Thursday, April 8, 2010

The Debt and Energy Conquer Even Hope and Change

 Israpundit

By Victor Davis Hanson], The Corner

While the administration is still beating the health-care horse, and offering more utopian notions about nuclear weapons (e.g., Why go nuclear, logical and rational Iran, when we won’t use such weapons against you, even should you use chemical or nerve gas against us?), the two most dangerous developments continue to go unnoticed: 1) the staggering and escalating debt, and, 2) the climbing price of energy. In 14 months, the Obama administration has used the window of a global recession — of low to near-nonexistent interest rates and slack demand for oil — to hunt windmills with grand talk about “wind and solar” and ever more “stimulus” and entitlements.

Meanwhile, when the recovery begins in earnest (and it will elsewhere, without U.S.–style massive borrowing), interest rates will climb and oil will again become scarce. Then we will rue our decisions in 2009 not to cut government spending, not to start massive exploitation of new-found natural gas and vast deposits of oil in Alaska and offshore, and not to fast-track new nuclear plants. It will not take much of a climb in interest rates to make the servicing of even the current debt crushing. And should gas hit $4 a gallon, when oil, new natural gas finds, and nuclear power went untapped amid Al Gore and Van Jones sermonizing, the present Tea Parties will seem tame in comparison with a new round of populist anger. Nothing quite ticks people off like $1.50 more per gallon at the pump — and the knowledge that local, state, and federal tax increases led to greater not lesser annual deficits, combined with cuts rather than expansions in public services.

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12 Comments »


  1. During the campaign, Obama repeatedly complained that Americans are only three percent of the world’s population but consume a quarter of the world’s resources. McCain chose not to explain that the only way to rectify that “injustice” was for the American standard of living to decline dramaticaly, and voters were too dense to decipher that reality for themselves.
    So now voters will get what they chose…a reduction in prosperity.
    “You’ve got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know. Morons.”
    Comment by ayn reagan — April 8, 2010 @ 3:32 am

  2. Meanwhile, the very people who tout “free markets” also tout “globalization” as the answer to everything economic. They seem determined to ignore the fact that the people, such as the Chinese, who manufacture cheap goods for us to consume, are not subject to the philosophy of “free markets” when it comes to their own labour forces. The cost of labour in such places is decreed by government; it isn’t subject to negotiation. On the other hand, we have labour costs subject to some extent to decree by powerful unions… and this has also been our undoing.
    Meanwhile, every manufacturing entity that closes in the Western hemisphere, results in not only a loss of jobs, but in a loss of both infrastructural and technical know-how, know-how that will be virtually impossible to recoup should the need arise. We won’t be able to make stuff.
    That’s why, if our manufacturing industries are in serious decline, I question the (US) figures on comparative energy consumption (compared to, say, China).
    Comment by keelie — April 8, 2010 @ 12:53 pm

  3. Jordan’s King Abdullah II, widely regarded as the most moderate of Arab leaders, indicated in an interview with The Wall Street Journal published on Tuesday that he regrets his father’s decision to make peace with Israel.
    “Our relationship with Israel is at an all-bottom low. It hasn’t been as bad as it is today and as tense as it is today,” said Abdullah.
    He noted that Jordanians do not see any real tangible benefit from the peace with Israel:
    “There is no real economic relationship between Jordan and Israel. So economically we were better off in trade and in movement before my father signed the peace treaty.”
    What Abdullah didn’t mention was that according to the peace treaty between the two nations, Israel provides Jordan with a large portion of its annual water needs, and that many Israelis do business in Jordan, even if their Jordanian counterparts choose not to reciprocate.
    http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=20857
    Ain’t peace with Muslims grand!
    Let’s make crippling unilateral concessions for more of the same!
    Comment by ayn reagan — April 8, 2010 @ 2:31 pm

  4. Ain’t peace with Muslims grand! Ain’t being an ally of America rewarding?
    America’s lost causes

    Afghani president Karzai blamed the Taliban insurgency on NATO’s presence in the country and vowed to push ahead with his plan to reconcile with the Taliban. By forging an alliance with the insurgents, Karzai hopes to remain in power after NATO’s withdrawal, but the Taliban will no doubt execute him eventually. Karzai is trying to bring Iran into Afghanistan to replace the US as an arbiter; to that end, he invited Ahmadinejad to Kabul.
    Obama greatly offended Karzai by refusing to meet him in the White House and with his silly demands that Karzai fight corruption and establish electoral transparency.
    Uprooting corruption is not only impossible, but would remove the one carrot Karzai has for his loyalists. Transparent elections would bring hostile elements to power in Afghanistan just as they have brought victories to Hamas and Hezbollah.
    In Iraq, the ruling establishment is also preparing for American withdrawal by forging closer ties with Iran.
    Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan chose Iran over the United States because the ayatollahs stand with their friends firmly and avoid liberal rhetoric.
    Comment by yamit82 — April 8, 2010 @ 4:52 pm

