The American Cowboy Chronicles: RANDOM SHOTS - Gas Highest In History, Obama Getting Foreign Money, Layoffs Due To Chevy Volt Sales, Miss Dash, and More!

FIRST SHOT!

Under Obama, Fill Your 5 Gallon Gas Can For $25.00

That's right! That's what I paid this morning. Twenty-five dollars to fill a five gallon gas can at a local station here in Jackson , California.

It this insane? Yes it is! Why? Because this doesn't have to be the way it is.

We are sitting on 1/4 of all of the oil in the world, and our Federal Government under Obama is doing nothing about allowing more permits on Federal lands to harness this and subsequently bring the price at the pumps down.

Also, there are so many different seasonal and regional blends for gas, the the EPA and Energy Departments are stopping refinery production by forcing these on the public.

It's not like just flipping a switch from summer to winter blends. It takes a turn over in working operational equipment, process, and manpower.

No new Oil Refineries since the 1970s, when Gerald Ford was President. Yes, over 35 years ago!

That's right! Under President Ford, back in 1975, he proposed a program that would have built "200 major nuclear power plants; 250 major new coal mines; 150 major coal-fired power plants; 30 major new [oil] refineries; 20 major new synthetic fuel plants; the drilling of many thousands of new oil wells; the insulation of 18 million homes; and the manufacturing and the sale of millions of new automobiles, trucks, and buses that use much less fuel."

As soon as Republican Gerald Ford left office, Democrat Jimmy Carter took over and all energy modernization in the United States stopped.

Today, the process of refining crude oil into useful products finds itself under constant attack from environmental groups as well as regulatory agencies such as the EPA and Energy Department.

The last time a new oil refinery was constructed in this country was during the administration of Gerald Ford in the mid 1970s. But even before then, Congress had already made it more difficult for domestic refiners.

Beginning with the 1969 National Environmental Policy Act, the government has made it extremely difficult for anyone to complete the process of building new refineries. Because of federal regulations and private lawsuits, most companies simply are reluctant to invest in what historically have been low-margin ventures. When one adds the huge environmental costs to the mix, it is not difficult to understand why oil executives have taken a pass.

Because of this, new refineries are not being built and old refineries are being held together in an attempt to modernize from within. But friends, for a business to modernize while still trying to operate at peak performance is like trying to do a tune-up on your car while trying to speed down the highway at 65 miles per hour.

It can't be done efficiently for maximum results. One or the other will suffer. You either pull over and get the needed tune up, or you try running on a poorly operating vehicle.

I believe that oil refineries are one key factor in getting oil to market and meeting a growing demand. Even though no new refineries have been built since the 1970s, it is true that oil industry advancements have boosted refining capacity - but not to the levels that we need in a 2013 population or economy.

It is not enough, and it is taxing old existing refineries.

And yes, none of this information helps us when we're at the gas pumps putting out $5 a gallon of gas. It doesn't help me or get my anger down.

Where it does help is during this election. It helps us when we are in that voting booth and about to mark our ballot.

We can either choose someone like Barack Obama who has acted against our best interests by imposing more energy regulations - and has increased America's reliance on his foreign oil campaign donors.

Or we can choose Mitt Romney, who in fact wants to roll back restrictive regulations and build new refineries to modernize American energy needs.

My recommendation is the get pissed, but target those responsible for putting us in this mess in the first place! Environmentalist and Democrats!

SECOND SHOT!

Obama Getting Foreign Money For Campaign

How much money of the millions of dollars that the Obama Campaign has gotten is illegal from those Foreign Oil donors who have a vested interest in making sure that Obama remains president?

It is well known that ultra-left Environmental extremist groups are funded by Foreign Oil, but how much is being funneled to the Obama Campaign to ensure that we stay dependant on their oil?

And please don't kid yourself, it is in the best interest of Foreign Oil that Obama stays in office. Romney will ramp up domestic production as soon as being elected, and that's something the filthy rich in the Middle-East don't want to see happen.

