Biden Befouls Everything He Touches

By Rich Kozlovich

As Biden's days as President are coming to a close he continues to befoul the Presidency.  First all these corrupt pardons, then executive orders and regulations without end to prevent the Trump administration from instituting policies that will actually aid the nation versus the insane and inept policies, foreign and domestic, the Biden administration imposed on the nation, and the world.   

Leftists are demanding he impose the Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution, which has run out of time, but they say he can do it.  the Congress, the courts, and the national Archivist says he can't.  And now he's besmirched the value of the Medal of Freedom. 

Some of those who were given this award by Biden were pretty much from the "political snake class", making this award meaningless.

 

There was a 2002 movie about a Russian submarine, K-19: The Widowmaker with Harrison Ford.  At the end of the movie after discovering the Soviet hierarchy refused to give medals to the crew members who died saving the rest of the crew's lives Ford's character said: 

 

For their courage I nominated these men for the title of hero of the Soviet Union. But the committee ruled that because it was not wartime, and because it was merely an accident, they were not worthy of the title hero. What good are honors from such people? These men sacrificed, not for a medal. But because when the time came, it was their duty. Not to the navy, or to the state, but to us. Their comrades. 

 

Though the course of my life I've seen this pattern playing out so often. Honors bestowed on the unworthy, while ignoring those who actually accomplish something worthwhile.
 

In this article by Eric Utter, Biden awards Hillary and Soros the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the author asks:

 

Is John Hinckley, Jr. next in line for the prestigious award? He came within a half an inch of assassinating Ronald Reagan in 1981 but now lives on his own and has started his own record label! Maybe instead of Biden just granting 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed a plea deal, he could award him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, too....

 

While Hillary received a standing ovation, that doesn't change the fact she's still a snake, in a room full of vipers.  Things may change for her soon. Monica Showalter says Biden has "soiled" this award stating:

As President Obama used to say: "Don't underestimate Joe's ability to f--- things up." Or as President Trump put it: "Everything he touches turns to s---." Joe's always promoted that kind of partisan unity.  So now he's handing out another slew of awards, as if his pardons and commutations to heinous criminals, and his civilian award to Liz Cheney were not enough........ 

 

Matt Vespa says now this award means nothing, and Patricia McCarthy, citing examples, calls the Biden administration a bunch of immature spoiled playground bullies, and even calls them treasonous, who would happily destroy the country.

 

The final indignity the Biden regime has inflicted on the American people is to present Hillary Clinton and George Soros the Presidential Medal of Freedom. HRC and Soros are two of the most corrupt, self-serving creatures ever set loose on our republic.  It was bad enough that he gave the loathsome Liz Cheney and Benny Thompson, her partner in crime on the J6 committee, the Presidential Citizens Medal.  That committee was a fraudulent panel if there ever was one; it was a theatrical production full of lies, and its members destroyed actual evidence. That committee was a purposeful insult to all the people who have been destroyed by the Biden/Garland pursuit and persecution of anyone present in D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021.

 

"What good are honors from such people?"

Ignorance Breeds Complacency. Complacency Breeds Tyranny - Or - Time and Truth Are on the Same Side, and Conspiracies Are Real

By Rich Kozlovich 

Biden is an idiot, his family is steeped in crime right up to their eyeballs, and the more Trump is attacked, the better he looks.  Another indictment and the nation may just anoint him as King Donald the First.  For a start, here's an excellent thought for the day.  I don’t remember who said this, but it’s a goodie. 

"Anyone who believes that politicians and bureaucrats who can't define what a woman is, who can't control the border, can't tell the truth about COVID, who can't teach children to read and do math at grade level, and who lied continuously about Obamacare can control temperatures, sea levels, and storm activity should make sure they never have to debate a five-year-old."

I've been a history buff for all of my life, and I concluded decades ago, everything is cyclical!  I read George Friedman's book,  "Storm Before Calm", which deals with this very well.   Currently I've been reading, "The Fourth Turning", which also deals with historical cycles.  Complicated book, complicated verbiage, entirely too long, way too wordy, which seem to me fails in “coherence through connectives”, a fundamental when it comes to writing and speaking if you really want people to understand what you’re saying. 

