Unhappy America

[CSpec]

Unhappy America
If America can learn from its problems, instead of blaming others, it will come back stronger
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaySt...ory_ID=11791539

NATIONS, like people, occasionally get the blues; and right now the United States, normally the world’s most self-confident place, is glum. Eight out of ten Americans think their country is heading in the wrong direction. The hapless George Bush is partly to blame for this: his approval ratings are now sub-Nixonian. But many are concerned not so much about a failed president as about a flailing nation.

One source of angst is the sorry state of American capitalism. The "Washington consensus" told the world that open markets and deregulation would solve its problems. Yet American house prices are falling faster than during the Depression, petrol is more expensive than in the 1970s, banks are collapsing, the euro is kicking sand in the dollar’s face, credit is scarce, recession and inflation both threaten the economy, consumer confidence is an oxymoron and Belgians have just bought Budweiser, "America's beer".

And it's not just the downturn that has caused this discontent. Many Americans feel as if they missed the boom. Between 2002 and 2006 the incomes of 99% rose by an average of 1% a year in real terms, while those of the top 1% rose by 11% a year; three-quarters of the economic gains during Mr Bush's presidency went to that top 1%. Economic envy, once seen as a European vice, is now rife. The rich appear in Barack Obama's speeches not as entrepreneurial role models but as modern versions of the "malefactors of great wealth" denounced by Teddy Roosevelt a century ago: this lot, rather than building trusts, avoid taxes and ship jobs to Mexico. Globalisation is under fire: free trade is less popular in the United States than in any other developed country, and a nation built on immigrants is building a fence to keep them out. People mutter about nation-building beginning at home: why, many wonder, should American children do worse at reading than Polish ones and at maths than Lithuanians?

The dragon’s breath on your shoulder
Abroad, America has spent vast amounts of blood and treasure, to little purpose. In Iraq, finding an acceptable exit will look like success; Afghanistan is slipping. America's claim to be a beacon of freedom in a dark world has been dimmed by Guantánamo, Abu Ghraib and the flouting of the Geneva Conventions amid the panicky "unipolar" posturing in the aftermath of September 11th.

Now the world seems very multipolar. Europeans no longer worry about American ascendancy. The French, some say, understood the Arab world rather better than the neoconservatives did. Russia, the Gulf Arabs and the rising powers of Asia scoff openly at the Washington consensus. China in particular spooks America--and may do so even more over the next few weeks of Olympic medal-gathering. Americans are discussing the rise of China and their consequent relative decline; measuring when China's economy will be bigger and counting its missiles and submarines has become a popular pastime in Washington. A few years ago, no politician would have been seen with a book called "The Post-American World". Mr Obama has been conspicuously reading Fareed Zakaria's recent volume.

America has got into funks before now. In the 1950s it went into a Sputnik-driven spin about Soviet power; in the 1970s there was Watergate, Vietnam and the oil shocks; in the late 1980s Japan seemed to be buying up America. Each time, the United States rebounded, because the country is good at fixing itself. Just as American capitalism allows companies to die, and to be created, quickly, so its political system reacts fast. In Europe, political leaders emerge slowly, through party hierarchies; in America, the primaries permit inspirational unknowns to burst into the public consciousness from nowhere.

Still, countries, like people, behave dangerously when their mood turns dark. If America fails to distinguish between what it needs to change and what it needs to accept, it risks hurting not just allies and trading partners, but also itself.

The Asian scapegoat
There are certainly areas where change is needed. The credit crunch is in part the consequence of a flawed regulatory system. Lax monetary policy allowed Americans to build up debts and fuelled a housing bubble that had to burst eventually. Lessons need to be learnt from both of those mistakes; as they do from widespread concerns about the state of education and health care. Over-unionised and unaccountable, America's school system needs the same sort of competition that makes its universities the envy of the world. American health care, which manages to be the most expensive on the planet even though it fails properly to care for the tens of millions of people, badly needs reform.

There have been plenty of mistakes abroad, too. Waging a war on terror was always going to be like pinning jelly to a wall. As for Guantánamo Bay, it is the most profoundly un-American place on the planet: rejoice when it is shut.

In such areas America is already showing its genius for reinvention. Both the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates promise to close Guantánamo. As his second term ticks down, even Mr Bush has begun to see the limits of unilateralism. Instead of just denouncing and threatening the "axis of evil" he is working more closely with allies (and non-allies) in Asia to calm down North Korea. For the first time he has just let American officials join in the negotiations with Iran about its fishy nuclear programme.

That America is beginning to correct its mistakes is good; and there's plenty more of that to be done. But one source of angst demands a change in attitude rather than a drive to restore the status quo: America’s relative decline, especially compared with Asia in general and China in particular.

The economic gap between America and a rising Asia has certainly narrowed; but worrying about it is wrong for two reasons. First, even at its present growth rate, China's GDP will take a quarter of a century to catch up with America's; and the internal tensions that China's rapidly changing economy has caused may well lead it to stumble before then. Second, even if Asia's rise continues unabated, it is wrong--and profoundly unAmerican--to regard this as a problem. Economic growth, like trade, is not a zero-sum game. The faster China and India grow, the more American goods they buy. And they are booming largely because they have adopted America's ideas. America should regard their success as a tribute, not a threat, and celebrate in it.

Many Americans, unfortunately, are unwilling to do so. Politicians seeking a scapegoat for America's self-made problems too often point the finger at the growing power of once-poor countries, accusing them of stealing American jobs and objecting when they try to buy American companies. But if America reacts by turning in on itself--raising trade barriers and rejecting foreign investors--it risks exacerbating the economic troubles that lie behind its current funk.

