Today Barack Obama threw the American Spirit of Capitalism and Competition under the bus as he scoffed at John McCain’s proposal of a $300 million dollar prize for the development of a next generation car battery. Obama’s ridiculous mocking of the idea goes far beyond his typical rhetoric of criticism without solutions. Obama’s attack on the plan made clear his position that the Government, not the American people, will solve our problems. After 232 years of American Ingenuity driven by our modified capitalism, we are now considering the election of a president who clearly does not understand or appreciate the contributions of our predecessors.

In statements made today, Mr. Obama remarked, “After all those years in Washington, John McCain still doesn’t get it… I commend him for his desire to accelerate the search for a battery that can power the cars of the future. I’ve been talking about this myself for the last few years. But I don’t think that a $300 million prize is the way to go. When John F. Kennedy decided that we were going to put a man on the moon, he didn’t put a bounty out for some rocket scientist to win – he put the full resources of the United States government behind the project and called on the ingenuity and innovation of the American people, not just in the private sector but also in the public sector.”

Obama comparison to the space program certainly has patriotic undertones but in reality undermines his very own argument. John Kennedy never told the American people that the government should be committed to sending a man to the moon; he stated, “I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal”. Ultimately, the space program of the 60’s was extremely dependent upon the awarding of contracts and expertise of private firms such as McDonnell-Douglas, General Electric, North American Aviation’s Rocketdyne Division, Aerospace Corporation, Martin, and dozens of others. The space program was also based upon a progression of rocket technology that began more than 20 years earlier during WWII. Read the rest of this entry »

Atta boy Johnny, you may just pull this thing off after all. McCain has previously said he supports individual states’ decisions to drill. See video here. Though he still opposes drilling in ANWR, he has followed the advice to make gas price reduction his issue. Today he came out with a great proposal.

As John McCain rolls out his energy policy this week, he called for a lifting of the federal moratorium preventing states from exploring for oil off of their coasts. “They have to be lifted so that states can make those decisions,” McCain said. “I’m not dictating to the states that they drill or they engage in oil exploration, I am saying that the moratoria should be lifted so that they have the opportunity to do so. By the way, I would also like to see perhaps additional incentives…in the form of tangible financial rewards if the states decide to lift those moratoria.” Read the rest of this entry »

I think most Democrats in Congress went to college, though there is seldom any outward sign of it. While there, they undoubtedly learned about the law of supply and demand. Unlike the Democrats’ opinions about the economy, it is called the law of supply and demand because it is not open for interpretation or opinion. It is what it is. You don’t get to spin it.

The booming economies in China and India are sucking massive amounts of oil, which causes the price to rise. Federal gasoline taxes cause the price to rise. The way to lower that price is to increase supply and cut the taxes.

The Democrats won’t do it. And there can be no other reason for it than to keep the gas prices high so the voters blame the Republicans for it in November. The Democrats (not surprisingly) are punishing the American people for their own political gain. Read the rest of this entry »