Liberty Today May 2011 by Community Press LLC

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Liberty Today ® • Volume 1, No. 3 • May 2011 • Published Monthly • www.liberty-today.com • libertytoday@hotmail.com • $24 a year

GOP Race Wide Open Trump, Huckabee Departures Change Dynamics

Will $5 Gas Sink Obama 2012 Race?

Romney, Newt, Paul, Bachmann Leading in Polls

WASHINGTON — Speaker of the House John Boehner says high prices alone could cost President Obama his reelection bid. Boehner told ABC News, “If the economy doesn’t get better, I don’t think he’ll win. If President Obama people don’t feel better about governmentrun health care, I don’t think he’ll win. And if gas prices are $5 or $6, he certainly isn’t going to win.”

Gov. Mitch Romney

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann

See 76 PERCENT on Page 4

Iran’s President To Head OPEC

See IRAN’S on Page 9

See ROMNEY on Page 9

Congressman Ron Paul

Romney

Gingrich

Speaker Newt Gingrich

Ron Paul Ron Paul 8%

Bachmann

Liberty Today will be at FreedomFest Las Vegas July 14-16

Iranian Missiles to Venezuela? 18%

13%

Report: Chavez Could Intimidate Colombia, U. S.

Photo by Fars News Agency

Ahmadinejad

TEHERAN — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has appointed himself as Oil Minister of his nation. Since Iran holds the presidency of OPEC, the Iranian strong-

WASHINGTON — As potential candidates continue to bow out of the race for the Republican Presidential nomination, five candidates have begun to emerge as contenders. Former Gov. Mike Huckabee, Donald Trump, and Gov. Mitch Daniels have Gov. Pawlenty all taken their names out of consideration. That leaves the top candidates in the most recent national poll as: • Mitt Romney 18% • Newt Gingrich 13% • Ron Paul 8% • Michele Bachmann 7% • Tom Pawlenty 5% Gov. Sarah Palin, who is not expected to run, received 12 percent. The poll was conducted May 5 to 8, 2011, by Public Policy Polling among 610 Republican primary voters. The poll was conducted using automated telephone interviews, and claims a margin of error of 4

IRAN TEST-FIRING MISSILES — The Islamic Republic of Iran has signed an agreement to build missile sites in Venezuela, and construction has reportedly already begun.

WASHINGTON — Iran is building a missile site in the Paraguana Peninsula of Venezuela, with the goal of placing medium-range missiles in the Western Hemisphere, according to the German newspaper Die Welt. Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez and Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad signed an agreement for the project last October, the newspaper said, and construction has now beSee COULD on Page 9

2 Liberty Today • May 2011

George Washington’s Farewell Address in 1796

The Father of Our Country Told Us What to Do In Times Such as These to Keep Our Liberties Be Ever Vigilant to Preserve Nation on Which All Else That You Value Is Based

PHILADELPHIA — Excerpts from the Farewell Address of President George Washington in 1796: Warnings from a Parting Friend A solicitude for your welfare, which cannot end but with my life, and the apprehension of d a n g e r. . . u rg e me...to offer to your solemn contemplation, and to recommend to your frequent review, some sentiments which are the result of much reflection...and which appear to me all-important to the permanency of your felicity as a people. Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of your hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify or confirm the attachment. National Government Is Essential to Peace, Safety, and Liberty The unity of government which constitutes you one people is also now dear to you. It is justly so, for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquility at home, your peace abroad; of your safety; of your prosperity; of that very liberty which you so highly prize. Be Ever Vigilant to Preserve the Nation Upon Which All Else Rests It is easy to foresee that, from different causes and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices employed to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth; as this is the point in your political fortress against which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and actively (though often covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national union to your collective and individual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of the palladium of your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned; and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts. For this, you have every inducement of sympathy and interest. Citizens, by birth or choice, of a com-

Liberty Today National Conservative Newspaper

Published monthly on the 1st Thursday of each month by Community Press, LLC Volume 1, No.3 • May 2011 Email stories and photos to libertytoday@hotmail.com

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President George Washington

The name of American, which belongs to you, in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles. You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together; the Independence and Liberty you possess are the work of joint efforts, of common dangers, sufferings, and successes... President George Washington Farewell Address, 1796

mon country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. Your Patriotism Will Preserve Our Independence and Liberty The name of American, which belongs to you, in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles. You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together; the Independence and Liberty you possess are the work of joint counsels, and joint efforts, of common dangers, sufferings, and successes... Respect Our Constitution, and Change It Only by Legal Means The basis of our political systems

Liberty Today 801 G Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20001 and Liberty Today P. O. Box 1 Central, LA 70739

(225) 261-5055 • FAX 261-5022 www.liberty-today.com

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is the right of the people to make and to alter their Constitutions of Government. But the Constitution which at any time exists, till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish Government presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the established Government. Government Must Be Strong Enough to Protect Our Rights ... in a country so extensive as ours, a government of as much vigor as is consistent with the perfect security of liberty is indispensable. Liberty itself will find in such a government, with powers properly distributed and adjusted, its surest guardian. It is, indeed, little else than a name, where

the government is too feeble to withstand the enterprises of faction, to confine each member of the society within the limits prescribed by the laws, and to maintain all in the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the rights of person and property... The Excesses of Political Parties Must Be Held in Check ...in Governments purely elective, [the spirit of political party ought] not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency, it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose. And, there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be, by force of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume. Respect Separation of Powers and Resist Consolidation of Power It is important... in a free country [that] those intrusted with its administration, to confine themselves within their respective constitutional spheres, avoiding in the exercise of the powers of one department to encroach upon another. The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of government, a real despotism. A just estimate of that love of power, and proneness to abuse it, which predominates in the human heart, is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of this position. The necessity of reciprocal checks in the exercise of political power... has been evinced by experiments ancient and modern... If, in the opinion of the people, the distribution or modification of the constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way, which the constitution designates. But let there be no change by usurpation; for, though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed... The Indispensable Tie Between Religion and Morality Of all the dispositions and habits, which lead to political prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness... A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity... And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion... The Importance of Education and a Free Press Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened. Avoid Public Debt and Don’t Burden Future Generations As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public See AVOID on Page 11

Deadline: Three weeks prior Liberty Today is published monthly. Single Copy $1.50 Periodicals permit pending at Subscription: $24 a year Baton Rouge, LA Community Press, LLC proprietor, 13567 Publisher Diane Jenkins Hooper Rd, Baton Rouge, LA 70818 Editor Woody Jenkins POSTMASTER: Send address Business Manager Candi Lee changes to Circulation Dept., Graphic Artist Terrie Palmer Editorial Coordinator Shara Pollard P.O.Box 1, Central, LA 70739 or visit www.liberty-today.com Editorial Coordinator Jolice Provost

Liberty Today • May 2011 3

Annual Event Set June 16-18 at New Orleans Hilton

Conservatives Coming to New Orleans For Republican Leadership Conference Eight Presidential Candidates Set To Speak at RLC

NEW ORLEANS — Thousands of Republican activists from across the nation will gather in New Orleans June 16 to 18 for the annual Republican Leadership Conference. Keynote speakers will include Presidential candidates Newt Gingrich, Michele Bachmann, Ron Paul, Rick Santorum, Herman Cain, Gov. Rick Perry Tom Pawlenty, Buddy Roemer, and Jon Huntsman. Other headliners include Gov. Mike Huckabee, Gov. Rick Perry, Gov. Bobby Jindal, Sen. Jim DeMint, and Sen. David Vitter. Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus and Family Research Council president Tony Perkins are also scheduled to speak. In some ways, the event will be the kickoff of the 2012 Republican Presidential campaign. With President Barack Obama struggling in the polls from a poor economy and a long series of policy mistakes, the Republican nomination is even more prized than ususal. Delegates are expected from 38 states and a Presudebtuak Straw Poll will draw a lot of interest. The event will be held at the New Orleans Hilton, which is located on the Riverwalk. The hotel number is 1-800-HILTONS.