Everybody goes through bad times. Some learn from the problems they have caused themselves, and come back stronger. Some blame others, lash out and damage themselves further. America has had the wisdom to take the first course many times before. Let's hope it does so again.

[Sixty8panther]

There's some wisdom in that article, and it hits

more than a few RAW nerves with me, but I

just want to touch upon two things:

First, G.W.B is NOT the freeekin Devil, and is NOT the

root of all problems for the USA. There's a few

reasons why I think he sucks and one of them is that

he is a poor excuse for a Republican. But in the long

term he has not done any LESS good than Clinton &

certainly has NOT caused any MORE harm than that

administration. I think 100 years from now people

will have mixed feelings about both but they will

certainly remember Clinton as the on that dropped

the ball on job outsourcing, Communist China gaining

our military secrets and many other hot issues.

Aaaaaand SECOND. I will be against the USA raising

trade barriers the second when the rest of the world

plays fair, safe to say NEVER in my lifetime.

If WE do not look out for our own safety, economy &

stability NO ONE ELSE WILL!!!!

[loki]

If WE do not look out for our own safety, economy &

stability NO ONE ELSE WILL!!!!

and sadly, more than 1/2 the people that are elected, think we need to help the rest of the world first.

"we", the majority voting public, just need to see how far we've gone from our roots and what makes this country truely great are those roots.

honor past commitments (internationally and internally), but examine them if they are not favorable, and correct them when needed.

the rest should fall into place.

[gm4life]

There's some wisdom in that article, and it hits

more than a few RAW nerves with me, but I

just want to touch upon two things:

First, G.W.B is NOT the freeekin Devil, and is NOT the

root of all problems for the USA. There's a few

reasons why I think he sucks and one of them is that

he is a poor excuse for a Republican. But in the long

term he has not done any LESS good than Clinton &

certainly has NOT caused any MORE harm than that

administration. I think 100 years from now people

will have mixed feelings about both but they will

certainly remember Clinton as the on that dropped

the ball on job outsourcing, Communist China gaining

our military secrets and many other hot issues.

Aaaaaand SECOND. I will be against the USA raising

trade barriers the second when the rest of the world

plays fair, safe to say NEVER in my lifetime.

If WE do not look out for our own safety, economy &

stability NO ONE ELSE WILL!!!!

Sad truth is 68 many people think G.W.B. is a devil. I voted for him twice because there were no other good options in 2000 it was that "green" prick Gore. In 2004 it was clueless Kerry. He wasn't conservative enough if you ask me he threw money around. Also was a yes man. I can also most certainly tell you that Obama vs. McCain issue is a no brainer for me. I will have to vote for a republican again because of no better options. That is sad there isn't a common mans party. Anyways Bush is not the devil nor was he perfect but he was honest and a man of his word and a big spender. I just want cheap gas, a secure nation (a huge issue with me), and more American products aka cars. I can't wait for Nov. to see how it all turns out. The sooner we drill domestically the better. People would be even unhappier had they had Gore or Kerry I am pretty sure. And look you can put some blame on the idot democrate filled congress too and that stupid bitch Nancy the speaker of the house. Lets put it this way there is alot at risk in this election and I will be voting and canceling out some other idots vote. End of slightly politcal rant. If people bought more GM cars I bet American's would be happier!

Edited July 25, 2008 by gm4life

[Croc]

Kerry wasn't clueless; quite the opposite in fact. He was too intelligent to get elected simply because policy wonks tend to have a difficult time relating to the public. John Kerry would have been one of the most intellectual presidents. Kerry lost because of the Swift Boat Veterans (and his failure to realize the impact of this smear campaign and defend himself) and a deficit of charisma as compared to GW.

[loki]

Sad truth is 68 many people think G.W.B. is a devil. .....

I can also most certainly tell you that Obama vs. McCain issue is a no brainer for me. I will have to vote for a republican again because of no better options.

That is sad there isn't a common mans party. ....

I just want cheap gas, a secure nation (a huge issue with me), and more American products aka cars. I can't wait for Nov. to see how it all turns out. The sooner we drill domestically the better. People would be even unhappier had they had Gore or Kerry I am pretty sure. And look you can put some blame on the idot democrate filled congress too and that stupid bitch Nancy the speaker of the house. Lets put it this way there is alot at risk in this election and I will be voting and canceling out some other idots vote. End of slightly politcal rant.

and lots of people treat Obama like a messiah...

I can't vote for either with a good conscience

In Bold... I agree, but there is no "common man", unless they're getting pretty old, receiving their SS checks, and...uh, know what it was like with $.25 gas. those people are getting more common every day... and sadly that puts McCain in that camp but he can't tell the truth, or remember what he said just a few years ago.

I'm still in the air for a write in, libertarian, or constitution party vote.

I voted for bush last time, my first pres race vote... I wish i knew then what i know now.

most likely, nov won't be good, cause it'd take near a miracle for the best man to win.

forever.

[loki]

Kerry wasn't clueless; quite the opposite in fact. He was too intelligent to get elected simply because policy wonks tend to have a difficult time relating to the public. John Kerry would have been one of the most intellectual presidents. Kerry lost because of the Swift Boat Veterans (and his failure to realize the impact of this smear campaign and defend himself) and a deficit of charisma as compared to GW.

really? Wilson had a PhD and was the president in power that "helped" create the US central bank. the FED. something that was quite discussed between the founders.... or at least jefferson and hamilton i believe, might be wrong, and obviously they didn't make one back then.

