Are The Three Stooges Running Our Energy Policy?

Posted on December 17, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard 1

Gas is down to $1.65 a gallon here in South Carolina, and dropping.

It seems like only yesterday we feared industrial nations would need more oil than could be produced, and that we might even run out of oil. The price of oil spiked upward, motivating scientists and entrepreneurs to search for new sources and methods for meeting the world’s growing need for affordable energy.

rusty-wind-turbine Pressed by our federal government, and rewarded with huge taxpayer-funded subsidies, domestic energy providers tried wind power, but that was a bust. It quickly became evident that windmill farms are horribly inefficient, difficult and expensive to maintain, and damaging to birds. Not to mention they are an eyesore. Now thousands of rusting, inoperative windmills blot the American landscape, and the ones that still work require ongoing federal cash infusions.

Solar power didn’t work either. The cost per unit of power produced was even worse than wind, requiring financial support from taxpayers to bring it to market. Solar panels take up too much real estate, are subject to weather, and could only provide a small part of our electrical needs even in the best of circumstances. In the scramble for easy government money, corruption in the solar power industry was rampant.

The government even forced us to add ethanol to gasoline, despite estimates by scientists that corn ethanol production uses six times more energy than it produces. The push toward ethanol threw a monkey wrench into the agricultural industry.

But while the federal government (like always) failed miserably to solve the problem, the free market (like always) came through with flying colors, finding a way to affordably meet our current and future energy demands. Guess what? It’s still oil and natural gas. Thanks to new high-tech methods of finding and tapping oil and natural gas reserves with a small and ecologically benign footprint, we now have an overabundance of available energy.

So now we can get rid of the expensive, corrupt, and unproductive taxpayer subsidies for solar power, wind generators, electric cars and ethanol plants, right?

Sigh.

Today our congressmen and women are voting on yet another bloated omnibus spending bill which includes:

a five-year extension of the solar investment tax credit (ITC)
a five-year extension of the wind production tax credit (PTC)
an increased allocation to the Department of Energy, most of which gets used for subsidies and contracts to politically-connected cronies
a three-year extension of the land and water conservation fund (LWCF), which will result in even more government ownership of resource-rich land

The uber-rich will still get $7500 from taxpayers for each $100,000 Tesla electric car they buy. The owner of Tesla will rake in millions more in subsidies. Meanwhile your own ten-year old Chevy will die prematurely from burning 10% ethanol while the prohibitive price of The-Three-Stooges-1 beef erases steaks and roasts from your grocery list. And the pure gas you buy for your boat, which can’t use ethanol, costs 70 cents per gallon more than the stuff with ethanol added. Huh?
I think I know who is in charge of our energy policy. Larry, Curly, and Moe.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Hey Moe! Hey Moe!
Well, nyuck nyuck nyuck nyuck!
La da dee, la da dee!
Woo! Woo! Woo! Woo!

The Curly Shuffle – Jump N’ the Saddle Band

Concealed Carry Explodes Thanks To Obama Administration

Posted on December 7, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

ConcealedCarry

After the horrific slaughter and maiming of Americans in San Bernardino by two Muslim terrorists last week, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said her greatest fear is that there might be retaliation. She worries that “anti-Muslim rhetoric might lead to violence.”

Did I miss something here? Didn’t the violence already happen, Ms. Lynch? Don’t you worry that maybe more Muslim bad-asses are going to shoot up a couple dozen or maybe a couple hundred more American infidels?

This is just one more – one of so many – insults to the American people by our current administration. Our attorney general is more worried about offending a few Muslims than she is about the lives and safety of the other 97.8% of us. Meanwhile, our president remains laser-focused on protecting us from global warming.

Have no doubt, there will be more violence involving radical Muslims. But it won’t be anti-Muslim rhetoric that causes it – Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and atheists don’t randomly kill people because of their religion. Only Muslims do that, and you can bet that any new religious violence will be perpetrated by Muslims, against non-Muslims. There will be more violence when the swat team sends the Muslim murderers to meet their maker, or their virgins, or whatever. Is that considered retaliation, Ms. Attorney General? Is that bullying?

