From the ArcaMax Publishing, Lawrence Kudlow Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/lawrencekudlow/s-372536-142432
President Bush was on message Wednesday in a Rose Garden news
conference, when he kept up the pressure on his a drill, drill, drill
offensive. He said he knows Americans are worried about gasoline
prices and wants them "to understand fully that we have got the
opportunity to find more crude oil here at home in environmentally
friendly ways."
He specifically mentioned opening up ANWR, the outer continental shelf
and oil-shale exploration. He also took a whack at lawmakers, saying,
"The Democratically controlled Congress has refused to budge."
That's spot-on correct. But it has me wondering. Where in the world is
John McCain on this very same issue? It's simple: Sen. McCain should
be pummeling Barack Obama daily on drill, drill, drill. Why? Because
oil and gas pump prices are potentially the single-biggest wedge issue
in the presidential campaign. McCain has to pound the point home.
According to a new Rasmussen poll, 48 percent of Americans say lower
gas prices are the key to an economic recovery, and 60 percent are in
favor of offshore drilling.
Here's another one. Rasmussen asked voters about the now-infamous
Harry Reid YouTube video, where the senator says coal and oil are
making us sick, and that fossil-fueled global warming is "ruining our
country" and "ruining our world." Well, Rasmussen shows that 52
percent of voters reject Reid on coal; 50 percent disagree with him on
oil; and 51 reject his idea that we need to stop using fossil fuels.
And all this is McCain's opportunity. He needs to hammer away on an
America First energy policy that will completely deregulate and
decontrol this nation's great energy industry. He needs to mothball
his errant statements on "obscene oil profits." Instead, he needs to
support and unleash all of our energy companies and entrepreneurs,
allowing them to develop whatever it takes on oil, gas-to-liquid,
clean coal, nuclear, offshore, onshore, oil shale, wind, solar and
biofuel.
America First should be the rallying cry. We have the natural
resources to become the Saudi Arabia of coal and the Saudi
Arabia of oil. Lift the moratoriums. Stop attacking our own
businesses. Put technology to work. Put venture capital to work, with
rock-bottom capital-gains and corporate tax rates. Stop being
mau-maued by the extremist greenies who have prevented energy
production for over three decades.
America First. Unleash our free-enterprise energy sector: 2 trillion
barrels worth of shale; 90 billion barrels of offshore oil; at least
10 billion barrels up in ANWR and more throughout Alaska, both onshore
and off.
Politically, Sen. McCain must also understand how Hillary Clinton
clobbered Barack Obama in the big-state primaries: blue-collar
workers. They can be the key to victory for McCain. Guess who works in
the energy business? Blue collar Reagan Democrats. They work on the
rigs. They work in the fields. They drive the trucks. And they're paid
high wages -- substantially above the average hourly wage.
Or McCain can sell it this way: American workers are worried about
jobs going offshore to India, China, Vietnam and Bangladesh. Well, a
drill, drill, drill America First energy plan would create millions of
new domestic American jobs.
Of course, there's also a national security aspect to this. Worried
about funding terrorist rogue states? Drill, drill, drill. A complete
portfolio of oil energy sources in America -- that's the answer.
And while he's at it, McCain should stop blaming "reckless traders."
As soon as you say, "End the drilling moratoriums," it is precisely
those traders who will start selling oil contracts -- long
before the first offshore oil barrels are delivered to market. If they
see presidential leadership on oil and shale drilling, they will
rapidly turn a bull market into a bear market.
Sen. Obama is opposed to drilling. Opposed to nuclear. Opposed to
coal. He and Harry Reid believe wind, solar and ethanol are the
answers. They're not. It's doubtful even at full development and
commercialization that these alternative technologies will ever power
more than 10 percent of our energy needs. We should go down this road
as part of a full energy portfolio. But let's not kid ourselves: These
sources alone will never be sufficient.
McCain has to make this case daily. He must contrast his America First
energy plan with Obama's declinist American vision. He must argue
America First for fuel, power, jobs, wages and national security. He
must enlist the Reagan Democrats who may be out of work and are surely
angry at $4 gas at the pump and $140 a barrel oil in the world market.
Take a page from Ronald Reagan, Mr. McCain. Be optimistic about our
future. Be clear, straightforward and consistent. We can grow this
economy and remain No. 1. This is how to do it.
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