[cletus8269]

you know i wasnt around then but another president that was a bum was carter, my dad told me those were some of the roughest years of his life. how'd he do dealing with iran by the way? i'll give you 444 guesses how that worked out.

[regfootball]

our choices have sucked in the last 2 elections and this time they suck even more.

[Robert Hall]

Kerry wasn't clueless; quite the opposite in fact. He was too intelligent to get elected simply because policy wonks tend to have a difficult time relating to the public. John Kerry would have been one of the most intellectual presidents. Kerry lost because of the Swift Boat Veterans (and his failure to realize the impact of this smear campaign and defend himself) and a deficit of charisma as compared to GW.

The thing is, GW has no charisma at all..comes off as a clueless, semi-literate rube with a fake accent. I can't believe people believed his BS and voted for him...the God and guns crowd loved him, I just don't see the appeal..didn't in '00.

Edited July 25, 2008 by moltar

[the_yellow_dart]

I can't understand how there are even people left who will still vote Republican.

I really will lose my faith in America if McCain gets in.

[balthazar]

>>"I can't wait for Nov. to see how it all turns out. "<<

Preview: BO wins : kills the Bush tax break & individuals pay $2300 more in federal income tax.

If BO gets even 60% of his new spending proposals passed (60 % = $300B in the first year alone)- individuals will pay another $5300 more on FIT. Already you're looking at $7600 more in taxes right off the bat next year. Feel the wind of change... blowing thru your empty wallet???

He's for doubling the capital gains tax, raising the SS tax... he has proposed well over $1.5 TRILLION in new spending over the next 5 years. He has said no to exploration, drilling & refineries, no to more coal, no to wind farms, no to nuclear. He DID say gas might hit $12/gal- apparently he's doing everything he can to make that come true.

Between tax increases and energy increases, we are slated to see the worst inflation in modern times, and at a time the country is already crawling on it's belly.

[Intrepidation]

Kerry spoke at my graduation, he's a brilliant speaker and witty guy...too bad we had a dip&#036;h&#33; get elected instead.

[Oracle of Delphi]

It's times like these I value my dual citizenship. I'm not sure how things will turn out in the US no matter who is elected, so if things in the USA go down the &#036;h&#33;ter, I'd be happy living in Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) the rest of my life, at least for now.

Edited July 25, 2008 by Pontiac Custom-S

[Croc]

really? Wilson had a PhD and was the president in power that "helped" create the US central bank. the FED. something that was quite discussed between the founders.... or at least jefferson and hamilton i believe, might be wrong, and obviously they didn't make one back then.

...What are you arguing? I said "one of the most intellectual," not "the most intellectual." Not to relive 2004 or anything, but Kerry has a much more impressive academic record than GW.

The thing is, GW has no charisma at all..comes off as a clueless, semi-literate rube with a fake accent. I can't believe people believed his BS and voted for him...the God and guns crowd loved him, I just don't see the appeal..didn't in '00.

I can't stand the guy because of his rampant disregard for the Constitution, cronyism, and overall ideological differences, but I think he's very charismatic. He's got a very disarming, "one of the people" personas, whether it's totally affected or not. That he is now unloading the Crawford ranch after obtaining it just prior to 2000 sure makes it seem affected, but I do not know him personally so I cannot say for certain.

Washington politics is Hollywood for the ugly people--GW deserves a political Oscar for his performance, IMO.

[CSpec]

Bush means well, but he is shockingly disinterested in world and national topics that escape his narrow scope of the Axis of Evil. His biggest failing is his complete and utter inability to admit mistakes and change course in anything, that is until very recently. We'll see if his new talk of Iraq withdrawal timelines and Iran negotiations go anywhere.

[CSpec]

>>"I can't wait for Nov. to see how it all turns out. "<<

Preview: BO wins : kills the Bush tax break & individuals pay $2300 more in federal income tax.

If BO gets even 60% of his new spending proposals passed (60 % = $300B in the first year alone)- individuals will pay another $5300 more on FIT. Already you're looking at $7600 more in taxes right off the bat next year. Feel the wind of change... blowing thru your empty wallet???

He's for doubling the capital gains tax, raising the SS tax... he has proposed well over $1.5 TRILLION in new spending over the next 5 years. He has said no to exploration, drilling & refineries, no to more coal, no to wind farms, no to nuclear. He DID say gas might hit $12/gal- apparently he's doing everything he can to make that come true.

Between tax increases and energy increases, we are slated to see the worst inflation in modern times, and at a time the country is already crawling on it's belly.

What? Quoting the Economist here:

Both candidates take the framework of the Bush tax cuts as given. And both measure the effects of their tax and spending plans not against current law (which has Mr Bush’s tax cuts expiring by the start of 2011) but against a world in which the cuts are all extended. Compared with that “baseline”, Mr Obama's scheme raises some $800 billion over the next decade--all of which he then spends on health care, infrastructure and other programmes.

To pay for this largesse, and for his long spending wish-list, Mr Obama promises to raise huge sums from closing tax loopholes. He also pushes up tax rates at the top. America’s top rate of income tax will rise from 35% to 39.5%, its level at the end of the Clinton era. The capital-gains tax rate will rise from 15% to between 20% and 28%.

Mr Obama also wants to keep many of the Bush tax cuts that primarily benefit the 98% of households that make less than $250,000 a year. He then adds an array of new tax cuts for those at the bottom and middle.

[Oracle of Delphi]

I'd just be happy with anyone who just keeps the Illegal Aliens on their side of the border. I would not have a problem with a Berlin styled wall going up the whole length of our southern border with Mexico.

