In 1980 Brazil's Government drafted legislation to make them Energy Independent after the OPEC crisis of the 70's, and what did the Democrat Controlled Congress of Jimmy Carter's Presidency do? NOTHING. Carter's administration provided agricultural credits to Saddam Hussein (wink, wink) that Saddam then used to build the 4th largest military in the world and then encouraged them to start a War with Iran over disputed waterways to get back at Iran for holding Americans Hostage, which came about when Jimmy Carter stopped CIA payments to the Mullahs (Muslim Holy Men) in Iran for supporting the Shaw, which brought about the Radical Muslims who came to power there and are still causing trouble today (who do you think arms Hezbollah, or the Taliban).
What did the Democrat Controlled Congress under Reagan do? NOTHING. What did the Democrat-controlled Congress during George Bush (41) do? Well, when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990 thanks to being armed to the teeth by the Carter Administration and overstepped (they were just supposed to be at War with Iran, remember?), the Democrat Controlled Congress of Bush's day, knowing when he campaigned in 1988, that he said he would raise no taxes, promised him all the money he needed to remove Saddam from Kuwait if he would only give that Congress all the tax increases they sought at the time. The Democrat Controlled Congress told Reagan they would give him all the tax cuts he wanted as long as they got to increase spending, and none of that spending was to make us Energy Independent.
What did the Democrat Controlled Congress under Bill Clinton do after complaining about Bush raising taxes and the recession they caused and going to the very War they sponsored with Saddam to remove him from Kuwait to make us Energy Independent so this didn't happen again? NOTHING.
Now what did the Republican Controlled Congress of 1994 to 2000 do under Bill Clinton? Well, the conservatives did try to pass legislation to freeze Government spending for 5 years to balance the budget and pay off the national debt so interest rates would be naturally low, but instead, Clinton vetoed them and instead touted Freddy & Frannie Mae loans to low-income people to grow the wealth of the Government over that of the people. Conservative Republicans at several times under Clinton tried to pass legislation bringing about our energy independence, but there are always enough Progressive Republicans and enough Democrats to block any such legislation (keeping in mind most legislation never got out of committee, because Trent Lott, fearing Republicans were only in power for 4 years after the 1994 victory, gave 2 of 5 seats on every committee to Democrats, and all you need is two Democrats plus one Progressive Republican to block legislation so it never arrives on the floor to get a vote (Nancy Pelosi nor Harry Reid did any such favors for Republicans when they came back to power in 2006). This involves more than just drilling for more oil, it also involves building more refineries to convert the oil into gasoline, and we haven't built any new ones since the 1960's, and two have been shut down during Barack Obama's first term. This makes our gas more expensive here at home. Right now we are buying gas refined overseas and having it shipped over the ocean - so now we have gas tankers in addition to oil tankers traversing the ocean, which is not necessary if we had the refineries to accommodate the United States population which has grown since the 1960's, not decreased.
And Clinton's actions have hurt us more than in just housing, for the housing collapse of 2008, came about when Oil prices went up to $4 a gallon, causing those low-income homeowners to not be able to afford to pay their mortgages, causing the collapse. Now remember during the Bush years when Democrats pointed out the evils of Enron and the future speculation that drove up electricity rates in California? Well, Congress came in and corrected the futures market, but gave an exception to the oil industry with support from Progressive Republicans and Democrats. And speculators such as CEO and administrative heads in companies like GE and Goldman Saches who were bailed out by both Bush and even bigger by Obama, now serve in Cabinet positions and as CZARS within the Obama administration - instead of the market working fairly, those who helped caused its collapse and bankrupted much of the economy in 2008 are rewarded. There is a reason money stays on Wall Street (read below) and there is a reason why they were the biggest contributors to Democrats and Obama from 2004-2012, but no don't look there, look instead at those evil Republicans and their investments with Wall Street (which is true for many, especially Progressive Republicans and RINOs - Republicans In Name Only) but don't look too closely at Democrats.
