The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1471951
An action plan for America's security National security is contingent on an uninterr upted supply of re- liable, af fordable energy. Without it, factories close, transpor tation slows down, and the militar y is par- alyzed. Just the threat of an energy cut-of f can force governments to alter domestic and foreign policy. Though Western European lead- ers knew that their "greening" of domestic energy production had left them undesirably dependent on Russian oil and gas, President Vlad- imir Putin's invasion of Ukraine jolted them into realizing just how vulnerable they had become. Vir tually overnight, Germany and other Western nations re- versed long-held policies, deter- mined to become more energy self-suf ficient. Will the U.S. follow suit? Will it unleash the full productive and in- novative capacity of the American economy in a renewed drive for en- ergy security? To do this, we must recognize the policy bottlenecks needlessly constraining energy production and remove them immediately. The biggest problems right now are government regulations that impede domestic mining for rare ear th minerals and the fur ther de- velopment of ever y form of energy, from conventional fuels to nuclear power to renewables. Let's star t with rare ear th ele- ments, the 17 natural elements that are essential to energy technolo- gy innovation. These minerals are needed to manufacture almost all high-tech products, including cell phones, batteries, airplanes, solar panels, wind turbine blades, satel- lites and militar y technology. Today, we impor t 80% of the rare ear ths we need from China. We must make sure the rare ear th sup- ply chain cannot be cut of f, even temporarily. Such disr uptions have happened before. About a decade ago, China de- cided to use its control of rare ear th mining as a tool against Ja- pan. Rather than suf fer in silence, the Japanese reacted by building a replacement supply chain in- dependent of China. As a result of Tokyo's action, China's global market share dropped from 95% to today's 70% and gave the Japanese much-needed breath- ing room. The lesson is that markets work… if we let them. The United States must take a similar step. We must diversify our supply chains to include ensuring access to refining facilities. Be- yond that, we must mine more of the rare ear ths right here in America. Currently, the Mountain Pass facility located in California is the only rare ear ths mine operating in Nor th America. It grosses $100 million annually, so there is no question that rare-ear th mining in the U.S. is commercially viable. It's not a lack of supply that inhib- its mining here; it's an over-abun- dance of regulations. The current permitting process to commence mining operations takes between 7 and 10 years. No business will risk investing millions up front and not getting a timely permit. The same holds tr ue for other energy infrastr ucture. The compa- ny proposing to build the Keystone XL pipeline to bring a stable oil supply to American refineries first applied for a permit in 2008. One of the first acts of the Biden adminis- tration was to block the pipeline's approval. If we can't approve, let alone build, a single pipeline in 14 years, what signal does that send to prospective energy development investors? Similarly, the success of wind and solar projects will hinge not on more subsidies but more ef ficient siting and permitting processes for things like the constr uction of new transmission lines. There is plenty more red tape to cut as well. Lawmakers should also reform, if not completely repeal, the National Environmental Poli- cy Act. This federal law requires ever y executive branch depar tment to assess the environmental ef fects of major public works proj- ects and other budgetar y and regulator y actions with potentially signifi- cant ef fects. NEPA was intended to protect the environment. But, the way the executive branch interprets it today slows down progress and drives up costs for clean energy and infrastr ucture projects that would benefit the environment. Judicial review for NEPA proj- ects takes at least two years and r uns up burdensome cour t costs. Lawmakers should reform NEPA by resolving judicial reviews within 60-120 days. This would immedi- ately drive free-market investment into new green energy projects. When it comes to energy policy, the group on the "right" is calling for more domestic oil, gas and coal production now, while the group on the "left" is calling for more green energy production now. Some- where in the middle, a group is calling for more "all of the above" energy production, including nu- clear. Ironically, none of it will be possible until we get serious about cutting red tape. If public policy leaders will once and for all come together around this issue and slash red tape, they will deliver a better present and a more prosperous—and secure—fu- ture for the American people. It's time for solutions. More im- por tantly, it is time for action. The great Biden recession of 2022 is already here Last week, I was invited to testify before a House committee hearing titled: "How the Biden American Rescue Plan Saved the Economy and Lives." I am not making this up. Can you imagine taking a victor y lap, giv- en our current conditions? I told the Democrats on the com- mittee that the idea that Congress would hold a hearing like this when the economy is coming unhinged only reinforces the suspicion held by most people that the Washington swamp is totally out of touch with the lives and hardships of ever yday America. The reality of our predicament is best summarized by JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, who warned investors