Democrats Gone Wild – Gas Prices Soar: Biden and the progressive left are shutting down domestic oil exploration and drilling. We, the citizens get to pay!
Biden and the Democrats hope that these crazy policies will motivate the progressive left to turn out to vote for Democrats.
Open borders, higher gas prices, crime out of control, politicized justice system, cities burning, racism and discrimination at all-time highs…these are the successes of the progressive left.
When will voters wake up?!? We’ll see…
Chicago…we have a problem. Crazies vs Crazier: The traditional Democratic Party is all but gone. Now it’s the old guard liberals against the progressives and the socialists/communists.
The Biden/Pelosi/Schumer wing of the party thought they could empower and use the far leftist progressives to harass Trump and the so called MAGA voters. Now they can’t get the genie back into the bottle.
ANTIFA, BLM, Hamas Supporters, and yes, even openly proud socialist/communist wing of the Democratic Party has been empowered by their leadership to ‘act’…and act they have.
Now, it hasn’t been enough to just go after Republicans or burn cities, but they want a more pure Democrat party that continues to back their radical agenda.
Open borders…not crazy enough?!?
Green New Deal…not crazy enough?!?
Higher Energy prices…not crazy enough?!?
No more gas stoves…not crazy enough?!?
Men in girls’ sports…not crazy enough?!?
Transgender/Sex Changes for minors…not crazy enough?!?
Schools teaching perversion…not crazy enough?!?
Supporting Hamas terrorist…not crazy enough?!?
The most racist society we’ve seen in decades…not crazy enough?!?
Judges who put criminals back on the street…not crazy enough?!?
Politicized/Bias Justice system…not crazy enough?!?
…and the list goes on!
Now comes the Chicago convention. A history of Democrats vs Democrats ‘testing’ which wing of the Democratic Party is in control. And both want it.
We got a taste of what the hard-core progressive left is willing to do this last week at the DNC headquarters in Washington, DC. That was just a ‘small group’ of professional swamp based left wing activists…wait until all the crazies from around the country gather to have their voices heard.
This isn’t your parent’s Democratic Party…now the crazies are being challenged by the crazier.
Republicans Eat Their Young: The party has never been in worse shape across the country. Multiple state parties are on the verge of bankruptcy, litmus tests blowing up the center-right coalitions, party leader’s arrogance on spending and self-righteousness have donors putting away their wallets.
Candidates and third-party groups are stepping forward to fill the void and making parties less relevant. Maybe we are moving to a political process dominated by activist groups that put coalitions together to win elections? More likely, groups will rally around candidates and ignore the games and embarrassment of state parties that have gone off the deep end.
Leadership matters. Candidates matter. Policy matters.
Read more below and follow me on Twitter & GETTR – @sanuzis
–Saul Anuzis
Click Here for Past Commentary from Saul
Saul’s News Rewind Video is Now on Rumble!
This Week: Congress passes stopgap spending bill, Joe Manchin flirts with leaving the Democratic Party, and New Hampshire announces presidential primary date for 2023.
Links to the articles discussed in the video:
https://thehill.com/homenews/4312340-manchin-considering-leaving-democratic-party/
DONATE TO 60 PLUS!
We’re fighting every day for seniors and retirees by working to eliminate the death tax, ensure healthcare freedom, and save social security for future generations. With your essential help we will continue the fight. You can even donate using Bitcoin and Ethereum!
Thank you for your help and support of the 60 Plus Association.
Donate Today! Visit https://www.60plus.org/donate
The Crowded GOP Presidential Field Needs Ranked-Choice Voting, Not Dropouts (Op-Ed by Saul)
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu recently joined former Virginia governor Jim Gilmore, columnist George Will, and South Carolina’s largest newspaper in the chorus of calls for lower-polling candidates in the Republican presidential primary to drop out of the race. All have urged different candidates to exit the race, but their reasoning was the same: Long shots need to drop out so stronger candidates can potentially gather the support they need for a real chance at winning the nomination.
A crowded primary field is an understandable concern. But pressuring candidates to drop out is not a sustainable or realistic solution to the problem. Instead, the Republican Party should use ranked-choice voting so that having more candidates does not mean more problems. The Virgin Islands GOP will use ranked-choice voting, also known as preferential voting, for its 2024 presidential primary to achieve this objective. Other state parties should follow their example.
In the Republican presidential race, a large field means underdog candidates likely will siphon off some votes, “spoiling” the election for stronger candidates. Worse, voters typically worry about wasting their vote on a candidate who can’t possibly win.
But expecting any presidential candidate to drop out and make way for another candidate is like expecting someone to lay themselves off from a job to make way for a new employee.