It would turn their golden palaces into nothing over night. It would stop their financing the building of Mosques all over Europe and the United States. It would shut funding for Muslim terrorist who want us dead.

For them, it would be a total catastrophe if we didn't need their oil. So yes, they have a lot at stake in this election.

Now The Daily Caller is reporting that the Obama campaign "illegally solicited" Foreign donations through a social media site. Here's the report:

President Barack Obama's re-election campaign has been soliciting foreigners for donations, an explosive report from the conservative Government Accountability Institute (GAI) shows.

Those foreign donors are allegedly visiting the Obama campaign's donation solicitation Web pages through a social media website the campaign controls, and through an outside website that serves mostly Internet users from outside the United States.

About 20 percent of visitors to the "my.barackobama.com" social media website "originated from foreign locations," the report found. That Web address is owned and controlled by the Obama re-election campaign.

"At no point during the [website's] subscription process is a visitor asked whether he or she can legally donate to a U.S. election," GAI notes.

"Once a visitor signs up, he or she immediately begins receiving solicitations for donations. In fact, numerous foreign nationals report receiving solicitation letters and thank you emails from the campaign for their support. Some of these emails have been reposted on blog sites to encourage friends to click on the donate link or get their names on the email list."

The "primary purpose of my.barackobama.com is to create a highly personalized vehicle for individuals to 'get involved' and to invite others to do the same," GAI explains. But Obama's campaign "employs various techniques to gather email and other data on the friends and associations of [the site's] members to further the campaign's fundraising efforts."

Washington Examiner writer Paul Bedard reported last week that a fundraising scandal would soon hit the Obama campaign, and may have been one reason why the president bumbled his way to failure during Wednesday's debate against Mitt Romney.

Federal law prohibits "a foreign national, directly or indirectly," from making "a contribution or donation of money or other thing of value ... in connection with a Federal, State, or local election."

The same section of law makes it a federal crime to "solicit, accept, or receive" such campaign contributions.

And yes, if you recall this taking place before - you're right!

In fact, the Obama campaign was accused of doing the very same thing back in 2008. This time though, there appears to be a conscious and concerted effort to solicit funds from overseas on the part of the Obama campaign.

And if you want to know why we the American people don't have a lot of faith in our watchdog agencies, here's the perfect example: the FEC will not act before the election - and of course will be subject to political pressure to sweep it under the rug if Obama is re-elected.

The FEC excuse is that an investigation will take months. But perhaps Romney and the Super Pacs can bring this to the voter's attention and ask the question: Who is Obama working for?

After all, he's certainly not working for us!

THIRD SHOT!

Plant Got $150 Million In Taxpayer Dollars To Make Chevy Volt Batteries Now Laysoff Workers

While Americans at the battery makers are being laid off here, batteries for the Chevy Volt are being built in LG's South Korean plant for now.

Does that seem as odd to you as it does me? I mean, why Koreans? Since of course, GM said that taxpayer bailout dollars would go to making sure American workers keep their jobs - why can't we make them here!

This really doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Sure low sales have plagued the Chevy Volt, but if they still need batteries than why not make them here?

I think someone in the liberal media needs to talk to GM Chairman Barack Obama and get to the bottom of this. I'm sure with his vast business experience that Obama can tell us what's going on with his company.

The Holland, Mich., GM plant was built with a $150 Million government grant from the Department of Energy.

Obama praised it in 2010 as evidence "manufacturing jobs are coming back to the United States,” but two years later, a Michigan hybrid battery plant built with $150 million in taxpayer funds is putting workers on furlough before a single battery has been produced.

A furlough is a temporary unpaid leave. But honestly, I hate the term "furlough" because it reminds me of soldiers in the Army who were off duty having fun "on furlough." Applied to jobs and time off not getting paid, it sounds like they are on vacation or something.

Call it what it is, more layoffs.

“Had it been private investors rather than government bureaucrats making the decision, there either would have been a reality check about the industry" said Paul Chesser, National Legal and Policy Center

Workers at the Compact Power manufacturing facilities in Holland, Mich., run by LG Chem, have been placed on rotating furloughs, working only three weeks per month based on lack of demand for lithium-ion cells.

