Editorials from the DCExaminer

TODAY'S WASHINGTON EXAMINER EDITORIAL SECTION HIGHLIGHTS

Yikes! Runaway Toyotas and the 'journalism of verification.'
Examiner Editorial
"In today's hyper-competitive news climate, reporters sometimes revert to a yellow journalism standard -- "Don't let the facts get in the way of a good story""/a>

Enviros play dirty on coal, natural gas
Examiner Editorial (Sunday)
"What they don't want to talk about is the fact that there's no way those [alternative] sources are going to replace coal-fired power production by 2030."

Renumerate the parents, don't terminate the teachers
Gregory Kane, Examiner Columnist
"If students aren't being educated at CFHS, then simply cut the parents of those students a check for whatever is the per-pupil expenditure in the state of Rhode Island."

If the Democrats break it, they own it
Hugh Hewitt, Examiner Columnist
"If Obamacare passes this week, every American will rightly blame every problem they have with American medicine in the future on the Democrats."

Democratic party is broken, not Congress
Mark Hemingway, Examiner Columnist
"It's the Democratic party that is broken, and it takes a great deal of hubris to confuse that with the problems of Congress."

Just say no to Obamacare
Star Parker, Examiner Columnist
"Obama and his colleagues on Capitol Hill perceive a once-in-a- lifetime opportunity to grasp the holy grail of the Left and realize the dream of transforming America into a European-style welfare state."

Back to the border battles
James Jay Carafano, Examiner Columnist
"Border violence has not been much in the news of late. That will change in a New York minute when the administration reintroduces an "amnesty" bill to grant permanent status to the millions living in the United States unlawfully."

No politics at the Oscars, please
Bill O'Reilly, Examiner Columnist
"Mass-market entertainers simply cannot survive by alienating much of the country. Polls show that 40 percent of Americans currently identify themselves as conservative."

Its Time For An Executive Order

H/T FreeRepublic and HokieMom

Governor Bob McDonnell should write the EO for offshore exploration and have it published. Let the citizens of the Commonwealth vote on whether it stays or not. Put it up for a statewide vote, instead of letting the Democrat controlled Senate shoot it down.

This is ridiculous. The dumbos in the VA Senate have voted down the Offshore Exploration bill with the same old tired argument they were using 10 years ago.."It will take 10 years to see any benefit."

Well guess what, dumbotwits, if we had started 10 years ago, we'd now be seeing benefits, when we need them the most.

Are these knuckleheads on the OPEC payroll?

Is Arab money being funneled through enviro-nazi groups and into the hands of politicians?

Do they want independence from foreign oil or not? Do they really care about the average Virginia worker? We are the ones who would benefit immediately from the creation of jobs. If they are so stupid they can't see the relationship between energy exploration and job creation, they are to stupid to be serving as representatives of the citizens of this Commonwealth.

Repeal Corporate Taxes

This is a no-brainer.

Done in conjunction with offshore energy exploration, the revenues would be astronomical; companies would be flocking to set up; construction would sky-rocket; supporting industries would set up; the oil, coal and gas industry is the key to Virginia's budget issues.

Just think of the jobs that would be created. The increase in state income taxes. Hell, you could probably employ every able-bodied person in Newport News just in the support industry for the drill rigs and pipelines.

Zero Cares More About China Than America

China has no environmental concerns, no EPA, no controls.

China buys into U.S. off-shore oil leases.
Mark Tapscott, Beltway Confidential
"If the administration approves the deal, it will be more vulnerable to charges that the White House is being careless with U.S. national security issues in the energy sector, and that it is putting the interests of a foreign power before those of U.S. energy consumers."

UPDATE: Bishop says Obama policy aids foreign nations, not U.S.

Rep. Rob Bishop, R-UT, says the Statoil/CNOOC deal is indicative of the Obama administration's failure to protect U.S. consumers from foreign nations seeking to tap into this country's abundant energy resources:

“Unemployment will continue to exceed acceptable levels and the economy will continue to suffer until this administration reverses its anti-energy policy. China and other foreign countries are gaining access to the abundant natural resources located in the American OCS, meanwhile an energy starved U.S. continues to experience the detrimental effects of Secretary Salazar’s decisions to place special-interests before the American people.

Since taking office this administration has made great strides in helping countries gain access to American energy resources, it’s just too bad the U.S. isn’t one of them.”

Bishop is chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus, which includes a number of representatives from Western states with significant energy and other natural resources.

VoteVets, Soros, and Moveon.ogre

PA State Legislator Attacked By Soros/MoveOn.Org-Connected VoteVets.Org

Operation Free exposed as front group working to subvert America’s Constitution and sovereignty through climate control, energy cap-and-tax agenda

Pennsylvania State Representative Daryl Metcalfe (R-Butler County) officially responded today to an attack ad now running on KDKA radio and several other local stations urging listeners to contact his district office and demand that he resign.

