The year was 1973, and this headline was on the cover of Time magazine: “The Big Freeze.”
We were being told a new ice age was coming. It was also noted in December of that year that the Northeast, relying heavily on Arab oil, could only get about half its supply, and there could be brownouts and blackouts and people might actually freeze.
The Arabs got ticked off because America supported Israel, so they embargoed fuel shipments to the U.S. (hence long fuel lines). Americans were told, along with the people of other nations, they will have to learn to live with less energy, and wow, guess what, they have pay more for it! The Labor Department announced the cost of living back in October 1973 had risen to 9.6%, because of fuel prices going up. Sound familiar?
That was nearly a half century ago. Of course, the average fuel price in 1973 was $0.39 a gallon. And as we know, in 2020 the average price was $2.28, and less than two years later into Biden’s administration, the average is over $5, while in California, because we’re run by imbeciles, some prices have hit $10!
The year 1979 ended the reign of the second worst president (behind Joe Biden) who had gifted Americans with a major recession and massive inflation. Also sound familiar? I was paying 17% on a home loan!
However, unlike President Biden, who has bestowed upon Americans this wonderful gift of insanely high fuel prices (not Russia) and skyrocketing inflation, President Ronald Reagan recognized government needed to get out of the way (unlike the socialists running the country today) and lower taxes (Democrats have a love affair with raising taxes). And President Reagan deregulated the stock market, which quadrupled in size because of deregulation.
President Jimmy Carter had left President Reagan with a nearly 14% inflation rate, but by 1986, inflation ran less than 2%. Auto sales in 1980 caused some major auto companies to go nearly bankrupt, but by 1985 auto sales in the U.S. hit new record highs.
The mid-1980s were also when IBM and Apple launched what has been hailed the “Digital Age.” America has never looked back. The growth from this industry was staggering.
President George H.W. Bush benefited from President Reagan’s success but succumbed to the demise of “dot com.” Probably about half the country’s population today wasn’t even alive yet and have no idea what transpired before their arrival (those who weren’t aborted) and the escalation of personal computers.
Thousands of “nonprofit“ dot.com companies produced tons of millionaires, but it also took down a bunch as well. This, of course, had nothing to do with President Bush, but it cost Mr. Bush a second term. I’ll grant you, his “read my lips” comment on taxes (before he supported raising taxes) didn’t help.
There’s one thing that didn’t happen.
We didn’t freeze to death.
It could be said that June 23, 1988, is when global warming started. OK, maybe not according to the climate cult, but that’s when Dr. James Hansen, director of NASA’s Institute of Space Studies, announced, “In my opinion. the greenhouse effect has been detected, and it is changing our climate now.” The key word there is “opinion.”
At that point, it was time to put away the sweaters and get out the shorts and tank tops. It was also when environmentalists took off running with their global scare and never looked back.
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, who was a waitress and is apparently now a meteorologist, predicts the world will end in about 10 years. Former Vice President Al Gore and all the wannabe climatologists predicted the polars caps would be melted by now.
He also predicted the oceans should have risen and flooded Barack Obama’s mansion.
And we’d be able to kayak along Cabrillo Boulevard, where a blue line was drawn to remind us where dry land used to be.
In 1992, 165 nations signed the international treaty on climate change and were determined to reduce carbon emissions to save the world. They have held more than two dozen meetings blowing hot air, waving magic mirrors and enjoying photo ops. Yet to date, not one country has accomplished a single thing — except to create even more pollution by holding massive carbon-producing meetings. Tsk, tsk.
This column didn’t start off to be about climate change. It was intended to show how the Biden administration is completely missing the mark. And the sign of a strong person of good moral character is to man/woman up when you make a mistake. Admit to it, and not hide behind a text, email or let someone else do your dirty work, but confront it head on. Face to face. Concede; you made a mistake. “I tried to do what I think was right, but it didn’t work, and I’m going to fix it with your help.”
But just maybe, officials in the Biden administration don’t think they’ve done anything wrong, and they think the country doesn’t need any repair.
The sign of a weak, cowardly person is to point fingers and place blame elsewhere. To use an unverified tool like climate adjustments to prevent an industrial nation from remaining strong by shutting down all our “natural” resources is sinful. There is nothing more organic and gluten-free than oil. To make an entire nation suffer is irresponsible at the least.
High inflation and gas prices affect the lower-income population more than anyone else. If using “climate modification” to make people hurt and starve is a good use of marketing, then the Biden crowd is accomplishing its goal.
And don’t forget the Jan. 6 investigation. While the nation is shriveling faster than the wicked witch after getting drenched with water, you have a bunch of pompous asses whose only purpose is to prevent a former president from running again. It scares the heck out of them that if Donald Trump was to make a comeback, it would jeopardize their hold on power. He would surely wreak revenge.
Why not use the money they’re wasting on the J6 circus and do something constructive like help the people who are scratching to fill up their gas tanks so they can go to work?
Naw, that makes too much sense, and there’s nothing to be gained by it.
Henry Schulte welcomes questions or comments at hschulteopinions@gmail.com.
