Two Hearts That Beat As One

Charles Krauthammer knows that the scruffies want our money, and this global warming hokum is but the latest chapter in the ceaseless struggle to make the white man pay.

But once heroes walked the Earth.

“The idea of essentially taxing hardworking citizens of the democracies to fill the treasuries of Third World kleptocracies went nowhere, thanks mainly to Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher (and the debt crisis of the early ’80s). They put a stake through the enterprise. “

And how does Chuck know what drove these stakeholders?  Making it up with Magic Realism!

Reagan launched his presidential run with bold talk:

“The only way to free ourselves from the monopoly pricing power of OPEC is to be less dependent on outside sources of fuel.“

But by the time of he debated President Carter, OPEC was just a weakling’s excuse for inflation.

In office Reagan could look bravely into the future:

“Whatever happens in the short-term on oil, we must also continue the transition to an era of fission, fusion, coal, and renewable resources. “

The end result?

“Net imports have generally increased since 1985 while U.S. production fell and consumption grew.”

And when OPEC finally did begin to crumble…

“In April 1986, Vice President George H.W. Bush traveled to Saudi Arabia with a stern warning. Record low oil prices of $10 a barrel threatened the U.S. oil industry and U.S. national security. If prices don’t rise, he warned, perhaps a U.S. tariff on imported oil would do the job.“

If Krauthammer is too enthused on Reagan, he’s too modest in his Thatcher claim.  He  ignores her role in the Saudi arms scandal said to have netted her son twelve million Pounds, apparently undermining that particular kleptocracy by taking their cash.