I suspect that Ms. Lynch, as an official of the Obama administration and disciple of the liberal left, doesn’t approve of Americans carrying firearms in their purses, on their belts, and in their cars. Too bad.

This administration’s failure to face up to an existential, world-wide socio-political disaster has left us no choice. Rather than call out the bad guys, our president pushes an agenda to disarm the victims.

Firearms sales are going through the roof. Shooting ranges are slammed. Concealed carry permit applications are breaking records. Law enforcement agencies and officials are encouraging citizens to arm themselves. Americans have always supported the second amendment. We talked about carrying weapons to defend our families and others. Thanks to the Obama administration, we are now doing it. We are not going to wait for the swat team any more.

Despite the full-throated hysteria in the liberal media about moms with Glocks in their purses and the price of Smith and Wesson stock going through the roof (up 8.5% today), the arming of responsible American citizens is a good and natural thing.

Thanks, Barack – you have single-handedly done more to promote self-defense gun ownership than anyone dreamed possible.

I’m a big believer in the free market. Supply and demand has always worked, and it always will. When there is a demand for something, it will be supplied, one way or another. Right now, there is a demand for personal safety and security. Our current government is unwilling to supply it, but fortunately the writers of our constitution provided us an alternative – the Second Amendment.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Carry on my wayward son
There’ll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don’t you cry no more

Carry On My Wayward Son – Kansas

House Practices “Schoolhouse Rock” Process

Posted on November 28, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard 1

My kids grew up with “Schoolhouse Rock”. In the late seventies and early eighties kids were glued to the TV on Saturday mornings, watching animated video clips with clever rock lyrics and music. For the most part they didn’t even notice that they were being educated on topics ranging from adverbs, to multiplication, to ‘how a bill becomes a law’.

What a concept! Using music to entertain while gently educating! (i.e. Rockin’ on the Right Side . . . )

I had pretty much forgotten about “Schoolhouse Rock” until several months ago when a number of conservative congressmen bemoaned House Speaker John Boehner’s autocratic management style. They missed the good old days. Congressman Jeff Duncan (R-SC) said:

I have been frustrated that Congress has not been following regular order. By that I mean the constitutional/School House Rock process for passing legislation. A bill is drafted and then sent to a committee. The committee can make changes and then sends the bill to the House floor. The bill is amended some more and if it passes the House it goes to the Senate. The Senate may refer the House passed bill to one of its own committees and make changes. The bill passes out of committee and is sent to the Senate floor, likely to be amended further. Once the House and the Senate have passed their separate versions of the bill, a conference committee is created to work out the differences. The conference committee reports back, the House and Senate pass the agreed upon language and the bill is then sent to the President’s desk for his signature or veto. This process works in 49 of the 50 states and has served our country well for over 200 years.

The “Schoolhouse Rock” model was the ordinary legislative process until Newt Gingrich became Speaker of the House in 1995. Gingrich set up a system where every bill was rigidly defined by the House leadership with no amendments or refinements allowed. Fueled with “K Street” dollars, Gingrich required Congressmen to toe the party line on every vote or risk losing committee assignments and re-election funds. When Nancy Pelosi took over as Speaker, she adopted and enforced Gingrich’s method even more forcefully, and required members to meet fundraising quotas. Her successor, John Boehner, promised to break the Pelosi stranglehold on the legislative process, but ultimately rode an even harder line. Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell followed the new paradigm in the Senate: No amendments. No negotiations. Top-down authority on legislation with no input from members at all.

When enough congressmen had a gut full of Boehner’s “my way or the highway” style, a rebel group formed that ultimately took him out. The Freedom Caucus set out to restore the “Schoolhouse Rock” model of legislative order, and ultimately succeeded when Boehner stepped down and Congressman Paul Ryan took over.

“We had more amendments processed in the first two weeks under Speaker Ryan than during Boehner’s entire speakership,” reported Representative Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) at a town hall meeting.

