Why Are You Celebrating?

Did you ever have one of those celebrations at work marking some sales record or profit margin or production mark?  And in attendance is invariably the laziest guy in the office who didn't lift a finger to help anyone achieve that performance--or there's the mid-level manager that did nothing but second-guess all of the business plans or try to sabotage efforts of other departments to make his look good.  So everyone else looks at that guy and wonders "What is he doing here?  He didn't contribute in any way to this success!"

Well that is the way I feel about liberals "celebrating" the recent fall in gas prices.  Rachel Maddow on MSNBC is trying to tell her handful of viewers that the gas prices are "proof that President Obama's policies are working".  Meanwhile last Sunday, Keynsian Economist Paul Krugman had to admit through clenched teeth that lower gas prices are good for the US economy--as that puts more money into people's pockets.

While they may force a smile for the camera and pretend to be happy for consumers, low gas prices go against pretty much everything those on the Left hope to achieve.

When President Obama talks about how oil production has gone up during his administration, he isn't talking about drilling in shallow coastal waters or deep water drilling in the gulf.  That production has increased only nominally.  What is fueling America's oil boom is rapid development of more shale drilling in the Dakotas (and the Canadian Plains).  Drilling that is done by "fracking"--the environmental groups' new "public enemy number one"--and an industry that would benefit greatly from the Keystone XL Pipeline that the President refuses to approve.

Lower gas prices also make the public transit options pushed by Liberals less-attractive to more riders.  Walking five blocks to ride the bus for 45-minutes and then walk five blocks to work on the other end in the bitter cold of winter is more amenable when gas is at $4.20 a gallon than it is at $2.60 a gallon when you can drive door-to-door in half the time.  The same goes for using Streetcars and high-speed trains.  With the costs being equal, Americans will almost always choose to drive themselves (usually with crappy music blasting on the radio).  And all those additional drivers again will build support for adding more lane miles in urban areas--as opposed to calls for adding more buses, trains and trolleys.

Lower gas prices will also bring back the full-size SUV.  In fact, General Motors is betting on that--planning to increase production of its larger vehicles in 2015--knowing that when it doesn't cost as much, Americans want as much room as possible in their vehicles.  That will mean more gas usage and increased emissions--a "Green Nightmare" that those on the Left thought they would avoid with the high gas prices we had just a few months ago.

So Liberals can join us for our "party at the pump"--but don't take it the wrong way when we ask you "what the hell are you doing here?"