Commentary

In my last post I covered material from my “stack of stuff” on immigration, inflation, Biden corruption, the midterms and climate change, leaving you with “more stuff in my next post.”  Here goes.

Energy

It’s bad enough that we have a president who is clueless on energy matters, but he hired two individuals ill-equipped to provide proper guidance to him at a time when it is needed most.  Now.

I’m writing about Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

Make no mistake, Granholm isn’t interested in the least about the price of gas at the pump.  “That’s hilarious,” she said while laughing at the Bloomberg News question of producing more oil. “Would that I had a magic wand on this.”

“We’re working through an energy transition,” she said, but “the reality is we have to take some time to get off oil and gas.”  Granholm wants us to use less fossil fuels.

Just four months ago, when the average gas price in Michigan was $3.35 per gallon, she said the nation would turn the corner on soaring gas prices in early 2022.  That’s now.  And the average price there is $4.18 per gallon

In my last post, I mentioned the proposed change in the Café standards revealed by Buttigieg, who in a matter of months, has become an expert in transportation and supply chain, after serving as mayor of South Bend, Indiana.  He argues that people should buy an electric vehicle and “never have to worry about gas prices again.”

Wind and Solar – While the Biden administration wants to speed up the transition to renewable energy sources, wind and solar developers are facing project delays due to higher prices for aluminum and steel, and the transportation costs associated with them.

Trade tariffs on China, the dominant producer of solar panels and other energy components, have resulted in increased prices. Prices for solar panels have gone up 12.1 percent, while wind turbines have increased by 19.2 percent.

Why are we held hostage by a president and a handful of radical progressives pushing wind and solar, when it only accounts for 6.4 percent (wind) and 4 percent (solar) of power generation?

Rather than reversing his ill-advised decisions on the Keystone pipeline and more production, here’s the president’s response @POTUS: “This crisis is a stark reminder. To protect our economy over the long term, we need to become energy independent.  It should motivate us to accelerate our transition to a clean energy future.”

After our green obsessed president told Americans they could save $500 a month by using cleaner energy like solar and heat pumps, the White House was again forced to walk back his remark and state that he meant to say $500 a year.

The Political Scene

Two encouraging forecasts for the midterm election came to my attention at the same time.  The first one a preview of the House Republican Commitment to America, written by former Speaker Newt Gingrich, who likened it to his successful Contract with America of 1994.

He likes the fact that Leader Kevin McCarthy sees it as a simple mission “to save America.”  The impact of rising food prices will dominate the political discussion with a battle cry, “we can’t afford it.”

As guest speaker at the Congressional Institute’s Issue Conference for the House Republicans. Gingrich emphasized that the commitment needed to be directed at all Americans, not just Republicans.

The second forecast came from an American Greatness piece written by Victor Davis Hanson, who warned the elites “will soon reap the whirlwind of an angry public.”

“In the November 2022 midterms, we are likely to see a historic ‘No!’ to the orthodox left-wing agenda that has resulted in unsustainable inflation, unaffordable energy, war, and humiliation abroad, spiraling crime, racial hostility, and arrogant defiance from those who deliberately enacted those disastrous policies.”

Trump and 2024

A number of Republicans have voiced concern over former President Trump’s tendency to want to re-live the 2020 election … being rigged, stolen.  In Robert Spencer’s PJ Media recent piece, he noted Trump’s negative view of President Biden, however, he offered hope for the future.  “It’s so sad to see what’s happened to our great USA, but we can come back.  I think these midterms are vital, just vital,” he said.

During a rally in Michigan Saturday night, Trump said, “who would have even believed that we’d be talking about this stuff?” referring to “extremist sex and gender ideology.”  He called on Republicans to “stand up for parental rights.”

Now, more than ever … may God continue to bless the United States of America.