to "brace yourself" for what he called a fast-approaching economic "hurri- cane." To be clear, America is not yet in a recession. Still, it's undeniable that starting around June, the economy and financial markets smashed into a brick wall. Here are the troubling indicators, all pointing in the wrong direction: The Federal Reser ve Bank of Atlanta just estimated that second quarter economic growth through the middle of June is a big fat zero. This is on top of the 1.5% decline in the economy in the first quarter. This means for the first five and a half months of this year, our econ- omy has shrunk in size relative to inflation. That result isn't technically a recession, but it's perilously close. Second, the wealth losses in the greater financial mar- ket sell-off of 2022 have now exceeded $10 tril- lion since the start of the year. This has been one of the most signifi- cant and financially cat- astrophic vaporizations of wealth and savings in U.S. histor y. It is de- lusional that President Joe Biden says people have record savings. No, the reverse is true. Voters' 401(k) plans and other retirement savings have been shredded. It is leading to what economists call a "reverse wealth effect." Just as people spend more when their bank accounts and stock portfolios are full of cash, they tend to become coma- tose when those gains turn almost overnight into losses. Adjusting for inflation, the stock market is down 15%-20% depending on the index ex- amined. Tech stocks in the Nasdaq have been clobbered the most. Third, consumer confidence and business confidence have each fallen fast. Only about 2 in 10 voters feel the economy is headed in the right direc- tion. Moreover, the National Federa- tion of Independent Business's index of small businesses found that confi- dence is now at its lowest level since the pandemic hit these shores and businesses were shut down. Fourth and most damaging, con- sumer and producer prices have risen to their highest levels since the early 1980s. The consum- er price index hit 8.6%, and the producer price index is above 10%. Price increases aren't "transi- tor y" and haven't shown any signs of peaking. Let's not forget that Washington's fiscal pic- ture is a train wreck. In two and a half years, the debt has soared by another $5 trillion thanks to the bliz- zard spending to "fight" COVID-19 and then for multiple economic res- cue plans. As the Fed raises interest rates, the carr ying cost of the $23 trillion national debt gets progres- sively more expensive. We will be paying taxes for years to merely pay the interest on our enormous debt. All of the debt spending in Wash- ington has unleashed the inflation dragon -- the cruelest tax of all on families and businesses. During the Trump presidency, before COVID-19 hit these shores, median household income rose by $6,446. This was one of the largest three-year gains in income for mid- dle-class families in histor y. The Submit Letters to the Editor: Letters must be signed and received by noon on Mondays. Email: editor@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg OPINION Faith and freedom go together Per a new report from Gallup, the percentage of Americans now saying they believe in God is the lowest since they first started doing the survey. In 2022, 81% of Americans say they believe in God. When Gallup first asked this question in 1944, 96% said they believed, and in the early 1950s, it was up to 98%. It remained more than 90% until 2013, when it dipped down to 87%. The current 81% is a 6-point drop from the last time Gallup asked the question in 2017. Digging down into the data, we get a mixed message about what it tells us about the future. On the one hand, the age group with the lowest percentage saying they believe in God is the youngest -- 18 to 29. Only 68% say they believe. Given that these young people re- flect our future, we must assume that, with no change in their views, the countr y will continue its purge of religion from our lives. On the other hand, the ethnic cross section with the highest percentage saying they believe is what Gallup defines as "people of color." I assume this means Blacks and Hispanics. This group registers 88% belief, 9 points higher than "white," who register 79%. Given that that the demographic "people of color" is growing faster than "white," and becoming each year a larger percentage of our popu- lation, this could point to a strength- ening of faith, on average, in our pop- ulation as we move into the future. Why should we care about this? From a practical point of view, faith translates into behavior, and as faith diminishes, the incidence of behav- iors that once were viewed as moral- ly unacceptable increases. In 2001, the percentage of Ameri- cans saying the following behaviors are morally acceptable was as follows: birth to unwed mother 45%; gay/les- bian relations 40%; abortion 42%. In 2003, polygamy was deemed morally acceptable by 7%; in 2011, pornogra- phy was deemed morally acceptable by 30%; and in 2013, teenage sex was deemed morally acceptable by 32%. Here are the percentages of Ameri- cans saying in 2022 these same behav- iors are morally acceptable: birth to unwed mother 70%; gay/lesbian rela- tions 71%; pornography 41%; abortion 52%; teenage sex 45%; polygamy 23%. Again, we can ask, "So, what?". The vision of the founders of the countr y was freedom. The point was to keep government intrusion at a minimum and permit individual free- dom at a maximum. The preamble to the U.S. Consti- tution notes that it was put forth "to secure the blessings of liberty to our- selves and our posterity." The Consti- tution was designed to limit govern- ment power to ver y specific defined areas that were deemed essential and