Erick Erickson's Blog, page 60

Barack Obama's Energy Policy: Unicorn Farts as the Fuel of Tomorrow

On Friday, the President of the United States accused his Republican opponents of being members of the Flat Earth Society because of their demands that the nation increase drilling.

In no small bit of irony, the President who bitterly lamented the rise of ATM's and internet travel options accused the GOP of wanting to bitterly cling to the past.

But what of Barack Obama's energy policy? He likes to tout wind and solar technologies and batteries, but it seems while he accuses the GOP of being flat earthers, the reality is that the President is himself anti-science when it comes to the reality of domestic energy needs.

His solution to fueling our cars amounts to using unicorn farts as gas — which has just as much a chance of happening as the mythic battery powered cross country run.

The facts are pretty simple. As a matter of both science and reality, battery technology is neither good enough nor cheap enough to supply American needs relating to transportation. Even were there batteries available for vehicles, the cost of conversion for the tens of millions of cars on the road right now would be cost prohibitive and increasing fuel standards, resulting in smaller and smaller cars, penalize families. Try piling a family of four in a Prius for a trip to grand mom's house for Spring Break. The luggage and leg room will make for an exciting time.

Even beyond the family car, a battery will not put an 18 wheeler on the road, a 747 in the air, or a locomotive on its rails. Americans depend on crude oil right now and in the future. To cling to the hope of a battery that can meet American automotive needs is anti-science and as realistic as fueling our future with unicorn farts. See Charles Lane at the Washington Post for more on the President's crusade against science.

This President's policies have done everything possible to drive up the price of crude oil in hopes that some mythical unicorn fart, solar panel, or battery will come online quickly enough to meet American needs. It is not happening. Going back to May of 2009, the President insisted on discouraging the "overproduction of oil" as potentially damaging to our national security. If only we had a President who understood supply and demand.

Under Barack Obama's administration, domestic exploration on federal lands and seas is down 40% 14% (new non-partisan numbers are out and have revised the number down from 40% to 14% decrease in production, though the decrease in federal permitting is higher). The gains we have seen have come largely from one new find, Thunder Horse, approved by Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. The exploration on land has come on private land Barack Obama could not stop.

For stability, the oil market depends on an excess supply of 1 million to 2 million barrels a day. The Keystone XL Pipeline would have provided an additional 700,000 barrels a day by itself. Barack Obama stopped it.

The reality is the President's polling is going down because the logical outcomes of his policies are coming to pass. Now the President is left to demagogue the GOP instead of actually doing anything because he really does not want lower gas prices. He wants, instead, to continue using government stimulus funds to explore unicorn farts, solar, etc. as an energy source. After spending over $15 billion, there are only 3,545 jobs to show for it and a lot of bankruptcies and wasted money.

Meanwhile, the oil and natural gas sector of the economy is creating 20% of the good jobs in America. Imagine how much lower unemployment could be if Barack Obama were not so hostile to real energy.

Morning Briefing for March 19, 2012

RedState Morning Briefing

March 19, 2012

Go to www.RedStateMB.com to get
the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge.

1. Barack Obama's Energy Policy: Unicorn Farts as the Fuel of Tomorrow

2. Flashback to 2009: Administration Policies Sought to Discourage 'Overproduction' of Oil

3. 'Intellectual Bankruptcy', Dr. Krugman?

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1. Barack Obama's Energy Policy: Unicorn Farts as the Fuel of Tomorrow

On Friday, the President of the United States accused his Republican opponents of being members of the Flat Earth Society because of their demands that the nation increase drilling.

In no small bit of irony, the President who bitterly lamented the rise of ATM's and internet travel options accused the GOP of wanting to bitterly cling to the past.

But what of Barack Obama's energy policy? He likes to tout wind and solar technologies and batteries, but it seems while he accuses the GOP of being flat earthers, the reality is that the President is himself anti-science when it comes to the reality of domestic energy needs.

His solution to fueling our cars amounts to using unicorn farts as gas — which has just as much a chance of happening as the mythic battery powered cross country run.

The facts are pretty simple. As a matter of both science and reality, battery technology is neither good enough nor cheap enough to supply American needs relating to transportation. Even were there batteries available for vehicles, the cost of conversion for the tens of millions of cars on the road right now would be cost prohibitive and increasing fuel standards, resulting in smaller and smaller cars, penalize families. Try piling a family of four in a Prius for a trip to grand mom's house for Spring Break. The luggage and leg room will make for an exciting time.