I’m not all that far into the book, and truthfully, reading it is a challenge.  At this point it seems to be as much mystical as historical in its projections, yet, the book has some interesting insights claiming among other things, we're in what he calls the Fourth Turning of the current cycle.  Actually, I agree with that.  While I do question his time lines, which seems to do some cherry picking, however, in his analyses every cycle has what he calls a Fourth Turning, and each of those “turnings” were crisis periods, and historically, his fourth turnings have always been conclusively violent.  I fear this is going to happen with or in America within the next ten years.  

China's military buildup has been financed by American trade, and now as a result, there are ten ways the US is falling behind China in national security.  That build up is intended to destroy America.  Hypersonic missiles, fleet size, air defense, manufacturing, technology, much of which they've stolen, mining for rare earths, gray zone altercations.  Gray zone altercations are non-shooting military intimidation tactics they regularly play with their neighbors.  In short, they're bullies, and don't care if anyone likes it or not. Then there’s their excursions into space, cyber operations, and artificial intelligence. 

But America's military is not to be outdone.  America’s Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, a man of incredible vision, has clearly identified the military’s real problems undermining America's military readiness and capability.   The twin crises of white supremacy and gender.  And outlined an agenda to fix them.

We can't keep our subs repaired, recruitment is in the toilet, many combat aircraft are permanently on the ground, and the generals and admirals are all members of the Church of Wokeness. But hey, we gotta have our priorities.  Right?

The unending political persecution of  Donald Trump by the corrupt Deep State and the Democrat party is blatantly Stalinist.   While I can acknowledge the contributions of Thomas Jefferson, I'm not a big fan.  But he was brilliant as he once observed:

All the powers of government, legislative, executive, and judiciary, result to the legislative body. The concentrating these in the same hands is precisely the definition of despotic government. It will be no alleviation that these powers will be exercised by a plurality of hands, and not by a single one. 173 despots would surely be as oppressive as one. 

An elective despotism was not the government we fought for; but one which should not only be founded on free principles, but in which the powers of government should be so divided and balanced among several bodies of magistracy, as that no one could transcend their legal limits, without being effectually checked and restrained by the others. Nor should our assembly be deluded by the integrity of their own purposes, and conclude that these unlimited powers will never be abused, because themselves are not disposed to abuse them.

They should look forward to a time, and that not a distant one, when corruption in this, as in the country from which we derive our origin, will have seized the heads of government, and be spread by them through the body of the people…. Jefferson warned that relatively soon, “corruption” will have seized the heads of government” and “spread by them” through the “body of the people” — also known as…Congress.

How was Jefferson able to see this so clearly?   He read a history book or two, and there's nothing new under the sun. 

The fact is, what he warned about started happening not too long after the Constitution was ratified with the Whiskey Tax of 1791.  A tax which was clearly unequal, unfair, violated states’ rights, culminating with a greater violation of states’ rights with Washington leading an army into Pennsylvania to put down the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794.   It all merely expanded to what we're seeing. We now call it Crony Capitalism. 

This tax was promoted by then Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, and was directly beneficial to the whiskey distillers in the major metropolitan areas.  The Constitution had just been ratified in 1787, a mere four years before, and Hamilton wanted to solidify support for the Constitution from the business community.   Hamilton was strong advocate of strong centralized federal power over republicanism and states’ rights, and Washington never made any effort to thwart this.  Washington was lauded by Congress for this action, and those who supported his venture claimed he once again saved the nation, and this time from a challenge to federal authority by the people. 

Jefferson rightly recognized if for what it was.  Washington's call for troops to put down this rebellion was in point of fact an abuse of Presidential power and authority, a veiled threat to the citizens of the nation, and a threat to republican ideals. While I do think Washington deserves praise as the Father of Our Nation because of his personal courage, amazing leadership skills, and his willingness to walk away from power after two terms, I also think he's overrated, most certainly as a general, but also as a President.

Jefferson's administration repealed the Whiskey Tax.

Banks are cancelling the accounts of people who hold political views they don't like, investment companies are ignoring their fiduciary responsibilities to their investors in order to support ESG and DEI conceptualized companies, many of which are either under performing or outright failing.  But they have no problem with the insane leftist radicals that are destroying western culture and ultimately civilization.  