Boehner / McConnell’s inability or unwillingness to stop the Obama liberal steamroller has been intolerable to grassroots conservatives. Now that the legislative shackles have been removed from our congressmen, there is hope that “Schoolhouse Rock” common sense will once again prevail in the House. The Senate, unfortunately, is still locked in McConnell’s autocratic Hell.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On The Right Side

I’m just a bill, yes, I’m only a bill,
And I got as far as Capitol Hill
Well, now I’m stuck in committee
And I’ll sit here and wait
While a few key Congressmen discuss and debate
Whether they should let me be a law
How I hope and pray that they will
But today I am still just a bill

Schoolhouse Rock – How A Bill Becomes A Law

South Carolina Tells Nikki Haley “No Refugees”

Posted on November 18, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

photo by WLTX President Obama’s accelerated plan to resettle up to 200,000 Syrian refugees in the United States over the next two years faces a tsunami of opposition from American citizens, and their security concerns over the program have pressed elected officials at every level into action.

Senator Jeff Sessions conducted an oversight hearing on the resettlement plan, and today House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called for a task force to find a way to put the program on hold until their security concerns could be addressed and resolved. A number of congressmen have made statements in opposition, and some have proposed bills prohibiting the resettlement of Syrian refugees in the U.S.

Last night the Dept. of Homeland Security, the FBI, and the State Department held a classified briefing in an attempt to assuage the concerns of members of Congress. South Carolina congressman Mick Mulvaney said the briefing did not offer much new information but added he has done his own research and determined that the vetting process amounts to little more than a question on a form asking, “Have you ever been convicted of a crime?” Mulvaney expects a House vote today which would require the agencies to specifically vet each refugee in detail prior to approval for resettlement. “That would be the ‘pause’ some have referred to,” he said.

Pressure is being applied at the state level as well, and as of this writing over 30 governors have stated opposition to Syrian refugee resettlement in their respective states. South Carolina governor Nikki Haley was an early advocate of the program, but acquiesced to calls for tighter security and wrote a letter to the State Department requesting a hold on Syrian refugees headed for her state. South Carolina state representative Chip Limehouse plans to file a bill that would prevent the state from funding refugee relocation.

At the local level, county councils in South Carolina, supported by fervid testimony from constituents at council meetings, are passing resolutions that they hope would prevent Governor Haley from placing refugees in their counties. Greenville County’s resolution stated, in part: “…the Greenville County Council will not approve or proceed with the United States Refugee Resettlement Program and rejects the expenditure of state funds to assist the United States Refugee Resettlement Program in Greenville County.”

While the Greenville County resolution won unanimous approval, as did similar bills in Berkeley and Pickens counties, York County’s motion by councilman Bruce Henderson failed for lack of a second. Councilman Robert Winkler told me he is completely opposed to any program that might bring a terrorist to our shores. When asked why he wouldn’t second the motion, he said, “We just didn’t have enough time to know exactly what we were voting for. But I don’t really think there is anything we can do about it anyway – if Governor Haley wants to put refugees in our county, she can just do it, no matter what we say.” Winkler pointed out that not much county money is spent directly on refugees other than the cost of police, fire departments, and schools. Benefits such as food stamps, cash welfare, health care and housing are funded by the state and federal governments, so the county does not have any control over expenditures for refugees.

It’s not clear exactly who, if anyone, has the authority to stop the Obama administration from proceeding with the resettlement of Syrian refugees, or, for that matter, any other refugees.

Governor Haley contends that no Syrian refugees have been resettled in South Carolina to date. If the predominantly conservative local and state officials prevail, that status will not change any time soon.

This article is sponsored by Watchdog Arena.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

And if she should tell you “come closer”
And if she tempts you with her charms
Tell her no no no no no-no-no-no
No no no no no-no-no-no
No no no no no
Don’t hurt me now for her love belongs to me

Tell Her No – the Zombies

They song may be from 1965. But the Zombies are still alive!

Refugees Knockin’ At the Door – Don’t Let ‘Em In

Posted on November 17, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

(AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)

Someone’s knockin’ at the door! Somebody’s ringing the bell!

President Obama sings, “Open the door, and let ’em in.”

