Harlingen, Texas, July 18, 2009:  At this minute in time 535 men and women of questionable intellect and honesty are attempting to push through legislation that will place a tax on every ounce of energy we consume.  These same self-anointed prevaricators are also trying to sell us on a convoluted ponzi-scheme health care package that will attack our bank account like a carnivore attacks raw meat.

A formal complaint has been filed with the U.S. Senate Ethics Committee over the refusal by the Foreign Relations Committee to investigate a wide range of scandals, including “Chinagate” and “Filegate,” in Sen. Hillary Clinton’s past while she was questioned for her appointment to secretary of state.

In my more cynical moments, I think that we Americans deserve what we get from our politicians, many of whom can be generally described as nothing less than loathsome. You say, “Williams, that’s a pretty heavy putdown.” My question to you is how else would you describe these congressmen who are now blaming the financial mess on the failure of the free market? Starting with the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977, that was given more teeth during the Clinton administration, Congress started intimidating banks and other financial institutions into making loans, so-called sub-prime loans, to high-risk homebuyers and businesses. The carrot offered was that these high-risk loans would be purchased by the government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Anyone with an ounce of brains would have known that this was a prescription for disaster, but there was a congressional chorus of denial.

The congressional hearings before the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform started today in the Rayburn Building with the usual dose of grandstanding and class warfare. Both were being offered up by the chairman Henry Waxman in abundance.

Not a lot of hope in the Justice Department and Congress is in the tank, so it seems it’s up to an independent investigation by Americans and the “New Media”.

"Betcha can’t eat just one.”

The chief of The Center for Military Preparedness says the reaction to her testimony before a congressional hearing has proven her point: That allowing open homosexuality in the U.S. military will create an atmosphere of intense persecution for those who disagree with the lifestyle choice.

Instead of cutting useless pork, the Congress wants to hike fuel taxes to keep their bottomless pockets lined.

With gasoline prices exceeding $4 a gallon in some states, politicians are responding as usual: Blame Big Oil First. Several prominent senators have once again summoned industry leaders to Capitol Hill, subjecting them to yet another barrage of rhetorical questions, interruptions, accusations, and sermons. The lawmakers’ goal, claims Sen. Patrick Leahy, is to identify “causes of the rising price of oil on which Congress can act.” But the foregone conclusion is that “price gouging,” “collusion,” and “market manipulation” by Big Oil, or speculation by financiers, is responsible.

Once again, in response to constituent outcry over gasoline prices, Oil Company executives have been hauled before Congress to get their posteriors ripped into by self-serving grandstanding Senators.

Last week President George W. Bush held a press conference on the current state of the economy and the high cost of energy.  In it he made several important points.  First, he noted that one reason gas prices are increasing is that global supply has not kept pace with the growing demand worldwide.  Members of Congress, he noted, “have been vocal about foreign governments increasing their oil production; yet Congress has been just as vocal in opposition to efforts to expand our production here at home. They repeatedly blocked environmentally safe exploration in ANWR. The Department of Energy estimates that ANWR could allow America to produce about a million additional barrels of oil every day, which translates to about 27 millions of gallons of gasoline and diesel every day. That would be about a 20% increase of oil...and it would likely mean lower gas prices.”