Heresy is rampant at the highest levels of "Christian" churches. Biden can't afford to build a border wall, yet he really wants to give Ukraine another unaccountable, untraceable 20 billion dollars, to one of, if not the most, corrupt governments in Europe, and the Deep State and an international elite are creating what's being called "a new normal".  An international tyranny that you had better like or else. A tyranny determined to destroy all Constitutional guarantees.

All of that has now become obvious.

In years gone by there was a lot of laughing and friendly banter between me and my friends over my claims about conspiracies.  Well, whaddayaknow. There really is such a thing as a conspiracy after all, and they're not laughing any longer. 

Just like Jefferson, I read a history book or two, and there's nothing new under the sun. 

Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered - or - Delusional, Deceitful, and Dumb

 By Rich Kozlovich

For those of us who are older, I'm on the back end of seventy, we remember, and loved, the great Broadway shows created by great musical teams like Rodgers and Hart, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and Lerner and Lowe.  In 1940 one of the songs introduced by Rodgers and Hart in the musical Pal Joey, was Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered, which became a hit record in 1950, and was reintroduced in the 1952 Broadway revival.  That was an era of inspiring, true entertainment and craft, and will never return. 

Okay, so where's this going?  Well, I think it's worth while to decide if Biden is just bewitched, bothered and bewildered, or is he delusional, deceitful, and dumb.  For the President of the United States to be on either side of this is unacceptable, but at least being on one side of this is excusable.  Being on the other side is corrupt, and no excuse can be justified or acceptable.

In an interview with Joe Biden the interviewer stated there's not a major corporation in the world that would hire a CEO that was 80 years old, then asked Joe Biden why should America elect an 82 year old man as the most important CEO in the world?  Biden answered: “Because I have acquired a hell of a lot of wisdom and know more than the vast majority of people. I’m more experienced than anybody has gone through the office and I think I’ve proven myself to be honorable as well as also effective.

Remarkable! Then we have Obama's evaluation: "Never underestimate Joe Biden's ability to screw things up", which means of course one of them is delusional.  

So, he's acquired all this wisdom because he knows so much, and his "experience" in life makes him most worthy?  Ronald Reagan was right when he said: "The trouble with our Liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so."  One of the things we need to abandon is the idea liberals are our friends, or the "loyal" opposition.  They're not, they're' communists. devoted to the destruction of America as we know it.

As Silvio Canto, Jr. pointed out in his article, "The commies of Colorado", noting:  

At some point, you have to call a "commie" a "commie." In other words, if it hates capitalism, it hates capitalism.  Check this out from the Colorado Education Association, the state’s affiliate to the National Education Association.  This is their latest resolution:  “CEA believes that capitalism requires exploitation of children, public schools, land, labor, and/or resources. Capitalism is in opposition to fully addressing systemic racism (the school to prison pipeline), climate change, patriarchy, (gender and LGBTQ disparities), education inequality, and income inequality.”  There you have it.  Don't call them well-meaning liberals, because this is communism."  

And they lie ...a lot.... at least until they no longer need to lie.   Once they have enough power no one dares call them liars.  Joe Biden, and for that matter, his entire administration and the Congress demonstrate these foundational truths daily.

Those of us who are older remember when Fidel Castro claimed he wasn't a communist, until his power was secure, then it turned out ...... he really was a communist.... and like all communist thugs, he proceeded to murder a lot of innocent people, and in fact, per ratio he killed more people than did Joe Stalin. 

If Biden is so wise and knows so much more than the majority of people, then how in the world can he honestly claim he's been "honorable", and "effective".  So, is he bewitched, bothered and bewildered, or  delusional, deceitful, and dumb?

Biden claims he won't negotiate over raising the debt limit or spending because "his" economy is better than Trumps, which is so obviously wrong for him to publicly say such a thing has to make any rational person wonder what's wrong with his mind.  Especially when the amassed history of his experience in life shows he clearly has been neither honorable, effective, nor is the economy better now than during the Trump administration.  

