Crude Crusade

With the Energy crisis that we are in with rising oil prices, it simply amazes me that only one candidate, Senator Hilary Rodham Clinton, is the only candidate that addresses the big oil companies making huge profits by gouging the price of a barrel of oil. Other candidates have energy strategies, but are not willing to recognize the record breaking profits of more than $40 billion dollars that the oil companies raked in last year. Senator Clinton has spoken of the tax breaks that continue to be in effect for the large oil companies that help drive the high prices. Her proposal is a $50 billion fund, with the partial assistance of the oil companies, to fund investments for alternative energy, better fuel efficiency and basic energy research.

I have been hugely disappointed in the current administration and how they have handled the strain that has been put on the American people by rising oil prices. This does not only impact the fuel they must put in their cars to get back and forth to their jobs, but it impacts the gas that fuels their homes and not as directly, but the groceries they buy to feed their families. Every part of the US economy is suffering from what I feel is out of control economy strategies. The president is more worried about “winning” a fight than taking care of his own country.

Countries around the world are watching the US economy as theirs depends heavily on what happens to the US dollar. The economy of the world depends on the choices of the US government, and there is not enough effort going into how they will keep the US from entering a recession. We have to make good decisions about a candidate that is going to keep the interests of our country at the forefront of their agenda, otherwise, we will continue to watch our country sink into a recession that will take years to get out of.

Man Behind the Mirrors

Senator Barack Obama has run into a few issues with his campaign staff as of late. With the immediate resignation of his senior foreign policy advisor and the remarks from another adviser on NAFTA, he has a bit of a hole he needs to climb out of.

The resignation of his foreign policy advisor, I think was a bit excessive. A public apology would have been enough for me. If Ms. Samantha Power is good for the campaign you would think one would fight to keep her around. I feel that at one point or another we all get caught up in our passion for what we are doing. I feel that calling someone a “Monster” does not warrant the harsh measures that Ms. Power took, what I am surprised about is that Mr. Obama didn’t value her dedication over the past 14 months. I am hopefully that he will reconsider.

The Senior Economic advisor, Austan Goolsbee, on the other hand, I feel should be the one walking, he has compromised the countries relationship with Canada to a certain extent, and Obama has not even gotten into office. We need to ensure that our relationships with our allies and especially our neighboring countries are upheld and nurtured. I am afraid that this campaign and all the “promises” that go a long with it are not all that they appear to be.

Senator Barack Obama is full of nice, polite promises on the outside. I would be somewhat concerned about what his true intentions were once he got into office based on some of the underhanded stuff that appears to be going on. I know that you can’t trust the hearsay 100% but there has to be some truth to it. It makes me a bit uncomfortable that we may not really be seeing the man behind the mirrors.