Juan Williams is the titular liberal on Fox News and he tries very hard to maintain the impression that the news panels are fair and balanced. To do that he routinely parrots the Democrat mantra du jour on all issues and ofn a recent Fox News Special Report he defended President Obama’s call for new energy policies and cited the need for the government to explore alternative means to reduce our dependency on foreign oil.
I’m a decade older than Williams so maybe he doesn’t recall the Carter administration as well as I do but the Department of Energy was established for that very same purpose and it has produced absolutely nothing towards that aim in over 32 years.
The energy crisis of 1973 was the impetus for President Carter to propose creation of the DOE and the enabling legislation was passed and signed into law on August 4, 1977. The DOE began operations on October 1, 1977.
On its website, this department lists all its awards and achievements but the fact is that hundreds of billions later with a budget of $24.2 billion a year, 16,000 federal employees and approximately 10,000 contract employees, we are no closer to being independent of foreign oil. That’s how a bureaucracy operates — it produces nothing except a mechanism to drain money from taxpayers. Now the banking, healthcare and auto industry are scheduled for the same ‘fix.” Heaven help us!
From the very beginning of the global warming hoax, I’ve been trying to inject some sense into the debate with my columns at the New York Sun, warning readers about environmental scare tactics. You can find others here and here.
During Obama’s State of the Union address, he won applause for supporting nuclear energy options and off shore drilling. He said:
But to create more of these clean energy jobs, we need more production, more efficiency, more incentives. And that means building a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in this country. It means making tough decisions about opening new offshore areas for oil and gas development. It means continued investment in advanced biofuels and clean coal technologies.
After the SOTU speech a fake email made the rounds which had Glenn Beck alleging that Obama signed an executive order for a $2 billion loan for off-shore drilling in Brazil which involved George Soros’ hedge fund. It’s very annoying when conservatives are riled up about fake stories using Beck and other prominent right wingers for credibility.
The truth about this story is that the U.S. Export-Import Bank, approved in 2009 a preliminary commitment to lend at least $2 billion to Petrobras, Brazil’s national oil company, to fund the purchase of equipment and services from American companies.
Billionaire George Soros’ hedge fund, Soros Fund Management LLC, does own millions of shares in Petrobras and Soros was a major supporter of Obama’s presidential bid and contributed to his 2008 campaign.
Putting two and two together might be the behind the paranoia of these conspiratorial emailers. I suspect, however, that the fraudulent emails may also be the work of liberal saboteurs who use them to discredit the right wing as “wingnuts” and “lunatics.”
Anyone using the Internet can verify virulent emails and I frequently have to refer my correspondents to the fact checking sites that debunk their email. I am not a particular fan of Beck’s rambunctious tirades but I do know he assiduously does his homework and his allegations are always based on diligent research. He frequently uses videos and quotes of the subjects of his accusations and lets the facts speak for themselves.
Global warming may be a natural occurrence but it is highly suspect that we can do anything about it by the government taking over our lifestyles. Until they can show me the bodies of many more dead polar bears instead of the same live one stuck on an ice floe, I’ll remain skeptical.
When the president orders offshore drilling, new refineries and nuclear power plants, and recognizes that the United States has more untapped oil reserves than the entire Middle East, then I’ll take him seriously on the energy issue. If the DOE had adhered to its original mission in 1977 by now OPEC would be an anachronism.
Finally, rational thought should lead one to conclude that this planet not only does not need rescuing but that the earthquake in Haiti, Hurricane Katrina, and all the other natural disasters prove conversely that humans are the ones needing protection.
Juan Williams-take note.
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59 Comments
Whaddaya expect from a liberal talking head, who also works for NPR, like Juan Williams anyway?
Ms. Colon,
Excellent article!
"That’s how a bureaucracy operates — it produces nothing except a mechanism to drain money from taxpayers."
The DOE is another failed burecracy, the brainchild of a failed President. It has done nothing, further and beyond that, ever President since Carter has run on "creating energy independence", when in fact we have grown further dependent. It is a sham. The one thing that built this country into what we once were, was cheap, plentiful energy.
I understand energy.It has been my chosen profession for thirty-five years. I saw Juan Williams on Varney and Company this morning, pontificating about energy. What he knows, wouldn't fill a sweing thimble.
Juan just needs to crawl back into our dear leader's kneewell and enjoy the warmth.
The DOE has never accomplished its goals, and in fact , it has done the opposite of its original agenda, that of making USA less dependent on foreign energy sources, so let's make this real easy so even a liberal can understand, ABOLISH the department.