Unless of course you feel these things represent a great economy:

1. Growing inflation.
2. National debt piling up well over thirty trillion dollars 
3. Banks failing because of ESG investing, which the federal government is demanding from financial institutions.
4. Spending that's out of control.
5. Higher energy costs.
6. Eliminate use of natural gas.
7. Force the nation to use electric vehicles.
8. Higher food costs.  
9. Telling us we need to start eating bugs. 
   
10. Shortages of many commonly used products.
11. Stores closing all over the nation due to the massive crime wave across the nation.
12. Rampant illegal immigration.

Many of these problems are a direct result of the Biden Administration's unrelenting war against climate change, one of the greatest scientific frauds ever perpetrated on humanity, and Kerry, Biden's special envoy on climate, and what that means is totally obscure as:

 

"Neither the White House nor the State Department responded to questions about the precise nature of Kerry’s work, and whether he was authorized to negotiate treaties on behalf of the United States,"  Yet he's spending millions refusing to divulge to Congress what he's spending it on, who "he's meeting with and who is advising him......stonewalled requests for budget and staffing information from legislators and government watchdog groups."

 

"In response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed last year by RealClearInvestigations for a breakdown on how the climate envoy’s roughly $16.5 million 2022 budget was spent, the State Department said it could not comply with the request until April 2025, months after both the 2024 election and the expiration of President Biden’s current term."  

 

And  now according to Marc Morano of CFACT, along with Steve Milloy, in this Newsmax video, starting at 24:35, they note that Biden, through the regulatory agencies is ‘bypassing democracy to impose Net Zero vision’!   So why should we think any of these goings on are honorable?  We shouldn't!   Climate is only a threat to America if America adopts all the insanity of the Biden administration's climate agenda.  All of which Biden, his administration, and the Democrat party own, lock, stock and barrel.  

 

In spite of all the evidence to the contrary, Biden apparently thinks all this represents honor and is evidence of a good economy.  In point of fact, his claims about his accomplishments, his value, and his intelligence demonstrate a diametrically opposing conclusion to being honorable or effective!   Is he bewitched,  bothered and bewildered, or  delusional, deceitful, and dumb?

I've discussed effective, now let's look at honorable.  Honorable is the antipode of corrupt, and now there's so much dirt coming out about Biden's dealings, and those around him, including Obama. According to Senator Grassley and Representative Comer there evidence Biden takes pay offs to make policy decisions, and it's being noted:  

"If it's accurate, it doesn't just involve Joe Biden."

All of which may not be the Constitutional letter of the law for treason, but it certainly embraces on the spirit of the law for treason, and America needs to know if the Biden crime family, Obama, and others promoted the sell out of the nation for financial gain, and how vast a network was involved.  

Is he bewitched, bothered and bewildered, or is he delusional, deceitful and dumb as dirt?  That's an easy answer. He's delusional, deceitful and dumb as dirt.  He simply lies to himself, and to the world, and he always has, ......unendingly.... and it's deliberate.  And now that he's become so neurologically fragile, I think he believes his lies, and those lies along with his actions are deadly to the nation.

Democrats quietly send $35.8 billion bailout to cover their policy mistakes

December 15, 2022 By Jack Hellner

Democrats have essentially had complete control of Illinois, with super majorities in the House and Senate, for years.

As an Illinois resident, I have the wonderful fortune of listening to Democrats brag about the financial “health” of the Illinois budget. They claim they balanced the budget and now have over $1 billion in a rainy-day fund. (For perspective, that is like a family making $100,000 having $2,000 in a savings account.)

Meanwhile, Illinois pension funds declined by nearly ten billion dollars in FY 2022.  If Illinois were a private business, that $9.8 billion would show up as a loss; there is nothing remotely balanced about the Illinois budget. According to a Chicago business report:

Illinois’s massive debt to the retirement funds was built up by years of failing to set aside enough to cover all the benefits that have been promised. It has been a major financial drag, leaving Illinois with a lower bond rating than any other US state and forcing it to pump more tax money into the system to catch up.

The president and his fellow Democrats love rewarding their political supporters with kickbacks, so they bailed out the Teamsters Union, to buy votes, with $35.8 billion because of mismanagement and over-promising for decades. 

