Happy Earth Day

I know - raised eyebrows.  After-all, I make no bones about the fact that I am conservative and so that must make me a dirty capitalist who wants to burn Mother Earth, right?  Wrong.

I believe that we should drill early and often to develop new oil fields for domestic production. At the same time, I believe that we should do whatever we can, in the private sector, to develop new energy sources that are renewable and have less impact on the environment.  Why then, should we drill?  Because destroying our economy in order to punish energy use will not build the new technologies we need.  Because it will take 30 - 50 years to develop the right combination of new energy and delivery systems to make those new sources (Not corn ethanol) viable and available.


I believe that we should all try to be more mindful of our own impacts on the planet.  For me, that means recycling and compost gardening.  I am learning more all the time about compost and organic gardening.  I think growing a garden and sharing the surplus with others as you can is a great way to feel closer to the Earth.  I think getting your hands dirty is great stress relief.

I believe we, as consumers, can impact companies and whether or not they use renewable methods for packaging, manufacturing and materials with our purchasing power.  We don't need the government to tell us what kind of products we can buy - like light-bulbs or toilet paper.  Less government means more variety of responses to helping the planet.

I believe that the enviro-nuts who keep extolling us to live in caves and "save the planet" are way too impressed with their minute impact on Mother Earth.  The earth is magnificent.  It has been here for billions of years without us and will continue to be here for billions of years until the sun burns out.  Earth needs our respect and care; it doesn't need our meager efforts to "save" her.  We try all this "regulation" at the federal level and UN level to cut carbon dioxide (want to cut CO2? Stop exhaling) and the volcano in Iceland spewed more CO2 out in one week than mankind has in decades.  Earth doesn't care about our efforts - she is more powerful than we ever thought to be.

So, Happy Earth Day; be kind to the Earth; learn more about our wonderful planet; plant a tree.  Be smart.

Are you a HENRY?

What, you may ask is a HENRY.  HENRY stands for "high earner, not rich yet".  I will not lie, I am a HENRY. I aspire to be rich.  It is a goal of mine.  You may ask why.  Why would I want to be one of the "evil rich". 

Well, first of all, I don't see that rich people can all be categorized as "evil".  If you work hard and choose to save and scrape and have money, who has the right to tell you that you are evil?  When does the fruit of a man's labor become "evil profits"?

Second, I like to help others and the more disposable income I have, the more people and animals I can help.  I can sponsor more children around the world like we do through Catholic Charities.  I can donate more of my time like I do to my church.  I will be able to own land so I can help more horses and animals that need rescue.  I can choose where more of my dollars go to help more of those in need.

Third, I want to be able to leave a good life to my children and grandchildren.  If I am willing to bust my butt working hard to build a business and a chunk of savings, I can give more opportunities to my family.  Most Americans aspire to give their children a better life - whether that is through an education, a family business or the freedom to chase a dream, that is the choice of the person who is building that empire.

We have heard for some time that "profit is evil" and that "rich people are greedy".  Well, baloney.  There are plenty of people, poor, middle class and rich that are not nice, that are greedy and that don't care a hoot about others.  On the opposite side, there are plenty of rich people who do care a lot.  Bill Gates is one.  John Hunstman is another.  Being rich doesn't make one evil.  Neither does being poor make one virtuous.

When does a company become "evil"?  There is a point that profit becomes questionable by reasonable standards.  When a company pays its CEO so much money and then turns around and cuts benefits for the workers to the bone or lays off innumerable workers just so they can pay that CEO more; that raises a red flag.  But, you know what?  Those public companies that do act in that manner answer to their shareholders, investors and consumers.  Just as the companies in the 1980's that divested of their investments in South Africa to protest apartheid, so too can YOU the consumer protest this type of behavior.  It may not  solve the problem overnight, but eventually, the company will get the message.

So, what is wrong with being rich and having to pay more in taxes because "you can afford it"?  That goes against the grain of everything America offers through our meritocracy.  Punishing the rich for being successful is a double edged sword.  As a business owner, I love rich customers.  They buy more products.  When they buy more, I make more money that I can then use downstream in the economy.  When you cripple the rich with vengeful taxation policies, you actually hurt the workers in the economy.  When the rich cut back on expenditures, the companies that make the products that are no longer purchased suffer.  They lay off workers, and the whole spiral continues downward.

Ultimately, rich people and profits are not evil.  They are what drive our economy and what grow jobs.  I hope there are more rich people in America and someday, I hope to be one.  For now, I remain a hard working HENRY who still pays way too much in taxes.

Conservative vs Liberal

This has been circulating for a while but it deserves reprinting:

Conservative vs Liberal

If a conservative doesn’t like guns, he doesn`t buy one.

If a liberal doesn’t like guns, he feels that no one should have one.

If a conservative is a vegetarian, he doesn`t eat meat.

If a liberal is a vegetarian, he wants to ban all meat products for everyone.

If a conservative sees a foreign threat, he thinks about how to defeat his enemy.