But the picture of the Polar Bear!!! How could we not be responsible for Global Warming on a Grande Scale, else the little bitty ice-pedestal this creature uses to protect himself from the frigid water wouldn't be used in the shot. That's right, isn't it? The implication being we need to do something about global warming or all the polar bears will die out.
Isn't that right…isn't it…??
It should be noted that DOE was a source of funding for for the climate scam "team" . Maybe Holder will investigate?
Yeah right
Polar bears make good sausage
Can't tolerate Juan Williams except for his comedic value. He's completely shackled by his infatuation with O whom he defends at all costs. For him, an attack on O's policies is always personal. And he uses only talking points (easily refuted) without honest intellectual engagement in regards to said policies. Then there's his mortal case of Palin Derangement Syndrome as evidenced by the delusion that Palin would not return her speaking fee to the recent Tea Party Convention.
I will give him credit for appearing on Fox News.
If I had penny for every time Juan shakes his head when Obama is under attack, I'd have a couple pairs of Michelle Obama sneakers and lots of lovely Tuscan Kale.
I cant believe they only have a budget of 25 Billions dollars I think that's the problem, they're underfunded.
yummy sausage – and bacon!
Polar bears that get a balanced diet of "sea kittens" taste the best.
Nothing like polar bear suasage and condor eggs fixed over a nice tire fire, mmm mmm good.
Juan Williams is just one of FoxNews' many token libs.
Colmes is another and so is that idiot head-bobbing, Truman Capote voiced, Susan Ostrich (or is it Estrogen? I forget).
Fox makes them easy to spot and therefore to ignore. They provide comedy relief to an otherwise accurate news or talk show. Think of them as Fox's Public Service Announcements.
I am sure Fox pays them well, because when they get "home" they have to explain that they only do it for the money.
Hmm, isn't that what prostitutes do for a living?
Great Post……..
Alicia – From your article you suggest that these loans are purely non-political and that the loans are to US businesses. please read:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203...
This article states "Brazil's planning minister confirmed that White House National Security Adviser James Jones met this month with Brazilian officials to talk about the loan." So the Obama Administration had nothing to do with the loan.
The next paragraph goes on with: "The U.S. Export-Import Bank tells us it has issued a "preliminary commitment" letter to Petrobras in the amount of $2 billion and has discussed with Brazil the possibility of increasing that amount. Ex-Im Bank says it has not decided whether the money will come in the form of a direct loan or loan guarantees." This does not sound like loans to businesses to compete for goods and services.
Now where does the EX/IM get its money? Its a Government Corporation. similar to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Congress does not appropriate any money but it does get its money through the FED and the Treasury. We as taxpayers are on the hook for any losses suffered, just as Fannie and Freddie proved last year.
Further reading you might want to do other than the 'fact checking' sites.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/08/20/loan-b...
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&a...
http://www.exim.gov/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Export-Import_Bank_o...
Now I do realize that these loans are for Petrobras to purchase US goods and services, but they are TO Petrobras to finance its oil exploration and field development.
BTW – it may be a sign of paranoia but George Soros has gotten into the picture. I did not use to prone to these bouts of paranoia but the happenings over the last two years has made me very suspicious of coincidences.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&a...
Is a Department of Energy that produces no enery anything like a Deapartment of Education that educates no one?
I am well aware that the bank is a government agency. What I object to is the disinformation about Obama issuing an executive order in the forwarded emails. Emails like this are just credible enough to be taken seriously but when they are picked apart all the data seems bogus. I just wish that before we forward information to our lists that we take the time to make sure they are completely accurate.
That's why I think some day he may prove to be salvageable. He comes across as having at least a grasp of reality.
Good read! Another government beaurocracy that needs to be eliminated…now!
Beckle. Mara, and Williams are the most watched liberalDem pundits in their time slots – he he I think they do a credible job of presenting the left point of view and I would rather hear them than any of the others on the other channels ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, or CNN. While I rarely agree they at least are articulate and don't create stuff just for effect.
And what you also don't know but should have included in your research Colon is that Jimmy Carter used the DOE in regulating nuclear fuel reprocessing. We were well on our way to nuclear fuel processing and he passed his decree to stop reprocessing fuel in April of 1977. Then after getting his DOE, had a division of DOE to police and insure there was no reprocessing thus giving anti-nuke uneducated morons fuel to stop nuclear development. But other than that it was a good article. Currently, I believe the DOE is against developing nuclear power. People appointed under Bill Richardson and before him Hazel Oleary did everything they could to appoint people who would kill nuclear power.
