The Do-Nothing Senate's Pipeline to Hell

An oil and gas pipeline
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Article first published as The Do-Nothing Senate's Pipeline to Hell on Technorati.

President Barack Obama likes blaming a "do-nothing" Congress for his sad record as president. But is that entirely fair? Blaming all of Congress for the US Senate's failure to act would be like Achilles blaming his entire leg for his vulnerable heel.

Speaking of heels, it’s the Senate leadership that is sitting on the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011, aka the payroll tax cut bill. The bill would continue payroll tax cuts for 160 million Americans, and require approval for the Keystone XL Pipeline (KXP). The Canadian pipeline provides two benefits: thousands of American jobs and an increased flow of oil into a country with no real energy policy.

The job estimates for KXP vary from 6,000 to over 100,000. The project manager for the proposed pipeline, TransCanada, estimates the jobs to be 20,000.

President Obama has not said that he will not approve the pipeline, but wants to delay his decision until after the 2012 elections. Excuse me? That's like telling your boss that you'll just wait to finish that all-important project until after your employee review. The construction jobs would be nearly immediate and could be honestly called "shovel ready," like the jobs that the stimulus bill was going to create, except these will really exist.

Shared Sacrifice - Really? Let's Do It!

The calls from the Democrats such as President Barack Obama is for "shared sacrifice" and Harry Reid (D-Fantasyland) has introduced a resolution on the "Sense of the Senate" regarding Shared Sacrifice. In Harry's resolution he cherry picks some facts contrasting the middle class with the wealthiest one percent of Americans. It's typical class warfare and why I feel absolutely entitled to refer to Democrats as "socialists."

Sadly for poor Harry, he just doesn't understand that he's calling for what the TEA Party and other small-government conservatives want: Shared Sacrifice. The difference is that conservatives want shared sacrifice from the real fat cat in this country - the federal government.

A Tiny Victory in a Long War

Now is not the time for back-slapping. This weekend, conservatives merely won a small, though significant, concession from Democrats. While $38 billion is only two percent of the projected 2011 deficit, it did change the focus of the American people. The emphasis is now on deficit reduction, not shifting funds from program to program.

As for the real budget debate, we are just beginning. Remember that the most recent conflict was because Democrats failed to pass – or to attempt to pass – a budget for 2011. The 2011 budget was due by October of 2010 when Democrats controlled both houses of Congress and the White House. Rather than use their huge majorities to pass an overgrown budget that would outrage the American public, they simply passed a huge increase in the federal debt ceiling. There was no budget or responsibility but the spending binge continued.

The debate for 2012 will be even more contentious, partly because the Presidential election is in 2012. The 2012 budget is due by October of this year and the debt limit will have to be addressed even before then.

President Obama has already asked for “a clean bill” to authorize an increase in federal debt without any restrictions. This asks Congress to surrender its responsibility for oversight. Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH) has already stated that any increase in the federal debt would only be passed with significant changes that address the source of our debt. This illuminates two views of government.

The difference is that Democrats want to find a way to be more efficient while keeping – or even growing – the size of government. There have been no suggestions from Democrat leadership to reduce the size of the federal government. That’s not hyperbole; they have made zero proposals to reduce the size of government. This Republican-led House, while more timid than many would like, is striving to reduce the size of the federal government.

So, why are Democrats still seeking to spend more of our resources on government programs that we obviously cannot afford? I believe that some still have the mindset that the economy requires federal programs to prop up the economy. While this is neither logical nor reasonable, there are leftists who have no faith in individuals.

My concern is those who cynically grow the government to increase their own power and influence. You can usually tell them because they know they are wrong and can’t rely on facts to support their positions. They tell lies continually to denigrate their opponents instead of addressing issues. If you are thinking of President Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi then we’re on the same page. I won’t begin listing the falsehoods knowingly told by this trio regarding the economy. That would fill a book and I don’t have the inclination or the space.

This budget debate will be a fight for our future, so do not let numbers frighten you away. Either continued government growth or rising debt will destroy our nation; our path has been to increase both. If we fail to stop this trend, our nation will sink into mediocrity weighed down by chains of debt while our children will grow into adulthood in a second-class country, ignorant of American exceptionalism. I see no alternative other than to win this fight.

You will be needed. The battle lines are drawn. Paul Ryan has authored the battle plan for conservatives and it is a good, bold plan. It’s not perfect, but adjustments should be made by applying additional cuts, not increased taxes.

An important note to conservatives in Congress: Please do not fall into the false concept that the government is the country. Shutting down the government is not shutting down the country. It’s better to rebel and crash the government than to fatally harm our country. If it’s necessary, you won’t be the first to make that courageous decision.

It’s time. Let’s roll.

Reid My Lips, Harry

If you’re right about something, why would you lie about it? That’s a question someone needs to ask Harry Reid. It’s no secret that Reid (D-NV) dislikes the TEA Party and accuses them of being dangerous to the country because they want to curtail federal spending, but Reid is going out of his way to misrepresent polls regarding the TEA Party.

Harry Reid is the symbol of everything that’s wrong with Washington. Reid cares more about maintaining power for the sake of maintaining power than he cares about his country. I say this because our federal government’s financial situation is in crisis and Reid is more concerned about remaining US Senate Majority Leader than he is in solving the problems.