But that's not even the beginning of it, we wouldn't be in Afghanistan had Bill Clinton taken Osama Bin Laden and al Qaeda into custody when he had the chance in 1996 - https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1699020/posts - but he was a little too busy with Monica Lewinsky at the time to be bothered with such trivia.
Next, gas had been at $15 a barrel for 15 years, until 1999, when Bill Clinton sent Bill Richardson to OPEC and asked them to cut production, so he could get the Russians more money for their oil for their help in Bosnia. The rise in gas prices not only got Russia more money for their Oil, but also Mexico, and the two countries were able to use the money to repay loans they had from the US Treasury. But who really paid the US Treasury, Russia or Mexico? No, we the American people who paid for the increase at the gas pump, and still do today. See Clinton was able to pass a continuous tax off to the American people without having to go through Congress, which is taxation without representation (https://freerepublic.com/focus/news/547461/posts) and which caused the 2000 recession which was made worse with the 9/11 attakcs, and yet the MSM tried to say this was a Bush recession in spite of only being in power since March of 2001, because of the disputed election with Al Gore.
What did the Republican-controlled Congress under George W. Bush (43) try to do? Much of the same in proposing increasing refineries here at home and more drilling here at home from Conservative Republicans, but the MSM and Democrats and Progressive Republicans did not focus on the Oil reserves we have in the Gulf which are 4 times the Reserves of OPEC, but of which we have tapped less than 10% of, no instead they focused on AWAR in Alaska, and told us drilling there would not meet our needs. There were enough Progressive Republicans and Democrats (http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB6EB4D72C22473EE) to make sure this was not addressed, even though now we had 9/11 on our hands thanks to Clinton dropping the ball while foolling around with Monica Lewinsky, and we had soaring gas prices, still they said no to Energy Independence here at home! Keep in mind also, the MSM are corporations with advertising revenues and investments in Foreign Oil as well, so they can rant against it and blame Republicans only and look innocent - this is not the "FREE" Press our Founding Father's had in mind. There are very few "FREE" Presses in existence in this country, and many of those that are "not for profit", such as PBS are underwritten with heavy big Government funding. Most "FREE" presses may exist on some School Campuses, but many of those are shut down when they get too truthful, and then in the form of some "bloggers" on the Internet - myself being one of those, who began "blogging" in USNET in Ghost Writer Posts back in 1993 for safety concerns (http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-06-08/news/32128807_1_swat-team-conservative-blogger-ag-holder). Something that is now a concern to me since on FB, my identity is not as private, but I'm not as big a "blogger" as more public ones, since until 2008, I was more anonymous before coming to FB.
Then the MSM media and Democrats had to lie and say that Bush lied, in spite of the fact that WMD was found in Iraq, because we removed several hundered Metric Tons of Nuclear Material that the UN screamded at us for removing, and it was George Tenet (Clinton's appointee to head the CIA that Bush kept) who believed the Anthrax used after 9/11 came from Sadam given to al-Qaeda (http://www.myspace.com/stupendousleague/blog/267403768). Now later we would hear about an American scientist who supposedly made the material, and he killed himself after being pressed by the Government, but after his death it was determined he couldn't have made it. George Tenet knew only three countries had the capacity to refine the Anthrax to the level it was used with after 9/11, and those countries were Russia, the United States, and Iraq. al Qaeda's original plan was to spray the suburbs of the North East with modified crop dusters to spread biological (Anthrax) or chemical (gas) agents to kill hundreds of thousands of people at once, and they originally entered flight school to fly small planes, but when it was determined they didn't posses the engineering skills to modify crop dusters they would have to rent, they went with their plan B attack against the WTC and targets in DC. It would have been easy for them to arrive with the Anthrax, not be able to use it in crop dusters, and put it in the US mail system before boarding the planes on 9/11.
