Drill Baby Drill!!!

We have millions out of work, gas prices are going up - around $4.00 a gallon in some places, inflation and higher energy costs are raising prices across the board, and the answers to our problems are right in front of us. Is it ignorance? Or have we actually elected people who are purposely against American prosperity? I truly hope that is not the case. Most Americans, including myself, want to think the best of our elected leaders, but in times like these, you wonder.

Just in the two years of the current administration, we have seen them lending money to Brazil for deep water exploration. A foreign, state-run oil company can drill and even receive US government handouts, but our own privately owned oil companies are prevented by this administration from drilling in the Gulf of Mexico in defiance of a court order.

But forget the politics for a moment a consider the economic impact. A study was just completed by the University of Alaska Anchorage together with Northern Economics on the economic impact of drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf of just two areas of Alaska.

Now remember, this is just two relatively small areas of North America, but the economic impact is staggering.

• Over 50 years, drilling in the Beaufort and Chukchi OCSs would generate $97 and $96 Billion respectively in revenue to federal, state and local governments.
• An annual average of 54,700 jobs nationwide, with a payroll of $145 Billion over 50 years.
• There is an estimated 30 Billion barrels of oil and gas reserves in the Chukchi Sea alone.

The US imports a significant portion of its oil every year, sometimes from nations that aren't so friendly and use oil revenue to fund the very terrorists we fight. There is no reason to believe that if other areas of North America were opened to exploration and drilling, America would soon become an exporter of oil, not an importer. The jobs created, increased tax revenue, lease payments and royalties, along with lower energy costs, would be a massive stimulus to the economy. And these would be real jobs, not show up and do nothing government union jobs that drain the economy of productivity and capital.

It really makes you wonder exactly whose side the current administration is on.

And Then Obama Said, "Let There Be Jobs."

President-elect Obama - BTW, until he has a day in court and proves that he is Constitutionally qualified, I have a hard time accepting him as President. He needs to immediately produce the paperwork and prove that he is in fact a "natural born citizen" and fully qualified to be President. These doubts cannot linger past the inauguration. If he will take these very basic steps, like every other employee and prove citizenship, he will have my respect (for the office of POTUS) and my prayers for wisdom and success as Bibically commanded.

The POTUS-elect has announced a plan to "create" new jobs, over 2.5 million. He claims he will do this by putting them to work building bridges, to where, who knows and fixing schools - yep that is a good strategy for success. He also added that his administration would "invest" in alternative energy.

Why are Americans so gullible to buy this bilge? Government NEVER creates jobs. They simply take from one group and redistribute it to another. Just like Clinton's 100,000 new cops, give or take a few tens of thousands, these are short term jobs that disappear when Federal funds go away. And they will. The state and local governments will not have the means to fund these jobs, nor should they beyond their budget capability.

The economy grows when government lowers taxes and allows more money to stay in the hands of those who will spend it and invest it in job creation. Any formula involving government "investing" or "creating jobs" will utimately collapse when the higher taxes required to support this welfare cannot be collected.