Due in large part to Reid’s policies, our country is overwhelmed with debt and we are rapidly approaching the point where we can no longer remain solvent. Looking at rising oil and food prices and seeing the very real possibility of inflation, we may already be caught in a riptide of debt caused by overspending that will drown our economy.

Reid in incapable of helping solve our financial problems and Republicans need to learn this. In order to be an agent of change, Reid and his fellow leftists must first admit that our country has a problem and that they are its main cause. Reid is incapable of admitting he was wrong and keeping his power-base. By his actions and his false rhetoric, Reid has announced that he would rather be wrong and powerful than do what is best for his country.

Reid would deny all of this, I’m sure, but so what? If there was any doubt that Harry Reid will lie, just remember this: He is on record as blaming Republicans for the Democrat’s failure to pass a budget last year when they had the US Presidency and large majorities in both houses of the legislative branch.

Ask yourself what the TEA Party folks have to gain by their actions other than a reduction in the size of government and a reduction in federal spending. Then ask yourself what Senator Reid and his cronies have to gain by lying about the TEA Party. The only thing their statements might accomplish is a continuation of their power. Finally, ask yourself this: If Democrats could no longer give our tax dollars to special interests groups, could they ever again have a national majority?

Then, there is Reid’s latest statement that the TEA Party is dangerous and unpopular. He stated that most people disliked the TEA Parties. Yet, Scott Rasmussen’s latest poll shows that 48% of Americans consider their beliefs to be closer to the TEA Party than to Congress. Less than 30% of Americans stated their beliefs were closer to the average Congressman.

So why would Harry lie? He’s still attempting to convince the American people that the TEA Party movement is dangerous. Yet, I see the projected $1.65 trillion shortfall for 2011 and it’s pretty apparent that the TEA Party activists and their allies are wearing the white hats. Harry Reid is a dangerous, power-hungry demagogue without a conscience. 

I hope the rest of Senator Reid's time as Senate Majority Leader is very frustrating. Read my lips, Harry; it ends in January, 2013. 

Congratulations!

There are a couple of places where democracy simply doesn’t work well. One is among the lemmings, where the citizenry regularly vote for the entire community to leap off a cliff into the sea. The other is the Democrat Caucus in the US House of Representatives where the members also just voted to go over the edge themselves.

On Wednesday, US House Democrats voted to keep Nancy Pelosi as their leader; and congratulations are in order – to the GOP. You probably saw that coming, but it’s true. There are problems with electing a political leader from a district so secure that she has no need to understand the American public.

From San Francisco, the destruction of the House Democrat majority is fading smoke on a distant horizon. In Heath Shuler’s district, in Sanford Bishop’s district and in the districts of many other Democrat Representatives, it’s an angry, blazing forest fire so powerful that it sucks the oxygen from the air. In over 60 other formerly Democrat-held districts, it’s a smoldering mass of blackened cinders and ruined political careers. Unfortunately in the politically catastrophic aftermath, the defeated Democrat representatives had no opportunity to vote on Ms. Pelosi’s leadership skills.

Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Reid failed to anticipate the public’s strong reaction to their heavy-handed manipulation, broken promises and backroom deals granting special privileges to a few groups. Equally short-sighted were the arrogant and cavalier responses to voters’ concerns.

The worst mistakes made by Ms. Pelosi were inexplicable, amateur errors with large consequences. Never underestimate your political opponents and certainly don’t goad them into taking action against your own party and candidates. Ms. Pelosi did those things and reveled in her actions, thus becoming the poster child for “Washington Arrogance”.

Pelosi called TEA Partiers “Astroturf” and “Un-American” before accusing them of bearing swastikas at rallies. She refused to take them seriously and mocked people with legitimate concerns about the scope of government, America’s rising debt and the lack of Congressional responsibility. Finally in desperation, Pelosi and her allies even called the protesters racists. Americans did not buy it.

Because voters could not get Pelosi, and often their own elected officials, to acknowledge their concerns other ways, they sent a message via the ballot. The Representatives and Senators voted out in primaries and the general election were the price of postage on the voters’ letter to Washington. Some of the politicians got the message, but Pelosi needs a translator.

Speaker Pelosi’s attempt to encourage the remaining Democrats to maintain their path of defiance by celebrating their “accomplishments” will rub many voters the wrong way, as will her defiant rhetoric. There are those who will see Pelosi’s antagonistic and abrasive stances as courageous, but these people think George Armstrong Custer was brave.

The reaction of Speaker, soon to be Minority Leader, Pelosi does not appear to be appropriate under the circumstances. We are left with several possible explanations, but they all involve either some form of mental illness – mostly, but not limited to, forms of reality denial – or a total misreading of the political landscape. Take your pick, but either alternative is not a good one for a political leader.

Late in Georgia’s 8th Congressional District campaign, Democrat incumbent Jim Marshall said he would not support Nancy Pelosi for Speaker. It was too little, too late and too unconvincing to help Marshall who had supported Pelosi’s bids for Speaker four times. Pelosi was already the focus of many yard signs tying Marshall to the House Speaker:

Marshall=Pelosi
‘Nuff Said

and,

Fire Nancy Pelosi
Defeat Jim Marshall

In two years, look for variations on these signs in districts across the country. If Pelosi’s approval ratings improve, it will be because of the faded memories of voters. Don’t count on that happening. Astroturf lasts a long time and it doesn’t need to be covered in reeking piles of fresh fertilizer.

Congratulations, GOP. Just remember to be properly grateful for this gift.