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Just Look Around

Posted on Tuesday, April 16, 2024
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by AMAC, Robert B. Charles
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42 Comments
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look out for high gas prices

Just look around. At federal and state levels, Democrats are playing ostrich, heads in the sand, denying reality because they cannot be elsewhere. Here is the thing: Reality always finds you. Words are cheap, life is real. And what is most real right now? People are hurting.

Nationally, the price of gas went from $2.25 a gallon in January 2020 (as Mr. Biden took office) to $5.10 in January 2022. September 2023, gas in Los Angeles hit $6.25. Nationally, it is still $3.60.

Look at heating oil, on which New England has depended, and will for decades – to heat our homes. In November 2020, one gallon was $2.04. November 2022, a year later, one gallon was $5.88.

Now, pause with me. The average home tank is 275 gallons, and big ones are 1000 gallons. On average, the cost of a refill – on a cold day – went from $561 to $1,617. Larger tanks, $2,040 to $5,880 – in a year.

Why did this happen? In January 2021, Mr. Biden cut oil federal leasing. He knew 24 percent of oil and gas production is on federal lands. Still, his other executive orders curtailed production, claiming wind and solar would make the difference. Not a chance, not in a million years.  

Industry and consumer associations predicted the future, sad and accurate. Renewables are great, but they argued these anti-energy executive orders would “deter investment, kill jobs, reduce state revenues, and shift oil and gas production to other countries.” They did. In spades.

Production plummeted and US energy independence disappeared, wind and power never replacing the lost energy – since the aging power grid, the source of all electricity, relies on fossil fuel. Wind and solar are wonderful in their own way, but will never exceed 15 or 20 percent power production.

Never mind the physics and logic, subsidies sprang up everywhere. Federal subsidies for wind and solar now exceed $150 billion a year, while Democrat-controlled states like Maine hit taxpayers with $220 million a year in costs, money shoveled to foreign companies – while locally Maine utility ratepayers are socked with higher taxes to give the rich breaks for their new solar panels.

Where are those built? In clear cut forests, meant to be preserved for cleaner air. Meantime, Democrat subsidies pay out-of-state companies to put up sky-scraping wind turbines, the sort that recent studies suggest are killing Right Whales, a fact deflected by blaming lobstermen.

Can it get any crazier? What does that mean? Nationally, left-leaning Democrats threw the consumer under the bus, forgetting she votes, cannot afford this kind of pie-in-the-sky taxes, and is going under, job at risk, adult kids living at home, mandates unaffordable, inflation uncatchable.

In Democrat states – where one party controls the legislature and governorship, even by a few votes – things are grim unless voters wake up, vote their pocketbook, and flip the legislature and governor red. 

Raw:  The raw truth is we are being ripped off by one-party states who put special interests, foreign companies, and powerful solar or wind lobbyists over taxpayers. Simple as that. Working citizens in states like Maine underwrite their own demise. Beverly Hills, Chevy Chase, and Cape Elizabeth Democrats do not care. It is about them and their “agenda,” not you and yours.

What did Jimmy Stewart say? “This rabble you’re talking about … They do most of the working and paying and living and dying in this community…” Is that not still true, now as then?

If this were not enough, Democrat-controlled legislatures push disrespect for girls, denigrating their privacy, dignity, safety, sports, and scholarships, in the name of “compassion.” Republicans are not doing that; they honor all, protect girls, and respect parents who want their kids protected.

Democrat legislatures in places like Maine are pushing “the San Francisco model,” higher taxes, higher regulation, illegal alien shelters and forget the veterans, language change, gun confiscation, dependence on government, and a slow crippling of individual liberties, faith, and capitalism.

So, is that who we are? Is the world better for this extreme Orwellian agenda, one that turns us on our neighbors, and a blind eye to the values and history of Americans, permitting open borders, recording fentanyl deaths, communist Chinese in our schools, and dealing drugs? I think not.

If you are like me, this gives you pause. Forget national politics. Pull yourself away from the 24-7 cycle, just look around. People want their freedom back, control over life, and the chance to get ahead.

People want dollars they saved to keep their value, kids to have a chance at the “American Dream,” shot at buying or renting a home. They want lower taxes, respect for their property, safety, education, hard work, and their vote. Democrats are failing them; we do not need to be “fixed.”

In sum, we do not want the “Berkley crowd” to parachute in, tell us how to run our lives, mandate we run them by San Francisco values, and lead us nowhere good. We just want our lives back.

Bottom line: America is at a crossroads. In many states, this election cycle decides it all. The Presidency, Senate, and House are important, but control over state legislatures is decisive.

If you have read this far, you either agree or disagree strongly, still your right.  But if you disagree, pause, just you. People are really hurting. Why? Democrat policies are a disaster. Just look around.

Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, attorney, and naval intelligence officer (USNR). He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (2018), and is National Spokesman for AMAC. 

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WJS
WJS
5 months ago

I agree with you. If people can’t see what has transpired in the past three plus years they are either blind or just don’t care and will still continue to vote for the same people who have lead them (us) into this mess. Pray people wake up and vote these people out.

Max
Max
5 months ago

RBC, as usual, your article is on the money. There is much riding on this upcoming election cycle at all levels of government. You used the analogy of “heads in the sand” and that applies to the people of this nation. A wakeup call is needed before it is too late.