(The money came from the $1.9 trillion slush fund that was sold to the public as COVID relief.)..............To Read More....

My Take - As an FYI: 

•  4 of 6 Richest U.S. Counties Are D.C. Suburbs......i.e. federal government employees.  Overpaid, under worked, and mostly unnecessary, and as for the rest of the nation:  
• Repossessions and Defaults Are on the Rise, a Warning Sign.  
• Biden Pledges $55B to African Nations; Most Are Not Free Democracies

 

THE STEAL: The Number of House Seats Continues to Dwindle As GOP Leaders Again Allow This to Happen

 November 12, 2022, by Joe Hoft

 The world is watching in amazement as corrupt election directors and politicians across the country can’t seem to finalize the results of an election four days ago.  Texas and Florida can complete their election results a few hours after the election, but other states are days away, if not weeks.  The 2022 Election was supposed to be a route for the GOP.  Biden and his gang of America-destroying communists are not liked.  They are even hated for their actions in Afghanistan, with the economy, the Jan 6 communist kangaroo court, and much more.  Most Americans can’t list three things that this administration has done for the good of America.  Many can’t name one thing............To Read More...

A History Lesson Ahead of Biden’s Green New Tax

“The thing I’m proudest of that we were able to get done in the first term was the Recovery Act. It had $90 billion in clean-energy programs.” -Vice President Joe Biden, May 9, 2013. 

August 13th, 2022

By Larry Behrens @ CFACT  115 Comments 

The start of a new week brought a renewed sense of momentum for President Joe Biden’s administration and his allies in Congress. At long last, the months-long gridlock, caused by their own party, finally broke and another gusher of tax dollars appears ready to flood our country. Economic realities and those pesky inflation reports be damned.

Proponents have dubbed the bill the “Inflation Reduction Act” because they know it sounds better than the truth: “Biden’s Green New Tax.” History will be the judge about the wisdom of pouring trillions of dollars on an economy struggling with excessive spending. No matter how you slice it, with $369 billion dollars devoted to climate and energy programs, it’s clear there’s a lot on the line for the American taxpayer. If we want to know how the Biden Administration will dole out our dollars, we need look no further than the last time Biden got billions to go green.

As part of the so-called “Recovery Act” passed during the first term of President Obama, there was $90 billion set aside for the very same climate and energy reasoning. President Obama turned to his trusty Vice President to help administer those funds. The results were disastrous.

First, the well-known failure of Solyndra was pinned on Obama, but it was Biden who led the charge in losing $535 million in the fiasco.  Solyndra became the poster child of green failure, but it was far from alone.

Then there was $20.5 billion in federal loans distributed from that 2009 stimulus. One examination found that a whopping 80 percent of that money when to “10 members of former President Barack Obama’s finance committee, and more than 12 of his bundlers.”

Note: This number is shockingly close to the current $20 billion Joe Biden wants to send to “green banks” so it can, once again, be distributed to people and organizations that may have ties to supporting Biden’s campaigns.

Two years before Joe Biden called his work on the recovery funds the “proudest” part of his first term as vice president, the Government Accountability Office raised concerns about how those funds we handled. The federal loan program “lacked appropriate tools for assessing progress,” showed favoritism to some applicants and found “reporting and quality issues” when it came to figuring out just how many “green” jobs were created. Keep in mind, this was Joe Biden’s “proudest” accomplishment.

Fast forward to 2022 and President Biden is again proud to have four times more money than he had in 2009.  Included in his Green New Tax is the extension of a massive giveaway to those who buy electric vehicles. Studies have shown that those looking to buy an EV make at least $150,000 in annual income, but apparently Joe Biden feels they need a tax break.

Past tends to be prologue for a reason. What we are witnessing with Biden’s Green New Tax is a repeat of 2009. A bill packed with billions of pork that will mostly benefit the rich and those who support President Biden’s failed energy agenda. Joe Biden may be proud of what he did in 2009, but history shows us his pride comes with a huge tag.

