As I watch this president with ever increasing dismay, I've come to the conclusion that he may be trying to create a situation where all citizens are dependent on government, thereby allowing him to demagogue any issue for electoral purposes. If one has everyone dependent on a check from government, it's easy to say, "The other side is trying to take away your check!" Heck, many congressmen have done this for years with their wasteful spending and their proliferating government programs. Take Social Security for instance, or what's quickly becoming "Social Insecurity." Some people have realized for some time that in the long run this program will bankrupt us. However, attempts to fix it have resulted in claims by those opposed to touching it that some are trying to take it away. Not true. Those who want to reform social security and turn it into a privatized program are trying to do what's best for the country. Some congressmen oppose this, because if it's a private program then the government doesn't have as much power and they can't demagogue the issue. In my opinion, the same thing is now happening with energy. The president has several different opportunities to open up American energy and create American jobs, but he has punted each time. He killed the Keystone pipeline, which would have resulted in more energy flowing to America, the immediate creation of tens of thousands of American jobs to build it, and long term employment to monitor and service it. The president (through his radical EPA) also has now slapped carbon penalties on the coal industry. Not only are thousands of Americans' jobs at risk, but the cost of energy will skyrocket. Mr. Obama has also closed much of American waters to offshore drilling, once again eliminating the possibility of thousands of jobs and once again increasing American's dependence on foreign oil.
Now, I understand that oil is not the future. But it is still the present, and it is definitely the transition energy source while we move to cleaner technologies such as solar. We have enough oil to make the transition smooth, and at the same time neuter the countries in the Middle East which hate us yet still sell us oil. Imagine being able to tell those countries we don't need them. Wouldn't that be great?! Yet every opportunity which comes along to exploit American energy sources is killed by this administration. I say let's drill for American energy. Let's build the Keystone pipeline. Let's allow offshore drilling. Let's get hundreds of thousands of Americans back to work, let's lower the price of energy and give Americans some economic relief, and let's create a situation where we can look at those in the Middle East who would attempt to control us through the use of energy and tell them they don't matter anymore.
For some reason this president doesn't get any of that. He seems more willing to give taxpayers' money to his cronies and fundraisers who are opening companies which are trying to harness solar energy before it is economically feasible (see Solyndra). Is it because this president is oblivious or because he actually has an agenda he is trying to fulfill? Good question, isn't it?
