OIL NEARS $117 A BARREL ...

The first thing we should do about the oil situation is Drill in ANWR Tap the known reserves of oil and natural gas off the West coast of Florida Develop ways to use the oil shale from the Western United States Develop coal gasification techniques Build more refineries Build nuclear power plants Something else

And our "friends" the Saudis are balking at increasing production. So while they continue to screw with us on oil ... let's be sure to respond here in this country by:

1. Refusing to drill in ANWR for more oil in the very portion of ANWR that was set aside for the purpose of drilling for more oil.
2. Refuse to tap the known reserves of oil and natural gas off the West coast of Florida because, after all, we certainly don't want tourists in Florida to catch sight of a drilling rig 25 miles off shore now do we?
3. Refuse to develop ways to use the oil shale from the Western United States.
4. Refuse to develop coal gasification techniques.
5. Refuse to build any more refineries in the United States.
6. Listen to the anti-nuke moonbats and continue to delay building some nuclear power plants.

And while we're doing all of these things let's make sure to keep the subsidies for ethanol at a ridiculous high so that we can take more land out of food production to grow more corn to be turned into an alternative fuel. We burn more than a gallon of fossil fuels to produce a gallon of ethanol .. so this sounds like a good bet to me!

Oh ... and let's continue to call the Saudis our friends and kiss their sandy butts at every possible opportunity.

TIME TO OPEN A BOTTLE OF WHINE

Some entrepreneur out there has just spent $500,000 for 27 bottles of red wine. The purchase was made from an antique wine seller in London. No .. he didn't buy the wine as an investment. He bought it to drink. That's what some people do with wine, you know. So let's all sit back now and wait for the whining to start. "He could have spent that on the poor!" "He could have spent that money to pay off some mortgages for people who were going to lose their homes!" "He could have spent that money to pay for the health care of some poor sick child!" You know the routine. Whenever someone who has worked hard and smart to become wealthy and then spends that wealth on something that someone else deems trivial ... we hear complaints. Remember, in the wonderful world of the left --- it is perfectly OK if you work hard and earn as much as you can, as long as you spend it the way the leftists think you should.

Oh .. while we're at it. A mansion in Palm Beach, Florida just sold for over $80 million. Just think how many mortgages could have been brought up to date for poor people with that money.

Oh, the humanity!

DEMS DON'T WANT YOU TO BE SELF-RELIANT

Just in case you haven't already noticed, whenever a policy proposal is made that would increase self-reliance and decrease dependency on government you will find the Democrats lined up against it ... every single time. These people believe that America is great because of government .. not because of the hard work, perseverance and determination of the American people.

Democrats like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama try to make you believe that they actually care about your healthcare. That's horsecrap. The truth of the matter is: they don't. They care about power. Democrats want to provide government healthcare or insurance programs for one reason ... because they realize that controlling your health care means controlling you. Power. Don't believe me? Here's the latest. Take a look at what your Democrat-run House of Representatives did just this past week.

You do know what a Health Savings Account is, don't you? This is where you can set aside up to $2,900 every year in a special tax-free savings account. The money is allowed to cumulate year after year. This is before tax money. Then, with this money sitting in your HSA you can go out and buy a high-deductible health insurance policy that will be much less expensive than the policy you have today. You can then use the HSA money for your medical care and let the high-deductible health insurance policy kick in much later.

Well ... here come the Democrats. They don't like Health Savings Accounts. And why not? Because when you have that money stashed away for medical expenses, and when you can afford to buy a high-deductible health insurance policy, you won't be standing around screaming for the government to do something about your health care. So the Democrat House passes legislation that will require every Health Savings Account transaction to be reviewed and verified by some government agency as a legitimate medical expense.

Wait! You mean that nobody is verifying that the bills paid from the HSA are a legitimate medical expense now? Well of course someone is. The IRS watches to make sure you are spending this money on legitimate medical expenses, and not on Hanna Montana concert tickets. Not good enough for Democrats. They want another level of bureaucracy. And what is the purpose of this extra bureaucratic level? To harass people with HSAs. Nothing more.