Larry Behrens is the Communications Director for Power The Future, a non-profit that advocates for America’s energy workers. You can find him on Twitter @larrybehrens or you can email him: larry@powerthefuture.com

This article originally appeared at Real Clear Energy

 

Biden Promises, Policies and Pesky Political Problems

Paul Driessen

Presidential candidate Joe Biden promised to reunite America following its “season of darkness” under President Trump, and “shut down the virus, not the economy.” We’ve seen how that’s working out. 

His promise that there’ll be “no more drilling, no more pipelines, no more fossil fuels” has been far more successful. Within hours of taking office, President Biden ended Keystone XL pipeline construction and began imposing leasing and drilling moratoriums, slow-walking permits, pressuring banks not to fund oil companies, and taking other steps to turn his promises into policies. 

Unfortunately, with a little assistance from Putin’s savagery in Ukraine, Mr. Biden’s war on fossil fuels brought a host of pesky political problems. 

Gasoline and diesel prices more than doubled since November 2020; they reached $9.50 per gallon in parts of California before falling slightly. Mr. Biden’s approval plummeted, as food prices and inflation soared, and farmers, families, commuters and truckers voiced outrage. 

But because allowing more drilling would anger climate cultists obsessed with the catechism of climate cataclysm, Mr. Biden asked Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Iran to increase their oil production, so that he could keep America’s resources locked up.

He also released 125,000,000 barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve’s emergency stockpiles – and on July 26 said he’d release 20,000,000 additional barrels. The administration claims this will “help lower energy costs,” “reduce the pain Americans are feeling at the pump,” and combat the “Putin price hike.” Perhaps minimally. 

Worse, Team Biden sent some 5,000,000 barrels of this oil overseas. Still more incredibly, it sold 950,000 barrels to the China Petrochemical Corporation. That’s China as in Chinese Communist Party – not Taiwan. The same Chinese government that is buying up thousands of acres of U.S. land, much of it near sensitive military installations. 

The optics are not good. And for an administration (and Democrat Party) focused on “racial justice” and America’s terrible legacy of slavery, public perceptions will only get worse, as the realities of the “green energy transition” become clear. 

First, this energy is not clean, green, renewable or sustainable. The sheer numbers of wind turbines, solar panels, and vehicle and backup batteries defy imagination. 

President Biden intends to eradicate coal and natural gas for generating electricity, gasoline and diesel for powering vehicles, natural gas for smelting and manufacturing, and natural gas for heating, cooking and water heating in homes, hospitals, schools and businesses. 

This would send America’s annual electricity requirement to almost 7.5 billion megawatt-hours per year by 2050. That’s nearly three times the fossil fuel portion of today’s U.S. electricity generation. It would require tens of thousands of wind turbines, billions of solar panels and billions of half-ton backup-power battery modules – sprawling across America. 

Oil and natural gas are also feed stocks for paints, plastics, pharmaceuticals, fertilizers and numerous other products. How does Team Biden plan to replace them? 

President Biden’s proposal for 30,000 megawatts of offshore wind power alone would require 2,500 enormous 800-foot-tall 12-megawatt turbines. Even if they operated at full capacity 24/7, they wouldn’t meet peak summertime electricity needs for New York State, much less the entire USA. 

But the turbines would require millions of tons of raw materials from hundreds of new mines – steel, aluminum, copper, fiberglass, concrete and others, whose extraction, processing and refining are energy- and land-intensive and highly polluting. 

Billions of solar panels would require massive amounts of polysilicon and other materials, from hundreds more mines. Billions of battery modules would require prodigious quantities of cobalt, nickel, lithium, rare earth elements, copper and other metals. More transformers and transmission lines – still more materials, from still more mines. 

Second, American environmentalists and climate campaigners steadfastly oppose these activities anywhere in the USA. The supply chains for most of these materials thus run through China – which controls the mining (in Mongolia, Africa, South America and elsewhere), processing (in China and Mongolia) and manufacturing (in China). 

China and the Chinese Communist Party achieve this because they have acquired mining properties all over the world; have huge coal-fired power plants to generate cheap electricity; don’t bother much with air or water pollution control, mined land reclamation or workplace safety standards required in Western countries; and utilize dirt-cheap, slave and child labor, most notably in Africa and Uyghur territories. 