The three George Bushes

Meet Youngest George Bush

NEW ORLEANS — One of the speakers at the upcoming Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans will be George P. Bush, the grandson of President George H.W. Bush and the nephew of President George W. Bush. For a feature story on the youngest George Bush, see Page 7.

Rep. Michele Bachmann, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, and Tony Perkins

Former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain and Sen. Jim DeMint

Speaker Newt Gingrich, Rep. Ron Paul, Sen. Rick Santorum, and Sen. David Vitter

Republican Leadership Conference and Reagan Centennial Celebration Agenda New Orleans Hilton, New Orleans, Louisiana Thursday, June 16, 2011

1 p.m. Registration Opens 1 p.m. Exhibit Hall Opens 3 p.m. Special Session with Major Speakers 5:30-6:30 VIP Reception (VIP Registrants only) 6:30-8 Opening Session (Major Speakers) 8:30 p.m. Registration Ends 8:30 p.m. Exhibit Hall Closes Friday, June 17, 2011 8:30 a.m. Registration Opens 8:30 a.m. Exhibit Hall Opens 10-11:30 New Orleans Jazz Brunch 12-4 p.m. General Session (Major Speakers) 6-7:30 p.m. Grand Old Party (VIP Registrants only) 7 p.m. Registration Ends 7 p.m. Exhibit Hall Closes Dinner On Your Own Saturday, June 18, 2011 9 a.m. Registration Opens 9 a.m. Exhibit Hall Opens 10-11:30 a.m. Morning in America Brunch Celebration 11:30-12 VIP Reception (VIP Registrants only) 12-4:00 p.m. General Session (Major Speakers) 1 p.m. Registration Concludes 6-7:30 p.m. Ronald Reagan Centennial Gala Sunday, June 19, 2011 10-11 a.m. Interdenominational Worship Service

To register, go to www.rlc2011.com

Confirmed Speakers Gov. Mike Huckabee Gov. Rick Perry Gov. Bobby Jindal Sen. Jim DeMint Sen. David Vitter Sen. Rick Santorum Speaker Newt Gingrich Rep. Michele Bachmann Rep. Ron Paul Rep. Marsha Blackburn Rep. Rodney Alexander Rep. Bill Cassidy Rep. Jeff Landry Rep. Steve Scalise Amb. Jon Huntsman Herman Cain George P. Bush (son of Jeb Bush) Mary Matalin Tony Perkins Star Parker David Bossie and RNC Chairman Reince Priebus REGISTER ONLINE $299 – Standard Conference Registration (3 meals). Includes complete access to all general sessions with major speakers and three meals (two brunches and a dinner reception). Includes access to the Reagan Centennial Gala on Saturday evening. Space is limited. $699 – VIP Registration (4 meals plus VIP credentials) Register as a VIP and get access to VIP-only events during the conference. Includes complete access to all general sessions with major speakers, exclusive VIP-only special events with major speakers and four meals (two brunches and two dinner receptions) and access to the Reagan Centennial Gala on Saturday evening. To register on-line, go to http://www. rlc2011.com/registration/ MAIL-IN If you do not wish to register online, please mail your check to: Republican Leadership Conference, 12232 Industriplex Blvd, Ste 1, Baton Rouge, LA 70809

4 Liberty Today • May 2011

Restrictions on Drilling Are Key Cause of Problem

Why Gasoline Is So High Government Has Restricted Access To U.S. Resources

WASHINGTON — The House Republican Study Committee has compiled the following Fact Sheet on gasoline prices: Facts about gasoline prices: • The average retail price of gasoline from 2000-2009 was $2.09. The average retail price of gasoline when President Obama took office was $1.85. The average retail price of gasoline today is $3.88, an 86 percent increase. • The average U.S. driver travels 12,000 miles per year, using 533 gallons of gasoline in the process. The $2.03 increase in the price of gasoline since President Obama took office amounts to an additional $1,082 per year in additional driving costs per driver. The cost to American families is amplified further by the impact transportation costs have on the cost of all goods, especially food, which means the effects of high gas prices are felt far from the pump. • One barrel of oil (42 gallons) produces 19 gallons of gasoline, 10 gallons of diesel, and numerous other petroleum products. • Crude oil costs account for 68 percent of the cost of a gallon of gasoline (API) Oil Facts: • In 2009, the U.S. imported about 51 percent of the crude oil and refined petroleum products it used. • In 2009, other than the U.S. itself, the four largest oil producing countries in the world were Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and China. • Proven world reserves of crude oil have increased annually for the past 20 years to a current world reserve of 1.337 trillion barrels, of which 80 percent is held by OPEC nations. Over the same period, the U.S. has seen its reserves drop by 5 billion barrels to 19 billion barrels. Petroleum — Not going anywhere for a long time: • In 2009, petroleum provided 94 percent of the energy used by the transportation sector in the U.S, with only 6 percent coming from natural gas or renewable sources. • In 2009, 72 percent of the U.S.’s petroleum supply was used by the transportation sector, 22 percent by the industrial sector, 5 percent by residential and commercial users, and 1 percent for the production of electric power. • In 2009, the transportation sector used 4.846 billion barrels of petroleum products. • In 2008, passenger cars and motorcycles used 71.497 billion gallons of motor fuel, the equivalent of 1.702 billion barrels of oil. All other highway users used 99.012 billion gallons, the equivalent of 2.357 billion barrels of oil. Obama Job-Killing Permatorium on Domestic Resources: • Although the Interior Department lifted its explicit moratorium on shallow and deepwater drilling instated after the Deepwater Horizon spill, it has maintained a de facto moratorium by slow-walking the issuing of permits. Interior’s “permatorium” is so egregious that a federal judge held Interior in contempt of court on February 3, 2011. • The U.S.’s second largest shal-

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The de facto moratorium has caused at least 13 drilling rigs to leave the Gulf of Mexico with more to follow. This will lead to major reductions in production and thousands of lost jobs. The Obama Administration has created a backlog of 100 deepwater permits.

low-water drilling company, Seahawk, filed for bankruptcy in February, citing a lack of permits. • The Interior Department has also interfered with the drilling process on land. In 2009, it delayed and disincentivized commercial oil shale leasing in the West, and is currently reconsidering Bush Administration rules for development of oil shale production which will further delay that production. • The Obama Administration permatorium has created a backlog of, at times, more than 100 deepwater drilling permit applications in the Gulf, which is responsible for more than 25 percent of domestic oil production. According to independent analysis, the number of deepwater permits approved monthly has dropped by 78 percent from the historical average.

