Bonkers, Blather, Blunders & Buffoons #10

You’ve no doubt noticed (!) that gasoline prices have gone up considerably.  Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is convinced that those increases, at the pump, are the result of price gouging by the fossil fuel-based energy industry.  Said she: “What’s happened is that these companies have said ‘you know, we’ll pass along costs, but while we’re at it and everyone’s talking about rising costs, let’s just add an extra big dollop of cost increases to expand our profits.”  So, she blames the producers for the large increases at the pump, while the administration primarily blames Putin’s invasion of Ukraine for those gasoline prices.  There’s even blame cast on COVID.  Well, they’re all well off the actual target. The villain here is the administration’s refusal to permit America to once again become energy independent, like we had become under President Trump.  The blame lands squarely at the White House door. The WH is under the spell of Progressives who see nothing but evil in oil and natural gas, while their naïve, embarrassing embrace of unreliable solar and wind is absolute nonsense.  Our long-term energy dependence may be unknown at this point, but for the foreseeable future, America will depend on fossil fuels to provide our electricity.  And the blame for sky-high pump prices, again, rests not with America’s energy producers, but with our apparently reality-and-energy-blind administration.

And here with an important lesson in economics is Speaker Nancy Pelosi.  On the subject of inflation, currently heading ever higher, it appears, the Speaker offers this clarification: “It’s important to dispel some of those who say, well it’s the government spending.  No, it isn’t.  The government spending is doing the exact reverse, reducing the national debt.  It is not inflationary.”  This logic would seem to set economic thinking back several centuries.  So, then, if we continue federal spending in the billions, eventually there will be no more national debt!  Of course, excessive government spending is fueling inflation, just as our unsustainable national debt continues to grow.

Meanwhile, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm sees the crisis in Ukraine as the perfect opportunity to push for clean energy.  Yep, let’s not worry about Ukraine and a possible spreading war in Eastern Europe, let’s instead divert the public’s attention to something far more important: clean energy.  Well, right now, the only reliable clean energy source is nuclear, and no one is saying a word about that, nor, in all likelihood, will they.  So, when it comes to the cry for clean energy, the administration seems to be stuck on stupid.  This is the time to concentrate on at least two key things: the regrettable war in Ukraine and increasing our domestic supply of fossil fueled electricity (oil/gas/coal), so that we can literally keep the lights on for Americans, while they too often seem to have burned out in Washington.

As you all realize, with regret and disgust, America is set to become, once again, a net importer of oil.  With our own internal abilities purposely hampered by administration policies, and Russian oil supposedly shut off, we’ll now be forced to turn to other undesirable nation-states for crude.  And by the way, foreign imported oil is far less clean than the oil we can produce here at home, for those truly concerned about the environment!  And by the way, also, oil and gas drilling permits on public land have reportedly dropped off substantially since the Biden administration took over. Likely not a surprise. None of this is positive news for taking care of our own energy needs. There are simply no current reliable clean energy sources to supply the true energy needs of America, without a massive build-up of nuclear facilties.

Meanwhile, the administration will be spending a reported $14-billion to help protect Ukraine and its borders, without a dime more being spent to secure our own southern point of entry!  While the assistance to Ukraine is badly needed, and laudable, in hopes of ending the Russian invasion, also beyond laudable would be adding to our own border wall construction, as that area remains wide open to any and all migrants from, now, all around the world.  We are being overrun, without even including those fleeing from Afghanistan and Ukraine.  About 460-miles of wall was constructed under President Trump, but our southern border is nearly 2,000-miles long, so about 75% of that length remains wall-less and essentially wide open.  Said Mr. Biden on this subject back in August of 2020: “There will not be another foot of wall constructed (during) my administration.”  This is so ridiculous and dangerous that it makes you wonder if the far-fetched objective of this administration could possibly be the unthinkable: the economic, security, and cultural ruination of America.

Speaking of apparently squandering yet another portion of our taxpayer-funded U.S. Treasury, on International Women’s Day, Mr. Biden announced that he was requesting $2.6-billion “to promote gender equality worldwide.”  “Together,” said Mr. Biden, “let’s renew our efforts to advance dignity, equality, and limitless possibilities for all.”  No information provided yet, regarding how and where this load of U.S. money would be spent.  And, we can always print more.  Remember that government spending reduces our debt!

And here’s an incredible wrap-up to this edition of Quad-B.  In spite of record inflation, price increases, and trade deficits, three-months ago, the President congratulated himself on a wondrous 2021 year.  Said he in a tweet: “We’re ending 2021 with what one analyst described as the strongest first-year economic track record of any president in the last 50-years.  Let’s keep the progress going.”  In the last 50-years? Kinda makes you wonder who that one analyst was who apparently reached that conclusion in a darkened room.  So, how’s that “progress going” so far?

(Elizabeth Warren quote via foxnews.com, Lindsay Kornick, 3-16-22; Pelosi quote via powerlineblog.com, John Hinderaker, 3-13-22; Granholm push for clean energy via foxnews.com, Andrew Mark Miller, 3-16-22;  Oil & Gas permits substantially decreased via breitbart.com, Nick Gilbertson, 3-14-22; Billions for Ukraine but not a dime for our southern border wall data via breitbart.com, John Binder, 3-16-22; Biden gender equality worldwide grants via dailycaller.com, Kay Smythe, 3-8-22; “Strongest economic track record” quote via breitbart.com, Paul Bois, 12-3-21).