[Robert Hall]

It's times like these I value my dual citizenship. I'm not sure how things will turn out in the US no matter who is elected, so if things in the USA go down the &#036;h&#33;ter, I'd be happy living in Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) the rest of my life, at least for now.

Good for you...personally, I'd like to have a passport from an EU country... I'd be quite happy in Wales, I think.

[Satty]

I'd just be happy with anyone who just keeps the Illegal Aliens on their side of the border. I would not have a problem with a Berlin styled wall going up the whole length of our southern border with Mexico.

Soon enough, Americans are going to be so desperate for work, they'll be standing outside Home Depot undercutting the wage demands of illegal immigrants, who will then return to Mexico because they cant compete with desperate Americans.

[loki]

...What are you arguing? I said "one of the most intellectual," not "the most intellectual." Not to relive 2004 or anything, but Kerry has a much more impressive academic record than GW.

I can't stand the guy because of his rampant disregard for the Constitution, cronyism, and overall ideological differences, but I think he's very charismatic. He's got a very disarming, "one of the people" personas, whether it's totally affected or not. That he is now unloading the Crawford ranch after obtaining it just prior to 2000 sure makes it seem affected, but I do not know him personally so I cannot say for certain.

I'm "arguing" that even the most "intellectual" president has made...some of the worst precedents, and GW's disregard for the constitution has many precedents too. I'm thinking of picking up the book, who killed the constitution. that author spoke briefly in DC at the Freedom march that was not in the MSM. he gave some examples thinking it was from bush, but it was actually from H. S. Truman's presidency.

Yes, i agree that GWB has not been a good president, and prolly one of the least "intellectual", at least of the last 100 years. If Cheney really has not "told him what to do", would be even more surprising, cause that man has been in D.C. WAY too long, in positions of "high authority".

[XP715]

I'd just be happy with anyone who just keeps the Illegal Aliens on their side of the border. I would not have a problem with a Berlin styled wall going up the whole length of our southern border with Mexico.

I wholeheartedly second that!

[Sixty8panther]

for the Liberals out there who do NOT drive 4-cyilnder economy cars

but instead big SUVs or low-MPG cars & are pissing & moaning over

the current theivery going on at the pump...

Think back to the 2000 election, do you even REMEMBER what

Al Gore said about oil/fuel prices?

He said a great way to finally kill internal combustio and rid

ourselves of global warming would be to raise the price of

oil & gas, IIRC he even specifically said $4.00/gallon!

Wish I had time to find a quote from his campaign trail.

Meantime, chew over this:

http://www.eagleforum.org/column/2000/july00/00-07-05.shtml

Why Are Gas Prices So High?

July 5, 2000

Google Ads are provided by Google and are not selected or endorsed by Eagle Forum

The biggest issue on the highways and byways of America is the high price of gasoline at the pump, in some areas higher than$2 per gallon. Who's to blame? Is it a presidential campaign issue?

Al Gore, struggling to pull himself up from bad polls numbers, is trying to blame George W. Bush because (a) he's from Texas, (b) he once ran an oil exploration company, and © he has received some (perfectly legal) contributions from oil companies. Gore's charges simply don't stand up.

If we want to play that game, Gore is the vulnerable one. He and his late father received much money and many financial favors from Occidental Petroleum and its founder Armand Hammer, a notorious friend of the bosses of the former Soviet Union, and Gore still controls $500,000 in Occidental stock.

Gore may even be happy about the rising gas prices. He made clear in his book "Earth in the Balance" that he wants to rid the world of the internal combustion engine.

The real place to levy the blame is OPEC, the 11-country oil cartel (plus Mexico) that conspired to raise the price of oil. OPEC is a criminal price-fixing conspiracy and, if its members were reachable by U.S. law, its sheiks would be in jail.

OPEC is not selling us oil at free market prices. It has monopolized the oil market by engaging in illegal practices that are exactly designed to kill off the competition.

However, OPEC is part of the global economy that we've been told is the wave of the future. OPEC is part of Clinton's plan to "integrate our economy" with other nations and to seek interdependence with other countries in the new global market, and that includes being dependent on foreign oil.

Clinton just failed to advise us of the price of his plan.

There isn't any shortage of oil in the Middle East. The OPEC rulers don't even need to drill any more wells. All they need to do is turn the spigots to increase or decrease the flow of oil, which is exactly what they've been doing.

In 1997 they opened the faucets wide to increase the flow of oil and drive oil prices down to historic lows. That had exactly the effect they planned: it discouraged U.S. investors and drillers from exploration, U.S. production was cut back and 30,000 Americans lost their jobs.

Now, in 2000, OPEC turned the faucets down in order to decrease the flow of oil and drive up the price. So Americans, whose domestic production has been curtailed, are paying extra tribute to the OPEC sheiks to the tune of tens of billions of dollars a year.

Some politicians, at both the congressional and state levels, are toying with the idea of cutting or suspending some of the taxes on gasoline. That would affect only a small part of the big gasoline price increase and, anyway, why let a criminal cartel stop us from repairing our roads?

These countries owe us. Don't you remember? We went to war in 1991 to save Kuwait from being taken over by Saddam Hussein. U.S. ships and planes are defending Saudi Arabia today.

In 1994 the U.S. taxpayers bailed out Mexico with $50 billion. Then, we organized a $40 billion bailout of Indonesia. Most of these countries are still getting handouts from our foreign aid program and from those alphabet-soup global lending rackets.