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• According to the EIA, production in the Gulf is expected to drop by 220,000 barrels per day, which leads to $4.7 million in lost federal government royalty revenue daily. If the Obama Administration continues its policies and the projections hold for this year, the permatorium will cost at least $1.7 billion in government revenue. Other potential losses include $1 billion in lease sale revenue, and millions in rent payments by lease holders. • The de facto moratorium has caused at least 13 drilling rigs to leave the Gulf of Mexico with more to follow. This will lead to major reductions in production and thousands of lost jobs. Each drilling rig that leaves costs 180-200 direct employees, along with hundreds of

Gas Prices: Obama Reelection Issue

76 Percent of Seniors Say Gas Prices Hurting Them Continued from Page 1

An ABC News poll showed seven in 10 Americans are suffering financial hardship from high gas prices. In turn, 53 percent of those feeling the pinch say they will not vote to reelect Obama in 2012. A report by Reuters news agency said, “Rising gasoline prices have damaged confidence in the country’s future and forced Americans to change their spending habits and lifestyles.” A Reuters poll said 69 percent of Americans say the country is on the wrong track. That poll said six in 10 Americans have cut back on other expenses or reduced driving because of high gasoline prices. Reuters said, “The plunge in public confidence could complicate the 2012 re-election hopes of

Obama, who launched his campaign last week and must convince Americans he is turning the corner on economic recovery.” An Associated Press poll said even people making good money are feeling the pinch of high gas prices. It showed 63 percent of people making more than $50,000 a year are experiencing a financial hardship because of gas prices. A key demographic group that votes — senior citizens — is being especially hard hit, the poll said. 76 percent of seniors say they are suffering because of gas prices. The price for a gallon of gasoline in the U. S. was $3.96 on May 16, 2011. Of that amount, about 68 percent is tied to the cost of crude oil, 13 percent to refining, 7 percent to distribution and marketing, and 12 percent to taxes.

support jobs and jobs in surrounding communities. Additional Obama Job Killing Energy Policies: • The EPA has delayed an extension to Texas refineries of an existing pipeline, the Keystone XL, which carries crude oil from Canada’s oil sands to American refineries. This expansion would enable expanded importation of 830,000 barrels of oil daily from the U.S.’s neighbor and ally, instead of importing it from other unfriendly sources. A Canadian Energy Research Institute study found that investing in Canadian oil sands will produce 340,000 U.S. jobs and create $34 billion in revenues for the U.S. government. Construction of the pipeline itself would support more than 10,000 jobs. • Although Royal Dutch Shell paid the U.S. government $2.2 billion in 2005 for leases to explore for oil in an Arctic region estimated to have billions of barrels of oil, the EPA has refused to issue necessary permits and has suspended the permitting process. This delay will cost 800 direct jobs and millions of dollars in additional contracts and investment. • The Interior Department has invented a designation of “Wild Lands” to give the Bureau of Land Management the ability to establish de facto Wilderness areas without Congressional approval. This designation would place limitations on the public’s access to such lands and severely restrict energy production activities. • Congress has already designated 107 million acres, 4.8 percent of the land mass of the U.S., as wilderness, which are off limits to all human activity except hiking, canoeing, and some hunting and fishing. Commercial enterprises, roads, structures, and installations are explicitly forbidden, preventing access to the resources locked within those lands. • Environmental groups used the language contained in the Interior Secretary’s order inventing “Wild Lands” to challenge a major oil and natural gas exploration project approved by the Interior Department. The groups argued the approval was contradictory to the direction within the “Wild Lands” order to place a high priority on preserving the wilderness characteristics of the land. • The Interior Department has effectively reinstated the ban on offshore drilling, placing the entire Pacific Coast, the entire Atlantic Coast, the Eastern Gulf and parts of Alaska off limits to future energy production until 2017 at the earliest. Even those extremely limited areas that will potentially open before 2017 are closed for study until at least 2012. The moratorium is estimated by API to cost 75,000 jobs, $91 billion in cumulative government revenues, and potential production of 900,000 barrels of oil per day. • According to ERM, an environmental consulting firm, 75 percent of the cost and schedule overruns for major oil and gas projects result from issues unrelated to actual production, including environmental and stakeholder issues. One of ERM’s clients lost over $3 billion in one year due to environmental and social issues. RSC Staff Contacts: Cyrus Artz, Cyrus.Artz@mail.house.gov & Bruce F. Miller, bruce.miller@mail. house.gov.

Liberty Today • May 2011 5

Relief at Gas Pump Five-Point Plan to Spur Energy Production

GOP Says Lift DeFacto Ban on Offshore Drilling

WASHINGTON — The House Republican Study Committee, composed of conservative Republicans in the U. S. House, has come up with a five-point plan to increase energy production and reduce prices at the gas pump. The RSC energy working group, chaired by Rep. Bob Latta (R-OH), says it is dedicated to creating conservative solutions that will provide the tools for a stable, independent, and rewarding energy future for the nation. Now the group has introduced legislation to help provide some immediate relief for consumers facing the possibility of paying upwards of $5 a gallon for gas: Conservative Principles to Get Gas Prices Down Immediately, Stabilize Them For the Future • Repealing restrictive energy development policies enacted under President Obama. • Repealing mandates that cause the price of gasoline to be artificially high. • Achieving energy security by utilizing our own natural resources, including oil shale. • Ending frivolous litigation that unfairly delays energy production for consumers. • Reducing regulatory and bureaucratic delays that hinder the refining and permitting process. Background: • The Obama Administration has spent the last two years artificially increasing the cost of traditional forms of energy, driving up their prices in order to make “green” alternatives cost-competitive to consumers. This undermines fair market competition by picking winners and losers in the energy industry. • The President believes nothing can be done about the current cost of gas and has stated the “truth is, the only real solution…is clean energy.” Unfortunately, current mandates that exist in the marketplace in the name of “clean energy” are part of what makes the cost of gasoline more expensive for consumers. Conservatives understand immediate reforms can be made to repeal these mandates that allow government to unfairly influence the marketplace by raising the cost of producing and refining gasoline. • Since Democrats began implementing restrictive energy policies in 2007, the price of gasoline has grown increasingly erratic. In January of 2007, the average price for a gallon of gasoline was $2.24. By the summer of 2008 the price had risen to $4.06. When President Obama took office in January of 2009 the price was $1.79. Uncertainty about gasoline prices is unhealthy and affects every sector of the economy – especially families that have to budget monthly expenditures. • America has had abundant, affordable sources of energy, which have been an integral part of our economic advantage over other na-

Most Americans now say they are suffering because of high gasoline prices.

Sen. David Vitter Wants Explanation

U. S. OK’s $2 Billion Loan To Spur Drilling off Brazil WASHINGTON — Sen. David Vitter has sent a letter to the President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, Fred Hochberg, seeking an explanation of why the bank loaned $2 billion to Brazilian state-owned oil company Petrobras to produce energy off the coast of Brazil. Hochberg traveled to Brazil with President Obama when the deal was announced. “Louisianians President Obama are frustrated with the ongoing de facto moratorium, and I would appreciate a full accounting for the return on investment the American taxpayer has received, and is anticipated to receive on the $2 billion loan to this Brazilian petroleum company,” Vitter said. Below is a copy of Vitter’s letter. Fred Hochberg, President Export-Import Bank of U.S. Washington, DC 20571 Dear Mr. Hochberg: In August of 2009 you received a copy of the letter I sent to the President regarding the Export-Import Bank’s (ExIm’s) decision to move forward with extending a $2 billion loan to Petrobras, Brazil’s stateowned oil company. Despite the fact that the letter was addressed to the President, my staff received a response via telephone from ExIm noting the multi-billion dollar loan. It was made clear during that phone conversation that the loan would do more than simply help Brazil expand its domestic offshore exploration and production capabilities. ExIm pointed out to my staff that the purpose of the bank was to provide loans that would enhance exports to foreign countries with the ultimate benefit going to U.S. businesses. In other words, there would be significant return on this investment in the form of interest on the loan as well as an increase in the growth of U.S. manufactured products to be used in