Even if some candidates behaved this way, it would rob Republican voters of the opportunity to vote for the person they truly believe would be the best nominee. On top of that, as the recent dropouts by Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and former Vice President Mike Pence make clear, this works only if every candidate but two agree to leave the race; otherwise, the “spoiler effect” remains anyway.
And the more candidates in the race, the harder it is for a single candidate to win the nomination with a majority of the vote. That’s bad news, because nominees who win their party’s nomination with less than a majority in the primaries have a track record of losing in the general election.
Biden’s latest plan to wipe out fossil fuels should raise alarms with every American
Here is President Joe Biden’s latest move in his war against fossil fuels
As crude oil approaches $100 a barrel amid turmoil in the Middle East, the Biden administration continues its war on fossil fuels by hamstringing federal offshore drilling leases to the bare minimum required by law. Iran, Russia, Venezuela, and other adversarial oil producers are the only winners of such a nonsensical decision, while the biggest loser may be America’s energy security.
The Interior Department’s five-year plan for offshore oil and gas leasing includes a mere three auctions in the Gulf of Mexico over the next five years — by far the lowest since World War II. In comparison, the Trump administration proposed a plan in 2018 for 47 lease sales, located in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Alaska. Even the Obama administration held two auctions most years.
After the plan was announced, Sen. Murkowski, R-Alaska, rightly pointed out, “The Biden administration’s long-delayed five-year plan for offshore oil and gas has no lease sales in Alaska waters – even though they acknowledge that will result in higher energy prices and higher emissions.”
Biden Is Losing Black Voters. Here’s Why It Matters.
Concerns about the economy are driving away minorities who’ve long supported Democrats
When Michelle Smith voted for President Biden in 2020, she thought he would help people like her, a Black mother working two jobs and raising three teenage boys in North Philadelphia. Now she says she won’t vote for him again, citing higher prices, skyrocketing rent and a feeling she has been left behind.
“I really did think he was going to help people in my situation,” said Smith, 46 years old, who earns $12.50 an hour working as a home health aide and makes Instacart deliveries for extra money. “It’s like all of them talk a good game until they get elected.”
Heading into 2024, Democrats are sounding alarms about losing voters like Smith. Black voter turnout fell during the 2022 midterm elections compared with the previous midterms, and polling and interviews with voters show growing dissatisfaction over the economy and Biden’s leadership. Any decline with these voters could be fatal for the re-election of Biden, whose path to victory depends on building a diverse coalition of voters in six or so closely fought battleground states.
Wage gains have cooled more dramatically for Black workers than other Americans. Median weekly earnings for Black workers employed full time rose 4.2% in the third quarter from a year earlier, versus a 10.3% gain the prior year. Overall wages rose 4.5% last quarter, down from a 6.9% increase in the third quarter of 2022.
Party leaders are chiefly concerned about diminished Black voter turnout, but are also worried that some of these voters will instead back Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, who is the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination. Hoping to prevent a drop-off, Democrats are pumping money into voter canvassing, education and advertising in battleground states.
Here’s How Biden Can Turn It Around
Top Democrats agree that the president needs more aggressiveness, more help from his friends and a few more friends. Liz Cheney, Rahm Emanuel and Mitt Romney can help.
Just under one year before the presidential election, Democrats should be concerned but not panicked about President Biden’s standing. As last week’s results demonstrated, abortion remains the most potent issue with which to defeat Republicans. And if former President Donald Trump is the GOP nominee, his return to the spotlight and potential felony convictions will ensure that Biden is compared to the alternative, not the almighty, as the president likes to say.
For Biden to win reelection, however, he must make changes. I spoke with dozens of Democrats and anti-Trump Republicans about what the president can do on personnel, presentation and strategy to improve his prospects. Their suggestions (pleadings?) are below.
The level of despair was striking. Since beginning this column a year ago, I’ve written repeatedly about the chasm between what Democrats say in private versus public about Biden. Yet perhaps not since Trump’s 2016 election have the party’s leaders and lawmakers been so alarmed.
What’s notable is both the uniformity of these anxieties — there’s no faction in denial — and how they mirror the discontent of the broader public.
Violent clash at DNC headquarters sparks concern over convention security
Officials emphasize that local police will be trained in de-escalation tactics.
CHICAGO — A pro-Palestinian protest at Democratic Party headquarters in Washington, D.C., that turned violent is sending a jolt through political circles in Chicago, which plans to host the party’s presidential nominating convention this summer.
The city still suffers scars of the bloody confrontations between police and anti-war protesters during the 1968 Democratic National Convention, when the clashes helped doom the party’s nominee Hubert Humphrey.
Wednesday’s flare-up in Washington, in which six police officers were injured and several lawmakers had to be evacuated from DNC headquarters, has raised concerns that the increasingly heated divide over the Israel-Gaza conflict could bring violent protests to Chicago.
