Homeland Security

My radio is frequently filled with angry conservative show hosts who rant and rave about how bad the country is under the "Obama Regime". They claim he is taking America back before Ronald Reagan with a new nuclear arms treaty, a topic I will tackle later, and with new energy taxes. It really is a head-scratcher to hear conservatives from coast to coast rail against funding for new, alternative energy forms, then turn around and say that liberals are anti-national security. It would seem like the opposite argument would be made by the party that is bent on keeping all of America safe and secure from the scary mass that seems to be creeping into our perfect land of opportunity. While new energy taxes would raise the cost of motor oil, gasoline, heating oil, and other petroleum products, it would also allow new energy options to be fast-tracked with increased funding. While we cannot ignore the benefits of off-shore drilling, it is not a long-term fix. It is like giving a person with a concussion a bottle of Tylenol. While the pills would relieve the headache for a little bit, the underlying condition would only get worse.
The energy provisions in this bill would finally accomplish what every president from Nixon to Obama has claimed to work toward, ending our dependence on foreign oil. Why is that so important? One nugget of information is that with every dollar increase in the price of oil, before the climate/energy bill passes, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and the other extremely friendly OPEC nations receive an extra cool billion dollars in profits. So when the price of gas rises to the projected $4 a gallon from the average $3 a gallon it is now, all of our friends in the Middle East will be $1 billion richer. I do not claim to be an expert in the oil business, but for a party that passed the USA PATRIOT ACT for our security, opposition to giving OPEC nations more money just seems wrong. Maybe it is something they overlooked when they started their multi-million dollar advertising campaign, or maybe it is just a contradiction they are willing to overlook so long as they get elected into office. Whatever the reason, I guess I will never understand the minds behind conservative radio.