Brazil’s offshore exploration industry. In April 2010, the Gulf of Mexico experienced the tragic blowout of the Macondo well, and the resulting loss of 11 lives and severe environmental damage. This tragedy and the resulting impacts have hurt the state of Louisiana and the country as a whole. However, rather than learn from this tragedy, the Interior Department has used it as an ongoing tool and Sen. David Vitter excuse to cripple domestic energy production in federal waters. To date, only two permits to drill have been issued for the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Two permits for an industry the President claims to support is a far cry from the “support” of $2 billion ExIm loaned to Petrobras-Brazil. Accordingly, I would appreciate a full accounting for the return on investment the American taxpayer is anticipated to receive on the $2 billion loan. Specifically, could you please provide the following information: 1. The name of all U.S. companies that have increased exports based on this loan and the specific product exports that have increased based on this loan. 3. The return on investment for this loan during the next five and 10year windows. 4. The name of all U.S. and foreign investors, including institutional investors, that increased their shareholdings in Petrobras in excess of $50 million within a six month period before and after the ExIm loan. I am sure you can understand the frustration Louisianians have with a $2 billion loan to produce energy offshore Brazil. Given that U.S. offshore oil and gas reserves are estimated at nearly triple the 40 billion barrels estimated offshore Brazil, a thorough response from you would be helpful in understanding why permitting domestically is nearly stalled, and if there is at least a return on investment for supporting production offshore Brazil. Sincerely, Sen. David Vitter

tions. Conservatives believe we must increase domestic output in order to stabilize the erratic price of gasoline, create jobs, and reduce our vulnerability to OPEC’s influence on the petroleum market and our way of life. • Conservatives believe Congress must reverse Administration policies that have made the cost of gasoline artificially more expensive and have made accessing domestic energy sources more prohibitive and difficult. We should embrace solutions that encourage innovation for more effective use of gasoline, as well as new technologies to produce more petroleum more efficiently from our vast domestic supply. Immediate Relief for Consumers to Reduce Pain at the Pump Act Short Summary: The following conservative solutions will not only drive down the cost of gas in the short-term, but also create a more stable marketplace for gasoline for decades to come. Title I: Repeal of Presidential “Permatorium” on America’s Outer Continental Shelf • Repeals the Obama Permatorium on the OCS by creating deadlines to approve leases in the Gulf of Mexico currently stalled by the Department of Interior. • Permanently opens the Outer Continental Shelf (including areas of Alabama and Florida) and the Arctic Coastal Plain (ANWR) for energy exploration and development. • Ensures that lease sales will happen offshore by guaranteeing the planned lease sales established by the former Mineral Management Service 2007-2012 five-year plan. The bill establishes a revenue sharing program to encourage leasing on state waters and distribute revenues to state treasuries. Title II: Revocation of Energy Restricting Bureau of Land Management Land Lockup • Repeals “Wild Lands Policy” that permits the DOI to restrict hundreds of thousands of acres from energy development. • Streamlines the bureaucratic process for approving offshore oil and gas leases and increases access to the existing shale reserves within the U.S. • Establishes a judicial review process to limit frivolous environmental litigation, in order to ensure existing leases and new reserves can actually be developed. Title III: Immediate EPA Regulatory Relief • Repeals the Environmental Protection Agency greenhouse gas (GHG) regulation and prevents the EPA from using Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, National Environmental Policy Act, or Endangered Species Act to impose regulations in the name of climate change. • The bill reduces the regulatory burden that has prevented badlyneeded increases in U.S. refinery capacity. • Finally, the bill provides immediate relief from government mandates that cause artificial price inflation by repealing boutique fuel requirements and repealing the federal ban on synthetic fuels purchasing. RSC Staff Contact: Bruce F. Miller, bruce.miller@mail.house. gov, 202-226-9717.

6 Liberty Today • May 2011

ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson

No Double Taxation on Oil Companies Rex Tillerson

Exxon Mobil Corporation

NOTE: Opening statement of Rex W. Tillerson, Chairman and CEO, Exxon Mobil Corporation, before the United States Senate Committee on Finance hearing in Washington on May 12, 2011. I appreciate the opportunity to address the topic of today’s hearing, “Oil and Gas Tax Incentives and Rising Energy Prices.” All of us here today recognize the strain that high gasoline prices impose on many Americans, particularly during difficult economic times. And we owe it to our customers and your constituents to address the topic of energy prices and taxes in an open, honest, and factual way. Unfortunately, the tax changes under consideration that target the five U.S. energy companies represented here today fail to honor those goals. It is not simply that they are misinformed and discriminatory. They are counterproductive. By undermining U.S. competitiveness, they would discourage future investments in energy projects in the United States and therefore undercut job creation and economic growth. And because they would hinder investment in new energy supplies, they do nothing to help reduce prices. There is a more effective way to take steps to reduce prices and raise revenues – but, unfortunately, it is a way Congress and the Administration have so far rejected. If the U.S. oil and gas industry were permitted to develop our nation’s enormous untapped energy supplies, it would put downward pressure on energy prices and increase revenues for government budgets. Working together, industry and government can achieve our shared goals. In that spirit, I would like to offer several important facts on the specific tax proposals that are currently being advocated by some in Washington. First, it is important to make clear that tax provisions such as the Section 199 Domestic Production Activities deduction are not special incentives, preferences or subsidies for oil and gas, but rather than standard deductions applied across all businesses in the United States. Section 199 applies today to all U.S. domestic producers and manufacturers – from newspaper publishers, to corn farmers, to movie producers, and even coffee roasters. All can claim this deduction, which is intended to support job creation and retention in the United States. By any reasonable definition, it is not an oil and gas industry incentive. In fact, our industry is currently limited to only a six percent deduction, while all other U.S. manufacturers are allowed a nine percent deduction. Why should an American refinery worker employed by a major U.S. oil and gas company in Billings, Montana, be treated as inferior to an American movie producer in Hollywood, an American newspaper worker in New York, or an employee at a foreignowned refinery in Lemont, Illinois? Another tax measure that is misleadingly labeled a “subsidy” is the foreign tax credit provision, which upholds a basic tenet of tax fairness by preventing our overseas earnings from being double taxed. This provision applies to all U.S. companies with overseas income, and has been in place since 1918. It is meant to protect U.S. competitiveness. Again, U.S. oil and gas companies are already treated differently from other businesses under this provision, which includes unique and prescriptive rules on our industry requiring us to actually prove our foreign tax payments are indeed income taxes and not royalties. If these rules were changed and the foreign income for select U.S. oil and gas companies like ExxonMobil were

Rex Tillerson of Exxon Mobil

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to be double taxed, our foreign-based competitors and the full range of foreign-government-owned oil companies would gain a significant competitive advantage abroad. Clearly, these tax provisions and others under consideration are not special industry incentives or subsidies; they are economy-wide, generally available deductions and credits under the tax code. Removing them for a select few U.S. oil and gas companies is therefore nothing less than a discriminatory and punitive tax hike, which jeopardizes the jobs of American workers. Doing so would also do nothing to reduce the prices Americans pay at the pump. Gasoline prices are primarily a function of crude oil prices, which are set in the marketplace by global supply and demand – not by companies such as ours. Furthermore, arbitrarily punishing five U.S. oil and gas companies by raising their taxes will generate far less government revenue than if we were allowed to compete and produce our

Why should an American refinery worker employed by a major U.S. oil and gas company in Billings, Montana, be treated as inferior to an American movie producer in Hollywood, an American newspaper worker in New York, or an employee at a foreign-owned refinery in Lemont, Illinois?

