The Patriot Post® · We the People versus Them

In Wednesday morning’s edition of the Heritage Foundation’s, “Morning Bell,” the headline read, “Obama, Not Egypt, is Biggest Threat to U.S. Energy Prices.” The article quoted Energy Secretary Steven Chu as saying,“ Certainly any disruption in the Middle East means a partial disruption in the oil we import. It’s a world market and [a disruption] could actually have [sic] real harm of [sic] the price.” Secretary Chu goes on to say, “The best way America can protect itself against these incidents is to decrease our dependency on foreign oil, in fact to diversify our supply.”

Virtually every entity outside the administration has been expressing that conclusion. Rather than address the problem, more barriers are thrown in the path of new energy production. Rahm Emanuel’s, “Let no crisis go to waste” has been put to use in the energy crisis. I use the term crisis very loosely. The crisis is not in energy but in the lack of leadership.

The first word in paragraph four of the article, “Allowing” points up the problem. Obama, Chu and the entire Obama crowd are playing their trump cards, “power grab’, "control”, “defiance of Constitutional Law” and “I Double Dare You.” This unnecessary and debilitating confrontational battle of, “We the People Versus Them” pitting Socialism vs. Capitalism can and must be resolved. The arrogance of the Obama crowd to even harbor the thought that they have the power to “Allow” Americans to develop American resources is ludicrous.

The Environmental Protection Agency has repeatedly hampered America’s Energy companies from accessing recoverable petroleum because the effort “may” cause “irreparable” harm to the environment. That excuse is another smokescreen. Prudhoe Bay on Alaska’s North Shore is visible proof that the energy companies are extremely capable of exploring and extracting liquid petroleum and natural gas without leaving a noticeable footprint. Absolutely, it is commendable to protect our environment, but it must be done with at least a modicum of good old common sense. When push comes to shove, what is primary, humanity (us) or a herd of migrating Caribou? Would you choose We the People or the Northern Spotted Owl, which was and still is at the center of another Us v Them controversy in the Pacific Northwest. The US is the people in the timber industry and Them is the well-meaning but misguided “Environmentalists, on the other hand, argue that society has a fundamental obligation to preserve this rare species and the wilderness it inhabits. Quoted from an article, "Ethics and the Spotted Owl Controversy” by Claire Andre and Manuel Velasquez in Santa Clara University publication, Issues in Ethics, V4, #1, Spring 1991.

Now, a little closer to today and another crisis. The United States is going to be unable to pay her debts unless according to another Obama devotee, Charles Schumer D-NY. As reported in Personal Liberty digest, today, Chuck warned on CNN’s “State Of the Union,” January 30, “if the GOP fails to approve a budget because it does not meet the party’s fiscal ideology, the nation is in danger of falling into a deep recession or perhaps a depression.” The fact is, The United States could borrow no more money; that is a good thing. We would still be able to pay the interest and thereby preclude default.

In response to Schumer, The Speaker, John Boehner on Fox News, noted that while the Republicans are committed to cutting spending he discarded the notion that Congress will allow the U.S. to default on its loans. Boehner went on to say in the Personal Liberty Digest article, “Republicans won’t insist on across-the-board cuts for 2011, but they will target spending that is tied to the bank bailout, Obamacare, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the government’s support of mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Most troublesome was Boehner’s statement, "the GOP will not allow the United States to default on its loans, but he does expect President Barack Obama to "cut up the credit cards” if his chamber is going to raise the debt limit. Raising the debt ceiling would be playing eight into Obama’s, Geithner’s and Schumer’s hands. It would just give them more Monopoly Money to spread around.

We the People need to bring the big guns to bear directly on the Senate chambers if we ever hope to change the status quo in Washington. In this battle of Us versus Them, It is all in or forfeit the game.