  5. Finally!
    Two conservatives with big brass ones:
    Two of the conservative movement’s biggest stars, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), lavished praise on each other Wednesday at a boisterous rally held at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
    Before a predominantly female crowd of more than 11,000 fans, the two high-profile Republicans ripped President Obama at an event that doubled as a fundraiser for Bachmann’s re-election campaign.
    While Minnesota GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.) opened for Palin and Bachmann, both quickly faded into the background, unable to compete with their wattage.
    The governor and congresswoman were welcomed to the stage by an announcer who boomed: “Freedom loving Minnesotans, please welcome Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.”
    The pair walked in together in front of a shrieking crowd that nearly drowned out the blaring country music—the Martina McBride anthem, “This one’s for the girls.”
    In a reference to the crowd’s energy, Bachmann, who spoke first, exclaimed, “Take that liberals!”
    The Minnesota Republican opened her remarks by attacking the president’s recent decision to narrow the conditions under which the United States would use nuclear arms.
    “If, in fact, there is a nation who is compliant with all the rules ahead of time…if they fire against the United States a nuclear weapon, a biological weapon or maybe a cyber attack, we won’t be firing back with nuclear weapons,” Bachmann insisted.
    “Doesn’t that make us feel safe?” she asked to a laughing audience.
    Bachmann then addressed the issues of terrorism and health care, vowing “we are going to repeal it.”
    Then she turned to Palin, whom she called “drop dead gorgeous” and “a woman of extraordinary fortitude.”
    In a phone interview with POLITICO prior to the event, Bachmann said that Minnesotans were “thrilled” that Palin was coming to town and hoped the two will appear together during the fall, potentially on the stump for conservative candidates they both support.
    When Palin took the stage, she drew several parallels between herself and Bachmann.
    “Michele and I, we both have a lot to fight for,” Palin said, pointing out that they are both mothers to five children.
    “There are a lot of conservative women like Michele who are standing up and speaking out for common sense conservative solutions,” Palin said. “2010 is shaping up to be the year that conservative women take over…and Michele is leading the stampede.”
    Palin credited Bachmann with “leading the charge” to repeal health care reform and warmly recalled the first time the two met.
    “I knew we would be buddies when I met her [in Alaska] and she said that we should ‘drill here, drill now.’ And I replied, ‘Drill, baby, drill.’ And we both said, ‘You betcha,’” said Palin, who also noted the similar accent and background the two women share.
    “It is really good to be here in the land of 10,000 lakes with patriots who love their county,” said Palin, the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee, before chiding Obama. “Some of you are proudly clinging to your guns and religion.”
    “Minnesota, you are awesome. You just rock,” Palin said in closing. “Thank you for sending Michele Bachmann back to the United States Congress.”
    Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0410/35506.html#ixzz0kWNe0lgs
    Comment by ayn reagan — April 8, 2010 @ 5:04 pm

  6. Ain’t peace with Muslims grand!
    A petty Jordanian king caused a furor in international media recently by arguing for the hundredth time that Israel’s failure to accept Palestinian demands (he calls it “peace”) will drive the region to a major conflict.
    What is bad for Abdullah is not necessarily bad for the Jews. Abdullah understands that the PLO’s failure to exact a state from Israel would drive the Palestinians to claim Jordan as their state. Palestinians constitute ¾ of the Jordanian population.
    Israel, on the other hand, would be happy for the Palestinians to make their state in Jordan, as that would reduce the peace process to a border dispute.
    Comment by yamit82 — April 8, 2010 @ 5:42 pm

  7. Why do the Palestinians require “confidence-building measures”?
    The President of the United States is doing their bidding.
    Shouldn’t that inspire sufficient confidence?
    confidence-building measures: The ability to kill Jews with impunity.
    Comment by ayn reagan — April 8, 2010 @ 5:48 pm

  8. Finally!
    Two conservatives with big brass ones:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYxoAJ3Boyc&feature=related I’m feverish

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMnaRFZNn7I&feature=related
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UZCm_VggrQ&feature=related
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WcVwqil1DE&feature=related
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yB3mH2Q1qc4&feature=related Both on Hannity
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlUUEuxohpI&feature=related
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89_irUtlAw8&feature=related
    Comment by yamit82 — April 8, 2010 @ 6:21 pm

  9. Good links.
    Sausage links.
    Golf links.
    Cuff links.
    Lynx lynx.
    In watching Hannity and Palin, it again occurs to me that she is no dummy.
    Articulate and sharp.
    Same with Bachmann.
    Comment by ayn reagan — April 8, 2010 @ 6:54 pm

  10. In watching Hannity and Palin, it again occurs to me that she is no dummy.
    Articulate and sharp.
    Same with Bachmann.
    1st time I agree with you on Palin and this time she looked civilized in dress and coiffure, Fire-engine red doesn’t it do it
    for me. Midnight Black is sexy as Hell. She also looks very self confident. We’ll see where this goes. I hate to say I am
    moving to agree with you but not yet.
    Tea Party formally declared just now as a political party. Now it’s getting interesting. Palin has a formal grass roots
    party to head. They have a natural if as yet undeclared leader with national exposure.
    Hannity sandbagged Bachmann by asking if she had presidential ambitions. This was a rally for her election to congress. No politician would declare for higher office in such a situation. It ain’t done. Palin took the heat off of her by answering first and directed the focus away from Bachmann. Smart move. My opinion of her went up a notch with that move.
    Love the Lynx photo made it my desk top wallpaper.

    Comment by yamit82 — April 8, 2010 @ 7:39 pm

  11. I believe Jordan would be an ideal home for a Palestinian state, that is East of the River Jordan.
    West of the River Jordan to the Mediterranean, including Jude, Samaria, all of Gaza, the Golan Heights and the Sinai is Israel.
    Israel can begin by deporting all the Arabs to Jordan now. How about providing assistance such a small relocation subsidy.
    Comment by rongrand — April 8, 2010 @ 7:53 pm

  12. Ideal homes for a Palestinian state:
    5) Amazon Rain Forest
    4) Arctic Circle
    3) Sahara Desert
    2) La Brea Tar Pits
    And the Number One ideal home for a Palestinian state:
    The Bermuda Triangle!
    Comment by ayn reagan — April 8, 2010 @ 8:13 pm
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