— Rex Tillerson, Exxon Mobil

”

nation’s resources. An August 2010 Wood Mackenzie study estimates that approximately $10 to $17 billion in direct upstream investment in this country is at risk per year if the Section 199 and other tax provisions are repealed for our industry. Another recent Wood Mackenzie study found that opening up federal lands that Congress has kept off-limits for decades could generate 400,000 new jobs by the year 2025. And another analysis shows that such actions could generate as much as $1.7 trillion in government revenue over the life of those resources. The fact is that raising taxes on five U.S. oil and gas companies is simply not the way to reduce prices or raise revenue. Increasing these companies’ taxes would only discriminate against certain U.S. workers, make our companies less competitive against others who are in the same business that we are in, and discourage future energy investment in this country. A much better solution lies in permitting our industry to increase energy supplies – including supplies found here in North America, such as oil and natural gas found off our shores and in our shale formations. Access – not taxes – will enable us to meet the goals of increasing affordable energy supplies for Americans, strengthening U.S. energy security, and powering our nation’s economy forward.

Why a New Newspaper in the Digital Age? The hype about the “Digital Age” can be misleading. Consider these four facts: • The average Republican voter in America is 58. • The average donor to Republican candidates is 70+. • The average donor to conservative causes is also 70+. • The majority of them are not on the Internet. Only 26 percent of all Americans 65+ have Internet service. Because of the 72 million baby boomers (born from 1946 to 1964), America’s population — and America’s conservatives — will be aging for the next 20 years! The fact is, they could be scouring the millions of websites on the Internet and getting all the information they need about elected officials and causes, but very few of them are. They want a newspaper to hold in their hands that puts together in one place the information they need. But they haven’t had that newspaper... until now.

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Liberty Today • May 2011 7

Naval Intelligence Officer: Just Back from War

Meet the Youngest George Bush

AUSTIN — George H. W. Bush served as the 41st President of the United States. George W. Bush served as the 43rd President of the United States. But there’s one more George Bush — George P. Bush — the 35-year-old son of former Gov. Jeb Bush, grandson of President George H. W. Bush, and nephew of President George W. Bush. He’s an attorney, a developer, and a Naval officer in intelligence, who just returned from service in Afghanistan. He’s also Hispanic and speaks fluent Spanish. Bush’s mother, Columba Garnica Gallo, is a naturalized citizen of the U.S. originally from Mexico. Bush attended Gulliver Preparatory School in Miami and was a classmate to popular musical artist Enrique Iglesias. Bush earned an undergraduate degree from Rice University in 1998 and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Texas School of Law in 2003. Like his grandfather and uncle (both at Yale), Bush was a freshman walk-on to the baseball team at Rice University, but abandoned the game by his sophomore year. Bush played quarterback for the Jones College intramural football team. He was featured in People Magazine’s top 100 Bachelors in 2000. Political activity At the age of 12, Bush spoke before the 1988 Republican National Convention, which nominated his grandfather. He campaigned for his uncle, George W. Bush, during the 2000 and 2004 presidential campaigns. In his speeches, he stated support for his uncle’s position in favor of comprehensive immigration reform. When asked in 2003 about whether he planned to run for office himself, Bush replied that his grandmother, Barbara Bush, had advised that anyone thinking about entering politics should distinguish himself in some other field first: “Make a name for yourself, have a family, marry someone great, have some kids, buy a house, pay taxes, and do the things everyone also does instead of just running out and saying, ‘Hey, I’m the nephew of or the son of or the grandson of...’.” Speaking specifically of his father’s White House ambitions, he cites “Bush fatigue” as a discouraging factor. George P. Bush criticized Florida Governor Charlie Crist for accepting money from the stimulus package, calling for a return to fiscal conservatism. In January 2010, he endorsed Marco Rubio, Crist’s opponent for the United States Senate. Career Bush is currently a partner with Pennybacker Capital, a real estate investment company in Austin, Texas. The company was originally named N3 Capital and headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. Before entering the real estate investment business, he practiced corporate and securities law in Dallas with Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld LLP. In 2005, Bush was selected as one of Texas Monthly’s “Rising Stars” for his work with Akin Gump. Bush is also a co-founder and on the board of directors of Hispanic Republicans of Texas, a political action committee whose goal is to elect Republican political candidates of Hispanic heritage to office

of Pat Tillman, the NFL player and Army Ranger who was killed in a friendly fire incident in Afghanistan in 2004, “a wake-up call.” When asked to comment, Bush’s senior assistant, Kyle Hoskinson, said, “The Pat Tillman case is one of the saddest in U.S. Army history.” In October 2009, news blogs reported that the U.S. Navy had told Bush that he was likely to be deployed to either Iraq or Afghanistan. He ended up serving a tour of duty in the War in Afghanistan and returned to the United States in 2011. Bush was deployed under the United States Special Operations Command. Personal life Bush married a law school classmate, Amanda “Mandi” Williams, on August 7, 2004, in Kennebunkport, Maine. Williams is a media law attorney at the Jackson Walker LLP of Fort Worth, Texas. They currently live in Austin, Texas. For more information:

“

George W. Bush, George P. Bush, and George H. W. Bush

Make a name for yourself, have a family, marry someone great, have some kids, buy a house, pay taxes, and do the things everyone also does instead of just running out and saying, ‘Hey, I’m the nephew of or the son of or the grandson of...’

”

Barbara Bush’s advice to George P. Bush

in Texas. After law school, he clerked for the U.S District Judge for the Northern District of Texas, Sidney A. Fitzwater. Military service On March 21, 2007, the United States Navy Reserve announced the selection of Bush for training as an intelligence officer. Once commissioned as an Ensign for eight years

of reserve service, he was expected to attend direct commission officer training, and then undergo a year of intelligence training, initially assigned to duty near his home. Bush told The Politico that attending the October 2006 launch of the aircraft carrier named for his grandfather—the USS George H.W. Bush — inspired him to join the service. He also called the death

Russell Contreras (August 11, 2000). “Gorgeous George.” The Austin Chronicle. Dan Glaister (August 31, 2004). “He’s young, good looking, and Hispanic — Could he be the next George Bush in the White House?” London: The Guardian. Mark Stevenson (August 22, 2004). “Bush nephew faults policy at Mexican border.” Orange County Register. “Bachelor Bush to Change His Ways Soon.” June 30, 2003, People. Hudson Morgan (August 21, 2006). “Life Studies: The Heir Apparent.” Men’s Vogue. “Topic Galleries.” OrlandoSentinel.com. “Rubio nabs George P. Bush; Jeb still mum.” The Hill. Jan. 21, 2010. http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/georgep-bush-texas-hispanics-pac/2010/07/26/ id/365654 http://www.pennybackercap.com/content/ george-p-bush Mike Allen (March 21, 2007). “George P. Bush Joins Navy Reserve.” The Politico. Curtis, Bryan. “A Bush Goes to War.” The Daily Beast. Dykes, Brett Michael (Oct 27, 2009). “Bush family political heir is shipping off to war.” Yahoo News. . George P. Bush (February 16, 2011). “’Gampy’ inspired me to serve.” USA Today. http://www.rlc2011.com/reagan-centennial/ george-p-bush-to-address-rlc-2011/ “In Maine, One Bush Wedding and A Fish Story.” washingtonpost.com. 2004-08-08. “Bush’s daughter reels in a big fish - Politics - MSNBC.com.” MSNBC. Fort Worth Business Press. “Media savvy Attorney Amanda Bush sharpens her focus on law – and on Fort Worth.” Fwbusinesspress. com. Sources include Wikipedia

