Obama's Oil Lie

President Barack Obama has repeatedly and deliberately embarrassed himself by lying about America’s petroleum resources. He loves to tell audiences that we need to invest billions in “green” energy because we only have 2% of the world’s oil reserves, and consume 20% of the oil. I just to call Obama on this misrepresentation. His fibbing has been so persistent that even the Washington Post has called him on it. “Reserves” in the United States (unlike other countries) include only petroleum that can profitably be recovered at current prices, and that it is legal to develop under existing laws and regulations. So Obama’s reasoning is circular: if we opened up ANWR, for example, to drilling, our “reserves” would expand dramatically, overnight.

But despite the fact that everyone who is at all knowledgeable about energy knows he is lying, President Obama did it again only yesterday. Speaking at the Copper Mountain Solar 1 Facility in Boulder City, Nevada, Obama claimed that enormous “green” energy development is a must because the U.S. has “only 2 percent of the world’s oil reserves.” The man is absolutely shameless.

Meanwhile, White House press secretary Jay Carney railed against the House Republicans’ budget yesterday, claiming that “Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and the Republicans who support his budget plan are ‘aggressively and deliberately ignorant’ when it comes to the need to invest in clean energy.” Actually, it is Obama and his minions who are “aggressively and deliberately ignorant” when it comes to America’s petroleum resources. As always, they count on the voters to be ignorant, too.

http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2012/03/diagramming-president-obamas-oil-lies.html

I Dread Those Pushy Baseball Parents

As I prepare for a new season of coaching youth baseball, I thought I would take a break from writing about the politics of the day and write about something every youth baseball coach dreads:  the pushy baseball parent.

If you answer yes to any of the following questions, you may be a pushy baseball parent:

Does your kid has a personal trainer and he is not in high school yet?
Does he go to private lessons more than once a week?
Has he had an arm injury before his 12th birthday?
Is your travel baseball budget over $5,000 a year?
Have you missed a family reunion to go to games instead?
Do you have punishment for missing practice before the age of 12?
Have you ever lost sleep because of a child’s game?
Do you have a plan for his college recruitment before he's in high school?
Do you think you are going to make sure he gets the chance you never had?
Do you have pitch charts on your child?
Have you quit a team because you were not getting in the game?
Have you started a travel team so your kid could be the star?
Are you going to decide where he goes to school based on baseball?
Have you verbally abused an opponent or an umpire?
Did you change jobs because it interfered with a team’s schedule?
Are you planning to start school later to improve chances of being in the upper age limits for baseball?
Have you ever got in a fight with another parent, coach or umpire at a game?
Have you ever yelled at another adult, or worse a kid under the age of 18, while he was umpiring a game?

I know nobody reading this would ever say yes to any of those questions, right? But, I'm sure you know someone who would.

I have heard some parents say things like, "My 10 year old has a dream of playing in the Big Leagues and he is so focused that nothing will stop him.  We train 4 hours per day and he's going to play 120 games this year." But, your son doesn't want that. Do you know how I know your 10 year old doesn't want to train 4 hours per day and play 120 games?  I know because he is 10!

He probably picks his nose when you're not looking and loves fart jokes. If you allowed him he would eat cookies, ice cream and soda at every meal. He should. He's 10!

Your son doesn't want what you want. He wants you! All your child wants is approval, praise, and love from you as a parent.

Too many people mistake their kids desire to please them with their interest in sports. He's trying to connect with you. You could be doing anything with him. It is not about sports.

Try this every now and again:

Take him out for ice cream.
Ask him what else he thinks is cool.
Go for a jog or a walk together.
Try learning a new skill together.
Do silly things to make your son laugh.
Go see a move together.
Try and eat a whole pizza together.
Go volunteer to help the needy together.
Take him to the mall, give him $20 and tell him to buy something for his mom.
Play video games with him.

And, if you said “yes” to any of the above questions, you absolutely must to the following: Look your son in the eyes every day and tell him you love them and give him a hug!

There's only been about 15,000 Major League Baseball players in the history of the game, odds are your son will never be one of them. You will never manufacture your child’s ability.

You could be playing with a very dangerous and fragile thing: your child’s self-worth. For every kid that gets a Division One scholarship or gets drafted by a professional baseball team, there are hundreds who wind up hating and resenting their parents for pushing them so hard in sports.

Am I saying you should not work hard for your goals? No, you should teach your child to set goals and to go for them with everything they have. But, there has to be a balance.