Never mind that public opinion weighs heavily against allowing Syrian refugees to resettle in the United States. Or that one of the ISIS thugs who brutally murdered Parisians this week is thought to have used a fake Syrian passport, throwing question on whether refugees can be vetted. Or that thirty-one governors (at last count) are opposed to to importing Syrian refugees.

Other governors, like Republican Nikki Haley of South Carolina and Democrat Steve Bullock of Montana are doing the Kabuki dance on the refugee issue. They were for it before they were against it, and then for it again, kinda, but maybe against it. That kind of Charlie Brown leadership does not enhance political resumes.

Republican presidential candidates? Lock the door. Democrats? Let ’em in.

Refugee resettlement advocates would have us believe that this is not such a big deal – it’s only about a relatively small number of Syrians, most of whom are abused Christians, who are seeking refuge in the United States. If only that were true – any of it.

In the first six weeks of this year 98% of all Syrian refugees resettled in the U.S. were Sunni Muslim. At least 75% of the immigrants flooding into Europe every day through doors specifically swung open for Syrians are not Syrian, and are not refugees. They are opportunists from third-world countries all over Africa and the Middle East, seeking economic benefits. Why shouldn’t we expect the same in the U.S., especially since nearly all refugees here are on food stamps, cash welfare, and other government benefits, according to the Office of Refugee Resettlement?

Not mentioned by the refugee advocates are all the others who are arriving here – the unvetted non-Syrian refugees, the fake asylum seekers, or the illegals who overstayed visas or walked across our porous borders. The recent election of a refugee-happy prime minister to our north doesn’t brighten the situation.

Don’t fall for the crocodile tears. This is not a question of charity – those who clamor for more immigration and refugee resettlement are taking food from the mouths of our own hungry, jobs from our own unemployed, and the hope for a safe nation with traditional American values from our own children. There is no comparing today’s immigration and refugee situation with Ellis Island. This is nothing short of an invasion of our home by people who want to replace us, not join us.

If altruism demands that we help those truly in need, let’s help them in their home countries. Let’s help them defeat their oppressors, if that’s the cause of their misery. But if they won’t defend their own homes and families, and come knocking at our door demanding our food, shelter, and safety, we have no choice.

Close the door. Don’t let ’em in.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Someone’s knockin’ at the door,
Somebody’s ringin’ the bell,
Someone’s knockin’ at the door,
Somebody’s ringin’ the bell,
Do me a favor, open the door
And let ’em in!

Let ‘Em In – Paul McCartney

She’s Baaack! “Just-A-Blogger” Michelle Malkin, Kickin’ Butt and Takin’ Names!

Posted on November 9, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard 1

michelle-malkin-large It sure was good to see Michelle Malkin, the pit bull (drop-dead gorgeous pit bull) of the conservative movement on Fox News this week.

If you have my business card, you will see at the bottom (beside my faithful Peavey T60 guitar) the words “Just A Blogger”. It is an homage to Michelle, who back in 2012 lit a fire under me and thousands of other conservative activists when she very publicly destroyed Juan Williams for disparaging her as “just a blogger”, not nearly as intelligent as “journalists” such as himself.

I met Michelle and hundreds of other budding conservative bloggers, writers and pundits at the Right Online conference in Las Vegas that year, and it inspired me to start Rockin’ On the Right Side, my weapon of choice in the war against political correctness, government excess, and liberal knuckleheadedness. The conference was a memorial to Andrew Breitbart, and his spirit lives on. Nearly three hundred editorials later, I’m still slugging away. I haven’t won the war, by any means. Some days I wonder if I have even landed a punch. But every now and there is a little victory, and it keeps me plugging beside my comrades in the rag-tag revolutionary army of “just-a-bloggers”.

Michelle’s 2009 blockbuster book “Culture of Corruption” is still a great read for anybody who suspects that MSNBC might not be telling the whole truth. And I will be on Amazon.com tonight to order her new book “Sold Out – How High Tech Billionaires & Bipartisan Beltway Crapweasels Are Screwing Ameria’s Best and Brightest”. Now that’s a title you gotta love.

Welcome back, Michelle!