"Ingratitude, thou marble-hearted fiend," spoke the Bard. And George Washington warned us, "There can be no greater error than to expect or calculate upon real favors from nation to nation. It is an illusion which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard."

But maybe there is more behind this story than just greed and ingratitude. In looking into the causes of the oil price increase, Congress should start by investigating what could turn out to be the biggest scandal of the scandal-ridden Clinton Administration.

This is the published news report that OPEC oil ministers quietly told national security advisors on Capitol Hill that the oil production cutbacks, which is the cause of the price increases, were made at the request of the Clinton Administration. How's that again?

Can it really be true that the Clinton Administration asked OPEC to institute cutbacks in order to raise the price of oil? What could possibly be the motive of such duplicity?

The wealthy OPEC sheiks don't need additional money, but the increase in the price of oil on the world market immensely benefits debtor nations such as Russia, Mexico and Indonesia. They are now able to start paying back some of their overdue loans to important Western bankers.

The American people have gotten very tired of taxpayer bailouts of corrupt foreign regimes that enable powerful U.S. investment bankers to collect on their foolish foreign loans. Raising the price of oil that we pay to foreign producers is a devilishly clever scheme to give the big fellas another subsidy from the U.S. taxpayers.

[Sixty8panther]

If you have a few min. to read:

http://www.kusi.com/weather/colemanscorner/19842304.html

John Coleman's Comments Before the San Diego Chamber of Commerce

Global Warming and the Price of a Gallon of Gas

by John Coleman

You may want to give credit where credit is due to Al Gore and his global warming campaign the next time you fill your car with gasoline, because there is a direct connection between Global Warming and four dollar a gallon gas. It is shocking, but true, to learn that the entire Global Warming frenzy is based on the environmentalist’s attack on fossil fuels, particularly gasoline. All this big time science, international meetings, thick research papers, dire threats for the future; all of it, comes down to their claim that the carbon dioxide in the exhaust from your car and in the smoke stacks from our power plants is destroying the climate of planet Earth. What an amazing fraud; what a scam.

The future of our civilization lies in the balance.

That’s the battle cry of the High Priest of Global Warming Al Gore and his fellow, agenda driven disciples as they predict a calamitous outcome from anthropogenic global warming. According to Mr. Gore the polar ice caps will collapse and melt and sea levels will rise 20 feet inundating the coastal cities making 100 million of us refugees. Vice President Gore tells us numerous Pacific islands will be totally submerged and uninhabitable. He tells us global warming will disrupt the circulation of the ocean waters, dramatically changing climates, throwing the world food supply into chaos. He tells us global warming will turn hurricanes into super storms, produce droughts, wipe out the polar bears and result in bleaching of coral reefs. He tells us tropical diseases will spread to mid latitudes and heat waves will kill tens of thousands. He preaches to us that we must change our lives and eliminate fossil fuels or face the dire consequences. The future of our civilization is in the balance.

With a preacher’s zeal, Mr. Gore sets out to strike terror into us and our children and make us feel we are all complicit in the potential demise of the planet.

Here is my rebuttal.

There is no significant man made global warming. There has not been any in the past, there is none now and there is no reason to fear any in the future. The climate of Earth is changing. It has always changed. But mankind’s activities have not overwhelmed or significantly modified the natural forces.

Through all history, Earth has shifted between two basic climate regimes: ice ages and what paleoclimatologists call “Interglacial periods”. For the past 10 thousand years the Earth has been in an interglacial period. That might well be called nature’s global warming because what happens during an interglacial period is the Earth warms up, the glaciers melt and life flourishes. Clearly from our point of view, an interglacial period is greatly preferred to the deadly rigors of an ice age. Mr. Gore and his crowd would have us believe that the activities of man have overwhelmed nature during this interglacial period and are producing an unprecedented, out of control warming.

Well, it is simply not happening. Worldwide there was a significant natural warming trend in the 1980’s and 1990’s as a Solar cycle peaked with lots of sunspots and solar flares. That ended in 1998 and now the Sun has gone quiet with fewer and fewer Sun spots, and the global temperatures have gone into decline. Earth has cooled for almost ten straight years. So, I ask Al Gore, where’s the global warming?

The cooling trend is so strong that recently the head of the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had to acknowledge it. He speculated that nature has temporarily overwhelmed mankind’s warming and it may be ten years or so before the warming returns. Oh, really. We are supposed to be in a panic about man-made global warming and the whole thing takes a ten year break because of the lack of Sun spots. If this weren’t so serious, it would be laughable.

Now allow me to talk a little about the science behind the global warming frenzy. I have dug through thousands of pages of research papers, including the voluminous documents published by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. I have worked my way through complicated math and complex theories. Here’s the bottom line: the entire global warming scientific case is based on the increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from the use of fossil fuels. They don’t have any other issue. Carbon Dioxide, that’s it.

Hello Al Gore; Hello UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Your science is flawed; your hypothesis is wrong; your data is manipulated. And, may I add, your scare tactics are deplorable. The Earth does not have a fever. Carbon dioxide does not cause significant global warming.

The focus on atmospheric carbon dioxide grew out a study by Roger Revelle who was an esteemed scientist at the Scripps Oceanographic Institute. He took his research with him when he moved to Harvard and allowed his students to help him process the data for his paper. One of those students was Al Gore. That is where Gore got caught up in this global warming frenzy. Revelle’s paper linked the increases in carbon dioxide, CO2, in the atmosphere with warming. It labeled CO2 as a greenhouse gas.