appropriate for government. For this to work, we must assume we have a population of free individ- uals who manage their own person- al affairs in a responsible way. It is worth recalling, once again, George Washington's famous obser vation in his farewell address, which first ap- peared in print Sept. 19, 1796: "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable support ... reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can pre- vail in exclusion of religious principle." Clearly, we have departed in a ma- jor way from this. Supreme Court de- cisions over the years have reinter- preted the Constitution to grant far more authority to the federal govern- ment than the founders had in mind. And along with this, as we see in Gallup polling, we see major deteriora- tion in faith and significantly higher ac- ceptance of many behaviors that were once deemed morally unacceptable. Hence, we find where we stand to- day. Again, per Gallup, only 16% are satisfied with the way things are go- ing in the countr y. Government is in our lives in a major way, with trillion-dollar deficits and debt the size of our entire economy. And now inflation, which reflects all this. Is there a way out without restoration of religious principle and personal respon- sibility, as George Washington warned? I think not. Star Parker is president of the Cen- ter for Urban Renewal and Education and host of the weekly television show "Cure America with Star Parker." A new kind of comedy A woman tells the cop who stopped her in a carpool lane she's allowed to drive there because her pronouns are "they" and "them." That's from a video by a conser- vative Christian satire site called the Babylon Bee. Their humor gets millions of views. "Christian conser- vatives used to...be ver y dour and self-serious," says Bee editor-in-chief Kyle Mann in my new video. Today, he says, it's the left who are self-se- rious. "They're the ones that have trouble laughing at themselves." For example, late night hosts like Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert passionately defend COVID-19 vaccines. "It is a lecture," complains Mann. "The left used to be anti-establishment," adds Bee actress Chandler Juliet. Now, she says, 'They've become the blob. ...We're super happy to be leading the comedic conversation on the right." One Babylon Bee video, "The Woke Zone," makes fun of the way the media ignored violence and arson during the George Floyd protests. "Do you ever feel gratitude to the left that they give you so much mate- rial?" I ask. "We have to write things that are funnier than things they're actual- ly doing," Mann responds. "That makes our job ver y difficult." One Bee sketch portrays its writ- ers struggling to find new material. "John Kerr y warns that the war in Ukraine might distract from climate change!" suggests one. Can't do it, explains another. "It ac- tually happened." Yes, Kerr y really did say that. "Cosmo magazine features a mor- bidly obese woman on the cover as the picture of health" and, "Math pro- fessor says 'two plus two equals four' is racist!" are among other ideas that can't be used as jokes. "A math professor really said two plus two equals four is racist?" I ask. It's "a colonialist, white suprema- cist idea," explains Mann. Today the Bee reaches more people than The Onion. The establishment doesn't like that, so some people actual- ly sic so-called fact checkers on the Bee. One article fact-checked by Snopes was titled, "Bernie Sanders Vows To Round Up Remaining ISIS Members, Allow Them To Vote." "Does Snopes not understand that you're making jokes?" I ask. "I think that they know what our intention is," answers Juliet. "They just don't like us." Recently, Twitter banned the Bee. Their offense was tweeting an article that named Assistant Secretar y of Health Rachel Levine "Babylon Bee's Man of the Year." Levine is a transgender woman. Calling her the man of the year is a joke I wouldn't make. But it doesn't need to be censored. Twitter says they'll allow the Bee back on the platform only if they de- lete the tweet. Mann says he won't. "Twitter has the capability to just de- lete the tweet themselves. They want us to bend the knee and be the ones to click, 'Yes, we acknowledge hateful conduct.' We're not going to do that." Today, a lot of comedians attract sizable audiences by mocking the left. Some I found funny are JP Sears, Ryan Long and FreedomToons. The culture is changing. The highest rating late-night comic these days is often not Colbert, Kim- mel or Fallon, but Greg Gutfeld of Fox. Even a few left-leaning comedians like Ricky Ger vais and Dave Chap- pelle are mocking the intolerant left. "I talk about AIDS, famine, cancer, the Holocaust, rape, pedophilia...the one thing you mustn't joke about is identity politics," says Ger vais in his recent Netflix special. Professional media critics trashed him for that. But the special was hugely popular with the public. The Rotten Tomatoes ratings are revealing. Critics gave Ger vais' spe- cial a 29% rating, calling it "terribly unfunny" and "a detestable combina- tion of smug and obtuse." Viewers gave it a 92% rating. The same is true of Chapelle's lat- est special, "The Closer." Critics give it just 40%. The audience gives it 95%. Clearly, many people are tired of smug, condescending humor. I'm glad the Babylon Bee, and oth- ers, give us an alternative. John Stossel is creator of Stossel TV and author of "Give Me a Break: How I Exposed Hucksters, Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media." Race for the Cure By Star Parker Give Me a Break John Stossel Eye on the Economy By Stephen Moore C-2 Wednesday, June 29, 2022 The Press-Dispatch Heritage Viewpoint By James Jay Carafano See BIDEN on page 3