Even beyond the family car, a battery will not put an 18 wheeler on the road, a 747 in the air, or a locomotive on its rails. Americans depend on crude oil right now and in the future. To cling to the hope of a battery that can meet American automotive needs is anti-science and as realistic as fueling our future with unicorn farts.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. Flashback to 2009: Administration Policies Sought to Discourage 'Overproduction' of Oil

In May 2009, four months into the Obama presidency, retail gasoline prices averaged $2.32 per gallon. Rep. Charles Boustany (R-LA) wrote Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner to express concern about the impact that the Administration's budgeted changes in tax policy would have on the oil and gas industry. Secretary Geithner clearly laid out the Administration position in his letter of response (pdf link).

That was then, this is now.

In just three years' time, retail gasoline prices are up 68%. $4.00+ gasoline prices loom as a key reelection vulnerability for the President; in response, the Administration's rhetoric has shifted to "energy friendly", but its original energy-hostile policies have not changed a whit.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. 'Intellectual Bankruptcy', Dr. Krugman?

Paul Krugman's op-ed, "Natural Born Drillers" (New York Times, March 15), purports to show with a hard look at the numbers why no thinking, perceptive person could possibly believe that "Drill, Baby, Drill" is a solution to the nation's energy and economic woes:

"[G]iving the oil companies carte blanche isn't a serious jobs program. Put it this way: Employment in oil and gas extraction has risen more than 50 percent since the middle of the last decade, but that amounts to only 70,000 jobs, around one-twentieth of 1 percent of total U.S. employment. So the idea that drill, baby, drill can cure our jobs deficit is basically a joke."

Hmmm. Shall I take the strawman, or the phony statistics first?

{Coin flip}: It's heads. Strawman!

Please click here for the rest of the post.

The Anti-Science President #EERS

The President says Republicans are members of the Flat Earth Society for wanting to drill.

The President, himself, seems to be anti-science based on his energy policies.

I'll get into it tonight.

You can listen right here and call in at 1-800-WSB-TALK.

Consider this an open thread.

Against Partial Repeal

There are a number of conservatives clamoring to begin partially repealing Obamacare. Some are misguided, thinking we need to have a series of partial repeal votes to go on and get rid of the bad everyone can agree to get rid of and also keep the issue alive with the voters.

Others are useful idiots. They claim to want to get rid of parts of the bill about which there is bipartisan contempt. In reality, they actually know that each time a part of the bill is repealed or "improved" the harder it becomes to actually get rid of the whole.

Both those who naively think we should keep nibbling away and those who think we should improve it as a back door way to keeping some semblance of "reform" are misguided at best and deluded at worst.

Full repeal is the only tactic the GOP should take for very legitimate reasons.

Partial repeal, of course, will get rid of the things everyone hates now that they have all read the bill. Each piece partially repealed from Obamacare without a full repeal makes it less and less likely the GOP will then advocate for full repeal instead of "fixing it." It bears repeating that there is no way to fix Obamacare.

Remember, one of the Republican concerns with fighting against Obamacare at all during this election year is the potential for the Democrats to attack the GOP for repealing popular portions of the law.

McConnell may also want to shield his Senate GOP colleagues from voting to repeal popular portions of the healthcare law, such as the provision allowing young adults to stay on their parents' health insurance until age 26 or another barring insurance companies from discriminating against people with pre-existing conditions.

Once the bipartisan fixers have gotten rid of all the stuff on which there is bipartisan agreement, every additional point of repeal becomes a full on partisan fight just like a full repeal vote, but with one big difference: a full repeal vote has the American people on the side of the GOP. Each additional partial repeal vote will have the public breaking off back and forth between the GOP and the Democrats, making partial repeal a mine field for the Republicans.

If the GOP will not commit to repeated votes on full repeal with the American people so clearly on their side, prepare to be nickeled and dimed into an even more costly form of Obamacare where all the stuff both sides agree they hate (the stuff that typically was designed to keep costs down) goes away and all the stuff the Democrats love stays because squishy Republicans are too scared to vote with the rest of their party for repeal.

Republicans have never shown the will to lose for the cause that Democrats have shown. The Democrats were prepared to lose Congress to pass Obamacare. They did both. Republicans will not ever be so brave or so bold. The only way to get the GOP to fight for repeal is to push them to repeal the whole without ever letting the Democrats fix the bad parts. Full repeal is the only time the public will be absolutely with the GOP and the GOP will only proceed with the public's support. Put bluntly — making the public suffer through the logical outcomes of this disastrous Obama legacy will only build public support for full repeal.