Charles Keeling, another researcher at the Scripps Oceanographic Institute, set up a system to make continuous CO2 measurements. His graph of these increases has now become known as the Keeling Curve. When Charles Keeling died in 2005, his son Ralph, also at Scripps, took over the measurements. Here is what the Keeling curve shows: an increase in CO2 from 315 parts per million in 1958 to 385 parts per million today, an increase of 70 parts per million or about 20 percent.

All the computer models, all of the other findings, all of the other angles of study, all come back to and are based on CO2 as a significant greenhouse gas. It is not.

Here is the deal about CO2, carbon dioxide. It is a natural component of our atmosphere. It has been there since time began. It is absorbed and emitted by the oceans. It is used by every living plant to trigger photosynthesis. Nothing would be green without it. And we humans; we create it. Every time we breathe out, we emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. It is not a pollutant. It is not smog. It is a naturally occurring invisible gas.

Let me illustrate. I estimate that this square in front of my face contains 100,000 molecules of atmosphere. Of those 100,000 only 38 are CO2; 38 out of a hundred thousand. That makes it a trace component. Let me ask a key question: how can this tiny trace upset the entire balance of the climate of Earth? It can’t. That’s all there is to it; it can’t.

The UN IPCC has attracted billions of dollars for the research to try to make the case that CO2 is the culprit of run-away, man-made global warming. The scientists have come up with very complex creative theories and done elaborate calculations and run computer models they say prove those theories. They present us with a concept they call radiative forcing. The research organizations and scientists who are making a career out of this theory, keep cranking out the research papers. Then the IPCC puts on big conferences at exotic places, such as the recent conference in Bali. The scientists endorse each other’s papers, they are summarized and voted on, and voila, we are told global warming is going to kill us all unless we stop burning fossil fuels.

May I stop here for a few historical notes? First, the internal combustion engine and gasoline were awful polluters when they were first invented. And, both gasoline and automobile engines continued to leave a layer of smog behind right up through the 1960’s. Then science and engineering came to the environmental rescue. Better exhaust and ignition systems, catalytic converters, fuel injectors, better engineering throughout the engine and reformulated gasoline have all contributed to a huge reduction in the exhaust emissions from today’s cars. Their goal then was to only exhaust carbon dioxide and water vapor, two gases widely accepted as natural and totally harmless. Anyone old enough to remember the pall of smog that used to hang over all our cities knows how much improvement there has been. So the environmentalists, in their battle against fossil fuels and automobiles had a very good point forty years ago, but now they have to focus almost entirely on the once harmless carbon dioxide. And, that is the rub. Carbon dioxide is not an environmental problem; they just want you now to think it is.

Numerous independent research projects have been done about the greenhouse impact from increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide. These studies have proven to my total satisfaction that CO2 is not creating a major greenhouse effect and is not causing an increase in temperatures. By the way, before his death, Roger Revelle coauthored a paper cautioning that CO2 and its greenhouse effect did not warrant extreme countermeasures.

So now it has come down to an intense campaign, orchestrated by environmentalists claiming that the burning of fossil fuels dooms the planet to run-away global warming. Ladies and Gentlemen, that is a myth.

So how has the entire global warming frenzy with all its predictions of dire consequences, become so widely believed, accepted and regarded as a real threat to planet Earth? That is the most amazing part of the story.

To start with global warming has the backing of the United Nations, a major world force. Second, it has the backing of a former Vice President and very popular political figure. Third it has the endorsement of Hollywood, and that’s enough for millions. And, fourth, the environmentalists love global warming. It is their tool to combat fossil fuels. So with the environmentalists, the UN, Gore and Hollywood touting Global Warming and predictions of doom and gloom, the media has scrambled with excitement to climb aboard. After all the media loves a crisis. From Y2K to killer bees the media just loves to tell us our lives are threatened. And the media is biased toward liberal, so it’s pre-programmed to support Al Gore and UN. CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, The LA Times, The Washington Post, the Associated Press and here in San Diego The Union Tribune are all constantly promoting the global warming crisis.

So who is going to go against all of that power? Not the politicians. So now the President of the United States, just about every Governor, most Senators and most Congress people, both of the major current candidates for President, most other elected officials on all levels of government are all riding the Al Gore Global Warming express. That is one crowded bus.

I suspect you haven’t heard it because the mass media did not report it, but I am not alone on the no man-made warming side of this issue. On May 20th, a list of the names of over thirty-one thousand scientists who refute global warming was released. Thirty-one thousand of which 9,000 are Ph.D's. Think about that. Thirty-one thousand. That dwarfs the supposed 2,500 scientists on the UN panel. In the past year, five hundred of scientists have issued public statements challenging global warming. A few more join the chorus every week. There are about 100 defectors from the UN IPCC. There was an International Conference of Climate Change Skeptics in New York in March of this year. One hundred of us gave presentations. Attendance was limited to six hundred people. Every seat was taken. There are a half dozen excellent internet sites that debunk global warming. And, thank goodness for KUSI and Michael McKinnon, its owner. He allows me to post my comments on global warming on the website KUSI.com. Following the publicity of my position from Fox News, Glen Beck on CNN, Rush Limbaugh and a host of other interviews, thousands of people come to the website and read my comments. I get hundreds of supportive emails from them. No I am not alone and the debate is not over.

In my remarks in New York I speculated that perhaps we should sue Al Gore for fraud because of his carbon credits trading scheme. That remark has caused a stir in the fringe media and on the internet. The concept is that if the media won’t give us a hearing and the other side will not debate us, perhaps we could use a Court of law to present our papers and our research and if the Judge is unbiased and understands science, we win. The media couldn’t ignore that. That idea has become the basis for legal research by notable attorneys and discussion among global warming debunkers, but it’s a long way from the Court room.