You have to be the voice of reason. You're the adult. Act like it. Your child playing 100 games a year is not going to make him a professional player or a division one prospect. He's more likely to burn out, wind up hating you. And you could put him in a situation where he quits altogether.

Yogi Berra did not play a single organized game of baseball until he was 17.

Your son is going to grow up to be a husband, father, have a career and maybe become a leader. What kind of man is he going to be? Don't screw him up! All your son wants is love. He's your son,give it to him!

The President vs. the Supremes

President Barack Obama has all but declared war on the United States Supreme Court.

Like most U.S. presidents who chafe under the high court’s authority to rule on their agendas, Obama is unhappy with the court’s failure to recognize the divinity of his proposals, if not that of his personhood.

The president’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was correctly overruled in a case involving religious freedom.  The court clearly stated that the First Amendment protects churches in their decisions regarding workers with religious duties.  The exception had already been supported by lower courts and many states.

Soon the issue before the court will be Obama’s healthcare program, rammed through Congress despite the widespread opinion that it was an opening to national socialized medicine.  A ruling is expected by July.  The question is whether the Constitution’s Commerce Clause can be stretched to reach into everyone’s pocketbook with the Obamacare mandate.

The notorious failings of Britain’s socialized medicine have not failed to diminish the hopes and plans of our own fans of socialized everything – of a government so big and so powerful that nothing can resist its meddlesome reach.

That is a lesson Obama has yet to learn.  If he doesn’t learn his lesson by July, he will certainly learn it in November.

The GOP Key to Victory: Millennials

If the Republican Party is to have a success this year, I believe its biggest key will be reaching out to the millennial generation. Millennials are one of the largest age groups in America today, numbering approximately 78 million, almost as many as the Baby Boomers (80 million) and 32 million more than my generation of Gen. Xers (ages 30-45).

Ronald Reagan brought an entire generation of young voters into the Republican Party during the 1980s, which largely contributed to his landslide victories in 1980 and 1984. Ironically, he was one of the oldest and most conservative candidates of modern times, yet was able to tap into the age 18 to 29 age group as one of the greatest communicators of the 20th century.  Young people want a bright future and want to believe or at least hope that tomorrow will be better than today. This is where Reagan excelled and where Obama was able to capitalize in 2008. The difference, though, was that things did get better during Reagan’s tenure in the White House. The economy, unemployment, and business have yet to turn around under Obama’s first term. Today’s millennials are graduating college in debt and fearing there won’t be any jobs waiting for them in the workforce, fearing that they’ll be living with less than their parents did.

Millennials have been hit worse by the Great Recession than any other age group.  37% of millinials are unemployed or underemployed, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The College Republican National Committee is aware of this, and has been looking to capitalize with an ad entitled, "What is Your Plan."  The ad uses the president’s own words against him, claiming Obama is “losing the future.” The ad has been run during sportscasts, reality TV shows, and the late-night comedy programs popular with younger people.

Regardless of what some of today’s far-right conservatives may think, Reagan also understood that elections are won by addition, not subtraction. He practiced the politics of inclusion, not exclusion. He took his message of freedom, individual choice, and less government to anyone and any group who would listen. He never tried to exclude anyone from his coalition.  That will also resonate well with today’s millennials, who are more pragmatic than ideological. More millennials identify themselves as moderate (40%) than as liberal (29%) or conservative (28%). They are the most diverse and least traditional generation in America. They are 39% are non-white, have the highest number of single-parent households, and are the least affiliated with organized religion. Divisive social issues will not win over this demographic. The Republicans needs to stay focused on job creation, entitlement reform, education, and the economy in 2012.

Center-right candidates like Mitt Romney understand this and are keeping their campaigns focused on the economy and jobs, without signing pledges that bring attention to religious or social issues. Another Republican who, like Reagan, shows age doesn’t necessarily turn off youth support is Ron Paul. In fact, a Gallup Polls shows Paul’s support goes down the older the voter is. Paul’s libertarian leanings and stances of small government, anti-interventionist foreign policy, and adherence to an originalist interpretation of the Constitution seem to be finding lots of support among the millennial generation.

But whatever it is that millennials find attractive, Republicans will find a very receptive audience among them in this election willing to at least listen to what solutions they have to offer in this sluggish post-recession recovery (or lack thereof). What millennials are interested in most of all is job opportunities, education reform, and long-term solvency for entitlements so that they’re still around when they eligible for them.