Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid
While Democrats, led by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid and with the tacit approval of Barack Obama, are blocking attempts to bring an energy bill to a vote that would allow US companies to drill on the outer continental shelf, where China and others are already beginning to tap the vast reserves available to us, the Republicans are likewise blocking Senate Bill S.3335 which would extend up to $20 Billion in renewable energy tax credits, facilitating investment in wind and solar power, clean coal, plug-in electric vehicles and a variety of others.
Although there may be legitimate objections to some of the taxes the Democrats are proposing to offset the cost of these credits, the real reason this legislation is being blocked is to try to force the Democrats to allow the energy bill currently being quashed by the Dems to a vote.
John Cornyn (R-Texas)
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas confirmed this in a not-so-subtle statement when he said his party sees a “need to dispose of the pending energy bill to help bring down the price of gas at the pump before turning to other matters.”
Considering that Congress just fast-tracked a bill that will provide $3.9 Billion in relief to 400,000 of the stupidest homeowners in America; folks who ignored common sense and either refinanced at impossible rates knowing there was a day of reckoning coming so they could buy more stuff or bought far more home than they knew they could afford hoping for the greater fool theory to hold true, while simultaneously trying to save the collective asses of a bunch of low-life profiteers who cooked up the sub-prime mortgage scheme to line their pockets at the expense of millions of ignorant and greedy consumers, I would be even more hard pressed to believe that concern about the offsets to these tax credits is really the issue here.
The Democrat’s argument about being plenty of land available to drill on already is as ignorant and short sighted as the Republican’s argument about not liking the tax offsets.
A simple way to clarify the Dem’s inability to understand the concept regarding the millions of acres they claim the US oil companies should be focusing on instead of the outer continental shelf would be to tell them to imagine they were at a meeting with former President Clinton. After the meeting, President Clinton suggested the two of you head downtown to pick up some chicks for a little casual sex. You suggest that there are about a half dozen night clubs within walking distance that the two of you could explore to which he replies, “I explored all those just before the meeting and the places are dry, nothing worth considering there, trust me, I really gave them a hard look… but there is a spot downtown that I know has a lot of real hotties… that’s where we need to go to get lucky.” Well, it’s the same with the oil companies, except they’re not trying to … well you get the idea.
There is a lot at stake with S.3335. The entire alternative energy industry could be irreparably harmed if the investment tax credits are not extended. There will be huge losses of investment capital already at risk in these technologies along with cutting off the flow of badly needed investments to facilitate America’s transition from an oil dependent society to a fully self reliant country that has mastered the use of alternative energies.
Greg Wetstone of the American Wind Energy Association said Tuesday that his industry alone risks losing $11 billion in investment and 75,000 jobs if the tax credit expires next year.
Last month more than 300 high-tech and manufacturing companies warned Congress that failure to act quickly “will bring investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency projects to a standstill.”
A Less Dangerous Game of Chicken
This is a very deadly game of “chicken” the politicians are playing and the stakes are far to high. We are dealing not just with matters of ecology here. Whether you believe in global warming or not is irrelevant at this point when it comes to these bills. This is a matter of National Security pure and simple and that is something that should not be trifled with. America is currently sending $700 billion, primarily to the middle east, every year and we’re borrowing the money from China to do it. We are indirectly funding terrorists while bankrupting America at the same time.
It is unconscionable for Pelosi, Reid and Obama to stand in the way of America increasing its productivity by joining China off America’s shores and its equally unconscionable for the Republicans to hold alternative energy investment tax credits hostage to force the Democrats into capitulating and allowing the offshore bill to come to a vote.
We don’t need one bill or the other, we need both passed and we need them passed now. America needs more oil now and we need to become oil independent as quickly as possible. These two bills, combined, facilitate that end. This would be a great time to call your Congressman and demand they represent Americans for a change.