I am very serious about this issue. I think stamping out the global warming scam is vital to saving our wonderful way of life.

The battle against fossil fuels has controlled policy in this country for decades. It was the environmentalist’s prime force in blocking any drilling for oil in this country and the blocking the building of any new refineries, as well. So now the shortage they created has sent gasoline prices soaring. And, it has lead to the folly of ethanol, which is also partly behind the fuel price increases; that and our restricted oil policy. The ethanol folly is also creating a food crisis throughout the world – it is behind the food price rises for all the grains, for cereals, bread, everything that relies on corn or soy or wheat, including animals that are fed corn, most processed foods that use corn oil or soybean oil or corn syrup. Food shortages or high costs have led to food riots in some third world countries and made the cost of eating out or at home budget busting for many.

So now the global warming myth actually has lead to the chaos we are now enduring with energy and food prices. We pay for it every time we fill our gas tanks. Not only is it running up gasoline prices, it has changed government policy impacting our taxes, our utility bills and the entire focus of government funding. And, now the Congress is considering a cap and trade carbon credits policy. We the citizens will pay for that, too. It all ends up in our taxes and the price of goods and services.

So the Global warming frenzy is, indeed, threatening our civilization. Not because global warming is real; it is not. But because of the all the horrible side effects of the global warming scam.

I love this civilization. I want to do my part to protect it.

If Al Gore and his global warming scare dictates the future policy of our governments, the current economic downturn could indeed become a recession, drift into a depression and our modern civilization could fall into an abyss. And it would largely be a direct result of the global warming frenzy.

My mission, in what is left of a long and exciting lifetime, is to stamp out this Global

Warming silliness and let all of us get on with enjoying our lives and loving our planet,

Earth.

[gm4life]

68 is right again. Gore was a moron. I cannot support a person who wants to raise a bunch of taxes including capital gains tax and won't do anything for domestic oil product. Any people who tend to be more liberal and like big cars that are less fuel efficent and voting for Obama are going against what they believe. Trust me there will be plenty of them. Mr. Bush never was the best public speaker, after all it is a politcian were voting for not a rock-star or model. That is why I believe sanity will prevail like ever month when GM is still ahead of Toyota it will in Nov. to when we have another person who will make the Bush tax cuts a main-stay and save me and ever other person in this country un-tolds amount of money.

[gm4life]

>>"I can't wait for Nov. to see how it all turns out. "<<

Preview: BO wins : kills the Bush tax break & individuals pay $2300 more in federal income tax.

If BO gets even 60% of his new spending proposals passed (60 % = $300B in the first year alone)- individuals will pay another $5300 more on FIT. Already you're looking at $7600 more in taxes right off the bat next year. Feel the wind of change... blowing thru your empty wallet???

He's for doubling the capital gains tax, raising the SS tax... he has proposed well over $1.5 TRILLION in new spending over the next 5 years. He has said no to exploration, drilling & refineries, no to more coal, no to wind farms, no to nuclear. He DID say gas might hit $12/gal- apparently he's doing everything he can to make that come true.

Between tax increases and energy increases, we are slated to see the worst inflation in modern times, and at a time the country is already crawling on it's belly.

You are a very wise man cutting through the b.s. and picking out what he is actually going to do for our country. It scares me and my middle class pocket book &#036;h&#33;-less. If he actually gets in my pearl white Cadillac or new Camaro maybe even a G8 will never happen. I will be driving my current cars that I like forever instead of keeping the SLE for classic like I plan on someday.

Edited July 25, 2008 by gm4life

[XP715]

Two excellent articles right there; the global warming one in particular! Thanks for sharing!

[Sixty8panther]

Thanks guys.

I think it bears repeating that less than a decade ago $2.00/gallon

was absurd. It was abuse then, and it is esp. disgusting when

people try to pull some stupid excuse out of thin air. I have a 4 yr

degree, I;m not completetly retarded as my spelling & crappy

typing skills may indicate. I understand developing nations and all

that crap, supply & demand etc.

The truth is $2.50 TODAY would be paying too much.

[gm4life]

It is, but how can we get it there 68?

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

Americans are discussing the rise of China and their consequent relative decline; measuring when China's economy will be bigger and counting its missiles and submarines has become a popular pastime in Washington. A few years ago, no politician would have been seen with a book called "The Post-American World". Mr Obama has been conspicuously reading Fareed Zakaria's recent volume.

Funny thing is; it's all because of us.

I remember during the Clinton years when americans were demonstrating AGAINST free trade with China. But alas, our politicians and the 'global government' WTO (that has the best interests of everyone else in mind) gave them access to everything.

An old Navy buddy of mine used to say; "The Chinese must have a picture of Clinton with a 14 year old, or something. They sure got him by the balls." Clinton would do ANYTHING for China.

I'm not trying to make this political as I hate each party equally, but 'facts is facts'

in the late 1980s Japan seemed to be buying up America.

When they started killing our industries... But since that created a backlash of sorts, they have decided to just destroy our industries through government support and the ignorance of consumers. (Witness: the auto industry)

The economic gap between America and a rising Asia has certainly narrowed; but worrying about it is wrong for two reasons.

So we're going to take the typical american defeatist attitude and "don't think about it"

That sounds about as brilliant as a stoner college kid that would rather party it up than study for next weeks finals.

First, even at its present growth rate, China's GDP will take a quarter of a century to catch up with America's; and the internal tensions that China's rapidly changing economy has caused may well lead it to stumble before then.