Why He Joined Navy, Went to War

Why would a young profeshow scared he was at the prospect sional leave his career and young of flying bombers against a powerwife to join the military and enter ful enemy. But he felt a patriotic a combat zone? calling that compelled him to sign George P. Bush answered that up and ship out to the Pacific with question in an op-ed piece in many others of his generation. USA Today. The young Bush Ultimately, he said, “I can tell you in four simple survived being words: George Herbert Walker shot down over Bush, my grandfather...” Chichi Jima George P. said that “volunin 1944. In a teerism and public service are at long life of the core” of what his grandparadventure and ents’ lives have stood for. achievement, it A pivotal moment came when was his Navy he attended the christening of the service that USS George H.W. Bush by his defined my grandfather. grandfather He said, “Gampy’s remarks most.” that day — a rare, personal But George window into his heroic service P. said he left the ceremony feelin World War II — affected me ing empty, feeling that he himself deeply. He talked about how he hadn’t contributed as he should. couldn’t imagine leaving my Not long afterwards, he called his grandmother at such an early grandfather to tell him he was joinstage in their courtship and about ing the Navy.

He’s been volunteering all his life, starting when he was 12. He spent that summer living with his grandparents at the White House. His grandmother, Barbara Bush, encouraged him to volunteer to work in a soup kitchen. It was later that he came to understand the importance of that experience. “In high school, I began volunteering in Miami’s Little Havana, teaching kids to play baseball as a way to keep them out of trouble. As a college student at Rice University in Houston, we worked with at-risk kids in the greater Houston area, teaching them the basics of the sport as well as the critical skills they would need in life.” His grandfather established the Points of Light Foundation, and that volunteer work continues to inspire George P. When it comes to volunteering, he told his grandfather, “Count me in!” — From op-ed in USA Today

8 Liberty Today • May 2011

Republican Super Pac for 2012

Conservative Leaders Form Super PAC WASHINGTON — Three members of the Republican National Committee have formed a Political Action Committee they believe could have a dramatic effect on the 2012 races for the House and Senate. Roger Villere of Louisiana is the Chairman, Solomon Yue of Oregon is Vice Chairman, and James Bopp is Treasurer and General Counsel. Villere said the group, the Republican Super PAC, will be able to support or oppose candidates for federal elections without limitation. He said, “It is designed to give national and state Republican political party committees and lo-

“

The best way to neutralize President Obama’s unprecedented $1 billion political war chest and political spending by labor unions and wealthy Democrats is to build a super fundraising infrastructure for independent spending. Join us in this new and exciting project and help elect Republican candidates.

cal, state and, federal Republican candidates the ability to raise unlimited individual and corporate contributions for independent expenditures in support of federal and state candidates.” Villere said the RSPAC will operate as a clearance warehouse

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— Roger Villere, Chairman, Super PAC

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for independent expenditures as a federal IEPAC (independent expenditure political action committee). He said it would also form state IEPACs based on each state’s requirements. He said the PAC will support the following candidates:

Become a Patron

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• Local and regional candidates, such as mayor and the state legislature. • Statewide candidates, such as Governor and Secretary of State. • Congressional, Senate and Presidential candidates, and • State and national political parties. Villere said the Super PAC has the following features to establish accountability and transparency, and to ensure legality and maximum effectiveness: Roger Villere • P o l i t i Louisiana Super PAC cal parties and candidates would solicit and direct federal and state contributions from donors. The donations will be above the current contribution and source limitations, to RSPAC as earmarked funds for independent expenditures. These expenditures can support or oppose designated federal or state candidates. • RSPAC would open both federal and state accounts for such earmarked funds, design independent expenditures for such candidates, solicit bids from vendors, place orders with vendors for independent expenditures, keep books to account for all contributions and expenditures, meet all federal and state legal and reporting requirements and, after the election, open their books to donors and soliciting political parties and candidates, so that the spending decisions by RSPAC are subject to total transparency, • RSPAC would coordinate spending with other independent spenders to bridge gaps in the independent campaigns supporting Republican candidates, and • RSPAC’s personnel would be firewalled off from appropriate political parties and candidates and their agents, in order to prevent coordination and other legal concerns. Villere said, “The best way to neutralize President Obama’s unprecedented $1 billion political war chest and the political spending by labor unions and wealthy Democrats is to build a super fundraising infrastructure for independent expenditure spending. We hope you would join us to discuss this new and exciting project and how it can help your state’s efforts to elect Republican candidates.” Roger Villere has served as Chairman of the Louisiana Republican Party since 2004. During his tenure in office, Republicans have recaptured the Governor’s office and won every statewide office. They have won six of Louisiana’s seven Congressional seats, reelected Sen. David Vitter, and won a majority of the Louisiana House and Senate for the first time since Reconstruction. Villere is a florist and has been named “Outstanding Business Person of the Year” in the seven-parish New Orleans area. For a copy of a legal opinion on the legality of Republican Super PAC’s plan, go to www.libertytoday.com.

Liberty Today • May 2011 9

Well-Known Conservative Congressman

Mike Pence Runs for Indiana Governor Sen. Coats said, “I have been at the top of the list of people encouraging Mike to seek the Republican nomination for governor. Mike has proven his leadership abilities in over a decade of representing Hoosiers in the House of Representatives. I believe he has the qualifications and experience to lead the state as governor. Mike Pence’s commitment to fiscal discipline, limited government, and Hoosier values is exactly what we need. I am confident the transition from My Man Mitch to My Man Mike would carry on the forward-thinking vision and positive changes implemented by Governor Daniels that continue to strengthen Indiana.” Gov. Perry said, “Congressman Pence’s decision to run for governor guarantees that Republicans will field a top-tier candidate for Indiana governor in 2012 and is a major blow to Democrats’ hopes of regaining the governor’s mansion. Rep. Pence’s consistent conservatism has earned him admiration nationally as well as at home in Indiana, and his reputation as a bold thinker would serve him well as governor. The RGA welcomes Mike Pence to the governor’s race.” For more information, go to www.mikepence.com

ANDERSON, IND — Congressman Mike Pence has announced his intention to seek the Republican nomination for Governor of Indiana in 2012. Rep. Pence informed supporters across the state via conference call, email, Facebook page and a video released at www. mikepence.com. The statement said: “Hello, I’m Mike Pence. This is my wife Karen. As lifelong Hoosiers, we love Indiana. The small towns and courthouse squares...big cities and open fields...the strong and good people of Indiana make up the heart of the Heartland.” “Over the past several months, we’ve traveled across this state, meeting with people in every walk of life. We’ve listened and learned where Hoosiers think we might best serve Indiana in the years ahead.” “I’ve been humbled by the outpouring of encouragement we’ve received from people across this state... and it’s for that reason today, I’m announcing my candidacy for the Republican nomination for governor of Indiana in 2012.” “While a formal campaign kickoff will come later, I wanted you to be the first to know that I’m in this

race. We think now is the time to move forward... and any real Hoosier knows that every big race begins in May anyway.” “Our state is on the edge of an era of growth and opportunity like no other in our lifetime. Under the capable leadership of Governor Mitch Daniels, Indiana has set the pace in fiscal responsibility, job creation, and reform.” “But our work is not over.” “To keep Indiana growing, Hoosiers know we must have principled leadership at every level to make the right choices. We need to live within our means, and embrace policies that will create good jobs, great schools, safe streets, and strong families.” “It won’t be easy, but we can’t stop fighting to preserve our future or the blessings of liberty, because freedom’s work is never done.” “Those who know me, know I fight for what I believe in...and I believe in Indiana.” “So I ask you to join our team.” “Guided by common sense, conservative leadership, in the years to come, with your help, I know we can build an even better Indiana for our children and grandchildren.”