So what is really going on here? Democrats are trying to kill free market options for health insurance by bogging them down with government regulations. They are using the power of government to chase you from private sector options into the gaping maw of government. This is the same party that claims it has your best interests at heart ... that it is your "human right" to have government provided healthcare.

There is another layer to this. It's called wealth envy. Liberals view these Health Saving Accounts as "insurance for the healthy and wealthy." Never mind that anyone can have this account. Democrats know, however, that some of their loyal constituents might rather spend the money on cell phones and sixpacks than on a Health Savings Account ... especially when they have their government nannies waiting to take care of them. "You just go ahead and obligate yourself for that huge car payment sweetie, we're here to take care of the really important stuff."

But even though the Democrats view these saving plans as solely for the wealthy ... if they took the time to do a little bit of homework they would see that this isn't the case. Since the creation of these accounts in 2003, over 3 million accounts have been opened, covering 4.5 million Americans. And a third of these new HSA users previously had no insurance. And 30% were small businesses that had previously never offered coverage to their employees. This should be great, right? This is what the Democrats complain about – those 30 million uninsured Americans ...

At the end of the day, we can thank Representative Pete Stark, the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee. It is Pete Stark's main goal as a politician to bring government-run healthcare to this country. He actually once compared these Health Savings Accounts to "weapons of mass destruction" because they introduce more individual choice into the healthcare marketplace.

And these are the people that you want to allow to provide your healthcare in the future.

HILLARY'S MEDIAMORONS

Whew! That was a close one. I almost went a whole week without being featured on the George Soros funded Hillary Clinton created anti-talk radio site MediaMorons! I pledged on Monday I would manage to draw their attention before the week was out ... and sure enough, Thursday they gave me the recognition I so richly deserve. Here's the MediaMorons synopsis of my evil deeds for the past week:

Summary: Neal Boortz asserted that "the single most dangerous entity, group of people in this country right now are the teachers unions," adding that "[t]hey do more damage to this country than all the drug pushers together. ... If I had a button right now, two buttons -- push this button and it gets rid of all the drug dealers; push this button, it gets rid of the teachers unions -- I'm getting rid of the teachers unions."

Gotta love it. Liberals, you see, react with absolute horror whenever someone attacks their precious government indoctrination centers they call "public schools." It is in these hideous institutions that our children are taught that government is there for them at every turn of their lives from womb to tomb. Government is always there to pick them up when they fall, heal their wounds, and give them safe passage through life. It is in these government "schools" that our children learn that self-reliance is for suckers and dependency on government is the path to true happiness. The people of this country are slowly coming to realize that our children are being ruined by these grotesque institutions, but so long as the teacher's unions remain so politically powerful getting any valid and useful school choice legislation passed is iffy at best.

So .. MediaMorons ... thanks for helping me to highlight the problem.

Now ... for this week we'll try to get super-lefty Ellen at that "we watch Fox News so you don't have to" website to wee wee all over herself over another one of my Fox News appearances. First, I guess, I'll have to be invited onto a Fox News show of some kind.

GOVERNMENT FLASHCARDS

The Department of Homeland Security is using taxpayer money to provide immigrants with flashcards so they can practice for their citizenship test. [pdf] Considering these are coming right from the government, you would expect the information on the cards to be correct ... but then again, we are talking about government.

Let's take a look at one of my favorite flashcards. Question #93 asks: What is the most important right granted to United States citizens? Well I could think of a few ... the right to life, liberty, pursuit of happiness, the right to bear arms, right to free speech, and the list goes on. But according to our own federal government, the most important right that is granted to US citizens is the right to vote. How about a flash card that asks where in our Constitution or Bill of Rights does it guarantee our right to vote? The correct answer would be nowhere. In fact, as we said before on the show, the U.S. Supreme Court has specifically ruled that there is no Constitutional right to vote in a federal election. Never mind the Supreme Court though ... the government just goes on teaching new citizens ... that the greatest and most sacred right you will have as a citizen of this country is the right to vote.

