It is about time that the Federal Reserve is audited to continue the trend of full transparency of the government. H.R. 1207 was introduced by Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) to bring full transparency to the Federal Reserve, and this bill has 245 cosponsors to date (including Reps. Rob Wittman, Randy Forbes, Bob Goodlatte, Frank Wolf, and Tom Perriello of Virginia).
Listen to Paul’s comments from a recent Cato Institute event, where he further discussed his initiative to bring transparency to an agency that, in my opinion, needs to be abolished. Bringing transparency to this agency is a good start.
This is part two in the series of What’s your Energy IQ? Finding solutions to the energy crisis is a hot topic, and one that we can not ignore. The American Petroleum Institute created a survey gauging how much people know about energy. The results were broken down into how much people know about supply, demand, and how people view the taxes.
In terms of taxes, Americans tend to underestimate the oil industry’s contributions to the economy through jobs and taxes, while they tend to overestimate the oil industry’s profits.
Only 15 percent of respondents knew that six million Americans are employed directly or indirectly by the oil and natural gas industry.
Only 9 percent of respondents knew that oil companies pay more than 40 percent in income taxes as a share of their income. The majority thought that it was less than 30 percent, and one-third of all respondents believed companies pay less than 15 percent.
Similarly, when asked how much the oil and natural gas industry paid in taxes over the past three years, only 10 percent of respondents answered correctly—$242 billion. One quarter of respondents believed that the U.S. oil and natural gas industry contributed less than $100 billion.
More than 40 percent of respondents believed that the oil and natural gas industry earn more than 20 cents per every dollar of sales. In fact, the industry earns just below 6 cents on every dollar.
Additionally, the survey asked “What percent of global energy demand in 2030 will be met by fossil fuels, such as oil, natural gas, and coal?” The responses might surprise you.
In the meantime, take the survey to find out your Energy IQ.
Well, the Minnesota Supreme Court has made it official, and Norm Coleman has conceded. Al Franken…uh, Stuart Smalley…goes to Washington. I still ask myself what the people of Minnesota were smoking, when they elected this whacko to the Senate.
The only thing that I keep thinking is that this is Senator “I’m Good Enough, I’m Smart Enough, and doggone it, people like me.”
Reason.tv made an awesome video, based on the Sprint commercials, asking “What if Government Ran Health Care?” While satirical, the video made a good point that our basic health care services would be in decline. Now, I agree that we need to address health care reform, but we need to do this in a pragmatic way that will not place further harm on our free market economy.
American Petroleum Institute (API) just released their Energy IQ survey, and the results show that Americans are more aware of how current policies affect domestic oil and natural gas production. In terms of demand, the study found that many continue to underestimate the amount of oil that we need in the future.
While the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) projects U.S. energy demand will increase 9 percent during the next 20 years, only 5 percent of respondents chose the correct answer. The majority overestimated this number, believing that U.S. demand would increase 16 to 21 percent.
When asked about the role fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal will play in meeting global energy demand, only 10 percent of respondents answered correctly that fossil fuels will meet 85 percent of this demand. This is the second consecutive year this number has dropped even though EIA figures for future U.S. reliance on fossil fuels have risen by five percent since 2008.
The other particularly intriguing statistic is that many Americans overestimate the amount of oil that we receive from Persian Gulf nations and underestimate the amount of oil that we receive here in North America. Canada is one of the largest oil suppliers to the United States.
The statistics are interesting, and you can even test your own energy knowledge by taking the survey.
Since this is a two-part series looking into the Energy IQ, I will focus more tomorrow onto how Americans view the oil industry and taxes, as well as sharing a video asking everyday people about their views on energy.
My friend, Nikhil called me on Saturday night with an offer that a die-hard AL East fan could not refuse: free tickets and a road trip to Oriole Park at Camden Yards (home to me, but to others…it is Oriole mecca). So, we drove in the midst of a traffic jam on 495, getting lost in a real bad neighborhood in Baltimore before we found parking, and arriving at the game, just in time to enjoy some real BBQ (Boog’s, that is, and for a ex-Marylander, hon, we call this true Pit BBQ at its finest) and to see the Nats crack off the first homerun of the game.
