The T. Boone Pickens Plan & An Alternative Letter

I can't say I'm a fan of T. Boone Pickens (Swift Boater), but his Energy Independence Plan is certainly a start. Mr. Pickens is asking people to join him and send letters to their members of congress asking them to pledge their support for the Pickens plan. I just want to talk about some of the points in the plan that I think could be slightly misleading. I would like to clarify them and offer a counter letter for people to send to their congressional representative.
According to the CIA's World Factbook Imported oil accounts for about two-thirds of US consumption. For our purpose lets use T. Boone Pickens' numbers and we actually import 70% at a cost of $700 billion. The Pickens plan would like to reduce our IMPORTED oil consumption not our overall consumption. Reducing our "imported" oil is like saying that drinking from one side of the cup makes a difference from drinking from the other side of a cup. Oil however is an international commodity. Think of oil like water in a bathtub. It really doesn't matter where you take the water from. As long as you take from the tub then money goes to those who put the water in the tub to begin with. It doesn't matter if we buy our own oil or someone else's. It all comes from the same bathtub. Therefore, the $700 billion that we send abroad to rogue or hostile nations still get the same amount of money. They'll just get it from someone else. The only way to keep that kind of money from reaching those countries is if we reduce, not simply our IMPORTED oil, but our consumption, period.

The T. Boone Pickens plan should ask our members of congress to pledge to reduce our overall consumption of oil and NOT just our imported oil. We should help move the world off of an oil based energy platform and onto other form of energy, preferably cleaner local energy. Only curtailing our consumption and developing a comprehensive energy plan, can we halt the huge flight of capital continuing to flow to those countries by others!!

Here's a sample letter that I believe should be sent to your Congressional delegation:


Our fight against terrorism, our fight for the environment, our fight against our growing balance of payments deficits and our fight for our health care in this country can all be improved by getting our country off of the debilitating effects of our oil addiction/consumption.

We must get this country, and others, off of oil and stop the unprecedented flight of capital to rogue and hostile nations. This plan must include proven American technology and resources; the development of new energy sources; and the expansion and modernization of the national electrical grid to transport renewable energy to homes and businesses.

Delaying is tantamount to negligent homicide by continuing America's, and the world's, addiction to oil.

I urge you to support any and all plans that can legitimately move this country from an oil based energy economy to one that relies on local, clean technology/energy. This should be the call of a new generation. This should be part of the new president's first 100 days of the new administration.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Zucker"

Obama / McCain: Who & Why

Rarely have we seen an American election mean so much to Israel. Both Obama and McCain are in fact and have always been supporters of Israel. All non-partisans have acknowledged that. This is NOT a choice of who is a bigger supporter of Israel but who will be a more EFFECTIVE supporter of Israel.

Lets first take a look at where we are today. To paraphrase President Reagan "Are we better off today than we were four years ago?". Are we? Iran is closer than ever to acquiring nuclear weapons, Syria is breaking out of its international isolation, Hezbollah is stronger and Islamic fundamentalism is on the rise.

Could the US have done better over the past 8 years on these issues? Just think about what the world was like after 9-11. What were world leaders willing to do after they saw the twin towers destroyed, the Pentagon hit and another plane go down in PA, all at the hands of Islamic fundamentalists? Even France- a European antagonist towards the US, trying to counterbalance the US's power- was behind the US and willing to do whatever was asked of it to go after the terrorists.

However, some people in the White House's brain trust decided to go after Sadaam, who presented no imminent threat, instead of the other real terrorist threats in the Middle East like Iran or Syria.This in turn has kept other countries from committing themselves to the same cause that the US and Israel share. The simple fact is that McCain wants to continue Bush's policies that have hurt America's standing and by extension Israel's security.

While Bush certainly has had the best of intentions regarding Israel (as opposed to Bush 41 who was one of the worst vis-a-vis Israel) his actions/policies have NO DOUBT left Israel in more existential danger, in a more precarious state since 1948!

What Bush has done, and what McCain wants to continue, are those policies that made the US weaker both nationally with an overstretched military and worldwide. It is what has kept the US from taking on the biggest local threat to Israel, Iran and their nukes. Those policies that took the US's resources away from terrorism and instead go after Sadaam are the policies that are at fault for allowing Iran to go full steam ahead on acquiring nukes. Those are the policies that are at fault for Russia's new assertiveness.

Right now we NEED someone who can rally the US's standing. McCain simply is not that person. If McCain were to win then his policies would be viewed as an extension of the "neocon agenda" of the past eight years. The world will say "there go the neocons again" and the US would be forced to go it alone.

If Obama wins the presidency, the world would be more likely to renew their allegiance with the US. If they decide to take out Iran's nuclear facilities and claim that it is a "clear and present danger", the world will not say "there go the neocons again". They will fight with the US side by side.

And make no mistake. Even the strongest military on earth does not have the manpower to go after Afghanistan, Iraq AND Iran at the same time!!

When we look back at Nixon going to China we understand that, at the time, only a Republican could have done that . Today, only a Democrat can actually take on Islamic fundamentalism and hope to have the rest of the world united behind it.

Many are going to vote for Obama, NOT in spite of their support for Israel.

Many are going to vote for Obama BECAUSE of their support for Israel!