I still find it strange when those who claim they believe in free enterprise, limited government, reducing government intervention in the marketplace and fiscal responsibility, suddenly take an “Everywhere but in my house” approach. I am referring to the more than 80 House Republicans, many of whom claim to be conservatives, who are co-sponsoring H.R. 1380, otherwise known as the Pickens Plan after Texas energy tycoon, T. Boone Pickens.

The bill revolves around several main arguments, the first of which is that America must become energy independent.I fully agree with those sentiments: America only produces 5 million barrels of oil a day, yet consumes 20 million, meaning 75% of our oil comes from other producers, some of whom have no love for this country.The second argument builds off the first: we must tap into American energy sources to gain more independence.Again, I completely agree with that argument. The third argument is that natural gas is one of the best American energy resources, therefore we must tap into it, as we have more than 100 years of natural gas that we can produce domestically. There is of course nothing wrong with any of the above arguments.

But where the Pickens Plan starts to go awry is when you look at the nuts and bolts of how the Plan would work. First, as many know, American cars and big rigs don’t currently run on natural gas, so there would have to be a massive overhaul of vehicles. The plan calls for each big rig to get a $64,000 subsidy for the conversion from diesel to natural gas. With around 8 million large trucks on American highways right now, you can do the math and figure out what the price tag is.It’s one thing to convert big rigs to natural gas. Once that happens, you then have to overhaul thousands of fuel stations across the country that would need to have natural gas available.But don’t worry: the Plan gives a $100,000 tax credit for every station that converts to natural gas.I won’t even really touch on the conversion of cars to natural gas, but there are provisions in the plan that have, by the time it’s all added up, a $11,500 subsidy for every natural gas car.

What is really being discussed with the Pickens Plan is a complete overhaul of our transportation system, which will cost hundreds of billions of dollars, as National Review has pointed out, for very minimal profit; $4 billion by one estimate.And the person who just happens to benefit the most?Someone heavily invested in the natural gas business by the name of T. Boone Pickens.

Now I define crony capitalism, or political entrepreneurship, as someone rigging the political system and trying to use government, and the taxpayer, for personal profit. I have a fundamental problem with that: the free enterprise system is not about the government picking winners and losers, or about individuals manipulating the system to take a shortcut to profits off the backs of the American taxpayer.The Pickens Plan is about all of those things.

As the Dallas News reports, Pickens is the largest shareholder in Clean Energy Fuels (CEF), which owns and operates 200 natural gas stations across the country. CEF owns BAF, a Dallas-based company that just happens to convert vehicles to run on natural gas. And Mr. Pickens also owns mineral rights to almost 200,000 acres believed to have significant natural gas resources.So he wants to have legislation put in place that would create a demand for natural gas that would then create a need to convert cars and big rigs to run on natural gas which would of course need stations to refuel as well.He’s got all the bases covered.

While I again applaud the idea of energy independence, and of more domestic production of our own energy, I have a hard time buying any of the arguments of the Pickens Plan except the energy independence one. First, and I mean this somewhat facetiously, any plan or bill that Al Gore, Barack Obama and Harry Reid support, I’m probably against (yes, all are for the Pickens Plan). On a more serious note, is natural gas the most logical starting point for energy independence? I have a very hard time believing that. Converting much of our cars and big rigs for hundreds of billions of dollars, with taxpayers and consumers taking the lions’ share of that burden, does not make sense.

A far better and simpler approach, and one that is far more realistic, is for Congress and the Administration to lift the ban on domestic offshore drilling, and increasing onshore permits instead of manipulating the market with the Pickens Plan.You want more jobs? Well, I’ll go with Occam’s razor and say the simplest answer to us getting energy independence right now is this: get more oil rigs opened up. I know that will horrify the poor environmentalists out there, but the norm over the past decades with oil drilling has been responsible and environmentally friendly, not Exxon Valdez or Deepwater Horizon. Each oil rig brings with it somewhere in the neighborhood of 800-1400 jobs. New rigs means more domestic oil, moving us towards energy independence, and with enough production, will drive the costs of fuel down (you don’t think more domestic production won’t cause international producers to sell cheaper oil?).

We have billions of barrels of oil on (or rather, under) American territory and right off our shores.While I’m realistic in understanding that America probably can’t produce 20 million barrels of oil a day to meet our needs, think about this: we used to, roughly 40 years ago, produce 10 million barrels a day domestically. Now we only produce 5 million, leaving a 15 million gap. We can significantly close that gap in 5 years if Congress is truly serious about this country becoming less dependent on foreign oil. The answers and solutions are very simple, if our elected officials will use their heads and have just a touch of political courage.