“We have to anticipate that there’s a lot of tension and very passionate positions,” said chief of staff to the mayor Rich Guidice, who is helping direct logistics for the 2024 convention. “There’s ongoing training already taking place, specifically in de-escalation training.”
Violent DNC protest against Israel birthed by left-wing dark money machine
Anti-Israel groups behind the recent protest that turned violent at the Democratic National Committee headquarters can thank influential left-wing dark money organizations with opaque funding structures for helping to keep their lights on, financial disclosures show.
Roughly 200 activists gathered Wednesday outside the DNC in Washington, D.C., to demand a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza conflict, though the demonstration took a turn when protesters pepper sprayed Capitol Police and pushed dumpsters to block exits, leading to a clash and the arrest of a 24-year-old man for assault, with six total officers treated for injuries. That event, which is sending shock waves through Congress as lawmakers raise national security concerns, was sponsored by IfNotNow, Jewish Voice for Peace Action, and Democratic Socialists of America — groups that haul in millions of dollars each year from liberal dark money kingmakers ranging from George Soros to the Tides Foundation, according to a web of grant records reviewed by the Washington Examiner.
“Where’s the FBI?” asked Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC), a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus. “The taxpayers do not deserve this.”
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) told the Washington Examiner, “We must always stand with Israel and condemn the violent pro-Hamas protests that occurred in Washington, D.C. last night,” noting he is “thankful that Capitol Police acted swiftly to keep people safe.”
The protest in the nation’s capital Wednesday underscores how far-left activist hubs in the United States are increasingly lashing out at the Biden administration and many congressional Democrats for not backing a ceasefire and an end to Israeli aid following the Hamas terror attacks against the Jewish state. Since Oct. 7, more than 1,400 people in Israel and at least 33 Americans have been killed in connection to the conflict, according to officials for both countries. Hamas says more than 11,200 are dead in Gaza, though the U.S. government and national security experts scrutinize the data as untrustworthy.
Only Congress can keep Donald Trump off Michigan ballot, judge rules
A Michigan Court of Claims judge ruled Tuesday that it is outside Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s authority to declare former President Donald Trump disqualified for the Republican primary election ballot and that questions as to whether he is so are political ones to be decided by Congress.
Judge James Robert Redford issued rulings in three separate cases, saying in each that Michigan law requires Benson to list on the primary ballot anyone seen nationally as running and so recognized by the media or held out to her as such by the major state parties absent the candidates’ request that their names be removed.
Under that law, he said, “the secretary has neither the affirmative duty nor the authority to separately decide” whether Trump should appear on the ballot or be denied access under a legal theory that he is disqualified under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
MAGA-dominated state Republican parties plagued by infighting, money woes
National Republicans fear the cash crunch could hamper field operations in key swing states come 2024
In Arizona, the state GOP chairman has been begging the Republican National Committee for a financial bailout. Michigan party officials have gotten into physical fights as their finances have dipped into the red. And in Georgia, the state party is in a standoff with the Republican governor and saddled with legal fees for alternate electors put forward in 2020.
In each of these 2024 battlegrounds, election denial and grassroots fervor for former president Donald Trump have rocked the Republican apparatus. Now, the state parties are plagued by infighting, struggling to raise money and sometimes to cover legal costs stemming from Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 defeat — threatening to hamper GOP organizing capabilities in next year’s presidential election.
“There has been an emphasis on ideological cleansing instead of electioneering,” said John Watson, the Georgia GOP chairman from 2017 to 2019. “If those new entrants to the party want to argue the earth is flat and the election is stolen, those are counterproductive to winning elections.”
Behind the Curtain: Trump allies pre-screen loyalists for unprecedented power grab
Former President Trump’s allies are pre-screening the ideologies of thousands of potential foot soldiers, as part of an unprecedented operation to centralize and expand his power at every level of the U.S. government if he wins in 2024, officials involved in the effort tell Axios.
Why it matters: Hundreds of people are spending tens of millions of dollars to install a pre-vetted, pro-Trump army of up to 54,000 loyalists across government to rip off the restraints imposed on the previous 46 presidents.
The screening for ready-to-serve loyalists has already begun, driven in part by artificial intelligence from tech giant Oracle, contracted for the project.
Social media histories are already being plumbed.
What’s happening: When Trump took office in 2017, he included many conventional Republicans in his Cabinet and key positions. Those officials often curtailed his behavior and power.
Trump himself spends little time plotting governing plans. But he is well aware of a highly coordinated campaign to be ready to jam government offices with loyalists willing to stretch traditional boundaries.
If Trump were to win, thousands of Trump-first loyalists would be ready for legal, judicial, defense, regulatory and domestic policy jobs. His inner circle plans to purge anyone viewed as hostile to the hard-edged, authoritarian-sounding plans he calls “Agenda 47.”
