The Discerning Texan

Don Surber parallels a Jimmy Carter speech made on Groundhog Day 1977 (during the "days of malaise") with one that Obama just made on his "energy policy". The similarity is both striking and disturbing, when one considers how Carter tried to use price controls over gasoline in the 70's and the resulting shortages, gas lines, gas rationing that happened as a result.

If you are stupid enough to allow the election of the Marxist Isolationist fool Obama, prepare to bend over and grab your ankles folks (emphasis is mine):

Democratic Sen. Barack Obama repackages Jimmy Carter’s Groundhog’s Day speech on energy from 1977.

Obama told supporters: “We can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times … and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK.”

Hmm. We now need the permission of other countries before we can buy a car.

This reminded me of Carter’s speech on Feb. 2, 1977, in which he said:

“We must face the fact that the energy shortage is permanent. There is no way we can solve it quickly. But if we all cooperate and make modest sacrifices, if we learn to live thriftily and remember the importance of helping our neighbors, then we can find ways to adjust and to make our society more efficient and our own lives more enjoyable and productive.

“Utility companies must promote conservation and not consumption. Oil and natural gas companies must be honest with all of us about their reserves and profits. We will find out the difference between real shortages and artificial ones. We will ask private companies to sacrifice, just as private citizens must do.

“All of us must learn to waste less energy. Simply by keeping our thermostats, for instance, at 65 degrees in the daytime and 55 degrees at night we could save half the current shortage of natural gas.”

Had we listened to Carter, the economic growth of the 1980s and 1990s would have been impossible.

We also would have seen more people die of hypothermia. 55 is way too low a temperature for a home.

The way to reduce oil prices is to increase oil supply. That means offshore drilling.

But like Jimmy Carter, Barack Obama wants us to knit sweaters instead of drilling for oil.

Yes We Can is becoming No You Can’t. Obama’s transition from Bob the Builder to Mister Rogers is quickening.

The Carter speech and video are here. Those who don’t learn from history wind up with double-digit inflation and double-digit unemployment.

(And don't forget Carter's appeasement of the Iranians and the Soviets invading Afghanistan...)

More here.