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As Price at the Pump Hits $4 Per Gallon, Democrats Again Refuse to Schedule Any Legislation to Help Lower Gas Prices

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Hart) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:17:00 +0000

Begin forwarded message:

From: GOP Leader Alert <GOPLeaderAlert@mail.house.gov>
Date: June 9, 2008 5:33:11 PM EDT
Subject: As Price at the Pump Hits $4 Per Gallon, Democrats Again Refuse to Schedule Any Legislation to Help Lower Gas Prices

AS PRICE AT THE PUMP HITS $4 PER GALLON, DEMOCRATS AGAIN REFUSE TO SCHEDULE ANY LEGISLATION TO HELP LOWER GAS PRICES

MEDIA REPORTS HIGHLIGHT REPUBLICAN EFFORTS TO HELP BRING DOWN SKYROCKETING GAS PRICES WHILE DEMOCRATS REMAIN IDLE ON ENERGY ISSUE

June 9, 2008 | Permalink

Media reports from coast to coast are highlighting the news that the average price of gasoline shot above $4 per gallon over the weekend. A nightmare scenario once unthinkable has now become a stark reality and Democratic leaders have no solutions to help. Case in point: Despite desperate pleas from working families and small businesses across the nation, Democrats in Congress have scheduled no legislation this week to help bring down the high price of gasoline.

Standing in stark contrast to Democrats’ inaction on gas prices, House Republicans are listening to the American people and have put a forth comprehensive energy plan to provide relief at the pump and secure our energy future. An article in The Hill highlights Republicans’ action vs. Democrats’ inaction on the issue of energy:

“With the AAA reporting that the average national cost for gasoline crossed the $4-mark for the first time, House Republicans on Sunday sought to lay the blame for record prices at the doorstep of congressional Democrats.

“‘Today marks another dubious day for this Do-Nothing Democratic Congress,” House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) stated. ‘On their watch, gas prices have soared to new heights, and by refusing to schedule a vote on a plan to increase American-made energy to help lower gas prices, congressional Democrats are complicit in this unprecedented surge in fuel costs.’

“Boehner touted the GOP’s plan to reduce the burden at the pump and blasted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for not bringing it to a vote.

“‘Every American has a right to ask: What will it take for the Democrat-controlled Congress to finally take action and help ease the pain of the Pelosi Premium on behalf of struggling families and small businesses?’ Boehner stated. ‘Speaker Pelosi has the power to schedule a vote on our plan to begin breaking America’s costly dependence on foreign sources of energy. She should not wait another day to do so.’”

And a column entitled “Fuelish Democrats” by Weekly Standard executive editor Fred Barnes demonstrates that Republicans continue to gain momentum on the most important issue facing the American people today:

“Republicans finally have a winning argument on a big issue, and they’d better make the most of it. It starts with high gasoline prices--the single most infuriating issue to voters these days--but doesn’t end there... Where Republicans have succeeded is in selling their solution to soaring gas prices: drilling for oil offshore and on federal lands, areas now off limits. In the Gallup survey, support for drilling in precisely these areas jumped from 41 percent in 2007 to 57 percent in May.”

As the Gallup poll referenced in Barnes’ column shows, Democrats are appallingly out of touch with their constituents when it comes to increasing production of American-made energy. The Republican plan calls for environmentally sound exploration of oil and gas, improving energy efficiency, and encouraging investment in groundbreaking research in advanced alternative and renewable energy technologies.

Gasoline today averages $4.02 per gallon, $1.69 more than when Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) became Speaker. Unfortunately, the Democratic Majority in Congress refuses to take action on responsible solutions that would help bring down this $1.69 Pelosi Premium. What will it take for Democrats to stop ignoring the American people and join Republicans in an effort to ease the pain at the pump?

READ MORE:
Boehner Responds to $4 Per Gallon Gasoline, Calls on Democrat-Controlled Congress to Increase Production of American Energy to Help Lower Gas Prices (6/8/08)
Boehner Statement on Largest One-Day Surge in Oil Prices in History (6/6/08)
Boehner on the Radio: Republican Leader Highlights GOP Energy Plan to Help Lower Gas Prices (6/6/08)
House Republicans Dominate House Floor Debate, Highlight Plan to Lower Gas Prices for American Working Families (6/6/08)
Republicans on the Radio: Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) Discusses GOP Plan for Lower Gas Prices, Energy Independence (6/6/08)

Republican Leader Press Office
Rep. John Boehner (R-OH)
H-204, The Capitol
(202) 225-4000
http://republicanleader.house.gov/

The IPhone 2.0

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Hart) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:12:00 +0000

From: Apple <News@InsideApple.Apple.com>

Date: June 9, 2008 8:10:23 PM EDT


3G SpeedSurf the web and download email over fast 3G cellular networks.	iPhone in EnterprisePush email, calendar, and contacts with Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync.	Maps with GPSFind your location, get directions, and track your progress along your route.	App StoreGet ready to download innovative applications for iPhone.

