What is the problem with the Gas Holiday proposal? There are several that come to mind:

It is merely a temporary fix. This is like putting a band-aid on a severed limb. It isn’t going to do anything really to help in the short term, and will kill us in the long term. The Federal Government collects 18.4 cents per gallon. That saves me approximately $3.68 on a fill up, of which I get about 6-8 per month. That saves me about $30 per month. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am for getting anything I can back from the government. I am for cutting taxes anytime I can get it. But, this isn’t going to stimulate the economy in any way. It isn’t going to help get things moving in the right direction. I drive quite a bit, and I would only benefit, at most, $30 for the month. That is a whole $120 for the summer. McCain did say he thought this could make it so folks could buy more school supplies for their kids. I guess that is about all it would do.

We won’t get ALL of the benefits. Face it, all of that 18.4 cents will never find its way into our pockets. You know that if the tax was taken away today, the oil companies would find a way to raise prices tomorrow. They have already predicted that prices will shoot up over $4 per gallon. That is just the way to soften us up, and get us to pay it. This move by the government would just give them a reason to do it sooner than later. Lest you misunderstand me here, I am not against big corporations, or even big oil. However, I don’t think that the oil market (at least in this country) is being controlled by the free market. Because we cannot really function without gasoline, we are forced to pay whatever is being charged. Any other element of society would have been restricted by the markets long ago. Anyway, back to the point: if the government reduces taxes, we still will not really save any money because the oil companies will raise the price to the same levels, or higher.

This does nothing to develop something for the future. How does this help us when the 3 month holiday is over? There still is no plan in place to cause the price of oil to come down, or to provide some alternative for the oil. None of the current candidates have a plan for this! All 3 refuse to do anything to allow domestic oil production to increase. Unless we get someone in the presidency who is willing to do something different than what we have always done, we will continue down the same path, and dig ourselves into deeper holes. I guess we will have to wait till at least 2012…

One thing that John McCain said on Glen Beck’s show that really aggravated me was that he would never drill in ANWAR. In fact, he said something to the effect, “I would no sooner drill in ANWAR than I would the Grand Canyon.” To this, Beck responded, “Is there oil in the Grand Canyon?” This exchange showed that McCain, while claiming to be “his own man” and “not beholding to anyone”, “a maverick”, is really just like most of the democrats. He is in the pocket of the environmental lobbyists. If he would look at the science, and the reports on drilling in ANWAR, he would see that this is the thing to do! Think about it:

• ANWAR has at least the 2nd largest oil pocket in the US
• The drilling site will be quite small compared to the whole Reserve area
• There is no hard evidence that shows that the environment would be hurt by drilling
• There is no hard evidence that shows that the wildlife of the region would be hurt by drilling

Now, I have heard the plethora of nonsensical arguments made by those on the left concerning drilling in ANWAR. They claim there isn’t much oil there. They claim that drilling there will destroy the whole Wildlife Reserve. They claim that the caribou are going to go extinct. The list goes on and on. But, these are nothing but liberal talking points. They are unprovable, but play on the fears of the people who “really care”. I care about our environment, and I care about our wildlife. But, the environment has withstood far more than this, and the wildlife have adapted to far greater challenges. It is time to make a move to do something that will truly impact the supply of oil in this country: drill for more domestic oil!

There has been a lot of talk over the last few weeks trying to depicts McCain as a conservative. There has to be a lot of talk, because it just is not true! He is no more conservative than Barak Obama. After this election, we can all give up on the hope that we will have reasonable energy costs any time soon. We are destined to have $4+ gas forever. That is not pessimism, it is realism.

Here is a cartoon I got from over at Vulcan’s Hammer, which really sums up where we are with energy in this country:

It will continue to be more of the same if McCain, Clinton or Obama are elected. They will pander to the environmentalists who will keep any kind of progress from being accomplished toward energy independence. Just consider the “Kennedy Clan”, who claim they are all for alternative energy sources, as long as it isn’t in their backyard. We want cheaper domestic energy, without having the energy produced here…hmmm…how’s that working out?

Senator McCain is falling hook-line-and-sinker into the trap that the Democrats have set. They want any criticism of Senator Obama to be perceived as racist, even when no such thing exists. It is a shame that the Republican candidate for President is apparently going to be unwilling to place any campaign ads that are negative of Senator Obama. Does he really think Senator Obama is going to show him the same courtesy?

To their credit, the North Carolina Republicans have refused to pull the ad, citing that the ad reflects North Carolina issues, not national issues. Senator McCain is, in my opinion, overstepping his bounds in asking them to pull the ad. It has nothing to do with him or his campaign. In addition, Rush Limbaugh made a good point on his program yesterday: If Senator McCain is allowed to portray himself as a “maverick” and do things his own way, why is it then wrong for members of his party to do the same thing? He wants to be able to do things any way he likes, but expects others in his party to fall “in line” with what he wants.

Senator McCain has been quick the last few days to protect the Democrats while degrading members of his own party. That’s more than “crossing the aisle.” That’s being a Democrat in Republican clothing. Such is what we conservatives will have to deal with, having a liberal running on the Republican ticket. If he does not wake up soon, though, we’re going to have someone much more liberal living in the White House. He needs to quit playing into the Democrats hands, and be willing to criticize Senator Obama. There is much to criticize.

I hope this election cycle will help teach Republicans to start grooming a true conservative for a Presidential run. Senator McCain is not the answer.