“The sponsors of this ad are attacking me because my comments have exposed that Operation Free’s radical leftist agenda has absolutely nothing to do with America’s national security, energy independence or protecting our environment, but is a direct attack on our Constitution,” said Metcalfe, a U.S. Army veteran whose honorable service record between1980-84 includes defending the West German border during the height of the Cold War.

Operation Free is a front group for a vast “non-profit” coalition that includes the Truman National Security Project, the National Security Network and the sponsor of the ad campaign VoteVets.org. VoteVets.org supports a far-left group of state and national politicians, including U.S. Congressman John Murtha. All of these groups are affiliated and receive funding from billionaire George Soros and his even more controversial political organization MoveOn.org.

“I stand by my original comments,” said Metcalfe. “Any veteran lending their name to promote the leftist propaganda of global warming and climate change, in an effort to control more of the wealth created in the U.S. economy, through cap-and-tax type policies, is a traitor to the oath he or she took to defend the Constitution of our great nation. If someone is advocating for our government to make statutory or regulatory changes in policy or enter into treaties that violate our Constitution, and they have taken an oath to uphold and protect that same document, then they are traitors to that oath.

“Operation Free and VoteVets.org stand with the likes of Congressman John Murtha, who accused our marines of killing ‘innocent civilians in cold blood.’ I stand with the vast super majority of my fellow veterans in defense of the U.S. Constitution,” concluded Metcalfe.

This Is Too Good Not To Share

Someone explain how this doesn't qualify as sound reasoning and an understanding of the global situation?

June 23, 2008
The Honorable Harry Reid
Senate Majority Leader
United States Senate
528 Hart Senate Office Building .
Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senate Majority Leader Reid:

In previous correspondence to members of Congress, I have urged the enactment of legislation to authorize development of oil and natural gas in a small portion of the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). I will not repeat the arguments in favor of this legislation but will briefly focus on a few key points that have become even more evident since my last correspondence.

That letter began, "With the price of oil hovering around $100 per barrel". Now, just a few months later, the price is close to $140 per barrel, and there is no end in sight. What will it take for Congress to enact comprehensive energy policy that includes increased domestic production of oil and gas, renewable and alternative energy, and conservation? It seems to us outside of the Capitol Beltway that Virtually every effort to accomplish this is met with criticism and failure. In my opinion, the debate about energy policy is no longer theoretical and abstract. Our failure to enact an energy policy is having real consequences for every American in their daily lives and has begun to affect America's place in the world.

In the last few days, proposals have been tabled to permit oil exploration and development in the 80 percent of the federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) which is off limits to such activity. I strongly support oes development in Alaska and elsewhere as a necessary component of a sound energy strategy. However, it makes no sense to consider the oes and to ignore the possibility of exploration and development in highly perspective upland areas, including the coastal plain of ANWR-the most promising unexplored petroleum province in North America.
With appropriate stipulations, oil exploration and development in the OCS can be conducted in a safe manner. Uplands development can be accomplished even more safely. Advanced technologies, such as directional drilling and the re-injection of oil wastes, ensure that the footprint of development would be less than 2,000 acres (approximately one-quarter of the size of Dulles Airport).

In advocating for oil development in ANWR, I have never guaranteed that this new domestic production would immediately reduce the price of oil. However, incremental production from the coastal plain should help reduce price volatility in the U.S. Additionally, ANWR development would send a strong message to oil speculators and producing countries that the United States is serious about addressing its energy problem.

Yet, there is an even more important point. The location and quantity of oil production are changing world geopolitics. Countries that produce significant quantities of oil and natural gas are gaining in power and prestige. Several of these countries have objectives and value systems that are antithetical to U.S. interests. We are becoming increasingly dependent on these insecure sources to our long-term detriment. Further, it has become clear that U.S. petrodollars are financing activities that are harmful to America and to our economic and military interests around the world.

Much attention has been focused on the importance of crude oil and gasoline in fueling our nation's transportation system. This need for petroleum will not end anytime soon despite efforts to develop new technologies and to diversify our transportation system into mass transit and more fuel efficient automobiles.

Meanwhile, the true significance to the nation's economy of products refined from petroleum is becoming increasingly apparent. These products undergird our entire society and economy and provide precious jobs and revenue. The soaring prices of chemicals, plastics, fertilizer, and other products - and the loss of jobs - graphically illustrate this point. We must recognize that it will be many years, if ever, before we discover alternatives to the petroleum-based products that every American uses in our daily lives.

If we don't move now to enact an energy policy that includes more oil and gas production from domestic sources, including ANWR and the federal OCS, we may look back someday and realize that we failed to perceive a critical crossroad in the history of this nation. I don't think it's overly dramatic to say that this nation's future and the quality of life for every American are dependent on the decisions you make or don't make in the next few months.

Thank you for considering my views.

Sincerely,
Sarah Palin
Governor

cc:
President George Bush
Vice President Richard Cheney

The Honorable Dirk Kempthorne, Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior
The Honorable Samuel Bodman, Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy TheHonorable Ted Stevens, Alaska Congressional Delegation The Honorable Lisa Murkowski, Alaska Congressional Delegation
The Honorable Don Young, Alaska Congressional Delegation