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

I’m back!
I’m back in the saddle again.
I’m back!
I’m back in the saddle again.

Back In the Saddle – Aerosmith

I Know Why Government Officials Pay For Patriotic Pregame Shows!

Posted on November 6, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

This week the poo hit the fan when Senators Jeff Flake and John McCain complained about the millions of taxpayer dollars going to owners of professional sports teams for the privilege of having patriotic, pro-military programs at their games.

Sports fans assumed, naturally, that team owners were providing the patriotic tributes to veterans and active-duty servicemen and women at their own expense, because they love the country that made them wealthy. A few owners do provide prime-time for free, but many don’t. These owners are the same uber-wealthy team owners who make taxpayers build or renovate stadiums every few years, threatening to move their teams out of town if the taxpayers don’t build them more high-rent corporate luxury boxes. Would a guy who sells your kid a half-sized crappy hot dog for eight bucks give away five minutes of high-visibility pre-game for free?

But lest you think the owners are the only villains in this smelly episode, there’s more to the story.

Some years ago when I lived in Montana, I noticed that all of the college sports broadcasts were sponsored by the state Worker’s Comp fund. I thought that was strange. Why does the Worker’s Comp Fund buy advertising? Viewers of their TV ads can’t buy anything from Worker’s Comp. Employers only buy worker’s comp insurance because they have to.

Then one day at a minor league baseball game in Helena I noticed the huge Worker’s Comp advertisement on the outfield fence. And when the announcer welcomed the several hundred Worker’s Comp employees who were attending the game on free tickets that day, the little light bulb over my head lit up. All advertisers get free tickets . . .

Free tickets! THAT’S why government officials buy advertisements with taxpayer money for sports teams!

I wonder how many seats the Montana state agencies own at Grizzly Stadium? And how many NFL tickets at Fedex Stadium were bought by the taxpayers? The Pentagon lamely defends their top-tier sports-venue expenditures as recruiting expense. But the other mid-level government desk-jockeys who write checks to sports teams all over the country sure can’t use that excuse.

It’s not enough that bureaucrats at every level of government make more money, work fewer hours, and have less responsibility than the people whose money they throw around. It’s no coincidence that career politicians like Hillary Clinton and Harry Reid become ridiculously wealthy while working as “public servants”. No, this is worse:

They all get to sit at the 50-yard line while we are in the nose-bleed section, if we can go to the game at all!

Living large on somebody else’s money is a good gig if you can get it.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Take me out to the ball game!
Take me out with the crowd!
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack,
I don’t care if I ever get back!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game – Pete Frampton

Pete’s take on the baseball classic:

Liberal Comedy – You Can’t Make This Stuff Up

Posted on November 4, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard Reply

So there we were, my wife and I, patiently waiting for the York County (SC) council meeting to start. I was one of several constituents there to make a statement in support of our councilman’s resolution to prevent the Refugee Relocation program from dumping third-world citizens in our county. I wanted to point out that bringing in needy refugees does not benefit our nation or citizens in any way, so it can only be viewed as charity. And taking money from taxpayers to give to a foreign charity without our consent is unconstitutional and illegal.

Next to my wife sat a 40-something guy – longish hair with a balding spot, rimless glasses, Mister Rogers sweater, 20-year old Birkenstock sandals. A slight lisp. I’m pretty sure that was his Prius in the parking lot, the one with the “Bernie Sanders Works For Me” sticker next to the faded “Hope and Change” decal.

My wife is a chatty sort of person, and of course she had to strike up a conversation with her next-seat neighbor. “Are you here to talk about the Refugee problem?” she chirped. I thought Mr. Birkenstock’s eyes were going to pop out of their sockets.

“What do you have against those poor people?” he said, revving up. “We should be helping them! It’s our duty as a society! What about the CHILLdrennnn?”

Yep, I had heard that sound before, on PBS. “The CHILLdrennnn.” I’ve always wondered why the Hope and Change crowd doesn’t seem to have any problem dumping $20 trillion of debt on the CHILLdrennnn. But I digress.