- Also, removing Saddam from power saved lives. More people were dying and would have died with Saddam remaining in power from starvation and imprisonment than died after our invation in 2003. It's why it can be called a "life saving war". But then we discovered Saddam was working with al Qaeda all along, being their original financial founder and backer in Egypt when they were known as Egtyptian Islamic Jihad (http://www.myspace.com/stupendousfriends/blog/369505618), and then Obama goes and puts into power the same group in Egypt (https://www.facebook.com/notes/george-walter-bratcher-iii/the-advantages-of-voting-for-obama/10151034050586373).
- George Bush (41) sold the family's Oil company back in the 1960's and invested the family's wealth into tax free municipal savings bonds, which is why the Democrat Controlled Congress of his day tried to "tax" what had been untaxable, but couldn't do so, because too many Democrats also had their money invested into the same funds. So the Bush family's wealth was not made great by using Haliburton on no bid contracts in Iraq an Afghanistan, but be assured anytime the MSM throws the spot light on a Republican like Cheney who had investments and served on the board of Haliburton, they never go back and point to Clinton using Haliburton for no bid contracts in Bosnia, or that Obama continues to use them in Iraq and Afghanistan and even when he had a Democrat Majority from 2008-2010 in both the House and Senate they did not replace or stop using Haliburton, and that's because Democrats often have their money in the very same investments as Republicans. It's why all Congressmen and Congresswomen from both sides of the aisle prior to 2010 were Millionaires Valerie.
- But let's follow the real money.
- What did the Democrat Controlled Congress of 2008-2010 under an Obama Presidency do to make us Engery Independent? NOTHING! O sure they threw money to their Democrat friends and contributors who helped get Obama elected in 2008 in the Solar and Wind industries, which have gone bankrupt, and part of the reason is it is basic physics. Solar nor Wind farms can provide enough cost efficient energy for even the smallest cities, which is why either Hydro, Nuclear or Fossil Fuel based electricity is used and has been used for decades. The money it would take to make a Wind or Solar farm big enough to provide such electricity would bankrupt any city or state that attempted it, and so what we get instead are supplemental Solar and Wind farms that are used much like a battery that has to been charged, runs down, and charged again, and still doesn't provide enough energy were the Hydro, Nuclear or Fossil Fuel based system ever to go offline - you would have brownouts followed by blackouts if you had to depend upon those systems alone. And even those supplmental systems cost people who pay for electricity more, not less, because they are not energy efficient, driving up electrical costs, not down.
- So follow the money Valerie, what happens when Oil and gas prices to up? Record revenues to the IRS and US Treasury. When the 2008-2010 Democrats at the Federal Level in the US Congress wanted to raise taxes on Oil investments they were stopped by state legislators and legislative bodies and their friends in the pension funds of the Unions who were invested in Oil and were dependent upon them for their retirement programs. So keeping Oil prices high keeps more money in DC, and more money in the pockets of wealthy Democrats and Progressive Republicans and Independents whose pension programs are dependent upon them. See increasing Oil Production would bring cost of Oil and Gas down, and so bring down the revenues to the US Treasury and Pension funds that are invested in them. But there is a reason for the tape worm economy for Progressive Republicans and Democrats (http://youtu.be/6nU7wGe2A6k) Valerie, it keeps more money in DC and on Wall Street, where if you change the investment to here at home the wealth would take time to generate but would make all of us here more wealthy, but people are ignorant when it comes to finances and economy on the Macro level, and politicians depend and live off this ignorance.
- Now Obama is very excited about Brazil who is now Energy Independent, and our government is investing billions for them to drill offshore while stopping any new drilling here at home (http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=7a0_1343615229).