Some 40,000 children already labor with their parents in Democratic Republic of Congo cobalt mines, for a few dollars a day, under threats of cave-ins, and with constant exposure to toxic air, mud, dust and water – just to meet today’s cobalt needs for manufacturing batteries. Those needs would skyrocket under a U.S. Green New Deal, and vastly more under an international “energy transition.” 

The cobalt ore is processed in China, under equally abominable safety and pollution conditions. Air and water pollution and an enormous toxic waste dump for rare earth effluents in Inner Mongolia have created serious health issues for plant workers and local residents. 

China also uses Uyghur slave labor to manufacture solar panels it sells to the United States. And Mr. Biden wants to suspend tariffs on Chinese solar panels, to make importing them even easier and cheaper.  

Over the past decade, the United States significantly reduced its (plant-fertilizing) carbon dioxide emissions, largely by replacing coal-fired electricity generation with natural gas. 

Meanwhile, in 2020 alone, China put 38,000 megawatts of new coal-fired power plants into operation. It relies on coal for 60% of its electricity and expects to mine 300 million more tons of coal in 2022 than in 2021. Beijing is also building, planning or financing more than 300 coal plants in Turkey, Vietnam, Indonesia, African countries and elsewhere, to raise their people out of poverty. India too burns millions of tons of coal annually.   

The United States could go fossil-fuel-free, and it wouldn’t affect global greenhouse gas levels one iota. 

But America could easily go from being a net oil and gas exporter two years ago, to being almost totally dependent on often unfriendly foreign sources for the materials required for its “renewable” energy, economy, manufacturing, living standards, communication, transportation – and national defense. Energy, food and consumer prices would climb even higher, hammering minority and other poor families. 

Moreover, every increase in “green” energy makes the United States more reliant on China which, like Russia, increasingly wields its energy, mineral and economic power as a weapon, to keep its client countries in line, dependent and subservient. Every increase makes us more complicitin slavery, eco-colonialism, environmental degradation and climate injustice. 

This Land of the Free must change course. As America reflects on its past, seeks “a more perfect Union,” reassesses the Separation of Powers, and endeavors to be a world leader in environmental protection and human rights, it must chart a future based on reality and true justice for all people. 

Paul Driessen is senior policy advisor for the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow (www.CFACT.org) and author of books, reports and articles on energy, environmental, climate and human rights issues.

 

Biden’s electric caravan to Green utopia runs out of gas

By Larry Bell | June 28th, 2022| Energy| 54 Comments @ CFACT

The woke Biden administration is receiving loud wake up calls from appropriately alarmed constituents as their poll numbers tank.

The message is that a vast majority of the country isn’t feverish enough about global warming Armageddon hyped by a powerful coalition of globalist non-governmental organizations (NGO’s), investment corporations, well-funded environmental activist, green subsidy lobbies, far left government special interest groups—and politicos—to warrant sacrificing reliable, affordable fossil-fueled energy sufficiency essential to individual life quality and national economic prosperity.

The rude awakening is warranted.

Throughout our history, America’s rich abundance of oil, natural gas and coal has afforded US citizens the world’s highest living standards. And until very recently—just before Joe Biden took office—our nation was not only energy independent, but also a leading global oil and gas exporter.

Witness the current paradox, a presidential promise to kill the hydrocarbon industry, followed up by implementing every conceivable regulatory measure to do precisely that.

And then the hubris to demand that this same “big oil” pump more of their evil product as they simultaneously plead with Saudi Arabia, Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Venezuela, and Iran to do the same.

The consequences should hardly be surprising—record gasoline and diesel prices that are rippling through every corner of business and driving up food and commodity costs with a devastating 8.6% four-decade high inflation.

Perhaps even far left liberals are beginning to realize that the idea of replacing the more than 80% of reliable energy we get from hydrocarbons by growing the less than 4% provided by intermittent wind and solar combined— plus then also try to add millions of electric vehicles to already overstressed power grids that require big batteries that depend upon rare earth minerals where 80% come from China—may not be a feasible, winning strategy after all.

Nevertheless, that’s exactly what Joe and his core White House and congressional supporters have attempted to push and sell to the public when, as a presidential candidate, he promised: “I guarantee you we’re going to end fossil fuels.”

