Five Things Congress and the President Are Doing to Bring Back Sky-High Gas Prices
Instead of clamping down on domestic energy supplies, American energy policy should embrace these ideas: Expand offshore and onshore oil production into previously restricted areas, including Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, where an estimated 10 billion barrels of oil--16 years of current imports from Saudi Arabia--lie beneath a few thousand acres that can be accessed with minimal environmental impact; Reduce the regulatory and legal delays that can slow and sometimes stop production; Allow further progress on oil shale; and Prevent costly new anti-energy regulations from being imposed in the name of addressing global warming. Smart Energy Policy Should Be Obvious. It should be obvious, but in Washington it is often not: Discouraging domestic oil supplies with access restrictions, regulations, fees, and taxes will add to the future price at the pump, while streamlining these impediments to increased production will do the opposite. Congress and the President should be enacting measures that allow oil and gasoline to be as plentiful and affordable as possible to meet the nation's energy needs. Instead, they are doing the opposite.

The Economic Impact of The Waxman-Markey Cap-and-Trade Bill on Western States
It should also be noted that the costs are not distributed evenly. Low-income households spend a disproportionate share of their incomes on energy, and thus would be hit harder than average by Waxman-Markey. Of course, the bill has provisions to give back some revenues to low-income households, but it is likely that these rebates will amount only to some portion of each dollar that was taken away from them in the first place in the form of higher energy costs and higher costs for other goods and services. Waxman-Markey also disproportionately burdens those states, especially in the Midwest and South, that still have a substantial number of manufacturing jobs to lose, as well as those that rely more heavily than others on coal for electric generation. In addition, because the bill raises energy costs, it hurts rural America much more than urban America. Rural Americans, farmers and non-farmers, spend an average of 58 percent more on energy as a percentage of income than their urban counterparts, and those costs would go up.

Obama’s Green Czar Targeting Glenn Beck in Boycott Campaign
Is a left-wing attempt to scare off advertisers from Fox News host Glenn Beck’s highly rated cable news show being orchestrated with some high level help from the Obama White House? Perhaps. Newsmax has learned that the co-founder of the African-American political organization Color of Change, which is calling for Beck's ouster, is civil rights attorney Van Jones. In March, President Obama appointed Jones to serve as his so-called "green-jobs czar," responsible for stimulating job growth in the environmental sector.

Catholic Bishops, Congressman: Allow Vote to Cut Abortion Funding From Bill
A leading pro-life congressman and the nation's Catholic bishops are asking House Democratic leaders to allow a vote on an amendment that would cut the taxpayer-funding of abortions found in one of the three House health care bills that will be voted on after the Congressional recess.

Obama and His Science Advisor John Holdren Must Renounce Population Control
John P. Holdren thinks babies will be the death of us all. Normally, one man’s opinion would not matter terribly, but Mr. Holdren happens to be President Obama’s Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; Assistant to the President for Science and Technology; and Co-Chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Or, in short, as the president’s “Science Czar,” Holdren is an official member of the Executive Branch, and holds very real sway over federal operations related to science.

Euthanasia advocates authored part of Obamacare
Part of the controversial health care reform proposal in Congress that discusses "end-of-life" counseling and medical procedures that could be rationed based on the age of the patient and other factors was written by suicide advocates who argue openly for the "right" to death, according to reports.

Sen. Coburn: People Have Lost Confidence in Gov't
An Oklahoma senator says the angry tone of the healthcare debate is the result of people losing confidence in government. Republican Sen. Tom Coburn says the government has earned that loss of confidence. Coburn calls health care a symptom of the debate over an uncontrolled federal government. He says unchecked spending by Congress has raised the question of whether lawmakers are legitimately thinking about the American people and their long-term best interests.

Democracy in Danger: What States Can Do to Safeguard America's Election System
A long-time federal prosecutor once told me that as long as elections put people into positions where they can make decisions about how much the government will spend, who will receive the money, and how the government will exercise its power, elections will be important enough to tempt some individuals to steal them. As the Supreme Court recognized when it upheld the constitutionality of Indiana's voter identification law in 2008, flagrant examples of voter fraud "have been documented throughout this Nation's history by respected historians and journalists." Those examples "demonstrate that not only is the risk of voter fraud real but that it could affect the outcome of a close election.

Trek across the country reveals a pro-life America
After weeks of witness on the road, in church youth groups, and in front of abortion clinics, forty young people will end their three simultaneous cross-country pro-life walks across America in Washington, D.C on Saturday. The walk organizer said the endeavor helped women to reject abortion and revealed significant pro-life support. Three groups of young people with the group Crossroads began their respective walks in Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles on May 23. They collectively logged 10,000 miles across 36 U.S. states in 12 weeks.

Safe-Distance! Democrat Phones In to Town Hall
Several constituents of Rep. Lynn Woolsey are upset because Woolsey chose to conduct a town hall meeting on health care reform via the telephone rather than meet with them in person. The upset constituents, all of whom are skeptical about health care reform, said they contacted Woolsey's office several times prior to the teleconference and were told no forum was planned. Some 40,000 voters in the 6th Congressional District were called at 7 p.m. Tuesday and invited to participate in an hour long, telephone town hall on health care reform that was to convene immediately, said Woolsey, D-Petaluma.

Bachmann might be first Mrs. President
She began her political career simply, as a Christian mom concerned about the content of school papers her children brought home in their backpacks, but today she has become one of the leading defenders of liberty and conservative principles on Capitol Hill. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., laughs at her humble start in politics. "I attended my caucus, not intending to run for office," Bachmann told WND. "I had on jeans and a sweatshirt with a hole in it and tennis shoes. But the people said, 'Michele, you need to run,' and I did."