That is also why fixing the 1099 provision was a miscalculation. The individual fixes do not improve the legislation, they just bandaid the suck. But fools are easily fooled into thinking otherwise. Republicans should not be foolish when it comes to this issue. Too much is at stake.

Full repeal is the only acceptable strategy and repeated votes on full repeal the only acceptable tactic this Congress.

Morning Briefing for March 16, 2012

RedState Morning Briefing

March 16, 2012

Go to www.RedStateMB.com to get
the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge.

I officially announced registration for the 4th Annual RedState Gathering this morning in the Morning Briefing. As a RedState.com registered user, I want to make sure that you are in attendance and secure your spot.

The 2012 RedState Gathering will be held August 2-5 at the Omni Jacksonville Hotel in Jacksonville, Florida. With two full days of speakers and activities this year, the schedule will not disappoint.

It has already been announced that Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal will be a keynote speaker. I am thrilled to have him at the RedState podium this year.

I can now share with you that Florida Governor Rick Scott and Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson will also be speaking at the Gathering. As we continue to solidify our schedule and speakers, I will disclose them to you as soon as I am able.

Click here to learn more and register.

We hope to see you in August!

Thanks,
Erick

1. Against Partial Repeal

2. After a Decade of Operations, Is It Time to Pull the Plug on Afghanistan?

3. Libtalker Randy Rhodes spews anti-Indian racism like so many teeth.

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1. Against Partial Repeal

There are a number of conservatives clamoring to begin partially repealing Obamacare. Some are misguided, thinking we need to have a series of partial repeal votes to go on and get rid of the bad everyone can agree to get rid of and also keep the issue alive with the voters.

Others are useful idiots. They claim to want to get rid of parts of the bill about which there is bipartisan contempt. In reality, they actually know that each time a part of the bill is repealed or "improved" the harder it becomes to actually get rid of the whole.

Both those who naively think we should keep nibbling away and those who think we should improve it as a back door way to keeping some semblance of "reform" are misguided at best and deluded at worst.

Full repeal is the only tactic the GOP should take for very legitimate reasons.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. After a Decade of Operations, Is It Time to Pull the Plug on Afghanistan?

As we hit the 10 1/2 year mark in Afghanistan, the state of trust and confidence between the coalition and the Afghan people is at perhaps its lowest ebb, and support for the war effort is wavering across the political spectrum. Given this, it appears time to reconsider the current status of our effort there — what have we accomplished, and what do we still hope and reasonably expect to accomplish? — as well as what the future may and should hold. Below the fold are some questions that need to be considered about our objectives, accomplishments, and expectations in Afghanistan. This list is not exhaustive by any means, and I certainly don't claim to have all of the answers; in fact, I may not have any of them. However, they do need to be carefully thought about, and answered, at some point in the immediate future.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. Libtalker Randy Rhodes spews anti-Indian racism like so many teeth.

You know, I have a problem with the way that somebody ambushed Randi Rhodes and got her to make racist and prejudiced comments about the governors of Louisiana and South Carolina. It's just… cruel to do that to an alcoholic on a bender; when you have somebody with an existing history of being found face down in the gutter with the recent contents of her stomach spread out around her in a semi-particulate spray, taking advantage of that by shoving a microphone in her face and asking her to spout off some good, old-fashioned racism is simply not very civi… wait, hold on. She talked this trash on the air?

"Bobby Jindal even converted from Hinduism — Nikki Haley, too — in order to be acceptable to the conservative South in Louisiana and uh — [about a five second pause] Georgia! I mean, that is crazy that in order to be acceptable to the party you have to, you know, pretend that you've given up your religion!"

While sober?

Well, then.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

It's All About the Constitution

If you are a regular reader of RedState, you'll know I am a huge fan of Hillsdale College and am delighted to help them advertise a great program with Dr. Larry Arnn. The program is called "Constitution 101: The Meaning and History of the Constitution". It is a 10-week online course providing a great learning experience about the Constitution.

There is no cost to register for this course, but I'd ask that you consider a donation to support Hillsdale's efforts to educate millions of Americans about our nation's Founding documents and principles.

If you are interested in learning more about our founding document, please follow this link to sign up. It's free. It's educational. It's relevant. And it is Hillsdale College.

Morning Briefing for March 15, 2012

RedState Morning Briefing

March 15, 2012

Go to www.RedStateMB.com to get
the Morning Briefing every morning at no charge.

