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Today the Senate turns its attention to the nation's energy crisis. With gas prices at an all-time high, the majority of Americans -- 62 percent -- would like to see their elected officials increase supply by lowering bans on new energy production by drilling offshore.
Instead, Democrats are promoting legislation that will surely push the oil futures market overseas and expose the process to less sunlight, not more -- even after declaring the need for more transparency, not less.
Explains a Wall Street Journal editorial today:
Because commodity futures trading is a complex financial instrument, "speculation" makes an expedient scapegoat for edgy lawmakers and even aggrieved industries -- such as the airlines. But it performs a vital price-discovery function. Major energy producers and consumers, such as refiners, buy and sell these contracts to lock in oil at a future price, as a shock absorber against volatility. Essentially, they're bets that reveal market expectations about the supply and demand of oil, as well as the rate of inflation.
Even the title of the Senate's bill -- the "Stop Excessive Energy Speculation Act" -- is idiotic. True, the volume of trading has increased by about sixfold since 2000, but it can't be "excessive." The inviolable law of futures markets is that someone has to take the other side of any option. That is, the value of contracts agreed to by sellers anticipating that prices will fall must equal the value of contracts agreed to by buyers anticipating prices will rise. The overall size of the market is irrelevant.
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Last night Sen. DeMint discussed problems he sees with using taxpayer dollars to buyout mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and why they should no longer be able to lobby if the deal goes through. The entire interview is broken into two parts below:
Part 1
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Over at National Review's The Corner, the title of Larry Kudlow's blog post today reads: "Bush Says Drill, Drill, Drill — and Oil Drops $9!" So, what about all that liberal talk about how allowing new drilling now won't make a difference for at least a decade? Looks like it was just talk, according to Kudlow's blog post:
In a dramatic move yesterday President Bush removed the executive-branch moratorium on offshore drilling. Today, at a news conference, Bush repeated his new position, and slammed the Democratic Congress for not removing the congressional moratorium on the Outer Continental Shelf and elsewhere. Crude-oil futures for August delivery plunged $9.26, or 6.3 percent, almost immediately as Bush was speaking, bringing the barrel price down to $136...
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President Bush speaking this morning from the White House Rose Garden:
For more information on the matter, check out this article from the Associated Press.
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Sens. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) followed Sen. DeMint to the floor Thursday afternoon to urge the Senate to make energy its top priority. Watch the clips of their speeches below:
Sen. Gregg
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On the Senate floor this afternoon, Sen. DeMint explained why its critical the Senate make the nation's energy issues its top priority:
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Click here to view the full text of the proposed $50 billion President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) agreement.
One of aspect of the bill of particular concern is the $10 billion for the UN Global Fund. Reports have surfaced this year that the Global Fund has given millions of dollars in grants to programs in China that are responsible for forced abortions:A study just released by the Gerard Health Foundation provides evidence that Global Fund grants are supporting abortion providers in China, which is a direct violation of the Mexico City Policy... Lest there be any doubt about the intent of these organizations, the grant from China approved by the Global Fund includes country population and family planning services in the list of "responsible implanting agencies." The amount of Global Fund grants awarded to China for HIV/AIDS prevention totals $171 million, which means about $58 million of that amount came from the United States. Sen. DeMint announced yesterday that he has several amendments that he would like to offer to the bill if permitted, including a prohibition on use of funds for coerced abortions in China.
Below is a list of concerns contained in the agreement, along with the page numbers where they can be found...
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A few weeks back, in the House of Representatives, a bipartisan group of 23 members of Congress spoke for almost two hours on the floor, taking turns describing our nation’s rich history of faith.
Below are a few quotes from the members' speeches:
House Special Order: June 17, 2008
Rep. J. Randy Forbes (R-Va.): “The first act of Congress, 1774, they asked a minister to open with prayer, and they read four chapters of the Bible. And during the Civil War we are told that soldiers on both sides, Union and Confederates, that religion was the greatest sustainer of morale. Of course we know numerous stories of the great faith of men and women as they were in slavery and fought to get out of that horrible institution. In 1815, over 2,000 official government calls to prayer had been made by States in the Federal Government, and thousands more have been made since then. In 1864 Congress added ``In God We Trust'' to the American coinage…”
Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.): ``We have been assured,'' said Franklin, ``in the sacred writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. I firmly believe this,'' said Franklin, ``and I also believe that without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel.'” What a challenge to us today. What a challenge that that old man, at that time, Franklin, made to all of those young men who were ready to go out and announce what they'd done politically for a new country. But he himself said ``we can only secure these blessings of liberty for ourselves and posterity when we take time too first pray and rely upon the hand of Almighty God.'' And that those 39 men did. Before they walked out of what is today known as Independence Hall to announce that we had a constitution for this new country, they spent time in prayer.”
Rep. Steve Pearce (R-N.M.): “In this country we're beginning to hear people say that if you declare faith publicly, you're infringing on their rights. I simply do not agree or believe in that...
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