The President’s press conference just ended a little while ago. I got to watch the last 15 minutes of it, and I thought he hit a couple of home runs! A couple of the things that he pushed for (I should say continues to push for) are things that I have been wanting to hear him say more clearly, and with conviction. I think he got that done today. I guess that is one good thing about being in the last few months of your 2nd term–you don’t really have to care much about what others seem to think of you. Of course, one of the things I have really liked about this president is that he has never really cared what others thought about him. Even when I didn’t agree, I appreciated that he did what he thought was the right thing to do, and never stuck his finger in the air to see which way the wind was blowing! Anyway, here are a few of the things I liked about President Bush’s press conference this morning:
A real plan for the “energy crisis”. President Bush pushed for drilling for oil in Anwar. That is the most logical plan for success when it comes to our energy problems. We can provide enough oil for our nation for a long time (how long is still under debate, but most acknowledge there is a lot of oil there). One reporter said that this would be a “long term” solution, but she was dead wrong about this. If we announced today that we were moving equipment into Anwar, the price of gas would start coming down almost immediately. Even if the Arab nations thought we were bluffing, when we started moving equipment into Anwar, they would fall all over themselves to lower the price of oil. Unfortunately, the democrats are going to continue to fight tooth and nail over this solution. Nancy Pelosi wants to open up our reserves…like that will really work. The best outcome that I have read lowers the price at the pump somewhere between $.05 and $.20 per gallon, and that only in the short term until our reserves begin to deplete!
Make the tax cuts permanent. We all know that President Bush has been pushing for this since he got the tax cuts through in the first place. But, he really emphasized in this press conference the connection between the threat of increased taxes and the current economic “slow down”. Anyone who can’t put two and two together and understand that the threat of increased taxes causes people to stop spending their money is an idiot! If you think that a bill is going to come due next week, and the only way you can pay it is to save the money you have today, what will you do? Those that are truly conscious of their obligations will do what they have to do to pay their bills. The democrats are telling us that they are going to raise taxes! They are going to get rid of the Bush tax cuts, which means that middle class Americans (not just the wealthy, as they try to make us believe) are going to owe more money. I read a few days ago that anyone making over $50,000 will suddenly owe $4000 to $5000 more per year in taxes. That is significant! We need the confidence that we aren’t going to have a new tax load before we will be willing to spend our money.
Put the economic blame where it belongs. Now, I have not agreed with a lot that President Bush has done fiscally, but to try and pin the economic “slow down” on him and his administration is ludicrous! He spoke this morning about how the democrats in congress have intentionally stalled legislation dealing with our trade with Columbia. We have an unfair setup with Columbia right now. They send their exports to us duty free, and our exports to them are taxed. If small businesses could send their products out tax free, they could make more money, and thus may just save their own businesses. I’m not an economist, and I don’t even play one on TV, but it makes sense to me that if we can export more products, it would be good for our economy. After all, the more I may sell as a business man, the more money I can make. It seems that principle would spread out over the whole economy. Furthermore, it is the democrats who continue to call for more and more spending. I found it ironic that the same democrats who try to make it sound like the Bush administration is spending too much on the Iraq war are the same democrats calling for the War Spending Bill to be increased with their pet projects! As I surf the web and read the liberal blogs, I keep seeing these annoying little widgets that tell us how much is being spent on the Iraq War. However, what is not told is how much of that number is the pork put in by the democrats! The president has set a cap on the spending bill, and it is the democrat led congress who are trying to add to it, and expand the spending. Please don’t act high and mighty about wanting to stop the spending if you are going to keep adding to the bill.
Nicely call Jimmy Carter an idiot. When asked if Jimmy Carter’s nice little visit with Hamas was beneficial, or whether it could cause problems, President Bush responded very diplomatically. He explained why he could not, and would not meet with the terrorist group. They are the group responsible for much of the unrest in the Middle East. They are a group that is against peace, and will continue to be so. Jimmy Carter’s visit to the region completely undermined the work that every president has done in the region since his time. The truth of the matter is, Jimmy Carter was an extreme failure in foreign policy when he was in the White House, and he continues to show his inadequacies in that department now. He didn’t have enough sense to listen to those who are far wiser than he in such matters. Don’t get me wrong, I think Jimmy Carter is probably a good guy, with good intentions. He has done some good work in this country, especially with Habitat for Humanity. But, he really needs to stay here, and work on those projects, instead of trying to deal with things he obviously knows nothing about. He has become an embarrassment to even the democratic party, and that is saying something!
