Last November I wrote to you about the evidence that this Congress is the Least Productive Congress…ever. My argument continues to sustain itself.

Amidst a myriad of national issues, House Democrats have actively refused to bring anything substantive to the attention of the House of Representatives.

Gas prices are teetering at $4 per gallon, there are food shortages both at home and abroad, House Democrats have left our intelligence professionals without the ability to quickly intercept communications from foreign terrorists, and Democrats are still trying to compromise on a clean farm bill free from extraneous additions.

This week some of the most important legislation that reached the House floor included: Promoting the safe operation of 15-passenger vans, expressing support for designation of March 11, 2008, as "National Funeral Director and Mortician Recognition Day,” and Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that there should be established a National Watermelon Month.

Passenger vans, funeral director day, and watermelon month, I take it back….this is the do less than nothing Congress.

Almost two years ago to the day, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), announced that she had a “commonsense plan to help bring down skyrocketing gas prices (Release 4/24/06)”.

With gas prices hovering precariously close to $4 a gallon, I can’t help but wonder when this commonsense plan is going to show up.  Despite the elaborate rhetoric Speaker Pelosi has fed to the American people, she doesn’t really have a “commonsense plan” to bring gas prices down.  In fact since January of 2007, when Democrats took control of Congress, the price of gas was $2.33; today the average price of gas is $3.62.  A $1.29 increase is just over a year.  That is a 55% increase since the beginning of the 110^th Congress.

Pelosi’s leadership has resulted in the handcuffing of domestic energy exploration and now the powerful Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce wants to impose a 50 cent tax increase per gallon in order to discourage consumption of gasoline.

Is the premium of Pelosi's leadership really worth it?

            If Congressional Republicans allow Nancy Pelosi and her Democrats to skirt responsibility for rising gas prices, they will once again earn the time-honored mantle of “The Stupid Party.”  Two years ago this week, Nancy Pelosi – as part of a concerted campaign of opportunistic mendacity – said she and her party had a “commonsense plan to help bring down skyrocketing gas prices.”   Their "plan" conveniently came to fruition after Democrats voted against a comprehensive energy plan that would increase fuel production and open up untapped oil reserves.

            Democrats won control of Congress partly because of such promises.  The day she took over as speaker, the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was $2.33.  Today, it’s $3.60.  This $1.27 “Pelosi Premium” is the single most pernicious factor behind the struggling economy in general and middle class anxiety.  Recent polls demonstrate rising gas prices are the most important economic issue facing Americans today.  And here’s the thing: it’s all their fault.

            The spiraling cost of energy in the United States today is not one of those things that is nobody’s fault, nor is it a matter of shared responsibility.  The fault is absolutely, completely at the doorstep of the Democrat Party.  Their Kool-Aid-cult attachment to environmental extremism, their ideological hostility to free markets and free trade, their barking threats of tax hikes on American energy production, their weak and indecisive foreign policy toward the Middle East, and their limousine-liberal NIMBY hypocrisy are not present on both sides of the aisle. 

            To date, the only thing Nancy Pelosi’s Democrats have tried to do on energy is raise taxes.  The tax hike they passed in the House not only targets American energy companies, it specifically exempts foreign oil companies.  So, foreign energy companies, many of them subsidized by regimes hostile to the United States, would enjoy a reverse subsidy benefit from the Democrat Congress.  Is that really their “commonsense plan”? 

            Nobody knows.  All we know, for sure, is what the plan is not.  The Democrats’ plan to lower gas prices cannot include opening up the billions of gallons of oil underneath the Gulf of Mexico or Alaska because… well, because the Democrats apparently care more about caribou, fish, and even the views from their vacation homes than energy independence.  There is enough accessible oil in the United States to fuel 60 million cars for 60 years, and the Democrats will not allow it to be drilled. 

            This week, truckers rallied in Washington, D.C. to protest the failure of Congress to do anything about gas prices.  They were mad; they should be.  They should be furious at the arrogant refusal of Nancy Pelosi’s Democrats to lift a finger to lower gas prices.  They won’t allow increased production, they won’t allow the creation of new nuclear power plants, they refuse to reform our ethanol subsidy programs, which are not only driving up the cost and driving down the efficiency of our gasoline, but are now helping to starve the third world.