The answer to our dependence on foreign oil is not the Pickens Plan in its current form. If Mr. Pickens believes that there is a demand and market for natural gas, and a profit to be made, then he should be encouraged to take that risk, and not burden the American taxpayers with both the risk and cost. In many ways, this plan encapsulates why the tea party rose up in 2009 complete frustration with government spending, fiscal gamesmanship, and too much government interference in the marketplace. Many Americans, of which the tea partiers are the early adopters, want less government intervention, not more. The Pickens Plan calls for more government intervention and a solution that is shortsighted when it comes to achieving our ultimate goals. The Republican co-sponsors of this bill, if they truly believe in free enterprise, and less government, need to reject the crony capitalism and corporate welfare of the Pickens Plan, remove themselves from the bill and take a far broader, more effective, less expensive approach to energy independence, and I’d encourage those reading this to give the Republican co-sponsors a call and ask them to get off the bill.

On Saturday, standing on the state capitol steps in Madison, Wisconsin, I saw history. I saw the first public, physical manifestation of the great struggle between the tea party movement and the public sector unions. At stake: the future freedom and prosperity of this country.

On one side of the debate, you have freedom loving Americans who are the taxpayers, the ones who fund our government and are the heart and soul of this great nation. On the other, those who would seek to ride on the backs of the taxpayers as they take this country down a path of statism.

This is the great fight right now: freedom vs. statism, and the ones of the front lines for freedom are the tea partiers. They have been, and are continuing to, answer the bell time and time again in this crucial time in American history. They’ve been mocked and reviled, questioned, but they are America’s best hope to turn this magnificent nation back to a path of freedom and prosperity and away from destructive statism.

What I saw in Madison on Saturday was amazing. Thursday morning, the American Majority staff in Wisconsin and some local tea party leaders, Meg Ellefson and Tim Dake, along with Dave Westlake, decided there should be a rally in support of Governor Scott Walker and his Budget Repair Bill. In roughly 48 hours, it went from idea to reality, from a few people talking to 10,000 rallying on the steps of the capitol.

Within hours of announcing there would be a rally, I got a call that Andrew Breitbart was in. An hour later, Herman Cain said he would be there. Then Jim Hoft of Gateway Pundit was roped in. The next morning, I got ahold of Joe the Plumber and asked if he would record some robo calls to promote the event. He not only said yes, but he hopped in the car to drive from Ohio to speak at the rally. Then Andrew mentioned that Brad Thor, the New York Times bestselling author, would be willing to speak. I said sign him up. Then Tim Phillips of AFP offered to fund some of the buses to bring people in. I said great, and then he too came and spoke at the rally.

I diverted my flight home from Southern California, landed in Chicago at 1am Saturday morning, and got up at the crack of dawn to drive up with Jim Hoft, Andrew, Brad, Andrew Marcus of Founding Bloggers, and the rest of the posse. Our four car caravan rolled into Madison around 11am, and I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect. Fox News asked how many we were expecting in a interview and hour before the rally was to begin, and I said we expected thousands.

Of course there were just a few more than a couple of thousand, with reports of at least 10,000; there were even reports of 15,000, though that number strikes me as being high. But I keep on thinking, even today, “All of that in less than 48 hours.” All the credit goes to the American Majority staff in Wisconsin, the magnificent local tea party leaders and others who worked behind the scenes to make the event happen.

The battle between the tea partiers and public sector unions was joined Saturday in Madison. It will play out over the coming days, weeks, months, even years, in Ohio, Florida, Indiana and other states. There is no doubt that the public sector unions are better organized and have more funding. But I’m putting my money on the tea partiers because I believe that in reality they represent the significant majority of the American people, and the American people are saying it’s time to get back to what has made us great: limited government, free enterprise and individual freedom.

From the diaries by Erick

When House Republicans rolled out the Pledge to Americalast fall, my first thought was, “Not exactly a roar here. More like a squeak.” Return spending back to 2008 levels? Ooohh, knock me over with a feather at the decisive nature of that one. Cut $100 billion from non-security discretionary spending in 2011? Wow. We’re how many trillions in debt and we’re going to cut $100 billion? That’s on the level of exfoliating an elephant and then saying the elephant was significantly reduced in size.