As if you need to read any more of these flashcards after that one (because they are all horsesqueeze to begin with), but question #91 asks: Name one benefit of being a citizen of the United States. Gosh, I don't know. How about living in a society that is based on the idea of freedom and liberty of the individual. Oh, but I guess when the card said "benefit" it meant what the government could do for you. In that case, the government's answer is, "To obtain Federal Government jobs, to travel with a U.S. passport, or to petition for close relatives to come to the United States to live." In other words, as a US citizen you will benefit from your ability to get a job working for the government. If that is the greatest benefit this country has to offer, we have sadly gone way off course.

OBAMA AND BILL AYERS

Obama's relationship with Bill Ayers has exploded (finally) into the mainstream media. Bill Ayers is a known terrorist. He is unapologetic about his antics as a member of the Weather Underground. Come on, folks. This idiot said that he regretted not planting more bombs! We're burying American servicemen and women who are killed by terrorist bombs in Iraq, and we tolerate a presidential candidate who kisses up to a leftist maniac who did the same thing here in our own country? Why is Bill Ayers important to the Obama equation? That would be because he helped Barack Obama launch his political career. That, my friends, is what the Democrats and their pals in the media don't want you to know.

It's outrageous for the Obama camp to assume that his relationship with Bill Ayers would not be an issue in this campaign. After being questioned about it in last week's debate, Obama's chief strategist, David Axelrod, says that only now is Obama's campaign "expanding its research and rapid-response team in part to counteract charges about Ayers." In the debate, Obama dismissed his relationship with Ayers as "a guy who lives in my neighborhood." He's a freaking terrorist! He and his group planted bombs aimed at police officers and civilians! And Obama calls him a guy who lived in his neighborhood? What the hell!

I'll tell you who Bill Ayers is. He's the guy that Barack Obama had to go to for approval before launching his political career. He sat in a living room with Bill Ayers, just waiting for him to introduce him to the Hyde Park community as the next greatest thing. We also have the inconvenient fact that for years Obama and Ayers served together on the same board of the Woods Fund of Chicago. And in 2001, Ayers contributed money to Obama's Senate reelection campaign. And Obama really thinks he can get away with "This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood"?

So John McCain says that Obama's defense "borders on the outrageous." Agreed. McCain says, "He became friends with him and spent time with him while the guy was unrepentant over his activities as a member of a terrorist organization, the Weathermen ... Does he condemn them? Would he condemn someone who says they're unrepentant and wished that they had bombed more?" All of these questions are one that the mainstream media would never dare ask.

For all of you who are curious, here's a brief resume for Bill Ayers. Sounds like the kind of guy I would want launching my political career.

AN ISLAMIC ARMY

While the UN sits around and allows Iran to continue its pursuit of nuclear technology, a high ranking Iranian cleric has announced that Iran should grow into a military superpower with the purpose of defending all Muslims. Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said live on state radio, "In a not so distant future, we should reach a point to have the most powerful military equipment in the world so that no one even think about invading our borders." These borders would not only include Iran but all the borders of Islamic states everywhere. Iran must defend "oppressed Muslims everywhere so that the enemies do not dare to attack Afghanistan, Palestine and Iraq."

I promise you that if the Ayatollah Weird Beard realizes his dream of an invincible Islamic army, the concept of "defending oppressed Muslims everywhere" will be expanded to mean promoting Islamic terrorism worldwide.

Let's just stay asleep on this one. These people are surely harmless.

DRIVING WHILE ILLEGAL

Here are some shocking statistics about illegal aliens and drunk driving. We've been hearing more and more of these stories about car crashes caused by drunk illegal aliens ... and it turns out that we are hearing about them more, because they are happening more.

In North Carolina, nearly 300 illegal immigrants were convicted of drunk driving in 2007 alone. Also, Hispanics in North Carolina account for 18% of drunk driving arrests. But here's the kicker, Hispanics only make up 7% of the state's population. Hard drinking and driving people, these illegals.

A study conducted by the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center found that Hispanics involved in car crashes were 2.5 times more likely to be drunk than white drivers and three times more likely to be drunk than black drivers.