My wife is chatty, all right. But get on her wrong side and she is chatty like a Rottweiler. She lit into Mr. Birkenstock with a scorched-earth monologue detailing the many reasons why moving throngs of hostile, unemployable, non-English-speaking, permanent welfare recipients to York County at a time when we can’t even take care of our own underachievers, is a bad idea. “Why don’t you donate YOUR money to the refugees, instead of trying to take mine?” she asked.

Mr. Birkenstock shook his head at us, his face dripping with a condescending mix of pity and disgust.

The meeting began, and we all sat through hours of the mostly boring and often icky sausage-making of low-level politics. Then the agenda turned to how the county will manage the rapid growth we are currently experiencing. It was Mr. Birkenstock’s time to take the microphone.

“I am opposed to all this growth!” he wailed. “We don’t want any more of these big apartment buildings going up in our nice, peaceful neighborhood! The traffic is getting terrible. And what about the CHILLdrennnnnn! They can’t play safely in the street any more!”

We laughed out loud.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

Laugh, laugh, I thought I’d die
It seemed so funny to me
Laugh, laugh you met a guy who taught you how it feels to be
Lonely, oh so lonely

Laugh, Laugh – the Beau Brummels

My New Tax Proposal – You Will Love It

Posted on October 30, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard 1

I will be so happy to help you with that problem, sir! I hope you are having a wonderful day!

I have a great new tax reform plan. It’s so much simpler than the 73,954 pages in our current tax code. In fact, it is only one paragraph long.

Here it is:

Any company that provides customer service or technical support using a call center in Bangladesh, India, Costa Rica, the Philippines, or any other place where people speak English but are totally incompetent, helpless, ingratiating, untrained, patronizing, overpaid, clueless, freaking idiots, must pay a 99% excise tax on all net income from sales in the United States. All other companies and citizens will pay 10% of their income.

What do you think?

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

I’m not like them, But I can pretend
The sun is gone, But I have a light
The day is done, And I’m having fun
I think I’m dumb
Maybe just happy, I think I’m dumb

Dumb – Nirvana

Conservatives Fall For PBS Propaganda About Mulvaney, Freedom Caucus

Posted on October 29, 2015 by Tom Balek Standard 2

This week Congressman Mick Mulvaney and some fellow Freedom Caucus members are under attack on the web and social media. But not, as you might expect, by liberal opponents.

The hits are coming from conservatives, both grassroots activists and inside-the-beltway veterans.

And guess what, Hillary? This attack really was caused by a whacko video! Last week PBS played a three-hour documentary about Congressman Luis Guitierrez’ three-year struggle to win amnesty for illegal Mexican immigrants. The writers and producer of the piece made no attempt to hide their emotional advocacy for amnesty and open borders. But their methodology was a masterpiece of subterfuge.

In order to legitimize their position, the PBS writers were seeking a respected, well-known, solid conservative who favors open borders. They failed to find one, but they did stumble onto the remarkable and highly publicized film clip of Congressman Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) addressing a Hispanic town hall meeting in Gaffney, SC speaking only in Spanish. Mulvaney’s statements to that audience were consistent with the same message he had presented dozens of times to other groups: the borders and ports must be sealed, existing laws must be enforced, no amnesty for illegals, and improve legal immigration policies. But the carefully edited footage of Mulvaney, speaking eloquently in Spanish to a smiling group of Hispanics had a visceral effect. The casual observer would assume he joins Congressman Guitierrez arm-in-arm down the path of amnesty.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

These same conservatives laugh at the PBS hysteria about global warming. They see right through the propaganda in support of myriad other liberal issues. How on earth do they now decide that PBS is suddenly 100% accurate in their depiction of a solid conservative as a supporter of amnesty and open borders?

I have always known better than to believe everything I see on television, especially on PBS. And in recent years I have learned to not swallow everything that is published on the web. This post is in that category, so I urge you to please do a little research on Mulvaney and his positions on immigration (here’s a policy statement I found). Better yet, ask him – he is one of the most accessible politicians around.

Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side

I can’t go for that
Can’t go for that
Can’t go for that
Can’t go for that yeah

I Can’t Go For That – Daryl Hall with Cee Lo Green