At least the Pledge, a word synonomous with promise,is a start, albeit a whimper of one. But it was a specific promise: $100 billion in FY11. The good folks over at Heritage Action pointed out that Paul Ryan‘s recently proposed budget would actually only cut $58 billion and leave $42 billion on the table. Now we’re hearing all sorts of gobbly-gook (which is a highly technical term for “We’re spinning the bejesus out of this one and hoping no one notices.”) from House leaders that the $58 billion is pro-rated, a formulated number that if it were for a full year, it would actually be $100 billion. Enough already. Either the Republicans in the House will do what they said they were going to do, or they will be called out for shameless posturing and face the voters in 2012.

I think Republicans (and for truth in advertising, I am still registered as one) in both the House and the Senate would do well to remember that they were not elected because there was great love for them. There is still deep skepticism about Republicans in Congress from many in the tea party movement. Republicans were voted in not out of love, but because they were not the other guys. The leash on which the Republicans, and quite frankly all elected officials, are operating, is a very short one. The House GOP doesn’t quite seem to get that yet. A friend expressed disappointment not long ago with the Republican leaders, and I replied, “The mistake you make is that you came looking for lions, but all you’ll find are mice, scurrying about, squeaking about how bold they are.” In a time when bold leadership is needed, perhaps those mice can start acting like lions, but I doubt it.

From the diaries by Erick

There’s been a lot of chatter about Mike Pence and a potential Presidential bid by him. From National Review to the Washington Examiner, to George Will to others at the Washington Post, even to Erick’s post here on RedState, people are wondering will he or won’t he. Supposedly he’s making his decision this weekend about whether he will run for President or Governor of Indiana.

I think he should run. While not denigrating the other potential GOP candidates for President in 2012, ask yourself: do any of them really excite you? That should clear out half the field right there, if not three fourths. Then ask yourself who has held true to his or her principles under fire, time and time again? I’m not saying standing up and proclaiming this or that: words mean nothing to me. It’s what you actually do, and Mike Pence’s voting record has shown from No Child Left Behind to Medicare Part D to TARP to the stimulus bill, even taking a stand against the recent tax compromise, he has talked and walked the walk.

Then ask who you think has the ability to excite the base and not alienate independents? Keep asking yourself questions along these lines, and throw in the fact that Mike Pence is a very good communicator of the ideas we hold dear, and you start to realize a Mike Pence for President bid could really take off.

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For Liam Gabriel, born Dec. 24, 2008, 14 weeks premature. Died April 20, 2009. He was taken into God’s arms and sings with the angels.

I’ve never written about an episode from several years ago, aside from a few blog entries for friends and family, but the week of the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, I want to share it because I always want to remember what took place and that I saw a miracle.

I found myself at 3 a.m. the morning of November 4^th, 2008, standing next to my wife’s hospital bed, holding her hand, having watched her hemorrhage off and on for several days, physically and emotionally exhausted, listening to the doctors tell us, “Very large blood clots are forming, and all the amniotic fluid is gone, and there is a very good chance this pregnancy will have to end today to protect your wife.” Our little girl, who we had decided to name Charlotte Love, was only gestationally 24-weeks old and four months from her due date.

It seemed to me that everything was spiraling out of control. Within a matter of 72 hours, we went from, “We think she’ll stay in the womb for several more months,” to “Maybe a few more weeks,” to, “We have hours.” I remember staring at that white wall of the hospital that night, powerless, feeling as though I was being inexorably being pulled to the edge of a cliff. My heels were dug in, but I was unable to stop the forward motion and now I had come to the very edge, of what I didn’t know.

But that morning there was a pause in the fight: I knew there was no point in the fighting, in the struggling. I don’t believe in chance, but in a “Divinity that shapes our ends, rough hew them as we may.” There are very interesting conversations you have with yourself in moments like I was experiencing. As a Christian, I want God’s will for my life, and I believe His will is perfect. What I was experiencing was not chance, but His will. As you take yourself thru a series of questions, answering in the affirmative, it leads you to certain conclusions, and mine was that if His will is perfect, and this was His will, then this was perfection. Of course I will be the first to tell you it did not feel like perfection.

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From the diaries by Erick

At American Majority, we have believed since the Tea Party movement began that in order for it to remain a potent force for real and lasting change, it must grow from the ground up. The movement always has been, and always will be, about the local leaders and organizing as “close to the ground” as possible.

