, which makes him more like four more years of George W. Bush than John McCain.

Here's the presser that accompanied the video:

NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Republican Party has released Yes We Can, a new web video looking at Barack Obama’s just-say-no response to plans to make America less dependent on hostile sources of oil.

“Sen. Obama is fond of leading large crowds to parrot his catch phrase, ‘Yes we can,’ but when it comes to increasing America’s oil supplies and declaring independence from unstable Middle East oil producers and hostile foreign regimes, Sen. Obama lately has been saying ‘No’ quite a lot,” said Robin Smith , chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party.

Drill for more oil in the United States and off our coastlines? No we can’t, says Obama, even though all the evidence and experience shows we can do it without harming the environment.

In the latest Rasmussen poll, 66 percent of Tennesseans said they support resuming offshore oil drilling, but Obama says ‘No we can’t,’ even though Cuba recently signed agreements with oil companies from Spain, Norway, India, Canada, Malaysia and Venezuela to drill for oil off Cuba’s coasts as close as 50 miles to America..

Obama even opposes importing more oil from Canada ’s oil-rich Alberta oil sands region, and opposes building more nuclear plants.

No, we can’t, says Obama.

“Like it or not, oil currently is the lifeblood of our economy. It is how Tennesseans get to work, how Tennessee farmers till their fields and harvest their crops, how Tennessee businesses get their products to market, and how Tennessee families get their children to school and soccer practice,” said Bill Hobbs, communications director for the Tennessee GOP. “Windmills and solar panels are great, but Sen. Obama is fooling himself and his supporters by claiming they are the solution to today’s high gas prices, high energy costs and dependence on oil from the Middle East and hostile regimes like the one in Venezuela .”

“When Tennesseans - Republicans and Democrats – overwhelmingly believe we should drill offshore but Sen. Obama says ‘no' because it won’t lower gas prices right away, it shows once again just how out of touch Obama is out of touch with the views of the average Tennessean,” Smith said.

Hobbs said Obama’s plan to slap huge new taxes on oil companies to fund research into alternative energy will cost Americans more at the pump immediately – even as oil companies from six other countries begin drilling for oil just 50 miles from our coast.

President Jimmy Carter tried Obama’s windfall profits tax idea back in 1980. The Congressional Research Service later concluded that the tax significantly reduced domestic oil production and raised oil imports.

Obama’s opposition to drilling for more oil in America also costs Tennessee jobs:

A 1991 economic study by Wharton Econometric Forecasting Associates project that opening up 2,000 acres of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling would generate up to 735,000 new jobs in America, including more than 13,000 right here in Tennessee in construction, service, manufacturing, and engineering jobs related to oil development.

Labels: 2008 General Election, Energy, TN GOP

Hey, Goldman Sachs - the next time that no one asks for your uninformed opinion, how about keeping it to yourself?

With no real reason for the rising price of gas except for fear and momentum, it doesn't seem conceivable that oil could reach $200 a barrel in the near future.

Labels: Economy, Energy

Yes, we all know that we're paying more for everyday goods these days, but do you know how much more?

EVERYDAY COSTS (per BLS.gov)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 2008 2000 % Change
Gasoline (per gallon) $3.28 $1.36 141%
Natural gas (per ccf) $1.30 $0.71 83%
Electricity (per kwh) $.116 $.084 38%
Milk (per gallon) - $3.87 $2.78 39%
Bread (per lb) - $1.28 $0.91 41%
Eggs (per dozen) - $2.18 $0.98 122%
Orange Juice (per gal.) $2.54 $1.82 40%
Ground Beef (per lb.) $2.33 $1.48 57%

Those inside the Bush White House often speak of President Bush's concern with his legacy as his second term comes to a close. I can't help but think that the picture painted by the above figures is this president's legacy.

Labels: Economy, Energy, President Bush

Yesterday, I had the privilege of participating in Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn's first blogger conference call. It appears that this is currently slated to be a monthly event, which I suppose shows how far the Tennessee blogosphere has come as well as how much Marsha wants to reach out to new forms of communication with her constituents.

The structure of the call was laid out to participants through use of an operator/moderator at the beginning - Marsha would make a few remarks and then the floor would be opened up for questions. During Marsha's remarks, bloggers were reduced to a "listen only" status, which is helpful since (having participated in a few of these sort of things in the past where there was no "listen only" status) I was interested in what she had to say and not which Tennessee blogger had a case of the sniffles or was eating loudly at the time.

Apparently, some people did not understand the structure of the call. The guys over at Blue Collar Republicans were unclear on the instructions (perhaps their blue collars were on too tight?), thought it was "listen only" for the whole event, hung up, and then posted rude comments about a Member of Congress taking time out of (of all days) Energy Committee mark-ups to speak with Tennessee bloggers. Not to get preachy, but it's moves like that which will relegate blogger conference calls to the priority arena of rearranging stereo wires and pressure washing the vinyl siding. BCR's accounts were followed up by Austin Farley and then Volunteer Voters, repeated as fact. Hopefully, retractions and mea culpas will follow today.

The call itself was a bit shaky, to be honest, due to its newness. When the floor was opened up for questions, I stepped up and asked about what the GOP House Members were proposing as solutions to the energy problems in our country, as compared to the radicalism from the Democrats which now treats the Energy Committee as the global warming committee. Marsha responded at length (as I would expect someone who has been immersed in Energy mark-ups), stating that the solution lies in a three-pronged strategy. It was the third prong - innovation - that I was most interested in, as I specifically cited Lamar's opposition (and it is probably valid opposition) to inefficient wind technology. Marsha proved to be quite knowledgeable on the advances at Watts Bar and the need to increase nuclear production throughout the Tennessee Valley. In short, she more than answered my question.

Adam Groves then asked about Marsha's reaction to the demise of the Senate immigration bill. If you have read her release on the subject, you pretty much know where she stands. I thought it interesting that much of the same language was put forth by Marsha Blackburn as was put forth by Fred Thompson in the past few days.

There were no further questions after that, and that is where the bumps in the conference call took place. I had more questions, but I didn't want to hog the floor. I just think that some of the bloggers without journalism backgrounds might have been a bit shy at jumping on in the first time. I do not expect such problems the next time around.

In any case, I enjoyed the call and look forward to next month's version. Special thanks to Congresswoman Blackburn's office for putting this enterprise together.

Labels: Blackburn, Conference Calls, Energy, Immigration