“We ask for your support and prayers, and we know that with your help and with God’s help, Indiana’s best days are yet to come.” Pence received some key endorsements, including Sen. Dan Coats and Gov. Rick Perry of the National Governors Association.

WASHINGTON — Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota says President Obama’s speech on the Middle East will undermine Israel. She said, “Today President Barack Obama has again indicated that his policy towards Israel is to blame Israel first. In a shocking display of betrayal towards our ally, President Obama is now calling on Israel to give up yet more land and return to its 1967 borders.” “If there is anything that has been proven, the policy of land-

for-peace has meant that Israel has continually had to give away increasing amounts of its land and decrease its size. In exchange, it still has not known security.” “President Obama wants to further this policy by putting Israel in a very vulnerable position with borders that would be extremely difficult to defend.” “I am calling on President Obama to reverse course and clearly renounce the position which he spelled out today. This is an insult to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the day before the

Prime Minister is scheduled to come to the United States. President Obama’s remarks are clearly in opposition to the position that Israel has taken in regards to its own borders. These remarks do not reflect the will of the constituents in my district, nor do I believe that they represent the will of the majority of the American people.” “America has stood with Israel since President Harry Truman recognized Israel a mere 11 minutes after Israel became a state in 1948. But during his tenure as President of the United States, President

Obama has initiated a policy which shows contempt for Israel’s concern and safety.” “In an era dubbed the ‘Arab Spring’ we have seen increased volatility in the Middle East region, and President Obama has only added to the heightened hostility by calling on Israel to return to the 1967 borders.” “I disagree with President Obama and I stand with our friend Israel 100 percent. I am saddened and disappointed deeply by President Obama’s statement.”

Continued from Page 1

Iran is the President of OPEC for this year. OPEC consists of 12-member countries — Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela. Most are dictatorships. OPEC is scheduled to hold its 159th meeting on June 8, 2011, in Vienna, Austria. The organization is expected

to review its production quotas at the meeting, because high gasoline prices are having an impact on demand. If Ahmadinejad chairs the OPEC meeting, he could raise new controversies. Iran often favors restricting production, in order to keep prices high, while Saudi Arabia often wants to increase production, because of its excess capacity.

Iran’s budget for the year is based on an oil price of $81.50 a barrel. With the price of Iran light crude at $108.63, Ahmadinejad could have a lot of extra money to run his government, unless production is increased and prices go down. OPEC can have a large impact on oil prices by its ability to limit production.

Continued from Page 1

Bachmann and Cain could gain significantly if Palin does in fact decide not to run. GOP strategist Matthew Dowd said Texas Gov. Rick Perry may reconsider his decision not to run. As of May 2011, Romney would be considered the leader in the New Hampshire primary, Bachmann and Pawlenty could show strength in Iowa, and the South Carolina primary would be considered up for grabs. For the latest polls, go to www.realclearpolitics.com

Congressman Mike Pence Running for Indiana Governor

Michele Bachmann: Obama Undermines Israel

Iran’s Admandinejad May Be President of OPEC Cartel man is expected to chair OPEC’s conference next month in Vienna, where he is expected to call for higher oil prices. The president reportedly wanted higher oil prices, in order to increase Iran’s revenue and strengthen his power within the country. Ahmadinejad is in a dispute with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Could U. S. Face Iranian Missiles? Romney, Bachmann Could Benefit Continued from Page 1

gun. Die Welt said engineers from Khatam al-Anbia, owned by the Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, visited the site in February. According to the newspaper, the Guards plan to build underground missile silos, bunkers, and barracks. Iran is using oil money for the construction project. Analysts say Venezuela and Iran plan to use the missiles to intimidate Venezuela’s neighbors, such as Colombia, and ultimately

threaten the United States. The U.S. State Department said May 21 it could not confirm the report. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said the report was an “extravagant lie.” Construction of a missile site in Venezuela could provoke an international crisis of major proportions. The attempt by the Soviet Union to establish nuclear missile bases in Cuba in 1961 led to a confrontation between the Soviet Union and the United States that brought the countries to the brink of war.

percent. Pundits are divided on the question where support of Huckabee, Trump, and Daniels would be likely to go. In the same poll, Huckabee had 19 percent, Trump had eight percent, and Daniels had three percent. Based on their stands on the issues, Romney and Bachmann could be expected to gain the most. Former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain could also benefit.

10 Liberty Today • May 2011

Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee

NLRB Targets Right to Work States

Lamar Alexander

United States Senator from Tennessee

WASHINGTON — The National Labor Relations Board has moved to stop Boeing from building airplanes at a nonunion plant in South Carolina, suggesting that a unionized American company cannot expand its operations into one of the 22 states with right-to-work laws, which protect a worker’s right to join or not join a union. This reminds me of a White House state dinner in February 1979, when I was governor of Tennessee. President Jimmy Carter said, “Governors, go to Japan. Persuade them to make here what they sell here.” “Make here what they sell here” was then the union battle cry, part of an effort to slow the tide of Japanese cars and trucks entering the U.S. market. Off I flew to Tokyo to meet with Nissan executives who were deciding where to put their first U.S. manufacturing plant. I carried with me a photograph taken at night Sen. Lamar Alexander from a satellite showing the counmiddle of the lights,” I answered, try at night with all its lights on. “Where is Tennessee?” the pointing out that locating a plant in executives asked. “Right in the the population center reduces the

“

Our goal should be to make it easier and cheaper to create private-sector jobs in this country. Giving workers the right to join or not to join a union helps to create a competitive environment in which more manufacturers like Nissan can make here 85 percent of what they sell here.

— Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.)

cost of transporting cars to customers. That center had migrated south from the Midwest, where most U.S. auto plants were, to Kentucky and Tennessee. Then the Japanese examined a second consideration: Tennessee has a right-to-work law and Kentucky does not. This meant that in Kentucky workers would have to join the United Auto Workers union. Workers in Tennessee had a choice. In 1980, Nissan chose Tennessee, a state with almost no auto jobs. Today, auto assembly plants and suppliers provide one-third of our state’s manufacturing jobs. Tennessee is the home for production of the Leaf, Nissan’s allelectric vehicle, and the batteries that power it. Recently Nissan announced that 85 percent of the cars and trucks it sells in the U.S. will

THE COMMON SENSE CONSERVATIVE “The problem is not that people are taxed too little. The problem is that government spends too much.”