OMG! Are we profiling here?

In many cases, like this rash of cases they are experiencing in North Carolina, these illegals have had many run-ins with the law ... and yet they are never deported.

FAIL

A mugshot from DeKalb County, Georgia. I guess she CAN'T get away with anything....More fail fun here.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

Hillary is upset with her own MoveOn.org Democrats ... which is ironic considering the fact that the organization was created to save her husband from impeachment.

And it looks like the Democrats are spending quite a bit of time looking for dirt on McCain. Yeah ... so someone else suggest I ought to run.

Take Hillary Clinton's quiz to see if you can name who is using the Republican Attack Playbook to attack her campaign.

From Great Britain: Why women shouldn't vote for Hillary Clinton.

But don't give up Hillary. You can still out-pander Obama. Here's your handy guide.

Things are looking up for the Second Amendment .. but things can change. As long as guns are a symbol of American self-reliance, liberals will never give up trying to take them away.

Mark Steyn has some thoughts on guns and God. If there's one thing America shouldn't be, it's bitter.

Liberal journalists of the lamestream media have written an open letter to ABC because they are upset about the recent Democrat debate. Oh poor Obama. Did some mean reporter ask him some tough questions?

Here's a good strategy for the Democrats: "Ask not what you can do for your country. Make someone else pay for it."

A license to take pictures in public? Don't worry, the government is only trying to protect the children.

When Florida is having budget problems, it decides to cut the sales tax holiday on hurricane supplies, rather than reduce government spending. I know. It's tough to believe .. .but you have to remember we're dealing with government here.

Iran has come up with a new fancy label for the US government and its belief that Iran is a threat to our security: "Iranophobia." How cute.

Indonesia (one of those "moderate" Muslim nations) is really excited to be getting mosques in shopping malls so shoppers won't miss their daily prayers. Now if they could just get those toilets turned around.

Harvard started out with women-only gym times to accommodate Muslims. It called Muslims to prayer across its campus. Now it is working on "integrating" Islamic finance into the mainstream economy.

Police in Great Britain had to cancel one of the St George's Day parades for "health and safety" reasons. Apparently that's the new code for ... because it would be offensive to Muslims. Well ... you gotta remember, if Muslims get offended they just might strap on a bomb.

Investigating CEO pay is a wonderful class warfare tool .. but there are other people who need looking at also. Kobe Bryant, for example.

An eighth grader in Kentucky faces felony charges after he put crumbled peanut butter cookies in the lunch box of another student who has peanut allergies.

Here we go. Now green funerals are becoming popular with cardboard coffins, clothes sewn from natural fibers, a burial plot in a natural setting.

Are you the victim of "greenwashing"? That would be buying a product that says it's environmentally friendly when that might not be the case.

When a couple wants to create a contest for someone to win their home, the government finds a reason why they can't do this ... because it is illegal under the Bingo and Raffle Act. Remember ... government has a monopoly on gambling.

I was wondering why we haven't heard from Ron Paul supporters for a while ... because they are too busy establishing their own community containing 100% Ron Paul supporters. Sort of a whacked out version of The Villages.

Banned by YouTube. But not banned here.

A morgue in Sydney, Australia has been forced to buy a forklift truck to handle the growing number of obese corpses.

Did Obama flip Hillary off?

Does this report say that prominent scientists are reversing their belief in man-made global warming? Have them shot! Or at least take away their government funding. Oh, wait. If they were being funded by the government they wouldn't be saying these things.

When you report that your president is going to be leaving his wife and marrying a gymnast ... the logical response would be for the government to shut down the paper that made the report. At least if you are in Russia.

ABC News does some real hard-hitting journalism and calculates all of the Mercedes Benzes and chocolate chip cookies those evil rich hedge funds managers could buy with their billion dollar incomes.

European Union health and safety laws are really concerned about the health risks of bagpipes in Scotland.

Please ... just don't ask this guy to lift his shirt again, OK? I may have to eat again sometime in the next 24 hours.

Even if you don't like cats, you'll enjoy the engineer's guide to cats.

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