The people leading these efforts aren’t figures like Rudy Giuliani. They’re smart, experienced people, many with very unconventional and elastic views of presidential power and traditional rule of law.
Behind the scenes: The government-in-waiting is being orchestrated by the Heritage Foundation’s well-funded Project 2025, which already has published a 920-page policy book from 400+ contributors. Think of it as a transition team set in motion years in advance.
Fueling electric vehicles costs roughly the equivalent of $17 a gallon: Study
A new study found that fueling electric vehicles costs roughly $17 per gallon.
In its paper “Overcharged Expectations: Unmasking the True Costs of Electric Vehicles,” the Texas Public Policy Foundation stipulated that the hidden costs of fueling EVs drastically outweigh its low upfront fueling costs. The hidden costs come from an increased burden on the energy grid exerted by charging stations, and an enormous amount of federal subsidies.
“EV advocates claim that the cost of electricity for EV owners is equal to $1.21 per gallon of gasoline (Edison Electric Institute, 2021), but the cost of charging equipment and charging losses, averaged out over 10 years and 120,000 miles, is $1.38 per gallon equivalent on top of that. Adding the costs of the subsidies to the true cost of fueling an EV would equate to an EV owner paying $17.33 per gallon of gasoline,” study authors Brent Bennett and Jason Isaac write.
“And these estimates do not include the hundreds of billions more in subsidies in the Inflation Reduction Act (2022) for various aspects of the EV supply chain, particularly for battery manufacturing,” they add. “It is not an overstatement to say that the federal government is subsidizing EVs to a greater degree than even wind and solar electricity generation and embarking on an unprecedented endeavor to remake the entire American auto industry.”
Regulatory mandates were found to make up the highest chunk of the hidden costs.
The study also argues that hybrids are far more efficient than full EVs, but are ignored by the government.
What Does China Know That The Biden Admin Doesn’t?
China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) recently announced a new program in which the Xi Jinping government will subsidize the building of new coal-fired electricity generation plants. Part of an effort to ensure power grid reliability and stability into the future, NDRC’s notice says the program will commence January 1, 2024.
The program will enable new coal-fired power plants to recover about 30% of their capital costs in just the first two years of operation. The government subsidies will be funded from tariffs directed to operators of coal-fired plants by the country’s various electricity grids, using monies collected from commercial and industrial users.
The new program is just another proof point that China is continuing to increase the pace of expansion of its coal-fired power sector as time goes on. Indeed, a report released earlier this year by Global Energy Monitor and the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) showed China permitted more coal-fired power plants in 2022 than it had since 2015, and has six times more coal-fired power plants under construction currently than the rest of the world combined.
Meanwhile, as the Xi government continues its massive expansion of coal-fired electricity to ensure grid reliability, the Biden government in the U.S. remains intent on destroying its own coal sector. The Institute for Energy Research (IER) notes that this effort is being underwritten by liberal billionaire philanthropists like former Democrat presidential candidate and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has now pledged $1 billion from his personal fortune to, as he put it, “finish the job on coal.”
In September, Bloomberg Philanthropies stated, “With 372 of 530 coal plants announced to retire or closed to date—more than 70 percent of the country’s coal fleet—this next phase will shut down every last U.S. coal plant.” The effort also targets cutting natural gas-fired generation capacity by half, and would block any new plants from being built in the future. Noting that coal and natural gas power plants account for 98% of U.S. plant closures during 2023, IER points to the fact that the federal government’s forcing of those closures is now negatively impacting reserve margins on the nation’s power grids.
Heating Homes With Natural Gas Is More Than 40% Cheaper Than Electricity: US EIA
Heating homes this winter using natural gas is estimated to cut down energy costs by more than 40 percent compared to electricity, according to a recent report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Households using electricity to heat homes are projected to pay $1,063 on average between November and March, according to a Nov. 7 winter fuels outlook report by the EIA. In comparison, households using natural gas are only expected to shell out $601.
Region-wise, the biggest difference is in the Midwest, where electric heating is expected to cost $1,213—more than double the gas cost of $581. In the Northeast, gas heating is projected to be cheaper by $704, in the South by $507, and in the West by $417.
Natural gas heating is also cheaper compared to other alternative energy sources such as propane and heating oil, which are expected to cost $1,343 and $1,851 respectively.
High heating costs borne by households using electricity come as the Biden administration is pushing an electrification agenda.
The administration is already imposing several restrictions on the use of gas-powered appliances. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced new efficiency standards for residential gas furnaces, pool pumps, battery chargers, dehumidifiers, ceiling fans, incandescent light bulbs, and gas stoves that would severely curtail their use.