Ronald Reagan

”

be made in the U.S.— making it one of the largest “American” auto companies and nearly fulfilling Mr. Carter’s request of 30 years ago. But now unions want to make it illegal for a company that has experienced repeated strikes to move production to a state with a rightto-work law. What would this mean for the future of American auto jobs? Jobs would flee overseas as manufacturers look for a competitive environment in which to make and sell cars around the world. It’s happened before. David Halberstam’s 1986 book, “The Reckoning”—about the decline of the domestic American auto industry—tells the story. Halberstam quotes American Motors President George Romney, who criticized the “shared monopoly” consisting of the Big Three Detroit auto manufacturers and the UAW. “There is nothing more vulnerable than entrenched success,” Romney warned. Detroit ignored upstarts like Nissan who in the 1960s began selling funny little cars to American consumers. We all know what happened to employment in the Big Three companies. Even when Detroit sought greener pastures in a right-to-work state, its “partnership” with the United Auto Workers could not compete. In 1985, General Motors located its $5 billion Saturn plant in Spring Hill, Tenn., 40 miles from Nissan, hoping side-by-side competition would help the Americans beat the Japanese. After 25 years, nonunion Nissan operated the most efficient auto plant in North America. The Saturn/UAW partnership never made a profit. GM closed Saturn last year. Nissan’s success is one reason why Volkswagen recently located in Chattanooga, and why Honda, Toyota, BMW, Kia, MercedesBenz, Hyundai, and thousands of suppliers have chosen southeastern right-to-work states for their plants. Under right-to-work laws, employees may join unions, but mostly they have declined. Three times workers at the Nissan plant in Smyrna, Tenn., rejected organizing themselves like Saturn employees a few miles away. Our goal should be to make it easier and cheaper to create private-sector jobs in this country. Giving workers the right to join or not to join a union helps to create a competitive environment in which more manufacturers like Nissan can make here 85 percent of what they sell here. Mr. Alexander is a U.S. senator from Tennessee and chairman of the Senate Republican Conference. New Hampshire’s legislature has just approved its becoming the 23rd right to work state.

Liberty Today • May 2011 11

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Pro-Lifers versus a Runaway Diesel

Planned Parenthood Funds the Politicians Who Fuel the Crisis Of Federal Spending

Those familiar with small boat operations know what happens when a diesel engine malfunctions and begins to suck in fuel and oxygen uncontrollably. It accelerates beyond all control. This runaway diesel has to be stopped. Unless it is stopped, it explodes. Boating safety courses teach us to take a life jacket, a towel, even a T-shirt, and jam it into the diesel’s air intake to avoid catastrophe. It’s not an exaggeration to say that we are at that point now with our federal budget. Spending is accelerating out of control. And some things we spend our money on — including things like Planned Parenthood — together suck in billions more in spending. In the two weeks of the big budget battle, Republicans demanded cuts of $61 billion but

finally had to settle with President Obama for cuts of $38 billion. While they were haggling and while we were facing a government shutdown, the national debt increased by $58 billion! Pro-life leaders in Congress, including Speaker John Boehner, pressed the president on cutting off federal funding for Planned Parenthood. On that, Mr. Obama and his liberal cohorts would not bend. According to the New York Times, the dialog went like this: “Nope. Zero,” the president said to the speaker. Mr. Boehner tried again. “Nope. Zero,” Mr. Obama repeated. “John, this is it.” We need to understand that the Democrats are the abortion party. NARAL founder Lawrence Lader said it clearly: “Abortion is central to everything in life and how we want to live it.” NARAL showed that in 2008 when they shocked feminists by endorsing Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton. It would be hard to imagine someone more proabortion than Hillary Clinton. Her 1994 health care plan would have forced the 89 percent of American counties that had no abortion facility to open one. It would have

forced taxpayers to pay for all that. But Barack Obama went further. He killed a bill in the Illinois legislature that would have protected unborn children who survived abortions. Barack Obama went to the Planned Parenthood convention a year before he won the Democratic Convention’s nomination for president. He pledged to them that he would never yield on abortion. Nor has he, as he demonstrated to John Boehner just a few days ago. That’s why he promised Planned Parenthood that his health care takeover would include funding for “the right to choose.” That’s progressive-speak for abortion. Federal funding for Planned Parenthood is not a side issues. True, the organization’s annual take of $363 million from taxpayers seems small in a budget of

$3,800 billion. But Planned Parenthood’s impact is huge. In 2009, the organization killed 332,278 unborn children. That is more than one out of every four of the annual toll of 1,200,000 American lives lost to abortion. To keep killing and to keep politicians in office who will let them keep killing, Planned Parenthood spent $700,000 in 2010 lobbying legislatures for more money. Planned Parenthood-related political action committees elect lawmakers who fuel the runaway diesel that is federal and state spending — not just for abortion, but for a whole range of liberal pet programs. Here’s the latest example: We just learned that President Obama and his allies want to provide $20 million to provide Sesame Street for children in … Pakistan.

ment, sometimes impels to war the Government... and adopts through passion what reason would reject; at other times, it makes the animosity of the nation subservient to projects of hostility instigated by pride, ambition, and other sinister and pernicious motives. The peace often, sometimes perhaps the liberty, of Nations has been the victim. Avoid Entangling Alliances So likewise, a passionate attachment of one Nation for another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite Nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest, in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter, without adequate inducement or justification. It leads also to concessions to the favorite Nation of privileges denied to others, which is apt doubly to injure the Nation making the concessions; by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained; and by exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom equal privileges are withheld...

Guard Against Foreign Influence Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens,) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake; since history and experience prove, that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of Republican Government... Excessive partiality for one foreign nation, and excessive dislike of another, cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots, who may resist the intrigues of the favorite, are liable to become suspected and odious; while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to surrender their interests. Stay Out of the Controversies of Other Nations Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have none, or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves, by artificial ties, in the ordinary vicissitudes of

her politics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities. The Keys to Controlling Our Own Destiny Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us to pursue a different course. If we remain one people, under an efficient government, the period is not far off, when we may defy material injury from external annoyance; when we may take such an attitude as will cause the neutrality, we may at any time resolve upon, to be scrupulously respected; when belligerent nations, under the impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard the giving us provocation; when we may choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by justice, shall counsel. Why Risk Everything by Interweaving Our Destiny with Others? Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation? Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground? Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice?

Tony Perkins is President of the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C. He also serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of Liberty Today. With appreciation to the Daily Caller.

Avoid Entangling Alliances, Permanent Enemies Continued from Page 2

credit. One method of preserving it is, to use it as sparingly as possible; avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace, but remembering also that timely disbursements to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it; avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertions in time of peace to discharge the debts, which unavoidable wars may have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burden, which we ourselves ought to bear. Avoid Making Permanent Enemies Observe good faith and justice towards all Nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all.... permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular Nations, and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded... Antipathy in one nation against another disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable... Hence frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and bloody contests. The Nation, prompted by ill-will and resent-

See GIVING on Page 12

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Giving America Control of Its Own Destiny Continued from Page 11

Keep the Obligations We Have But Do Not Extend Them It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world; so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it; for let me not be understood as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy. I repeat it,

therefore, let those engagements be observed in their genuine sense. But, in my opinion, it is unnecessary and would be unwise to extend them. No Exclusive Favors or Preferences Harmony, liberal intercourse with all nations, are recommended by policy, humanity, and interest. But even our commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial hand; neither seeking nor granting exclusive favors or preferences.

My Goal: To Give America Command of Its Destiny With me, a predominant motive has been to endeavour to gain time to our country to settle and mature its yet recent institutions, and to progress without interruption to that degree of strength and consistency, which is necessary to give it, humanly speaking, the command of its own fortunes. ...in reviewing the incidents of my administration, I am... too sensible of my defects not to think it

probable that I may have committed many errors. Whatever they may be, I fervently beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the evils to which they may tend. I shall also carry with me the hope, that my Country will never cease to view them with indulgence; and that, after forty-five years of my life dedicated to its service with an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be to the mansions of rest.