It's All About the Constitution

Folks,

If you are a regular reader of RedState, you'll know I am a huge fan of Hillsdale College and am delighted to help them advertise a great program with Dr. Larry Arnn. The program is called "Constitution 101: The Meaning and History of the Constitution". It is a 10-week online course providing a great learning experience about the Constitution.

There is no cost to register for this coursee, but I'd ask that you consider a donation to support Hillsdale's efforts to educate millions of Americans about our nation's Founding documents and principles.

If you are interested in learning more about our founding document, please follow this link to sign up. It's free. It's educational. It's relevant. And it is Hillsdale College.

Thanks,

Erick

1. A Case Study in Why Republicans Do Not Fear Conservatives

2. Harry Reid launches the Democratic war on Math

3. Reid Wants to Attach Export-Import Bank Provision to Bipartisan Jobs Bill

4. Mitt Romney: Winning, But Not Getting More Popular

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1. A Case Study in Why Republicans Do Not Fear Conservatives

The primary battle for Illinois's 16th Congressional District is a case study in why Republicans do not fear conservatives and do not take conservatives seriously in the House of Representatives.

Consider, if you will, that what Jim DeMint has done in the United States Senate is make Republicans understand they might just be seriously challenged by candidates and major money if they go too far astray. After Bob Bennett went down to defeat by Mike Lee and the Republican favorite Trey Grayson went down to defeat by Rand Paul in Kentucky, suddenly Orrin Hatch became the junior partner in Utah's conservative renaissance.

The House Republican Leaders don't much care. They do not have to. Conservatives, time and time again, will not put their money where their mouth is. They like to fight policy battles, but sit out the political fights.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

2. Harry Reid launches the Democratic war on Math

Harry Reid, the floor leader of the Democrats in the United States Senate, the most influential Democrat in the entire Congress, is innumerate. You see, he not only lacks an understanding of mathematics, apparently having no understanding of what kinds of sample sizes are needed to get an accurate sense of American public opinion, but he is also actively promoting his anti-math viewpoint against statistical, scientific polling.

Innumeracy is a real problem in America, said to be associated with problems like belief in pseudoscience, higher debt, problem gambling, and limited job prospects. Sadly, America is already suffering some of these consequences under the poor leadership of Harry Reid and his party. Since Harry Reid took over the Senate our debt has indeed skyrocketed, thanks in part to the failure of the Harry Reid Senate even to pass a budget at all, America's job prospects have diminished, and the fad of global warming pseudoscience has continued unabated.

It's easy to see why Clark County, Nevada wanted to return him to the Senate though, since innumeracy is what keeps the lights on there. I don't understand why we must endure him as our Senate Majority Leader any more, though. Let's take the Senate and knock him off in November.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

3. Reid Wants to Attach Export-Import Bank Provision to Bipartisan Jobs Bill

Last week, the House passed a slam-dunk jobs bill (H.R. 3606) 390-23. The bill reduces red tape, securities regulations, and reporting requirements on small companies that desire to go public. It also eliminated some of the new regulations implemented under Dodd-Frank and Sarbanes-Oxley on companies that generate less than $1 billion in annual revenue. With all the unctuous complaints about partisanship, one would expect the Senate to harness this rare opportunity to work together and pass the bill expeditiously. With Harry Reid in charge of the Senate, all bets are off.

Reid announced that he would bring the House bill to the floor, but would attempt to attach a non-germane amendment to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank, which expires May 31, through 2015 and raise its loan limit from $100 billion to $140 billion. He is taking a no-brainer bill and sinking it with a poison pill. What's worse, the consideration of the House jobs bill was supposed to be the prize to Republicans for agreeing not to block Obama's judicial nominees that are being rammed through the Senate in short order.

Unfortunately, the Ex-Im corporate welfare bank is not necessarily a poison pill for many Republicans. In typical pale-pastel fashion, House leaders planned to bring a separate Ex-Im bill to the floor that would enact one-year reauthorization at $113 billion.

Please click here for the rest of the post.

4. Mitt Romney: Winning, But Not Getting More Popular

After last night's contests, it's time to update my running tallies of the popular vote in the GOP presidential primary and see what further conclusions can be drawn. I continue to break out the votes in three groups – the five conservative candidates (Santorum, Gingrich, Perry, Bachmann and Cain), the two moderate candidates (Romney and Hunstman) and the libertarian (Paul) – for reasons explained in my last post. Also, the numbers through Super Tuesday have changed slightly from the last post, as more complete tallies in some states have become available. This time I'm including the Wyoming results in the totals, but not the tiny vote totals from the territories (the Northern Mariana Islands and U.S. Virgin Islands; no popular vote totals are available from Guam or American Samoa).