On his first day in office, President Biden canceled the Keystone XL pipeline and halted new leases in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

A week later, he banned new oil and gas leases on federal lands and waters, and in June he shut down exploration on existing leases in ANWR.

In October, he increased the regulatory burdens on building pipelines and other infrastructure, and last February, he limited leasing in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve (NPR-A).

Then, in April, almost a year after a federal judge enjoined the White House from implementing its pause on leases in federal lands and waters, the Biden administration finally offered 144,400 acres for exploration—only 20% of the acreage originally slated for this tranche of leases—an area less than half the size of Phoenix.

By comparison, bear in mind here that the Federal Government owns and manages 640 million acres, 28% of all US land, totaling about six times the size of California.

The feds also raised the federal royalty rate for new leases 50% from 12.5% to 18.77%, the first increase since they were first imposed in the 1920’s.

On top of that, the Biden White House intently nominated vehemently anti-fossil energy officials to shepherd draconian regulatory policies including climate impact disclosures to dry up industry investment capital in favor of preferred “clean” alternatives.

Enter the administration’s Department of Energy Secretary, former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who supported every failed government subsidized green boondoggle the Obama-Biden administration threw in her lap.

The Mackinac Center, a Michigan think tank, reported that only 2.3% of Granholm’s hundreds of millions of handouts for favored start-ups in her state during her governorship from 2003 to 2011 met their advertised job creation promises.

Appearing recently on CNN’s “State of the Union,” ahead of President Biden’s plan to meet with the Saudi’s once again seeking relief from his self-inflicted policies, Granholm said, “we need to have increased production, so that everyday citizens in America will not be feeling this pain that they’re feeling right now.”

This national indignity, after the Saudi crown prince previously refused to take our president’s call, followed Biden’s letter to seven major oil producers and refiners in June, demanding them to take “immediate action” to increase the supply of gasoline, and blasting them for record prices at the gas pump—which he also conveniently blamed on Vladimir Putin.

After all, it was Biden’s war on America’s hydrocarbons, not Putin’s war on Ukraine, that reduced supplies and drove up prices.

In January of 2021, the average price of regular gasoline was $2.33 a gallon.

By February of this year, it was up to $3.52.

Since as of May, the average price was $4.44, 56% of that rise predated the invasion.

Rapidly approaching midterm elections leave Democrats little time to relieve inflationary pump pains. Other than return to Trump-era policies—which his party’s far left wing won’t possibly allow, Joe Biden’s only remaining options are short-term gimmicks intended to appear show he’s doing something helpful.

A total public feel-good deception was to have his EPA increase the maximum allowable amount of ethanol additive in petroleum from 10% (E10) currently, to 15% (E15) over summer driving months between June 1 and Sept. 15.

The ethanol strategy is a sham “fix” which will only add to inflationary food costs by consuming more of our nation’s corn supply, provides about 40% less energy than petroleum (reducing milage efficiency); and offers no environmental advantages or CO2 emission reduction benefits whatsoever.

The White House is also pushing for Congress to suspend the 18.4 cents-per-gallon federal gas tax for three months, primarily a public relations play that could save about $3 on the $75 it costs to fill up an average 15-gallon gas tank at $4.98 per gallon.

New York’s June 1st suspension of its 16-cent gas tax—out of roughly 46 cents a gallon between state and local taxeshas had notably little consumer benefit, leaving the $4.98 a gallon pump price nearly unchanged.

In the end, President Biden and his progressive playbook have successfully accomplished what they set out to do—to make fossil energy prohibitively expensive so that we use less of it.

Their major failure in the process was attempting to replace those marvelously abundant and efficient hydrocarbons with magical green alternatives before their empty promises ran out of gas, their midterm polls tanked, and their roadmap to Utopia led the country to nowhere any of us should ever wish to be.

This article originally appeared at NewsMax

Author

•   Larry Bell

  CFACT Advisor Larry Bell heads the graduate program in space architecture at the University of Houston. He founded and directs the Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture. He is also the author of "Climate of Corruption: Politics and Power Behind the Global Warming Hoax."