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This past weekend, I talked about President Obama’s continuing war on domestic energy.  If you don’t believe there is such a war, then please read below.

Last week, President Obama’s Interior Secretary, Ken Salazar, told the National Press Club that “no one has the ability, not even Harry Potter, to simply wave a magic wand and say that we’re going to have gas prices at $2.00 or $2.50 or $3.00.  It doesn’t work that way.”  Salazar was right about “waving a wand” to change gas prices.  Oil and gasoline are global commodities with millions upon millions of market participants, so no one person, company, or government can set prices.  However, Salazar was obscuring the fact that the United States government, regulating the largest economy, and sitting on top of some of the largest oil and gas reserves in the world, does — through its actions or non-actions — have a huge impact over time on energy markets.  These actions or non-actions are a huge policy club, and Secretary Salazar is already on-record saying he would like to see gasoline prices at $9.00 per gallon.

So, do you believe that the Obama Administration is trying to restrict the supply of American produced oil and gas and raise prices over time?  Well, for a clear window into how the Obama Administration is using its policy club, all you had to do this past week was listen to the words of District 6 EPA administrator Al Armendariz on how the Obama EPA enforces regulations.  District 6 is the most important oil and gas producing region in the United States, including Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.  Armendariz, Obama’s chief EPA regulator for this critical region, said that his ”philosophy of enforcement,” is “like how the Roman’s used to conquer villages in the Mediterranean.  They’d go into a little Turkish town somewhere, and they’d find the first five guys they saw and they would crucify them.  And then, you know, that town was really easy to manage for the next few years. “   That’s right; Armendariz equated his enforcement of EPA regulations with how the Roman Empire randomly crucified people in order to intimidate and control conquered peoples.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney (President Obama’s Minister of Propaganda) tried to back away from the comments, saying that Armendariz had chosen inappropriate words.  But, the fact is, Armendariz was caught telling the truth.  Here are some examples of how the Obama Administration is using its big policy stick to curtail American energy production and raise prices on all of us.  Among other actions, The Obama Administration has done the following: 1) imposed new regulations on U.S. based oil refineries, forcing five refineries in the North East that produce gasoline to close in recent months, with three more refineries near closing; 2) reduced drilling permits on public lands by 30%; 3) refused to issue new drilling permits in the Gulf of Mexico even after a judge ordered Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to do so; 4) withheld critical permits that would have allowed Shell to access 27 billion barrels of oil in Northern Alaska, keeping the Trans-Alaska pipeline flowing at good capacity (environmental extremists inside and outside the Obama White House want to reduce the amount of oil coming from Alaska, forcing a shut down of the Trans-Alaska pipeline); 5)  rejected construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline that would have transported one million barrels per day of Canadian and American oil at low cost to Texas refineries, and created 20,000 immediate construction jobs, with thousands of additional spin-off jobs in the future; 6) imposed regulations that will close at least 32 coal-fired power plants (with 36 additional plants at risk of closing) and take at least 8% of all current U.S. generating capacity off line; 7) imposed questionable new “air pollution” restrictions on deep horizontal drilling and hydrofracking in an effort to slow down private development of new oil and gas finds in the Barnett and Marcellus Shale regions; and accused Range Resources and other drilling companies of contaminating ground water near deep drilling sites.  Unfortunately, I could go on, but you get the picture.   The “pie in the sky” Obama Administration simply must go!

Shawn Tully, economist and editor at large for Fortune Magazine joined me on air with his take on the recent economic numbers.  Shawn talked about the housing market, the disappointing 2.2% GDP growth for the first quarter of 2012, and the recent increase in initial jobless claims.  The bottom line is this economic “recovery” is disappointing.  Consumers cannot continue to drive growth until their incomes begin to rise.  Their incomes can’t rise substantially until American businesses are confident about the economic future.  And with EPA administrators talking about “crucifying” American businesses, with President Obama constantly promising to raise taxes on productive Americans (individuals, small businesses, and large businesses), and with the huge personal and business expenses of Obamacare still on the books, it’s easy to see why employers are reluctant to hire new employees and expand the economy.  The risks and uncertainties are simply too great for most businesses.

No matter where you look, the evidence is clear.  If you want a strong, growing America that can provide economic opportunities for all Americans and lead the world towards a positive future, then you must join with me and many others in defeating Barack Obama at the polls in November.  We cannot risk another four years.

Have great week!

Glen Meakem

Glen Meakem is a successful technology entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and conservative talk radio show host, who offers information and insights on how individuals, our states, and our nation can be more successful. Glen’s unique perspective has been shaped by his experiences as founder, chairman and CEO of the B2B internet success Freemarkets Inc – which he founded in 1995, took public in 1999, and sold to Ariba in 2004. In 2006, Glen co-founded Meakem Becker Venture Capital, a firm that invests in early stage start up companies. Concerned about the liberal political agenda that has gripped the United States and his home state of Pennsylvania, Glen launched the radio program, “Glen Meakem on the Weekend” in 2008. Glen served as an officer in the United States Army Reserve and is a veteran of the First Gulf War. He earned his undergraduate degree from Harvard and his MBA from Harvard Business School. For more information about the Glen Meakem on the Weekend Radio Program, or to read Glen’s blog, please visit http://glenmeakem.com.

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