Please click here for the rest of the post.

Breaking Down the Election Results #EERS

Lots of stuff to get into on the radio tonight. I'll cover last night's southern primaries out of the gate. But then there is Chris Matthews' bigotry on the radio. Likewise, what is Obama really doing about Iran?

You can listen live tonight on the WSB live stream and call in at 1-800-WSB-TALK.

Consider this an open thread.

A Case Study in Why Republicans Do Not Fear Conservatives

"Paper tigers are desk ornaments, not cause for concern."

The primary battle for Illinois's 16th Congressional District is a case study in why Republicans do not fear conservatives and do not take conservatives seriously in the House of Representatives.

Consider, if you will, that what Jim DeMint has done in the United States Senate is make Republicans understand they might just be seriously challenged by candidates and major money if they go too far astray. After Bob Bennett went down to defeat by Mike Lee and the Republican favorite Trey Grayson went down to defeat by Rand Paul in Kentucky, suddenly Orrin Hatch became the junior partner in Utah's conservative renaissance.

The House Republican Leaders don't much care. They do not have to. Conservatives, time and time again, will not put their money where their mouth is. They like to fight policy battles, but sit out the political fights.

Consider Illinois 16. Eric Cantor came out and endorsed Adam Kinzinger.

By any measure, Manzullo is far more conservative than Kinzinger:

American Conservative Union lifetime scores: Manzullo 96, Kinzinger 72.
Club for Growth: Manzullo 85, Kinzinger 56
Heritage Action for America: Manzullo 84, Kinzinger 63.
Americans for Prosperity: Manzullo A+, Kinzinger B.
National Journal (conservative composite score): Manzullo 74, Kinzinger 58.

But after Cantor endorsed the squish, Republicans in the House stepped up to fund Adam Kinzinger.

Manzullo has only seen Louie Gohmert and Spencer Bachus chime in on his behalf. Where is Jim Jordan? Where is Mike Pence? Where are the other conservatives?

For that matter, where is the money from the outside groups? That, in fact, is key. Outside conservative groups like to endorse, but they don't like to cut checks.

Here is a race that will go Republican and that conservatives could have for their own, but they won't fight for it. House conservatives won't fight their Republican brethren and outside groups don't want to rock the boat.

Other than the Club for Growth, conservatives like to fight on policy, not on politics. Conservatives will keep losing these fights on policy in the House because they aren't willing to win the political fights that precede them. Why do House Republican Leaders need to take their conservative members seriously when the conservatives and their outside groups won't even pony up for their own. Paper tigers are desk ornaments, not cause for concern.

Conservatives in Illinois and around the nation have the chance to ensure a safe Republican seat is safely conservative. But they will need to contribute to Don Manzullo.

Pick One

This is becoming the story of how Mitt Romney fell off the straight trajectory to victory. In Illinois, Romney's campaign gave Rick Santorum a pass they did not have to. A race Romney would have won outright is now competitive.

The story is a rather interesting one. Romney's state chairman wants to run for Governor and did not want to make enemies with the Santorum crowd. BuzzFeed explains:

Illinois Treasurer and Romney state chairman Dan Rutherford withdrew challenges in those districts, allowing Santorum the opportunity to win 30 delegates he would have missed out on. . . .

Rutherford is thought to be planning to seek his party's nomination for governor in 2014, and Romney's other local allies accuse him of putting his interests above the candidate's, and ingratiating himself to Santorum-supporting conservative activists.

it is not just Rutherford.

Romney's Boston team is also fixated on getting Scott Brown (R-MA) re-elected in Massachusetts. Their loyalties and focus are divided. What may be good for Romney with conservatives and base consolidation, may be bad for Scott Brown.

In trying not to rock the boat, they are playing Romney a bit too safe. The campaign has divided loyalties. It needs to recognize that Romney will, in fact, need conservatives in the general election. The campaign will need the South. They may be banking on the fact that conservatives will turn out to beat Obama, but there is a sizable minority who view Romney as not really an improvement. In a tight election, Romney will need even those people.

Throughout the states, Romney has done a formidable and good job building up staff and political allies to help him. But in places like Illinois, those people sometimes put their own political ambitions ahead of Romney. They're just following his campaign's example.

The Romney team needs to pick — are they in this for Romney or are they in it for more than Romney? If they are in it for more than Romney, they just might lose both Romney and the other.