Pain At Pump & Debt Ceiling Debate Approaching

By Gary L. Bauer Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON D.C. With the national average of gas at the pump closing in on $4 a gallon and summer travel season just weeks away President Obama last week directed Att. General Eric Holder to set up a task force to investigate oil companies traders & speculators for price gouging. Weve seen this act before.   When Obama proposed a government takeover of the healthcare industry he launched an attack against insurance and drug companies. Hes got an energy policy better suited for the pre-industrial age rather than the future. He continues to advance the fiction that sometime soon if only government would do enough America will run on windmills and sunshine. If the amount of energy from those sources doubled and doubled again it would still account for only a miniscule amount of the energy needed to power our economy. For the lifetime of those reading this we will be running on hydrocarbons. But many in Washington have an anti-oil agenda and it is making headlines today. Fox News reports that after five years and $4 billion in development costs Shell Oil Company is giving up on a major drilling effort in Alaska because an appointed EPA board denied Shell a necessary permit. The offshore field Shell wanted to develop was tremendous. According to the U.S. Geological Survey the field contains an estimated 27 billion barrels of oil. As the Fox report notes

…that represents two and a half times more oil than has flowed down the Trans Alaska pipeline throughout its 30-year history. One Alaskan official said of the EPAs decision Its driving investment and production overseas. That doesnt help the United States in any way shape or form.

The Next Big Fight Congress was out of session the past two weeks but there is more and more chatter about the next big fight in Washington -- raising the debt limit. Elite opinion insists that Congress must raise the debt limit and allow the Obama Administration to borrow more money. But a CBS/New York Times poll released late last week found that 63 of Americans do not want the debt limit increased. The CBS/New York Times poll also found that:

• 55 of Americans want a smaller government with fewer services (the conservative view)
• whereas 33 want a bigger government with more services (the liberal view).

In addition 58 want to reduce the deficit by cutting government spending (the conservative position); just 29 favor reducing the deficit by raising taxes (the liberal position). Many congressional conservatives are refusing to vote for an increase in the debt limit without significant spending reforms. President Obama does not want his hands tied in any way and is insisting on a clean bill with no restrictions on his ability to borrow and spend. Bill Kristol makes an interesting suggestion to congressional leaders. President Obama says he wants a clean bill. Bring a clean bill to the floor and have a vote on it. Virtually all Republicans would vote no. Kristol thinks many Democrats would also vote no as some are indicating. It seems from this poll that members of Congress serious about spending restraint are more in tune with the desires of the American people than are politicians who are demanding a blank check. White House Ignores Easter; Recognizes Muslim Holidays There is a report today noting that the Obama White House failed to issue a statement recognizing Good Friday or Easter. Yet the president did not fail to recognize at least three Muslim holidays last year with official White House statements. Even the liberal media felt compelled to ask questions about the perceived slight to Christians at todays White House press briefing. Press Secretary Jay Carney tried to deflect the questions but ultimately he had no explanation for why a statement wasnt issued. Regardless of what the White House recognizes most Americans believe their country is inextricably linked with Judeo-Christian notions of liberty justice and the relationship between government and man. That view of America is the subject of my Human Events column this week which you can read here. Gary Bauers daily End of Day Report email newsletter is delivered via American Values.