*Based on 3G and EDGE testing. Actual speeds vary by site conditions. Based on iPhone 3G (8GB) and first-generation iPhone (8GB) purchases. Requires new 2-year AT&T rate plan, sold separately.

Some products or promotions are not available outside the U.S. Product specifications are subject to change.

Advance copy of Weekly Standard

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Hart) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:08:00 +0000

From: "The Weekly Standard" <webeditor@weeklystandard.com>

Date: June 10, 2008 12:34:14 AM EDT

Federick Kagan juxtaposes John McCain’s and Barack Obama’s January 2007 proposals concerning their strategies for the future of the Iraq war in this week’s The Weekly Standard.With the use of hindsight, Kagan is able to examine these proposals and make a clear distinction as to which candidate is better qualified for the position of commander-in-chief. The comparison is telling. As Kagan states, “Barack Obama proposed a popular and politically safe route that would have led to an unnecessary and debilitating American defeat at the hands of al Qaeda.”

Also in this week’s issue, Ross Terrill details his firsthand experience with the aftermath of China’s earthquake and its unifying effect on the Chinese people. Rather than government-mandated participation, the Chinese have willingly participated in national events on their own accord—choosing to take part in moments of silence and private fundraising activities. The reaction of the people possibly reflects the democratic progress, or want there of, in the culture and has smudged the line that exists between society and state during this time of rebuilding.

Contributing editor P.J. O’Rourke delves into the political philosophy of Republican Senator John Sununu of New Hampshire. Instead of having a standard platform on his political ideologies, Sununu believes in a simplified philosophy: applying moral principals to the legislative process. The usage of this technique, combined with his ability to focus on his obligations and not his aspirations, makes Sununu a rarity in Washington. “I’m intrigued by the notion that most of our country’s founders were suspicious of anyone who wanted to hold public office, e.g., Aaron Burr,” he says.

Of course, you can log on to weeklystandard.com to read all these stories and more.

ADVANCE COPY

In the new issue of The Weekly Standard:

Andrew Ferguson on Barrack Obama from Hyde Park:

When Barack Obama was briefly embarrassed earlier this year by his association with the onetime bomb-builder and wanna-be bomb-exploder William Ayers, he blamed his neighborhood, sort of. “He’s a guy who lives in my neighborhood,” Obama said with a shrug, as if to say, “Don’t we all have to put up with these cranky old domestic terrorists wandering through the yard?” But of course not every neighborhood does have a onetime Weatherman and his wife, former Weathermoll Bernadine Dorhn, living in it, especially not as twin pillars of the community. Obama’s casual dismissal led people all across America, people who live in all kinds of communities without bombers, to look at each other and say: “Wow, what kind of neighborhood does Barack live in?”

It’s not a trifling question. Like a gabby relative or a crooked business associate, a membership in a restrictive golf club or a long-forgotten bisexual fling, a neighborhood can be a problem for a candidate. Voters often feel that incidentals like these reveal something essential about a potential president. Just as important, political consultants often go to great lengths to make voters feel that way. Recall poor Michael Dukakis, the hapless Democratic presidential nominee in 1988. He lived in the Boston suburb of Brookline—a “progressive” village where the townsfolk congratulate themselves for riding mass transit, eating fibrous bread, holding Winter Festivals in place of Christmas parties, joining committees, attending meetings that last many hours and result in the appointment of more committees, growing organic Chinese vegetables in sideyards, and hanging potted plants in macramé hammocks on the front porch. Brookline was an eddy of American life, a pocket of preci osity set apart from the world tha t most Americans struggle through, and Republican operatives made it a symbol of Dukakis’s disconnection from the common man. Maybe this was a low blow, but the Republicans had a point. Anyone who knew Brookline would not have been surprised to learn that Dukakis, as one of its favorite sons, liked to take books about Swedish land-use planning with him to the beach, thus disqualifying himself from the presidency.

As Republicans felt about Brookline, so Obama supporters feel about Obama’s neighborhood: it’s a measure of the man. “What better way to define what you’re all about than where you choose to live and bring up your family?” said Obama’s friend, neighbor, and campaign adviser John Rogers in USA Today. Obama’s neighborhood, Hyde Park, is on the South Side of Chicago, about seven miles from the Loop. Not counting time spent in college and law school, plus part of a year working for an investment bank in Manhattan, Hyde Park is the only place Barack Obama has lived as an adult. He first moved there in 1984, when he came to Chicago as a community organizer, and he returned after graduating from Harvard Law School. Here he courted his future wife, who grew up in the nearby neighborhood of South Shore, and here his children were born and now attend (private) school. Here, too, is the mansion he bought in 2005, with the proceeds from his two bestselling books, in which he sp eaks fondly of the life he has bui lt here.