I, and many in the Tea Party movement, am not interested in change for one or two election cycles. I am hoping for generational change, but for that to happen, the work must begin as locally as possible. Let’s face it: the political movements that are long-term and sustainable over time go down to as local a level as possible and organize, not only organizing precincts, but running candidates for every level of office.

Less than two weeks ago, American Majority and local tea party leaders from around the country launched the New Leaders Project. The Project is aimed at getting 1,000 local tea party and 9.12 groups to identify 10 new leaders in their communities to run primarily for state and local office in 2011 and 2012. In the effort, there will be some identified that will run for federal office. Another key aspect of this project will be training campaign managers to run effective campaigns, and continuing to train activists on how to be effective grassroots workers in hardiwiring precincts, doing GOTV, and conducting voter registration drives.

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[from the diaries by haystack~]

Across the country states like Nevada, Texas, Colorado, Missouri and Arizona have begun to report issues regarding possible voter fraud in their state. With claims of voter fraud continuing to come in, American Majority Action announced today it is launching the nation’s best mobile application to help identify, report and track suspected incidents of voter fraud and intimidation.  This free, cutting edge system will enable voters for the first time to take action to help defend their right to vote.

By capitalizing on this Country’s greatest resource, its citizens, American Majority Action plans to empower ordinary Americans with the tools to help protect our electoral system. We believe that this application using mobile technology will give voters the power to defend democracy and help address the problems that all too often cast doubt on the credibility of our elections.

With the eyes on the nation on the polls, the app, which is live today on iTunes, could be what some activist in some circles are calling a “game-changer.” Voters can download the free application at http://VoterFraudApp.com. The platform is already available for iPhones, the Droid, and Blackberry (Blackberry app live in a few days). In addition, users can submit reports directly from the website and even track reports on an interactive map.

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The 2010 primary season was, for the most part, a good one for limited government, freedom-loving conservatives. Most of the high profile challenges against the incumbent or establishment candidates, with Mike Lee, Ken Buck, Joe Miller, and Sharron Angle ended with the grassroots candidate winning. The American people clearly demonstrated that they are tired of long time incumbents, the ruling class, ignoring the will of the people and growing government spending and the role of government in people’s lives.

But we need to put things into perspective: the 2010 primary season must be seen as simply the opening salvo in the American people’s war against statism. It is the first battle in many to come in the war over whether the American people, or the ruling class, will control the American system of government.

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Almost two weeks ago, there was a great turnout of patriots on the National Mall. People left encouraged and energized for the fall, but many still don’t know the new and better resources are available to them, and what the proven methods are for getting their message out.

Later this week in the nation’s Capital, individuals and true grassroots organizations from across the United States are going to be gathering at the Unite in Action Liberty XPO and Symposium. This event is a chance for people to take the next step in that commitment to freedom and liberty. It is all about getting the right tools in your hands- tools that will help us have the biggest impact possible in our cities, states and country, not only in November, but in the months and years ahead as we turn this country around.

Not only is American Majority providing two entire days of training (on topics like voter registration drives, new media, precinct work and much more), but there are other very practical workshops led by true grassroots organizers- information for church leaders regarding their involvement and non-profit status, discussions about education, media and economics, and tips for investigative reporting, along with a banquet, movie premier and other entertainment.

The progressive movement has consistently been great at organizing and using the newest and best tools and technologies to elect leaders who have expanded government and government spending. It is way past time that the freedom-loving movement use these tools to defend our freedoms and elect leaders who will keep our government within its Constitutional boundaries. We have the right ideas, the inspiration and motivation, and with the right tools, we will win this fall and in the years to come. If you’re coming to DC for the 9/11 and 9/12 events, I hope you’ll join us at the Liberty XPO.

From the diaries by Erick

America was founded on the belief that the power of this nation originates and resides among “We the people.” However, over the years, we have seen a slow decline in our ability to find honest and transparent representation that serves us. In a day and age when most politicians serve themselves, and the special interests, more and more of the American people are demanding new leaders that will answer to us.

As a political training organization, we are constantly looking for new ways to empower individuals and promote greater transparency and accountability in our government and elected officials. With those goals in mind, American Majority is constantly pushing ways in which social media and emerging applications can elevate the voice of “We the people,” not only during an election, but in the day-to-day governance of this great nation. Given the capabilities of today’s interactive media, it’s now possible to continue the conversation started in television debates and newspaper coverage and take them to new levels.

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