ENERGY
The Great Energy Divide

In his speech to the Democratic National Convention last night, Sen.
John Kerry drew many distinctions between himself and President George
W. Bush. One of the most striking policy divides was on the issue of
energy. In a week that saw oil prices once again reach record highs,
Kerry made sharp references to the Bush administration's shady
practice of developing an energy plan behind closed doors with
oil/energy executives. He also questioned whether President Bush and
Vice President Cheney's dependence on the Saudi royal family has
compromised America's energy security. As Ohio focus groups showed
last night, Kerry's line, "I want an America that relies on its
ingenuity and innovation, not the Saudi royal family" was one of the
best received of the night. Unfortunately, Bush and Cheney, both
former oilmen, have offered no serious solutions. By cutting funding
for alternative energy development, while pressing for more tax breaks
and for more drilling, the White House appears more interested in
fueling oil industry profits than creating affordable, sustainable
sources of energy for the future.

OIL PRICES HIT HIGH; BUSH DOES NOTHING: Reuters reports oil prices hit
a record high on Friday, with "U.S. light crude hit $43.15 a barrel,
the highest level in its 21-year history of trade on the New York
exchange." The White House has so far refused to follow through on
President Bush's campaign promise to "jawbone" OPEC to increase oil
supplies or make serious investments in alternative energies.

BUSH CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTORS' PROFITS SURGE: The record energy prices –
and the White House's refusal to do anything to curb them – has meant
a huge increase in profits for large oil companies, many of which are
big Bush campaign donors. Earlier this week, "ConocoPhillips said
second-quarter profits surged nearly 75%, to $2.1 billion."
ConocoPhillips's CEO is Archie Dunham, a Bush Pioneer (aka. someone
who has raised the Bush-Cheney campaign more than $100,000). Since
2000, Conoco executives have given the Bush-Cheney campaign more than
$200,000, and the company has given the RNC more than $350,000 in soft
money. AP reports, "Shell saw its earnings rise 54%, thanks to higher
prices for oil and natural gas." The company pocketed an additional
$3.7 billion in profits. Shell's CEO is Jack Little, another Bush
Pioneer and the company's executives have given the Bush-Cheney
campaign more than $22,000. British Petroleum posted record-setting
second quarter profits of $3.9 billion – a 23 percent jump from just
one year ago. Since 2000, BP's executives have given the Bush-Cheney
campaign more than $24,000 and the RNC more than $800,000 in soft
money. And ExxonMobil "posted its highest quarterly profit ever
yesterday as the company continues to benefit from the long run-up in
energy prices." The company posted second-quarter profit growth of 39
percent to $5.79 billion. Since 2000, ExxonMobil executives have given
the Bush-Cheney campaign more than $75,000 and the RNC more than
$700,000 in soft money.

KERRY PUSHES NEW TECHNOLOGY THAT BUSH IS CUTTING: Kerry said he would
seriously increase funding for alternative energy research. This is a
stark contrast to the current administration. In his very first
presidential budget, Bush proposed cutting $277 million out of
renewable energy research, while spending an additional $2 billion on
coal-related programs. His FY2004 budget tried to "slash funding for
numerous clean energy and energy efficiency programs, including
funding for bioenergy, wind and geothermal electricity sources." Those
cuts "were announced less than a week after the president announced
his goal of energy independence in the State of the Union address."
While the president has announced efforts to fund a hydrogen car, he
took the money to pay for the program out of efforts to develop more
fuel efficient vehicles in the short-term. Even the Bush tax cuts
included provisions that make the energy situation worse. His latest
tax bill included a provision creating a $100,000 tax writeoff for
large SUVs like the Hummer (which gets just 10 miles to the gallon).
Meanwhile, similar tax benefits for hybrids remain paltry.

INSTEAD OF REAL FIX, BUSH PUSHES OIL INDUSTRY GIFTS: The White House
and its Capitol Hill allies have countered criticism by claiming their
corporate-crafted energy bill would fix the problem. The bill provides
millions in energy industry tax breaks and would permit drilling in
the arctic. But according to the National Geological Survey, it would
take 10 years for any oil from the ANWR to reach the market. And even
when production would peak a quarter century from now, it would still
account for just 2 percent of U.S. demand. In fact, the Bush
administration's own analysis confirms energy prices would not be
lower if its energy bill was law.