I think the article was just right in its length. The idea is to be concise and invite comments from readers like Quek to add more data. Colon never talks down to her readers like George Will. She knows they're intelligent and always responds to our emails.
I can still see Carter in one of his televised speeches during the Arab oil embargo, shouting "The world is out of oil. There is no more! And there are no more dinosaurs around who are dieing and producung more. The energy crises is real!"
Poor old Jimmy should have stayed with smashing attacking bunny rabbits with his boat oar, and left the truth to those who know the truth.
The polar bear appears to be displaying natural instincts… much like my dog does when he humps a visitor's leg.
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by cinwasp: A Homework Assignment for Juan Williams: the DOE was DOA http://is.gd/8vY3u
(Department of Energy received 2 billion in Stimulus funds)…
Hapless sap. The facts only confuse him. His assignment ought to be going to the Arctic to count the polar bears floating on small pieces of ice. However, trust but verify. Make him take pictures and GPS settings.
That's what I think. He's one of the more level-headed liberals. After seeing his ideology crash and burn, he's more likely to realize the error of his philosophy than say, Alan Colmes.
You make a good point about these things originating from the left, also.
Poor Jimmah, I still wonder if he didn't hallucinate the whole affair after getting hammered on Billy Beer and watching Monty Python. Then again, you never know what that wascally wabbit is thinking.
I was in the middle of a gulp of hot 7/11 coffee when I read the same polar bear remark. I'm done choking I think. Right on! all we need is for the crooks to go to jail, Gore and a slew of others, then for the effing gov to ge tthe heck out of the way. From the feds, states, and locals. get the heck out of the way.
3-4 days ago stpete bch fl. couple hundred idiots holding hands on the beach in 30-40 degree weather to protest drilling in the gulf.
The same group of a– holes who want every guy with a joint in his pocket to do life in prison, however do not build a prison within 100 miles of my house.
The DOE was established to perform several functions: manage our nuclear arsenal, oversee our various national laboratories, and formulate energy policy. To say the DOE was established primarily to reduce US dependence on foreign oil overstates the importance of only one small part of its mission. True, they may not be the most cost effective operation in town, but I don't see the private sector spending comparable money on basic research or being a good choice to take over our nuclear assets.
Barack Obama is an old Kenyan name for Jimmy Carter.
Even though President Obama is against off shore drilling for our country, he signed an EXECUTIVE ORDER to loan 2 BILLION OF OUR TAXPAYER DOLLARS to a Brazilian Oil Exploration Company.
The oil that comes from this operation is for the SOLE USE OF CHINA, NOT THE USA! The USA has absolutely nothing to gain from this transaction whatsoever!
Now, it gets interesting…
Guess who is the largest individual stockholder of this Brazilian Oil Company and who would benefit most from this? It is the American billionaire, GEORGE SOROS.
Obama > Brazilian Oil > George Soros
http://usataxpayer.org/?0032570148
Climategate – Video
http://usataxpayer.org/?0064518578
Alicia – I will agree that these bogus e-mails are maddening but as e-mails go this one you point out is not that far off the mark. Other than the executive order most of the facts are correct. The linking of Soros to the story as a pay-off is a conspiracy theory but is a reasonable assumption without proof. The outrage is the fact that Obama has implied that he supports offshore drilling here to get us off foreign oil dependence, but his actions are not in support of this goal. He supports others to drill off their coasts. He has finally started to support Nuclear energy but two reactors will not get us off foreign oil. Wind and solar will not get us off foreign oil as those technologies rely on fossil fuel power plants as back-up when the wind does not blow or the sun does not shine. Nuclear is a step in the right direction but he closes the one hope we have to partially solve the waste problem and will not back the reprocessing of the rods to reclaim the fuel for future use. He stops the issuance of permits to mine coal and explore for oil and does nothing to find a viable replacement for this energy. This is the outrage. Yes the viral e-mails are outrageous but are easy to counter, but dealing with an administration that seems bent on our destruction is not easily countered.
Back in the 70s they promised us flying cars and I'm still waiting for that one too.
He was too busy lusting over busty lasses in his Playboy interview…………
Ah, so the bunny who attacked Jimmah was Miss June.
I hope all the ice does melt and then flood CA, NY NJ and all the other coastal liberal breedign grounds. And smaller ice bergs makes hunting the polar bears easier.
A wide angle shot of this polar bear would show the hundreds of other polar bears laughing at him. They are laughing because he is a liberal idiot.