Alberta Tribunal Leaves Canada Speechless

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Hart) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 10:19:00 +0000

From: Family Research Council <frcpub@frc.org>

Date: June 9, 2008 6:29:51 PM EDT

Refer a Friend | June 9, 2008

Alberta Tribunal Leaves Canada Speechless

David Ben Gurion, the first Israeli Prime Minister, once said, "The test of democracy is freedom of criticism." Nowhere have politicians more miserably failed that test than in Alberta, Canada, where the gatekeepers of political correctness--the Human Rights Commission (HRC)--have sentenced a pastor to a lifetime of silence. The case was initiated in 2002, when Rev. Stephen Boissoin published letters to the editor opposing same-sex "marriage" in the Red Deer Advocate. At the time, Canada was embroiled in a debate over whether to legalize counterfeit marriage across the country. When Professor Darren Lund of Calgary read Boissoin's editorials, he filed a complaint with the Alberta HRC, alleging that the content of the articles was "hateful." The Commission appointed a tribunal to investigate Boissoin, led by an unelected bureaucrat Lori Andreachuk. Last November, Andreachuk found Boissoin guilty of discrimination and, without the benefit of his testimony, forbade him from uttering "anything disparaging about homosexuals." Notice that Andreachuk does not ban him from speaking about anything "illegal" but bars him from any negativity toward gays and lesbians. The official punishment, issued without so much as a public hearing, includes everything from personal emails to congregational sermons. As if the lifetime speech ban were not tyrannical enough, Andreachuk also ordered Boissoin to compensate Professor Lund, who was not a victim of the so-called "hate crime," $5,000. Under the terms of his sentencing, the Reverend must "cease publishing...remarks about homosexuals" and submit a written apology to Lund for publication in the Red Deer Advocate. Ezra Levant, who is under similar scrutiny for printing cartoons about Mohammed, notes in a new column, "[Boissoin] has to publicly humiliate himself, by publicly declaring his contrition--a contrition he does not feel--and his abandonment of his deeply-held religious beliefs... Does that happen anywhere outside of Communist China?" Conservatives across Canada are in an uproar over the ruling and many are demanding that Premier Ed Stelmach follow through with his promise to review the unbridled "censorship powers" of the HRC. If he refuses, Alberta's thought police can indict any pastor or average citizen who holds political or moral views contrary to the powers-that-be. Additional Resources Ezra Levant: What could Mark Steyn's punishment look like? Look at Alberta

In the U.K., Charity No Longer Begins at Home

Sadly, the political climate in the United Kingdom is proving as inhospitable to religious liberty as Canada's. Because the British refuse to grant a conscience exemption on its new "equality" laws to Catholic Charities, the organization is ending its 120 years of adoption services, according to LifeSiteNews.com Under the government's policy, religious organizations can no longer refuse "goods and services" to individuals based on their sexual orientation. Rather than conform to the rules that would force it to place adoptive children with homosexuals, Catholic Charities will cling to the church's teachings and no longer pursue new homes for orphans. While the government had hoped to send a message of forced approval to the U.K., its policy is victimizing thousands of foster children who looked with hope to Catholic Charities for loving families. This failed policy of political correctness is certain to haunt the U.K., which for decades has reaped the cultural benefits of committed faith-based charities like this one. In the end, this intimidation won't lead to widespread acceptance of homosexuality but to a rise in social maladies created by the void these valuable ministries leave behind. Additional Resources After 120 Years of Service UK Catholic Adoption Agency Forced to Close Doors Over Forced Gay Adoptions

Ethical Science Wins by a Nose

In Australia, scientists are experiencing the sweet smell of success with nasal stem cells that could one day help cure Parkinson's disease. The study by Griffith University found that adult stem cells from patients' own noses could hold the key to reversing the loss of muscle control that results from the disease. When Professor Alan Mackey-Sim harvested stem cells from a human nose and injected them into a rat's brain, the chemical that promotes muscle control spiked. Rats that ran in circles after being infected with Parkinson's had the ability to run in straight lines. Mackey-Sim was also pleased to report that no tumors formed as a result of the tests. This discovery gives new hope that these debilitating symptoms can be reversed without the current drug regimen, which can suppress the immune system and become ineffective over time. Additional Resources Adult stem cell findings offer new hope for Parkinson's cure


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Wednesday on Oprah

noreply@blogger.com (Justin Hart) — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 09:20:00 +0000

			WEDNESDAY'S SHOW Oprah's Neighbors Throw a Party and Jamie Durie's Flower Pot Makeovers It's party time in Oprah's neighborhood and everyone's invited! Then, balcony makeovers -- Oprah gets her hands dirty with Australia's favorite garden guy. Plus, it's summer in a box! See what's coming up!


Go green! Eco-activists share simple ways to conserve From citrus pops to shortcake, kick off your summer with sweet treats! Want to start a vegan cleanse? Get Oprah's menu plans


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