Finally, the people of America are waking up to the fact that if the Republicans and Democrats got their act together and stopped catering to the super rich that control OPEC, they could cause a decrease in the cost of fossil fuel energy.

The politicians are too concerned with their major issues — read that “reelection,” to bother with actually doing something positive to help bring down the cost of gasoline and natural gas.

They have found that Americans will pay four dollars a gallon for gasoline, and they are trapped into paying outrageous prices for natural gas because, particularly in the northern states, they don’t like the idea of freezing during the winter.

However, Americans are getting angry and just may digress from their bad habit of voting party lines, and actually vote to protest when they go to the voting booths in November. Not having the “take for granted vote” as a reliable power base can be a real wake up call for the professional politicians and those who call the shots for them.

We strongly believe that the politicians didn’t allow this debacle regarding the economy to happen, but rather, MADE it happen. They let the banking industry run rampant with sub-prime loans and financially raping the public with fees and penalties on credit cards. The banks gave credit to those they knew were not good risks, but then again, profits can be made with high interest rates.

These interest rates are outrageous. Leo the Leg Breaker who worked for the corner loan shark could go to jail for charging more than 25 percent interest on loans. But the legislators seem to believe that is OK for the banks to do so for those who have difficulty making even minimum payments. Then again, banks and bankers can be very generous when it comes to buying tickets to political fund raisers and making donations to the political parties. Think there might be a bit of cause and effect with this practice?

The housing market ran amuck with people speculating on real estate prices and driving the cost of homes to ridiculous highs. A house is a building and has a fixed intrinsic value, but it escalates depending on location. A house in Western New York that cost $200,000 can cost five to ten times that much in the “desirable” locations like California, Florida and the suburbs of Washington, DC.

People looked beyond the function of a house and made it into a status symbol. They might have two children, but figured they had to have five bedrooms and multiple bathrooms. And, what’s a house without a swimming pool? Now that the money supply is drying up and the balloon payments are hitting them, they are going to lose the house and all they put into it. That is not necessarily the fault of the politicians, but they should have passed laws governing irresponsible financing.

During this boom, a lot of people became very rich, so perhaps that is justification enough for letting these practices continue. Politicians like to follow the money.

When Senator Obama, with his highly developed skills for oratory, talks about the change he proposes for Americans, it is highly likely that it will be the dimes, nickels and quarters left in our pockets because he and his grandiose spending programs will be taking the dollars out of our wallets.

The way to get true and lasting change that will benefit the citizens is to send the strongest of messages to the politicians on Election Day. If they get ambushed by independent thinking voters who won’t vote for their party, that will bring about REAL change. Survival and self-interest are the top motivating forces for the professional politician. They don’t like unpleasant surprises and will have to pay attention to significant trends in voting.

Perhaps this is the year the sheep with turn into wolves and start biting back.

Now, let me get this straight.

Candidate BO travelled to Germany and found the time to tell 200,000 what they wanted to hear. However, he didn’t have time to stop by the US Army Hospital and say “thank you” to wounded troops.

I’m sure that BO cares about the troops. Nobody is questioning his commitment to wounded troops.

I just don’t understand how he didn’t find the time to see them.

According to the BO staff, the Pentagon did not want pictures. What’s wrong with that? Hospital visits are not supposed to be campaign appearances.

What will voters remember about this trip? They will remember that BO did not find the time to visit wounded soldiers.

Very bad planning Mr. BO!

This column has stated that the two biggest problems in America are the Republican and Democratic parties. One only has to look at recent events to confirm the truth of this statement. Both parties are equally to blame for the high oil prices, inflation and recession. For example:

When the Republicans took over Congress during the Clinton administration, they did so with their Contract With America. What a lie that was.

They promised no corruption, smaller government, less spending and a reduction in taxes. They almost made good on the taxes part, but it seemed to benefit the rich more so than the middle class Americans.

Instead of reduced spending, the pork flowed faster that it comes from a slaughterhouse. While the tax cuts actually did increase revenues, the spending negated the cash flow in with the reckless pumping of dollars into increased bureaucracies and actual waste. The Republican “reform” became a joke.

Then, two years ago, the Democrats took over both houses of the Congress. The Republicans lost because they deserved to lose because of their abuse of power. However, in spite of the Democrats’ promise to make the country better and solve the problems caused by the Republicans, inflation increased, and the cost of gasoline doubled.

There is no doubt why the cost of gasoline is skyrocketing. We don’t produce enough oil from American sources. With the Bakkan shale, ANWR, and off shore drilling potential, we have enough oil to serve our needs for the next century, giving scientists enough time to perfect alternative energy sources.

Tapping into these reserves could make America not only energy independent, but keep the money in the United States instead of sending it to OPEC and countries run by dictators. These countries are buying real estate in the US and also investing in American businesses and government loans. Foreign nvestment is good, but the problem is that they are actually doing it with OUR money.

America has the reputation for being the most generous nation in history. If there is a natural disaster, usually America is there with generous amounts of help. We don’t see front page stories of other countries coming to our aid when Katrina struck New Orleans, or when the Mississippi flooded Iowa. We did that on our own. No country run by the oil sheiks sent aid to the US. Instead, they used the money spent by Americans on overpriced oil to build indoor ski resorts in the desert and to live very lavish lives.