I am sure there were a lot of other things that were worth discussing in the press conference this morning, but these stood out in my mind as I watched. If you saw it (or heard it) and want to add to my list, feel free to do so in the comments below!
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I saw most of it as well and couldn’t agree more. The points that he made were very good and related well to what everyone is going through today. We need to start drilling immediately. Congress needs to pass initiative this within a week to show the world that we mean business. The price of oil and gas would fall dramatically (25-50%) within a month. Can we please stop relying on foreign oil just because we wish to appease people who think irrationally?
He did very well today. The only issue I have is his support for the land for peace in the Middle East. Human leaders will never accomplish this.
I agree 100%. When I saw he was holding a news conference, I rewound my TiVo to watch it from the beginning. I also got a kick out of the way he was “handling” the reporters. It was awesome. Apparently the reporters knew they could not ask a follow-up question, but the liberal ones thought that meant everyone else BUT them. While Martha Raddiz from ABC kept rudely trying to do a follow-up, he reminded her he gave her an exclusive in Crawford. When she still kept pushing, he wondered out loud if he needed to turn off her microphone. She then sat down and shut up! That was classic! He was dancing circles around them intellectually, and they resented every moment of it. It was a beautiful thing to watch.
Crystal, I missed that part, but the parts that I did see had Bush running around the reporters as well. He looked like he was actually having a lot of fun. Too many people make the mistake of thinking he is not smart because he is really not very articulate…but that is certainly not the case!
Primetime, thanks so much for stopping by. I think you are right about getting congress to pass the initiative quickly. Any movement toward drilling in ANWAR (I don’t know why I didn’t capitalize all the letters in that acronym in the post) would lower the gas prices almost immediately.
Drilling in ANWR makes no sense economically or environmentally. If we remove subsidies from the formula, any oil we derive from there will do NOTHING to reduce prices at the pump, period! President Theodore Roosevelt gave us the national park system, the envy of the world at the time. Imagine what he would say if he were with us today and we proposed despoiling one of most pristine national treasures in exchange for a few drops of oil!
Besides, when the Interior Service lists polar bears as an endangered species, Exxon won’t be able to get near that parcel!
Mr. Sustainable, you are right about the polar bears, and reveal the exact reason that the libs are trying to get them listed as “endangered species” based solely on the unsustainable claims of global warming. If you can’t get it done through the vote, just hijack the court system…seems par for the course!
I keep hearing these liberal talking points repeated that tapping the oil in ANWAR will not reduce the price at the pump. That concept simply does not mesh with the laws of supply and demand. If we add more oil to the system, it has to drive the price down. It is amazing that liberal front lady Nancy Pelosi proposes opening the reserves, and all the libs think that will drive down gas prices (which would be minuscule, and very temporary). Bush proposes drilling for oil, where most people think there is a tremendous amount of oil (not the little bit that most dems try to push), and the immediate response is that it won’t affect the prices at the pump.
This project would not “despoil(ing) one of the most pristine national treasures…” as so many people fallaciously claim. In fact, unless you knew where it was, you couldn’t find it as it will be very small in comparison to total land available. The whole ANWAR region is about the size of South Carolina, and the drilling site would be about the size of JFK Airport. There is no real fear of damaging either the environment, or the wildlife in the region. Much to gain, little to lose…if they would just untie our hands to actually do something for the economy, instead of just standing up and blowing a bunch of hot air…
The democrat party is lying through its teeth about ANWAR drilling and its effects on oil prices. If we had listened to President Bush in 2001, we would now be receiving oil from ANWAR. If we had more off shore drilling, prices would be even lower. No new refineries in 30+ years. Modernization of refineries is stymied in every possible way. The fact is, limiting driving and to a certain degree, hybrids, are the only short term solution to this problem as gasoline and diesel “move” our economy.
The radical environmental special interest groups have done more to destroy our economy than anything else.