Wake-up Call

As if we needed it, the news of the last couple days should wake up Americans to the Democrats' real agenda -- the massive imposition, in the name of "jobs" and "stimulus" of a social agenda that has never worked and will never work in this or any other country. Even reliably liberal media outlets are starting to get the message.

Much has been and is being written about the agenda-driven items in the so-called stimulus package now being considered by the Senate, but we can't lose touch with our energy woes, which are going to multiply, thanks to Ken Salazar and Jennifer Granholm.

Salazar is the former Colorado senator who is now the U.S. Interior Secretary. He has long opposed oil shale exploration, stating on one occasion:

"Furthermore, energy companies are still years away -- 2015 at the earliest -- from knowing whether this technology can cost-effectively produce oil on a commercial scale."

This, as opposed to the electric car, wind power, and all the other geothermal miracles that are currently available and cost-effective? Who is he trying to kid? [By the way, before Salazar got there, the Department of Interior and Bureau of Land Management said that a moderate estimate of 800 billion barrels of recoverable oil from oil shale in the Green River Formation is three times greater than the proven oil reserves of Saudi Arabia. But why go there? It might take 6 years to develop!]

Unfortunately, he's not kidding. To prove it, in his new position, Salazar has decided that contracts aren't worth the paper they're printed on, "scrapping the lease of dozens of parcels of federal land for oil and gas drilling in Utah's redrock country. * * * Salazar on Wednesday ordered the Bureau of Land Management, which is part of the Interior Department, not to cash checks from winning bidders for the parcels at issue in a lawsuit filed by environmental groups."

The Democrats operating hand-in-hand with those wacky environmentalists? What's next -- collaborating with ACORN?

Not to be outdone, our governess here in the Enchanted Mitten has slapped a freeze on eight coal-fired power plants now in the pipeline for Michigan. You can't really blame her -- why on earth would we need to hire people to construct and operate massive power plants to produce more energy here in our state? Besides, we're going to need those workers because they're going to be hired by -- ta-da! -- a new government agency, the "Michigan Energy Corps" which will be tasked to "put thousands of unemployed Michigan citizens back to work this year,weatherizing homes, schools and other public buildings, installing renewable energy technology,and turning our abundant natural resources into renewable fuels."

You may wonder where the state government is going to get the money to put "thousands" of unemployed persons back to work installing insulation and light bulbs and composting leaves and garbage. Well, keep wondering, because the governess isn't telling. And Michigan currently has about a $1.5 billion budget deficit.

So we will have no new oil leases, no shale exploration, and no new coal plants in Michigan. Why? Simply because these are disfavored energy sources. You can forget about cost-effectiveness, reliability, and availability, since these are irrelevant. The only thing that matters is that we find alternative forms of energy approved for inclusion on the Democrats' social agenda.