A liberal wonders how to surrender gracefully and still look good.

If a conservative is homosexual, he quietly leads his life.

If a liberal is homosexual, he loudly demands legislated respect.

If a black man or Hispanic is conservative, they see themselves as independently successful.

Their liberal counterparts see themselves as victims in need of government protection.

If a conservative is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation.

A liberal wonders who is going to take care of him.

If a conservative doesn’t like a talk show host, he switches channels.

Liberals demand that those they don’t like be shut down.

If a conservative is a non-believer, he doesn’t go to church.

A liberal non-believer wants any mention of God or religion silenced.

If a conservative decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping for it, or may choose a job that provides it.

A liberal demands that the rest of us pay for his.

Some generalizations but pretty close to the truth from what I see these days…

Drill Baby Drill? Not so much.

Amazing subterfuge today once again from the "most transparent administration ever". [Cough]  Met this morning with somewhat surprising news, perhaps you felt hopeful?

The Obama administration is proposing to open vast expanses of water along the Atlantic coastline, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the north coast of Alaska to oil and natural gas drilling, much of it for the first time, officials said Tuesday.
The proposal — a compromise that will please oil companies and domestic drilling advocates but anger some residents of affected states and many environmental organizations — would end a longstanding moratorium on oil exploration along the East Coast from the northern tip of Delaware to the central coast of Florida, covering 167 million acres of ocean.

If this was the actual truth from Obama's mouth, the right and all Americans would have much to celebrate.  Sadly, as usual, with the Obama administration, nothing is as it seems.  Here's the  catch, via the American Energy Alliance:

“One major flashpoint in the negotiations has been whether to share drilling revenue with states and to allow states to opt in or out of drilling along their coastlines. It was unclear late Tuesday whether Obama endorses revenue-sharing for states. “It appears the Northern Atlantic and entire Pacific Coast will now be under a de facto ban” for drilling, said Patrick Creighton, a spokesman for the Institute for Energy Research. Even if drilling is ultimately allowed in part of the Atlantic, Creighton said, revenue sharing is an essential incentive for states. The administration’s plans could meet resistance from at least 10 Senate Democrats representing coastal and Great Lakes states who last week raised concerns about “unfettered access to oil and gas drilling” that could jeopardize fishing, tourism and military exercises. The Interior Department retooled the current schedule of offshore leases governing 2007 through 2012 after a federal appeals court last April ruled that the second Bush administration had not done a sufficient environmental review of expanded drilling off the Alaskan coast.

GOP Rep. Mike Pence adds:

“As usual the devil is in the details. Only in Washington, D.C., can you ban more areas to oil and gas exploration than you open up, delay the date of your new leases and claim you’re going to increase production.
“The President’s announcement today is a smokescreen. It will almost certainly delay any new offshore exploration until at least 2012 and include only a fraction of the offshore resources that the previous Administration included in its plan.
“Unfortunately, this is yet another feeble attempt to gain votes for the President’s national energy tax bill that is languishing in the Senate. At the end of the day this Administration’s energy plan is simple: increase the cost of energy on every family in America and trade American jobs oversees at a time when millions of Americans are looking for work.”

So, as it stands we remain tied to the Middle East and the oil whims of OPEC.  How completely disappointing - and yet how typical of Obama.

Here's your ice cream

From a teacher in the Nashville area

"We are worried about 'the cow' when it is all about the 'Ice Cream.'

The most eye-opening civics lesson I ever had was while teaching third grade this year...
 
The presidential election was heating up and some of the children showed an interest.  I decided we would have an election for a class president.
 
We would choose our nominees. They would make a campaign speech and the class would vote.  To simplify the process, candidates were nominated by other class members.
 
We discussed what kinds of characteristics these students should have.
 
We got many nominations and from those, Jamie and Olivia were picked to run for the top spot.  The class had done a great job in their selections. Both candidates were good kids.

I thought Jamie might have an advantage because he got lots of parental support.
 
I had never seen Olivia's mother.

The day arrived when they were to make their speeches. Jamie went first.  He had specific ideas about how to make our class a better place. He ended by promising to do his very best.  Everyone applauded and he sat down.

Now it was Olivia's turn to speak.  Her speech was concise. She said, "If you will vote for me, I will give you ice cream."  She sat down.
 
The class went wild. "Yes! Yes!  We want ice cream."  She surely would say more... She did not have to.
 
A discussion followed. How did she plan to pay for the ice cream?
 She wasn't sure.
 
Would her parents buy it or would the class pay for it.
She didn't know.
 
The class really didn't care.  All they were thinking about was ice cream..
 
Jamie was forgotten. Olivia won by a landslide…
 
 Moral of the Story:  Every time Barack Obama opened his mouth he offered ice cream and 52 percent of the people reacted like nine year olds.  They want ice cream.

The other 48 percent know they're going to have to feed the cow and clean up the mess."

This is the ice cream Obama promised us!

 

Remember, the government cannot give anything to anyone that they have not first taken from someone else.