Kabuki Theater

Yesterday’s Kabuki Theater illustrates just how difficult it is going to be to change the dynamic in Washington from one of feckless spending to one that can pull us back from the brink of economic disaster. As long as the liberal Democrats control the Senate and the White House, a chance for real reform has a snowball’s chance in Hell. Examine closely how the high theater played out--when faced with a superior argument (we have to quit spending so much) the liberal Democrats resorted to lies, distortions, and demography. They always do, because for them ideology always trumps principle. If anyone thinks that Paul Ryan’s prescription for prosperity will find traction because it makes sense, think again. The howls of contrived anguish over a couple measly cuts in a trillion and a half dollar budget deficit should give you a clue as to how the un-principled, ideological-driven, yellow-bellied destroyers of our great country will react when real change is offered. The only way that dynamic will change is by retaking the Senate and the White House in 2012. By then it may be too late.

Yesterday oil settled at over $112 a barrel. Won’t be long until that translates into $4.00 a gallon at the pump. There are two factors that explain why oil is heading north, and both can be laid directly at the feet of the current administration. First, the ideologically driven Democrats fervently believe that higher prices at the pump will eventually cause the American public to give up their love for a nice ride and begin driving Smart Cars and bicycles to work. Thus, the deliberate efforts to throttle oil production here in the United States has the effect of increasing our dependence on foreign supplies. More importantly, the deliberate devaluation of the U.S. dollar by the current administration directly results in increasing oil prices. The dollar hit a new low the other day. At the same time, oil is spiking. The relationship is not symbolic. Know this--the price of oil reflects the value of the dollar. It is simple arithmetic, and has nothing to do with supply, demand, wars, uprisings and any number of mumbo-jumbo reasons for oil to spike. Oil is going up because the dollar is going down. And Bernake and Geitner and Obama are doing it on purpose, because the only way out of our massive debt is through devaluation. They call it “quantitative easing”.  I call it the road to disaster.

JP