- Just follow the money Valerie, the last thing they (Progressive Republicans and Democrats) care about is the burden it creats in raising food costs for the poor and middle class as well as taking money out of their budget on a monthly basis, because the more you have to spend on gas and food, the less you have to invest elsewhere and what is it they teach you in Micro/Macro Economics? Wealth when spent causes growth, but when hoarded, it causes recession and depression - and this has been proven historically - http://youtu.be/ScMvZinMb6E
(This NOTE was created in 2012 to address a question at - https://www.facebook.com/george.w.bratcher/posts/474690362573999?comment_id=5152296¬if_t=share_comment)
2026 UPDATE: (In regards to a question at - https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1311750767813348&set=gm.26844793138548927&idorvanity=1250734815048111)
The logic back in the day was for Israel to be a stopgap measure to prevent the USSR from taking over oil fields in the Middle East, since they could respond more quickly from their location than the United States.
Okay, so explain to me how Israel benefits from the weakening of OPEC & Iranian oil trade to China?
The US Navy will help escort ships that are trapped in the Strait of Hormuz to be able to get their cargo out of there, but in the meantime no cargo ships are being sent to the Strait of Hormuz instead they're being sent to the Gulf of America to get oil from the Louisiana ports, lessening the need for Israel to protect oil fields in the Middle East for sales will no longer be dominant on the world stage.
With Trump replacing the oil supply and trade from the Middle East to America, and in the long-term, that lessens Israel's importance in protecting Middle East oil fields, and Iran and OPEC oil supply lessens, not increases.
Also, at the same time, you have the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf states actively bombing Iranian oil fields in the present. Once those pumps are shut down, they're very hard to get restarted, and they never supply the same amount of oil as before, which is why Saddam purposely targeted Kuwait's oil in the Gulf War he ended up losing.
In the short term, this helps the United Arab Emirates and other countries to sell more of their oil and for Iran to sell less of their oil. With Venezuela taken out of the equation, this cripples Chinese dominance in the world on trade, because it increases the cost of their production, making their goods more expensive to sell on the World market and not less.
The actions President Trump has taken help secure Israel from nuclear attack in the short term but in the long term it lessons United States need for them to protect oil in the Middle East as America has the world's largest oil reserves and can easily make up the difference loss from the Strait of Hormuz spending time that will stabilize oil prices keeping them down because the nation's no longer have to worry about the threat of their oil supply being interrupted in the straight of four moves when they can get it from the Gulf of America.
DC and the Democrats are mad because the majority of federal and state pensions were invested in OPEC and not American oil.
In 2009 Congress was going to increase taxes on oil companies when Democrats control the White House the Senate and the House and so it appeared no one could stop them, but then the state of Michigan got mad and angry and told the Democrats in DC that if they did this they would hurt the pensions in the state of Michigan for government employees, And so the tax was never passed.
That's also why Barack Obama didn't mind gas going to $4 a gallon because it only helped the pensions of federal and state employees increase, not decrease in their monthly payments. But then his plans for overthrowing Syria and helping old pick build a pipeline through Syria to Turkey and to Europe was stopped when Putin drew the red line in the sand, telling Obama to not touch Syria.
The only reason gas prices fell is to hurt the Russian economy. OPEC increased production and started shipping again through the cargo ships which lessened the the price of oil and caused the Russian economy to collapse. Putin didn't want the competing pipeline from OPEC through Syria through Turkey to Europe because he had the only existing pipelines to Europe.
Trump's boycott of Russia stopped Putin from invading Ukraine, but the Biden administration lifted those boycots and the first thing Russia did was to invade Ukraine, which is why Biden had the pipeline blown up.
This caused energy prices to skyrocket in Europe because they were dependent upon Russian oil and had not stayed with the oil supply from the USA as Trump had it set up in his first term.
With Trump shifting oil supply and demand to America, the US Congress will have to shift investments from OPEC to America to fund their pensions because OPEC will no longer provide the revenue they need being a decreased supply and need.
So now you know why DC elites and Democrats hate Trump so badly right now, because it's not about the attack on Iran, it's about the loss of their revenue in their pensions from OPEC oil in the long term, although in the short-term price increases they are doing just fine, but all of that will end once the market shifts and oil prices fall.
The Biggest Lie In The Palestine vs. Israel Debate https://youtu.be/2xLkjvZDsIU?si=iBwZ-3nMyDwYQRJn