Clean journalism. Thank you. Question: does your skeptical position relating to global warming make you [to use a MEDIA derived term] a "denier"? And if so, can you then use your excellent reasoning and journalistic skill, to explain how the denier's are not "fringe" but the "birther's" are [according to the MEDIA GODS].
Let's finally do the same for the Department of Education. What a disaster that's turned out to be.
I once wrote on my blog that I believed that Obama did have his birth certificate and was letting this debate drag on so when he finally produced it all the "birthers" would look like fringe idiots. Now having learned of the extreme lengths he's gone through and the expense to shut down the debate, I'm having second thoughts. I hate to sound conspiratorial but I wonder if that's why he hasn't fired Raum Emanuel yet and others who may know something we can't prove.
I'm not quite a birther but I can't understand why they can't have their case heard.
Good article.
Fox News shoulod give Juan and Bob Beckel their own show just to showcase their "brrilliance".
Jimmy Carter looks like a Homosexual in that photo, not that there's anything wrong with it.
So exactly where was the problem in 'managing our nuclear arsenal'? Where was the problem 'overseeing our national laboratories'?
Can't answer that? Then how can one support the action of creation of this entity??
Yes it was but this is the first line of its mission: "The Department of Energy is committed to reducing America’s dependence on foreign oil and developing energy efficient technologies for buildings, homes, transportation, power systems and industry." Check it out-
http://www.energy.gov/energyefficiency/index.htm
Remember it was our fuel crisis and long gas lines that gave birth to this bureaucracy. It's done a great job teaching us all to conserve (managing our lives) but zip on its most important mission
I agree entirely, at least as to Mara and Juan. Neither engages in the personalized invective, condescension or sneering derision we've come to expect from liberal commentators . (Beckel, who's the weakest of the bunch on substance, is another story). And, of course, they have for a long time been the perfect response to the moonbats who insist it's Faux News. It makes me happy that tThose same moonbats are walking around with neck veins bulging like the Incredible Hulk now that FNC has become the No 1. cable station, not just for news.
Great article. Thanks for shining the light on yet another useless money sucking department.
They both make things dimmer.
The polar bear wasn’t stuck on the iceberg. Polar bears can swim foe 100 miles.
Humans are always searching for God, if man says he can satisfy that instinct of longing for governorship, then the human will follow! Unless he/she's smart enough to realize his/her new god needs followers who can produce and not realize they have been enslaved by the new governors!! Some govern, some produce, all require money, governors take theirs from producers who they govern!!! Kind of a "Conflict of interest"!
I was going by the statement of purpose in the legislation that created the DOE in 1977 (42 USC 84) and executive order 12038, rather than what is on the DOE's website. The DOE's most important purposes have always been oversight and control of our nuclear weapons, producing weapons grade and commercial grade (for nuclear power plants), nuclear material, and directing research with military weapons and civilian power applications rather than weaning the US off of foreign oil.
I also remember the 70's very well. The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy was established by President Nixon in 1971 in response to the OPEC oil embargo, and incorporated into the DOE in 1977.
There was no "problem" with either. The purpose behind creating the DOE was similar to reason for creating the ODNI in 2004. Put related federal agencies and offices scattered throughout the federal government under one roof, and, with a little luck, this will simplify the development and implementation of broad goals and objectives, encourage the sharing of information, research, and analysis, and promote effectiveness and efficiency. An approach that, unfortunately for the government, tends to work much better in the private sector.
That picture of Carter defines : 'Sh*t-eating grin'. What an incompetent, dangerous boob !
All these federal bureaucracies could be cut down by 50% personnel, and cut those salaries by 50%, and we'd all be better off.
OBAMA and Bernanke are featured in a movie– about greedy hedge funds called "Stock Shock." Even though the movie mostly focuses on Sirius XM stock being naked short sold nearly into bankruptcy (5 cents/share), I liked it because it exposes the dark side of Wall Street and revealed some of their secrets. DVD is everywhere but cheaper at http://www.stockshockmovie.com
AWESOME post reminding us how pathetic the history of the Department of Energy has been!
16,000 core drone employees at DOE you say! WOW! One assumes they push paper around all day, in ways nobody can comprehend…while the rest of the world is on the computer. That's enough people and money to staff 3-5 large Universities…with no tuition!
However, there is a factual error to your posting, it terms of cause and effect. Your basic premise is solid, which I would paraphrase as: 'Why do we need a DOE if it just destroys economic competition using magical liberal GOOEY government methods, and just become so corrupt that neither party gets what it wants?