Broccoli Free Zone
Broccoli Free Zone
5 months ago

If the economy was GREAT, people would not have to be told it was GREAT daily.

sdg
sdg
5 months ago

The democrats do not care about the American people they are all evil liars and cheaters that only want power to rule us and make us SLAVES period.
They do and say what they want in an election year because they control the outcomes of the elections. WAKE UP people they will lie, cheat, steal, pay off thousands of people to change the outcome of elections in key states to win and control. We need billions to counter Soros and the other filthy demon possessed bottom feeders like Soros to MAYBE have a chance to upset their plans.
I just don’t know if it can be done! November 2024 is either a LAST CHANCE of restoring America to what it was before all this leftist, Marxist, evil, thug controlled government bureaucrats that are in power now or being the next third world Venezuela type of country where we will have no rights, conservatives & Christians will be hunted down and either killed or put in prison.The constitution and the flag will be destroyed.

Granny26
Granny26
5 months ago

I still don’t believe Biden actually won the election. I know there are a lot of ignorant people in our country but not that many,. It’s called Fraud! That is the only way that dementia ridden moron got into office.

uncleferd
uncleferd
5 months ago

The “Orwellian Agenda” that this article mentions has often been grounded in the “Benefits” that the Democrat politicians receive from wind & solar developers, who can afford to bribe these folks with their profits from their Production Tax Credits and being allowed to write off up to half of their project expenses after the FIRST YEAR of power generation.
The inefficiency of “green energy”, therefore, just doesn’t matter to those developers, since they can make money (essentially pocketing our tax dollars) off the system that’s been rigged for them.

Melinda
Melinda
5 months ago

Many of us have been looking around, and we don’t like what we see. Still, we have to live with it until election time, and then hope sanity prevails. We don’t want to be back in the stone age!

Lover of God and America!
Lover of God and America!
5 months ago

GOD will deliver us…. IF we change our ways and repent!

Stephen Russell
Stephen Russell
5 months ago

Dems seeded this years ago with DC Swamp aid from DNC & then old RNC

anna hubert
anna hubert
5 months ago

America put its head in the noose when it bowed to OPEC And that was Carter huddled in his cardigan Instead of making sure of American dependence on its own oil and that of Canada he cow towed to Arabs Did not have brains enough to say let them eat oil

J. Price
J. Price
5 months ago

sdg… Absolutely right, And Well Said!!!

Rik
Rik
5 months ago

The ONLY person Lying Jackass Joe Biden has made happy is Jimmy Carter who IS NO LONGER THE WORST PRESIDENT IN AMERICAN HISTORY!!!

Bryan
Bryan
5 months ago

The worst part is I am still hearing people say that Biden is the lesser of 2 evils, just because they hate Trump. Now that is crazy!!!

Robert Zuccaro
Robert Zuccaro
5 months ago

Over $5.00/gallon gas here in Northern Nevada. There goes any hope of a vacation in my RV this year. Thanks, Brandon!

John
John
5 months ago

I feel no pity for those sucker’s who fall for the Totalitarian Communist Democrat Party comrade’s lies!
The only ones that aren’t feeling the pince of the horrible economic conditions created by the Democrat Party are government workers and illegal immigrants.
Vote against every single Democrat candidate period.( No exceptions)
If we don’t stop them at the ballot box then there is only two choices.
1, surrender and resign ourselves to become nothing more than slaves.
2, insurrection in the real sense, not like the made up one on jan 6th.

Richard
Richard
5 months ago

Wholeheartedly agreee, Bobby. Thanks for putting into words what I’ve been feeling for a long time. I always enjoy your missives.

Randall L. Beatty
Randall L. Beatty
5 months ago

No matter what happens in this country people that voted for Biden will vote for him again no matter what has happened in this country with everything going up they will blame Trump for that every excuse just so it makes Biden and Harris look good well if everything in this country goes so high that no one can afford that much and then when Biden raises taxes then Dems will find out but it will be to late they have Trump on trial in New York just to keep him tied up to hurt Trumps chances of election they are doing Biden’s bidding all those judges should be fired they are corrupt.

BCC
BCC
5 months ago

You demoncrits elected him! Of course they won’t see this. Too bad for them. You do realize Trump can start a fix for this!

Louis
Louis
5 months ago

I was floored by the cost of heating oil in New England. We lived there many years ago in Western Massachusetts. We had a very large farmhouse heated with oil. It was a very old house and somewhat drafty. We would prepay for 2000 gallons of heating oil in the fall. We had a thousand gallon storage tank in the cellar. I think the most we ever paid was around 25 cents per gallon. That was in the early sixties.

Stuart
Stuart
5 months ago

Just for the record: Ostriches don’t put their heads in the sand to hide; they do it to eat.
Also, Jimmy Stewart didn’t say that quote; George Bailey did.

Nobody’s Business
Nobody’s Business
5 months ago

Just shows if you want to tick off a conservative you tell him lies if you want to tick off a liberal tell him the truth. You should pull your head out of the sand or where the sun doesn’t shine. There is no way you can honestly say things are better now than they were when Trump was president.

cliff
cliff
5 months ago

robert charles writes horrible articles

That’s why
That’s why
5 months ago

You can’t afford gas because you drive a f 150 and it takes it down like it got shot lol

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