            If we wanted to, we could lower the price of fuel in a month – by opening up our oil reserves to exploration, by encouraging the development of next-generation nuclear power plants, and by removing government mandated manipulation of the energy market.  But Democrats oppose all of these measures for reasons ranging from partisan cynicism to ideological fanaticism.  But they maintain they have a “commonsense plan.”  Well, what is it?

            Voters have a right to know what exactly Mrs. Pelosi’s “commonsense plan” entails.  Her number is 202-225-0100.  Call your Congressman and Senator, ask the Democrats what their plan is to reduce the price of gasoline.  If they don’t give you a straight answer, if they don’t renounce tax hikes, if they don’t support increased domestic production, and if they feed you some nonsense about “biofuels,” you’ll know all you’ll need to.

            Energy prices are bankrupting the middle class, and the Democrats in Congress are doing nothing about it.  The real question now is: will conservatives do something about that?

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2pm:
It has an "M" rating for "Mature." It is violent, bloody, contains an "ark", religious prophecies and is considered a "thrill kill" video game...Halo 3 is also now being used by churches to reach young people... and I love it! "Halo Nights" have become the rage with local church youth groups, or "Halo Halls" for youth in after school hours. Some serve pizza, teach a bible lesson, and then turn on the video games. Churches that aren't doing it formally do have staff members that are in essence trying the same thing. 800.345.WMCA.

3pm:
Mike Huckabee said in 1988 "Government knows it DOES NOT have the answer, but is arrogant and acts as though it does. AND Church DOES have the answer but cowardly denies that it does and wonders when the world will help." Many Christians say its the government responsibilities to solve man's problems. The church KNOWS its their obligation. "The reason we have so much government is because we have so much broken humanity, and the reason we have so much broken humanity is because sin reigns in the hearts and lives of human beings instead of the Savior." 800.345.WMCA.

3:55pm: The McCULLOUGH PUNCH
Whenliberals ALWAYS lie about toture!

Weekdays 2-4pm EST
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"...helps Hispanics too!"

Requiring employees to speak english - while working in America - does NOT constitute bigotry. Especially when said organizations help primarily low income, and often times homeless people who do not speak english.

What is bigotry is when agenda driven congressional representatives seek to deprive the poor of the services rendered by such organizations because they wish to see Mexico re-annex two-thirds of the southwestern United States.

Viva la America Gringos de compasion!

Not all is well in Baghdad by any means, but it's a problem for the doom-and-gloom Dems that images like this are traversing the wires, even from Reuters. These men are shopping for toys in a Baghdad market.

Indeed, the only war legislation passed during this Congress has been to give the president exactly what he wants, and exactly what he has had for the past five years: more money, with no limitations.

But what the year has mostly highlighted is that Democrats and anti-war activists were in the grip of two illusions after their triumph in the 2006 elections.

The first illusion is that taking power on Capitol Hill was by its very nature — no matter the precise legislation that emerged — something that would alter the basic dynamics of Iraq policy.

Instead, it’s now clear that even a weakened, and in many ways discredited, president remains the dominant policymaker on Iraq.

And, then there's the do-nothing label they're stuck with after only trying to accomplish one thing and failing miserably:

The second illusion is that Democrats could stall substantively and still prosper politically.

A few months ago, many lawmakers were saying something like this: “It’s true we can’t force Bush’s hand on Iraq because we do not have veto-proof majorities. But the longer he sticks with an unpopular war, the better it will be for Democrats, and eventually the moderates and war skeptics in the GOP will stage a full revolt.”

This might yet come true by the next election, in 2008. For now, it looks like substantive weakness — the failure to drive policy changes on Iraq — has reinforced political weakness.

“Republicans (including the president) have made real progress in swaying opinion to their side, while 10 months of Democratic efforts have failed to persuade citizens that the war continues to be a disaster,” according to Charles Franklin, a University of Wisconsin political scientist who analyzed public opinion on the nonpartisan Pollster.com.

Abu Nawal, the father, recounted how a group of men from the office of the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr came to a local cafe, proposing to set up shop in the area. The cafe owner pointed to a sign, which stated in dark script that all discussions of politics and religion were prohibited. The men were then asked to leave.