The DOE was productive for maybe 2-5 years, and then quickly became the embarrassment it is today.
The creation of the DOE was part of a key policy shift in 1974 that still alters all of our lives.
This event actually began my disgust with left wing mumbo-jumbo. I saw for the first time that economic incentives are far more effective than more bureaucrats, and endless hot air.
The most important component was that President Carter clearly stated to all Washington policy makers that, in essence, "We cannot be the least bit 'isolationist' about the middle East region. If we don't get MORE INVOLVED, then the oil spigot could stop. And we don't just want that oil, we need it for national security, in the long term. We will buy it, however, rather than just take it, like we do bauxite from Jamaica to make aircraft aluminium. So, get with the program, we're moving in for real."
We are still living under Carter's directives firmly in place on this matter today. Carter is a wily coyote; he talks peace, but few libs realize that he often governed with a heavy hand behind closed doors. (Really! Declassified documents show this! He was known to threaten enemies pretty directly, and rarely backed down. WOW)
The DOE was doomed, perhaps from the start. As soon as Saudi Arabia and OPEC lowered their price per barrel back down in 1975, (ask yourself why, in light of 9-1 1 history with SA since), Carter became the butt of water cooler jokes. The focus evaporated like jet fuel.
However, there was one part of Carter's plan that we need to resurrect as soon as possible. After the oil shock of 74' Carter quickly pushed a tax break thru congress for all alternative energy sources used in business. That's a lot of money per gallon, for gasoline is already smothered with federal and state taxes.
The effect of this was AWESOME! It was Ross Perot's Libertarian dream come true! It was as if oil was lightly taxed, and alternative energy ideas were not. Suddenly corn farmers were ready to make ethenol from corn husks, everybody began insulating their homes. I was there; the changes in oil using behaver were so FAST! In less than a year, changes occurred that 'experts' said would take 30 more years.
Ronald Reagan came in and killed the Alternative Energy Tax break, BANG, first thing when he got in the door. And then the DOE became an overcooked biscuit nobody wanted anymore. My take is that outside of the middle East, the agency became corrupt and incompetent. And nothing clean happened for 30+ more years.
I say, ABOLISH THE AGENCY, fold most of their responsibilities into the White House, and then start giving every form of energy but oil a tax break again. Nobody wants to tax oil, but Ross Perot was right on this one. Screw the global warming debate, wrong question, for we cannot compete in the world if our TRUE energy costs are not paid up front.
We can't just send soldiers when the spigot stops anymore. And we can't let the rest of the world get RICH on exploiting these new energy technologies while we sit on the sidelines, head in the oil depleted dirt.
NO MORE BLOOD FOR OIL. Blood for country is patriotism. Our blood used to stop terrorism or impending j i had nonsense is a separate matter. No more destroying and/or ignoring the Constitution when it's convenient. No more chicken hawks. If we cannot agree on this, conservatism will get sidelined.
We have begun starting and losing wars using the blood of our nation. PRIMARILY OVER OIL, and only tangentially religious, or terrorism, or 'let freedom ring worldwide' reasons. This is not sustainable. It's not ethical.
WE DO NEED management of energy policy, but locking it up in a bloated agency is wrong-headed , GOOEY approach by CHEWY liberals.
Obama energy policy so far, was to buy the taxpayers several car companies. He bailed them out to thank them for making cars people stopped buying. So sad.
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The real story and shame here is the inability of a self governing republic to disband these fiascos such as the DOE. It seems that once these bloated useless government agencies are created they recieve complete undemocratic , unaccountable immortality. WHY? Is this a government by the people, for the people or NOT! This is the shame and the most critical issue of our modern era. This is why we are going bankrupt and government is spinning out of control. Do you see this?
Yeah, the polar bears are in sad shape! Why did you know that, last year, the US Fish & Wildlife service reported the polar bear population had dropped from about 6,000 in the 1960s to 20,000 (maybe 25,000) today? It's true! It's in their report to the US Senate. Why, if more "endangered" species suffer losses like that, we may have to drop the whole concept of an endangered species. What would the Sierra Club do then? They might just have to go and get honest jobs.
I wish more people would write sites like this that are actually helpful to read. With all the crap floating around on the web, it is refreshing to read a site like yours instead.
[...] get too gassed up behind this newfound support. Don’t forget these very same people hated your guts just a few days ago, buddy. They will hate you again. Believe that.While I found Williams’ comments terribly [...]
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