President Obama To Fund Offshore Drilling--For Brazil!

While President Barry Vladimir Hussein Soetero Obama waits for the fall to try to push his cap-and-tax energy bill through the Senate, the United States is set to lend $2 billion (as a start with more to come) to Brazil for off-shore oil exploration. That's right, the same administration that wants us to ride to work in cars that run on cotton candy and happy thoughts is willing to send billions to South America for oil discovery while he tells the American people to pound sand.

The Drill Brazil deal demonstrates the phony nature of the "global warming/global climate change" nonsense. First, if the Democrats are so concerned about the "menace" of "global climate change" then why are they sending billions to South America to discover and produce even more evil of the fossil fuels that are destroying Mother Earth? On the other hand, if Brazil drilling for oil will not cause the planet to explode why not allow private American companies develop the rich resources below the ocean's floor off the American coastline? Is there something about American-produced oil that is inherently more evil than oil pumped by Brazilians?

When the cap-and-tax debate re-ignites this fall, remember President Obama is paying for foreigners to develop their natural resources while he wants you using the bike path.

Obama's EPA Repeals 1st Amendment and Transparency

The Wall Street Journal has a shocking piece on the Obama administration's silencing of a global warming heretic. The EPA is the agency at work in forcing scientists to accept climate extremist ideology over, you know, science! The global warming goons sound like the ruling classes of Medieval times who would declare a "scientific truth" and imprison anyone who dissented from their pronouncements.

EPA scientist Alan Carlin found out that you don't go against the family. Chicago rules have replaced scientific inquiry.

In March, the Obama EPA prepared to engage the global-warming debate in an astounding new way, by issuing an "endangerment" finding on carbon. It establishes that carbon is a pollutant, and thereby gives the EPA the authority to regulate it -- even if Congress doesn't act.

Around this time, Mr. Carlin and a colleague presented a 98-page analysis arguing the agency should take another look, as the science behind man-made global warming is inconclusive at best. The analysis noted that global temperatures were on a downward trend. It pointed out problems with climate models. It highlighted new research that contradicts apocalyptic scenarios. "We believe our concerns and reservations are sufficiently important to warrant a serious review of the science by EPA," the report read.

The response to Mr. Carlin was an email from his boss, Al McGartland, forbidding him from "any direct communication" with anyone outside of his office with regard to his analysis. When Mr. Carlin tried again to disseminate his analysis, Mr. McGartland decreed: "The administrator and the administration have decided to move forward on endangerment, and your comments do not help the legal or policy case for this decision. . . . I can only see one impact of your comments given where we are in the process, and that would be a very negative impact on our office." (Emphasis added.)

Mr. McGartland blasted yet another email: "With the endangerment finding nearly final, you need to move on to other issues and subjects. I don't want you to spend any additional EPA time on climate change. No papers, no research etc, at least until we see what EPA is going to do with Climate." Ideology? Nope, not here. Just us science folk. Honest.

The emails were unearthed by the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Republican officials are calling for an investigation; House Energy Committee ranking member Joe Barton sent a letter with pointed questions to Mrs. Jackson, which she's yet to answer. The EPA has issued defensive statements, claiming Mr. Carlin wasn't ignored. But there is no getting around that the Obama administration has flouted its own promises of transparency.

Now, there is change you can believe in. Science is now a religion or a rigid corporate doctrine. Independent thought will be punished. Big BrObama is watching.

But, never fear. You can be sure our Mainstream Media will do their job and investigate Big BrObama and the EPA's crackdown on scientific analysis. Just as soon as they finish with Michael Jackson's memorial service...Michelle Obama's garden...and Sarah Palin's relationship with Lucifer...and the attempts to overthrow a legitimate election in Iran...and America's desire to embrace illegal immigration...and the racist Conservative attacks on Sonya Sotomayor...and Chastity Bono's genitalia...and Barack looking cool...and Barack looking fit...and Barack being intelligent...and Barack saving the economy....but, eventually they will look into this thing.

Liberty Summer Book of the Week: "The Myth of the Robber Barons" by Burton W. Folsom

Burton W, Folsom has received quite a bit of attention for "New Deal or Raw Deal: How FDR's Legacy has Damaged America" released last November. Certainly, that book was timely with a new regime of Leftists who have even grander goals for growing the government and defeating freedom than did Franklin Roosevelt. However, a book that Folsom originally published over 20 years ago (and that is now in its 5Th edition) is also important to understanding the truth behind the Left's attacks on America's productive class. "The Myth of the Robber Barons" explodes the typical textbook treatment of America's pioneering entrepreneurs.

The core of Folsom's work involves case studies of the careers and innovations of a group of late 19Th and early 20Th century business icons including Cornelius Vanderbilt, John D. Rockefeller, James J. Hill, Charles Schwab, Andrew Mellon and the Scranton family. These giants of American commerce are explained and celebrated while still addressing their more troubling aspects. The book concludes with an examination of how three of America's most used textbooks portray the so-called "robber barons."

Without divulging too much of "The Myth of the Robber Barons," this book makes an important distinction between "market entrepreneurs" and "political entrepreneurs." This is a vital distinction in understanding the actions of businessmen and the impact their decisions have had on the economy. In other words, there is a difference in character and result between those who have taken risks in the free market and those who have invested in government as a conduit to fiscal success. The market entrepreneurs have a better record of success in every measure.

This book has great relevance to today's business environment. The entanglement of industry and government grew throughout the 20Th century and has picked up speed in the 21st. The most naked attempt to marry the two occurred with Franklin Roosevelt's National Industrial Recovery Act which attempted to organize most American industries into non-competitive cartels. Fortunately, the Supreme Court struck down this anti-capitalist nonsense, but Congress would not be deterred. The recent crises in the housing, banking and automobile industries are great examples of how money, power and influence are exchanged between corporate America and the Kremlin on the Potomac. It is no accident that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have exchanged executives with Democrat administrations, contributed mass amounts of money to the party's candidates (most especially Chris Dodd and Barack Obama), and were protected by Dodd and Bahney Fwank when their lending practices were called into question. Then, of course, when the house of cards collapsed it was the fault of GREEDY CAPITALISTS (who, by definition, are Republicans).

You can read the lessons of "political entrepreneurs" into the Global Warming boondoggle. Just check how many influential members of Congress are invested in energy companies. Al Gore has created a crisis that can only be solved by companies from which he profits. The government deciding which industries will live and which will die is a feature of a fascist or socialist system, not a capitalist one. There is one hard truth the anti-capitalists cannot refute: capitalism made America great. And what is capitalism? Liberty. It is a system of individuals working to achieve their needs and wants in a free-as-possible market place. There is success and there is failure, but individuals ultimately decide the winners and losers by their free choices.

There is little wonder politicians can so easily sell the "greedy rich" claptrap to the dumb masses. Folsom analyzes the treatment of the rise of American industry by major textbooks and finds a biased presentation that shows the men who built America as a bunch of greedy exploiters. Forget innovation. Forget improving the standard of living for the vast majority. Forget the expansion of the American and world economy. They were vile thugs who took advantage of the poor and built their wealth on the backs of the rabble.

"The Myth of the Robber Barons" is a short read (you could easily knock it out in one undisturbed evening even if you take notes) that will expand your depth of knowledge on the importance of the entrepreneur in growing the American economy. You will find many parts of the book applicable to the current extension of Leviathan's tentacles into the industrial world. An understanding of the real history of big business in America provides perspective to the hysterical bogeymen propped up by the education establishment, the state-run media and the political class.