Columnist.
Just when you expect President Obama to moderate his domestic economic policies, which have stifled job growth and fostered an anemic recovery following the passage of his two signature pieces of legislation -- the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the Affordable Care Act -- it gets worse. Now, after bringing banking and health care -- about 31% of the U.S. economy -- under government heel, Obama wants to further control and transform the energy sector, which represents another 10.5% of the economy. Blocking the Keystone XL pipeline, which could help bust OPEC by transporting abundant Canadian oil into the U.S., was the opening salvo of Obama's war against fossil fuels. The march now is to destroy the coal industry, which employs nearly 800,000 and remains the country's leading fuel source for electricity -- providing nearly 40% of America's electric power.
After successfully bringing more than 30% of the U.S. economy -- the health care and financial services industries -- under political control during his first term, President Obama made it clear last week that a priority of his second term is to go after the energy sector -- another 10.5%. The purpose of the White House's orchestrated release of the National Climate Assessment on May 7 was to set the stage to drive energy markets and fossil fuels under the heel of more government regulation. Most Americans would celebrate knowing that the U.S. is on the cusp of oil and gas energy independence and the lower prices that will follow -- especially with memories of OPEC's oil embargo and the cartel's ongoing ability to manipulate markets.