“The guys in the neighborhood said, ‘If you try to make an office here, we will explode it,’” said Abu Nawal, a shoemaker, whose family has lived in the neighborhood for four generations.

Some Restrictions to Be Lifted in Baghdad, about how Iraqi military commanders feel secure in shifting the focus of the Baghdad security initiative from military crackdown to providing basic security and services. Could be a political move more than anything, since American troops will continue to secure areas, but here's the idea, from Iraqi officials:

“The first phase of the operation was represented by the deployment of military units,” General Moussawi said. “The second stage is purging the areas, securing them, bringing back displaced families and providing them with services. The last stage will be to hand over security responsibilities.”

He said, “We are in the phase of handing over the security responsibility from the army and national police to the local police of these areas.”

The current total of 20 combat brigades is shrinking to 19 as the 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, operating in volatile Diyala province, leaves. The U.S. command in Baghdad announced on Saturday that the brigade had begun heading home to Fort Hood, Texas, and that its battle space will be taken by another brigade already operating in Iraq.

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2pm:
My take on the very latest...
- Bloomberg, Rudy, and Koch - all say "SPITZER's NUTS!"
- Hillary wants to help Spitzer's cause though...
- Old Glory gets dumped for the Mexican Flag?

2:20pm:
How do you stop a porn shop from moving into the neighborhood? Protect your kids from obscenity? And take back a community that politicians may be willing to sell down the sewer? Can anything be done? Long Island Citizens for Community Values says it can! Pastor Bobby Lloyd joins us to discuss and invite you to participate in the process.
 
2:30pm:
Conservatives, Christians, and 3rd party discussions. Dr. Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council joins us EXCLUSIVELY to gives us insight on the recent discussions, and to react to the growing mainstream media's assertions about how Christians will or will not be manipulated, kicked around, and controlled in the race for the White House in 2008. PLUS a special announcement concerning the upcoming Washington Briefing - Values Voters Summit in just two weeks in Washington DC. 800.345.WMCA.

3pm:
My take on the latest...
- Killing Children in America...
- Al Gore's film said to be UNFIT and UNTRUE...
- Star Wars is BACK, it WORKS, and Darth Vladimir doesn't like it!

3:20pm
The Lovely Bride and I got into an argument over it just two nights ago. Ann Coulter said this in a recent interview. Her conclusion being that if the right to vote was taken away for women - the Democrats would never win another election. There is no doubt she is right. But why is that so? There are many clear thinking women who weigh the issues, and understand the morality of today's life - aren't there? So why is it that liberals, particularly liberal Democrats take women for granted and treat them like dirt? And nothing is dirtier or more vile than when liberal women begin joking... some would say harassing each other. Whoopi is as vile as can be found - yet she is this way in the world's MOST "supposedly mature" female venue on earth - THE VIEW. I actually felt somewhat sorry for Nancy Pelosi. Why are today's liberal women like this? And if the right to vote WAS taken away from women, would it lead to better government? What do YOU have to say about it Ladies? 800.345.WMCA.


3:55pm: The McCULLOUGH PUNCH
Comedy Central thinks killing children is funny!

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One thing we are able to say about Rosie O'Donnell, she never "went there..."

Does Whoopi live in a sewer? I'll let you be the judge:

Trying to shout over Whoopi and her other gabbing co-hosts and excited audience members, Barbara turned to Guest Pelosi and said she has heard Whoopi say before that she'd "do Paul Newman."

"And I think she'd like to do your husband as well," Walters deadpanned in that quintessential accent that made her the subject of late-night lampooning over the decades.

Of course, Whoopi being Whoopi, she couldn't let that one go, which is where the speaker begins blushing.

Yes, Whoopi implicitly acknowledged, she'd like to do Mr. Pelosi - but she might take his wife while she's at it. "I would do her as well. But we should wait on that because you're still in office, I don't want to cause a problem."

Oh dear, would this were not live TV.

As you might expect, Speaker Pelosi remained silent underneath her signature permanent smile. And her press office later remained predictably mum on the specter of Whoopi-on-Speaker action.

"She enjoyed being on the show," Pelosi spokesman Brendan Daly told us via email. "It was a fun chance to talk to (primarily) women around the country about what Democrats are doing in Congress."

Oh THAT's what they were talking about?