DESPITE CONSOLIDATION, BUSH PUSHES OIL INDUSTRY APPOINTEE: Despite
mass consolidation in the energy industry causing a huge spike in
energy prices, President Bush is attempting to appoint a ChevronTexaco
representative to run the Federal Trade Commission – the regulatory
body that oversees mergers. Since 2000, ChevronTexaco executives have
given the Bush-Cheney campaign more than $23,000, and the RNC more
than $1.2 million in soft money. Since he took office, Bush has
"allowed an increase in oil refinery mergers to go unchecked" and
rampant consolidation "may have contributed to the highest gasoline
prices in 20 years." The Bush administration has approved 33 oil
refinery takeovers worth $19.5 billion and hasn't tried to block any.
The Boston Globe reports, "the result is big players control far
greater market share." Last year, the five biggest US oil companies
controlled 63.4 percent of the country's retail gasoline market, up
from 46.2 percent in 1997, according to an industry trade publication,
National Petroleum News.

TERRORISM
On-Time Delivery

According to an article in The New Republic three weeks ago, a White
House aide told a Pakistani official last spring that "it would be
best if the arrest or killing of [any] HVT (High Value Targets) were
announced on twenty-six, twenty-seven, or twenty-eight July," or the
first three days of the Democratic National Convention in Boston.
Well, they were one day late, but the Bush administration will
probably take it: Yesterday, July 29, "just hours before US
presidential candidate John Kerry delivered his acceptance speech at
the Democratic National Convention in Boston," Pakistani officials
announced they had captured Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, one of the United
States' 21 most-wanted terrorists. The arrest is good news, but the
timing of the announcement is raising questions, especially
considering "Pakistani officials say Mr. Ghailani was captured last
Sunday."

"basskisser" wrote in message
om...
ENERGY
The Great Energy Divide

In his speech to the Democratic National Convention last night, Sen.
John Kerry drew many distinctions between himself and President George
W. Bush. One of the most striking policy divides was on the issue of
energy.

Read what the Washington Post's liberal editorial board had to say yesterday
about Kerry's energy plan:

"But however appealing it may be to voters, even the candidate is by some
accounts well aware that "energy independence" is a fiction. To put it
bluntly, the United States consumes far more energy than it produces. For
the near future, and certainly well beyond the eight years Mr. Kerry could
be president, there is no possibility of genuine energy independence, nor is
it clear that that is a worthwhile goal. "

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Our economy is dependent on oil. Until we have a viable energy alternative
to oil, then any attempt by a terrorist organization to destroy our economy
by limiting the flow of oil to our country, should be pre-emptively deal
with exactly the way Bush handled it.

Kerry's speech was filled with all warm and fuzzy platitudes, but did not
give any details, except to say "our plan" will do so and so. On top of all
the other social engineering he proposed. He even said we can spend $10,000
a year on each and every disadvantaged child so we can save $50,000 it costs
us to send to prison. Is Kerry saying that 1 out of 5 children coming from
a disadvantaged household is going to go to prison for an average sentence
of 18 yrs? What he didn't tell us is how many children would qualify for
this $10,000 a yr. I would love to see Kerry state how much it will
actually cost to provide $180,000 for each child born into a disadvanted
child (from birth to his 18th birthday).. Now if the government actually
pays for the cost of college for these disadvantaged children, the bill will
be substantially more.

All of Kerry's platitudes sounded great, and we would all love to have it
happened, but how will we pay for it. It can't only come from the "rich"
(those making over $200,000 a yr) it would have to come at the expense of
those paying the bulk of the taxes, the middle class, including a large
percent of the democrats who think only the other guy is actually going to
pay for his programs.

There is no way Kerry would be able to implement half of what he promised,
but if he can buy votes with false promises he will keep adding new promises
to his platform.


"NOYB" wrote in message
ink.net...

"basskisser" wrote in message
om...
ENERGY
The Great Energy Divide

In his speech to the Democratic National Convention last night, Sen.
John Kerry drew many distinctions between himself and President George
W. Bush. One of the most striking policy divides was on the issue of
energy.

Read what the Washington Post's liberal editorial board had to say
yesterday
about Kerry's energy plan:

"But however appealing it may be to voters, even the candidate is by some
accounts well aware that "energy independence" is a fiction. To put it
bluntly, the United States consumes far more energy than it produces. For
the near future, and certainly well beyond the eight years Mr. Kerry could
be president, there is no possibility of genuine energy independence, nor
is
it clear that that is a worthwhile goal. "

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Our economy is dependent on oil. Until we have a viable energy
alternative
to oil, then any attempt by a terrorist organization to destroy our
economy
by limiting the flow of oil to our country, should be pre-emptively deal
with exactly the way Bush handled it.