As a ex-Marylander and a Yankees fan, I took to cheering for the AL East to dominate the NL, while Nikhil cheered for the Nats. Too bad for Nikhil, he was surrounded by the home team with only a few Nats fans in our section. The crowd roared “Charge” before Nick Markakis came to bat, and I knew I was officially home when we sang, “Thank God, I’m a Country Boy” during seventh inning stretch. It was just awesome being back at the ballpark that I love the most to watch a Beltway rivalry really take shape. The O’s slammed the Nats 6-3 before a raucous crowd.
Today was simply a gorgeous day outside, even if it rained periodically throughout the day. I did squeeze in a little grilling and fixed some bolgo gi, which is a sesame-teriyaki marinated beef dish that was grilled to perfection and paired with Trader Joe’s Thai Lime Rice. After grilling, I came inside and enjoyed a refreshing wine cocktail that was made with the perfect white wine.
Lately, I have taken a hiatus from my wine reviews, so I decided that now was a perfect time to bring back that segment. Today, I used a Peach Wine from Horton Vineyards out of Spotsylvania County. This peach wine had a sweet, yet tangy taste, and when complemented with freshly sliced nectarines (I tried it with sliced white peaches before, which also worked well), it turned out to be the perfect refreshing sangria. It also paired well with hummus and multigrain pitas for lunch. The Peach Wine by Horton Vineyards can be picked up at your local Total Wine store or make a visit to the winery. It retailed for $7.99 a bottle.
What are you doing July 4th? Attending picnics or watching fireworks? How about standing up for our liberties and standing up against the over-expansion of government, fighting for accountability, and standing up against the wasteful spending by members of Congress? Well, come out and join fellow freedom fighters, as we get prepared to March for Liberty and partake in a July 4th tea party. From 10-2:30 p.m., the tea party will be taking place in Upper Senate Park in Washington, DC featuring some pretty awesome speakers, such as Leslie Carbone, who is the author of Slaying Leviathan, Adam Bitely of NetRightNation, Andrew Langer of the Institute for Liberty, and many more.
The Waxman-Markey Amendment (H.R. 2454) passed the House today, 219-212. This bill is headed to the Senate, where many do not expect this bill to pass. Here’s what needs to be done to prevent this bill, which will raise taxes on working Americans and more harm on the economy. Call your Senator and urge him to strongly oppose Cap and Trade. You can contact your Senators by calling 202-224-3121 or visit the Senate website to find your Senator’s website.
Additionally, there were eight Republicans who voted for this bill this afternoon. According to the Washington Examiner, here are the eight cap and tax cheerleaders: Reps. Mary Bono Mack (CA), Mike Castle (DE), Steven Kirk (IL), John McHugh (NY), Leonard Lance (NJ), Frank LoBiondo (NJ), Dave Reichert (WA), and Chris Smith (NJ). Hopefully, you will call the number above, as it is the central switchboard, and call to voice your strong disapproval of their votes. Since they identify their party affiliation as a Republican, then they should advocate on behalf of the free markets by fighting against this bill. You can see who voted for the bill here.
Aside from this, there were some Freshmen Democrats, who should consult with former Rep. Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky. After all, she promised in 1993 not to vote for the Clinton Energy tax, only to turn around and vote for it. She quickly became a one-term Congresswoman. In Virginia, both Gerry Connolly and Tom Perriello should anticipate strong challenges in 2010. The residents of the 5th and 11th Districts did not elect their leaders to raise taxes, rather to work on their behalf to lower the tax burden.
Tim Kaine released his response to the FOIA request filed by the Republican Party of Virginia regarding his travel records. You can view the response here.
Basically, the requested answers remain unanswered. Go figure!
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