A good portion of Darfur comes from American dollars and most Americans will never see that city or benefit from the construction. We just lower our standard of living by paying higher prices for energy. The depressing part of that equation is that it isn’t necessary. However, the politicians find it advantageous to do so and instead of representing us, they have chosen to make the decisions for us.

The politicians said the way to lessen dependency on foreign oil was to manufacture ethanol. What a joke that is. The impact on fuel is not really significant, but it made farmers grow corn for that purpose because of the increased demand. The net result is that it didn’t have results of lower gasoline prices, but it did have a very great impact on increasing the price of food. Thank your favorite (and not so favorite) politicians for that.

Political speeches do not solve problems. Action does. We should demand management by objective and assessment by results. Our elected officials have failed miserably. We need new elected officials. We have to change the people in the corrupt system or significantly change their attitude. This is a tough job and the American people can solve it only in the voting booths. We get the government we deserve.

In 1994, the Republicans took over the House and Senate. It was the best thing that ever happened to Clinton. Why? Because he was finally liberated from the left wing Dems that messed up his first two years in office. It was exactly the formula to get him reelected in ‘96!

In 2006, the Dems took over the House and Senate. It was the best thing that ever happened to Bush. Why? Because it demonstrated that the Dems do not have the guts to implement their Iraq policies.

So where are we 2 years after the Dems took over the Congress?

Gallup has a very bad report card for Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid: Congressional Approval Hits Record-Low 14%

In fact, Gallup has more bad news for Nancy Pelosi:

“Approval of Congress has fallen below 20% only six times in the 34 years Gallup has measured it. Including the latest reading, four of those have come in the past year: in July, June, and May 2008, and in August 2007.”

Interestingly, it is Dems who are more unhappy:

“The most recent decline comes almost exclusively from Democrats, whose approval of Congress fell from 23% in June to 11% in July…..”

Why are Dems so angry with their Dem Speaker? Because the Dems lied to their base about Iraq.

The Dems are great at criticizing Bush policies but they are not very good at implementing their own!

Rasmussen has even worse news: Congressional Approval Falls to Single Digits for First Time Ever

So how does Nancy Pelosi say that Bush is a failure? She is at 14% and Bush is at 28% in the latest RCP!

Pelosi needs to sit down with her base. She may learn that they think that she is a failure.

Again, the Dems’ base is furious with Pelosi and Reid! Let me say it again: The Dems lied to their base about Iraq!

McCain and Bush were the only two who had the guts to tell people what they needed to hear about Iraq!

Tired of paying more than $4 a gallon for gasoline? Sick of watching your food budget going higher and higher because of the increased energy costs? Getting the feeling of panic because direct and hidden taxes are skyrocketing? If so, blame the politicians. They are the ones causing it.

The economy is the big issue in this campaign, even surpassing the war. At least the war is beginning to show that it is under control. The rampant inflation caused by the high price of energy is a reason for economic panic. What’s worse, is that it could also be controlled if not for the incompetence, greed and misplaced priorities of the two political parties.

They love to blame “market conditions” for the outrageous spike in the costs of crude oil. They say it is because demand is exceeding the supply and that the financial rape of the consumer is beyond their control. After all, this is a global economy and other nations are beginning to prosper and are using more resources.

This is true, but they neglect to mention (with good reason) that it is the American dollars that fuel this global economy. They also refrain from publicizing that fact that the rich are becoming super rich. We see articles that the oil sheiks can build an indoor ski resort in the middle of a desert and it is done by charging outrageous prices for oil.

Nobody talks about how Iraq is shipping two million barrels of oil a day into the marketplace and we still wonder why at least a substantial part of the profits are not being used to help finance the American presence in Iraq which is protecting the oil fields. Why should the American taxpayer suffer the financial burdens for protecting another country?

Why are the politicians to blame? It is a matter of misplaced priorities. In the first place, America has enough oil reserves in the Bakken fields of the mid west, ANWR and off shore to meet the country’s needs for the next century. The problem is that the politicians have refused to allow drilling in those areas. Doing so would keep the energy dollars in America.

They also have refused to allow the construction of more refineries to process the oil into gasoline. The excuses for not doing it are lame at best and the red tape should be discarded to allow for the expansion. With the record profits of the oil companies, they can well afford the construction

When demand exceeds the supply, the price spikes upward. Wouldn’t it make sense to increase the supply and with the marketplace being adequately supplied, the prices would naturally be reduced. This also would give adequate time to perfect alternative forms of energy to be produced and distributed.

Renewable energy is already being started with the development of solar and wind generators. We have a beginning to produce methane from animal and human wastes. Landfills do generate methane and this also can be capped to provide energy to drive generators. It is just a matter of refining the process to make it not only cost effective, but profitable.

Recently, scientists have found a way to create fuel oil from algae and the source is not only cheap, but inexhaustible. From the data submitted so far, it would seem it would be less costly to produce than building refineries.

The government is spending billions of dollars on space exploration which is very popular with NASA, but we don’t see much benefit in discovering that some distant planet has another moon we never saw before. At least we don’t understand how that helps to solve the problem of energy production on earth.

As long as we have the same old tired politicians, going down the same old party path, we can expect more of the same. In order to change the system, we have to change the people in it. We get the government we deserve.