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So much for Federalism! Federal Judge Says No to Kansas Porn Sign Limitations
A federal judge has approved an agreement ending a lawsuit over Kansas’ attempt to restrict some adult stores’ signs. Under the settlement, Attorney General Steve Six agreed the state would not enforce a law limiting the size and contents of signs within a mile of a highway. In return, lawyers for the Lion’s Den Adult Superstore in Abilene would not try to force the state to pay its fees.

JOCO County Commission to increase sewer charges
The Johnson County Commission is expected to approve higher sewer charges when it meets Thursday to adopt the 2010 county budget. Olathe is expected to follow suit with its own increase when it adopts its budget. Homeowners outside of Olathe now see a $125 user fee on their November property tax bill for the construction of wastewater facilities. Under the proposal, that would increase to $134.

Kansas Revenue Secretary Criticizes Tax Breaks
More than $4 billion in sales tax exemptions is out of reach of government officials in Kansas who badly need the revenue boost.State Revenue Secretary Joan Wagnon said it's time to take a look at some of those exemptions -- such as one for a Kansas City, Mo., animal shelter when it does business in Kansas -- and repeal the ones that don't make sense. But some lawmakers see a repeal of tax exemptions as a tax increase that is out of the question. Wagnon knows how politically tough it would be to pull back the popular incentives, but insists something needs to be done to get some of that money into the state's coffers. She said the Legislature needs to stop giving money away in new exemptions and rethink the ones already in place.

Kansas Chamber says KDOL misled Legislature on unemployment fund
The Kansas Chamber of Commerce issued a statement Thursday voicing its concerns with the recent announcement that Kansas’ unemployment fund is running dry. The Kansas Department of Labor said Wednesday the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund might be entirely depleted by November. The Chamber report says that the KDOL failed to mention to legislators during the 2009 session that there was a possibility unemployment resources could run out in the near future, and in fact told legislators the unemployment fund was in decent shape. According to the Chamber, KDOL Secretary Jim Garner testified in April to legislators there would be sufficient dollars to fill the unemployment fund beyond 2010. "It is disturbing that the statistical analysis utilized by the Kansas Department of Labor could produce such contrasting data in such a short period of time,” Kansas Chamber CEO Amy Blankenbiller said in the statement.

Catholic sister chases rifle-toting burglary suspect in Missouri
Police in Independence, Missouri have arrested a rifle-toting teenage burglary suspect who was chased into the woods by a religious sister on Thursday morning.

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The great virtue of free enterprise is that it forces existing businesses to meet the test of the market continuously, to produce products that meet consumer demands at lowest cost, or else be driven from the market. It is a profit-and-loss system. Naturally, existing businesses generally prefer to keep out competitors in other ways. That is why the business community, despite its rhetoric, has so often been a major enemy of truly free enterprise.

— Milton Friedman

Gospel according to John 6:51-58

51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven. 52 If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread that I will give, is my flesh, for the life of the world. 53 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying: How can this man give us his flesh to eat? 54 Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen I say unto you: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you. 55 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day. 56 For my flesh is meat indeed: and my blood is drink indeed. 57 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in him. 58 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth me, the same also shall live by me.

President Barack Obama, Sen. Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have cost you one month of your life this year -- already.

No, they haven't passed their European-style government control of your health care and trimmed costs by denying or delaying health care to the old or infirm; that is yet to come.

Obama, Reid and Pelosi have committed enough taxpayer money so that, on average, Americans will work until Aug. 12 this year to simply pay the costs of government spending plus government regulations.

Last year, Americans worked until July 16 to pay off the total costs of federal, state and local government. This year, courtesy of the stimulus spending, the Pelosi/Reid increased federal budget, the bank and auto company bailouts and the cash you paid for other people's clunkers, the cost of government has increased by 26 days -- almost a full month of the year. This year, federal spending will consume 30.36 percent of the nation's income, translating into 111 days of your life this year. State and local spending takes up 49 days, and regulatory costs, 65 days.

You may be familiar with Tax Freedom Day -- the day until which you must work to pay all taxes. This day fell on April 13 this year, but because it only measures this year's tax burden, it doesn't take into account the costs of regulation and the costs of government spending.

The true cost of government is total government spending plus the costs of regulations that the government forces you to pay for in every product and service you buy.

The cheerleaders for ever-increasing government control want us to focus on the federal deficit. Thanks to all Obama's spending, it has now reached over $1.5 trillion, expected to reach over $1 trillion again next year.

They have a solution: Raise taxes on all Americans to "close the deficit." Raising taxes doesn't reduce spending; it facilitates future higher rates of spending. The only way to reduce the cost of government is to have the government spend less and reduce the costs imposed by regulation.

And what are we getting for all these increases in the size, cost and intrusiveness of the federal government? The stimulus package promised to create 3 million jobs, yet in the five full months since the "stimulus" was passed, 2.2 million jobs have been lost.

Remember the purpose of the "stimulus:" Obama, Reid and Pelosi said if we took $700 billion or so from people who earned it in taxes or debt and gave it to other people chosen by the Democratic congressmen, we would all get rich and create jobs. Imagine that Reid, Pelosi and Obama stood at one end of a lake and dipped their buckets in the lake, filling them to the brim. The trio then walked around to the other side of the lake, and, holding a press conference with television cameras, poured the same three buckets of water back into the lake and announced they were stimulating the lake to greater depths.

Obama's theory is doing this 700 billion times will make the lake deeper. If that works, then the stimulus spending will create jobs and wealth. Sadly, all this spending is making us poorer and worse off. Our government at work.

As a comparison, the last time the cost of government was this late in the year was during the Jimmy Carter doldrums of 1977. Inflation, higher taxes, unemployment, reduced standards of living and eventually Ronald Reagan followed.

Grover Norquist is president of Americans for Tax Reform.