I don't like leaving my future to 'chance' do you?

Second, even if Asia's rise continues unabated, it is wrong--and profoundly unAmerican--to regard this as a problem. Economic growth, like trade, is not a zero-sum game.

LMFAO... Un-be-lievable! Yes, it certainly HASN'T been a zer-sum game. China has been getting HUGE sums of OUR money. Have you seen the deficit lately?

The faster China and India grow, the more American goods they buy.

America doesn't make goods anymore...

I find it so funny, yet ironic that this article begins by talking down the "wisdom" that got us into this mess and the assumes that very same stance at it's end.

And they are booming largely because they have adopted America's ideas.

Except, they will execute those ideas better.

America should regard their success as a tribute, not a threat, and celebrate in it.

Yep, that's it... CELEBRATE america! As your standard of living CONTINUES to decline... But hey, it's all intribute right? Sounds like an outlaw tribute to me.

Many Americans, unfortunately, are unwilling to do so. Politicians seeking a scapegoat for America's self-made problems too often point the finger at the growing power of once-poor countries, accusing them of stealing American jobs and objecting when they try to buy American companies. But if America reacts by turning in on itself--raising trade barriers and rejecting foreign investors--it risks exacerbating the economic troubles that lie behind its current funk.

PROVE IT

EDIT: Oh... It's from The Economist... No wonder. These are the same people that said "What's good for Toyota is good for America"

Edited July 26, 2008 by FUTURE_OF_GM

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

Kerry wasn't clueless; quite the opposite in fact. He was too intelligent to get elected simply because policy wonks tend to have a difficult time relating to the public. John Kerry would have been one of the most intellectual presidents. Kerry lost because of the Swift Boat Veterans (and his failure to realize the impact of this smear campaign and defend himself) and a deficit of charisma as compared to GW.

GW + Charisma... Are you kidding me?

LOL.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

I can't understand how there are even people left who will still vote Republican.

I really will lose my faith in America if McCain gets in.

He won't

Both the media and the public have already chosen the next president.

I mean, he's on a world tour as we speak for gods sake. (Which I think is pretty arrogant)

Sadly, I don't think he'll do any better than McCain for this country.

[FUTURE_OF_GM]

I'd just be happy with anyone who just keeps the Illegal Aliens on their side of the border. I would not have a problem with a Berlin styled wall going up the whole length of our southern border with Mexico.

+1

Heard the latest?

Now you don't even have to be a citizen to go to a tech college. Basically, an illegal can come here, live off of our support systems, get an education on our tab and steal at least a decent paying job without even becoming a citizen.

Damn it feels good to be american.

[Satty]

In all fairness, that isn't something a fence is going to help. Technical schools, trade schools, etc should require proof of residency. Employers should be the same way. The way to keep illegals from taking American jobs isn't by building a fence (face it, they'll climb over) its by kicking the ass of any business that hires them. If that means massive fines against Wal-Mart, so be it. If that means issuing a fine to a small business owner who hires illegals to keep his business afloat with minimum wages going up, so be it.

[cletus8269]

satty is completely right, fence = stalling. if you go after the people who are ecouraging these people to come here (not just illegal hispanics or whatever but all) eventually they will get the picture. there was a walgreens going up near my house, things were on schedule then the next day no one showed up to work. weeks went by and finally they resumed work. turns out the entire first crew were illegals

Edited July 26, 2008 by cletus8269

[Satty]

GW + Charisma... Are you kidding me?

LOL.

Charisma is the wrong word for Dubya. He had that "common man" appeal, he was, as many people have pointed out, the candidate people wanted to have a beer with. He had more of a down-to-earth charm than either Gore or Kerry. Neither Obama nor McCain has that common man appeal, Obama made it where he is by being a fantastic public speaker and using that to generate excitement. McCain made it to where he is by attrition, none of the other candidates had a legitimate shot.

[Croc]

From the American Heritage dictionary:

1.

a. A rare personal quality attributed to leaders who arouse fervent popular devotion and enthusiasm.

b. Personal magnetism or charm: a television news program famed for the charisma of its anchors.

I was using definition 1b.

[loki]

In all fairness, that isn't something a fence is going to help. Technical schools, trade schools, etc should require proof of residency. Employers should be the same way. The way to keep illegals from taking American jobs isn't by building a fence (face it, they'll climb over) its by kicking the ass of any business that hires them. If that means massive fines against Wal-Mart, so be it. If that means issuing a fine to a small business owner who hires illegals to keep his business afloat with minimum wages going up, so be it.

satty is completely right, fence = stalling. if you go after the people who are ecouraging these people to come here (not just illegal hispanics or whatever but all) eventually they will get the picture. there was a walgreens going up near my house, things were on schedule then the next day no one showed up to work. weeks went by and finally they resumed work. turns out the entire first crew were illegals

satty is right, but then points the finger at labor needs, not what FOG was saying. we have the born in the US, you're a citizen!!!...go to school free, get tax payed medical treatment....and what not.

the "people who are ecouraging these people to come here" are our welfare regulations and unfair trade...AKA the politicians "children". take away those "rights" payed for by true citizens, tax payers. then they only come here and fill in jobs we evidently need.

not to be mean, but you're trying to address a symptom or 2, and not the illness. One usually has side effects from medicine that doesn't totally cure your ails so you have to take it for...ever, and you never get "healed".

this country should not have a "step over the border, collect $200, just watch your illegal back space". it should be, show us identification and welcome to the US, now get to work.