The facility, which was opened in July 2010 with a groundbreaking attended by Obama, has yet to produce a single battery for the Chevrolet Volt, the troubled electric car from General Motors. The plant's batteries also were intended to be used in Ford's electric Focus.

Production of the taxpayer-subsidized Volt has been plagued by work stoppages, and the effect has trickled down to companies and plants that build parts for it -- including the batteries.

“Considering the lack of demand for electric vehicles, despite billions of dollars from the Obama administration that were supposed to stimulate it, it’s not surprising what has happened with LG Chem. Just because a ton of money is poured into a product does not mean that people will buy it,” Paul Chesser, an associate fellow with the National Legal and Policy Center, told Fox News.

The 650,000-square-foot, $300 million facility was slated to produce 15,000 batteries per year, while creating hundreds of new jobs.

But to date, only 200 workers are employed at the plant by the South Korean company LG. Batteries for the Chevy Volts that have been produced have been made by an LG plant in South Korea.

The factory was partly funded by a $150 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. LG also received sizable tax breaks from the local government, saving nearly $50 million in property taxes over 15 years and another $2.5 million annually in business taxes. Landing the factory was hailed as a coup when shovels first hit the ground.

“You are leading the way in showing how manufacturing jobs are coming right back here to the United States of America,” Obama told workers at the ground-breaking ceremony. “Our goal has never been to create a government program, but rather to unleash private-sector growth. And we're seeing results.”

Randy Boileau, a spokesperson for LG Chem in Holland, Mich., told Fox News that battery production is expected to pick up once Volt assembly lines in Detroit resume production on Oct. 15. He said the facility has spent the past two years building infrastructure and conducting pre-production “test runs.”

“The market conditions haven’t been as favorable, but this hasn’t slowed down plans one bit,” Boileau said. “LG Chem has repeatedly said that this facility is a critical component for them globally.”

Boileau pointed out the workers who are being laid-off one week a month are eligible to collect unemployment for that week, and he said the company covers the contributions to their individual benefits during the period.

The Volt has been plagued by low sales since it first rolled off the line three years ago. Orders have picked up for 2012 but are still well below projections.

Chesser said no amount of government subsidies can counter the practical problems posed by plug-in cars.

“Electric car batteries do not perform much better than they did 100 years ago," he said. "Research has not conquered the battery storage issue, and therefore the electric transportation ‘stimulus’ did not boost the ‘technology of the future,’ but instead a century-old technology as far as performance and capability goes.”

He added that the LG Chem plant's problems show that the unpopularity of electric cars despite heavy taxpayer subsidies has had more widespread negative effects than most realize.

“Billions of dollars were put into Volt research, and Ford received $5.9 billion in stimulus loans to retrofit plants to produce [electric vehicles]," Chesser said. "The battery companies like LG Chem that were supposed to service them have no customers to speak of. Their existence was solely based on access to taxpayer money.

“Had it been private investors rather than government bureaucrats making the decision, there either would have been a reality check about the industry, or only those who made individual decisions to invest would have lost their money, not taxpayers.”

GM, Government Motors, run with government bureaucrats making the decision. In other words, those with no idea as to how to make a profit are in charge of making profits and creating jobs.

I have this image of GM Chairman Barack Obama sitting at the head of the boardroom table asking if anyone working for him has ever even ran a lemonade stand - and no hands go up.

And yes, he wants 4 more years to get his head out of his ass!

FOURTH SHOT!

Actress Stacey Dash hit with racially-charged attacks after endorsing Mitt Romney

"Clueless" star Stacey Dash recently tweeted her support for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, accompanied by a patriotic swimsuit picture of herself.

But now her political viewpoint has become the subject of online attacks, with many expressing crude distaste that she isn’t endorsing President Obama.

And yes, her race has become a key motivator behind the digital abuse as she has had to hear all sorts of racial slurs.

“You’re an unemployed black woman endorsing Mitt Romney. You’re voting against yourself thrice. You poor beautiful idiot,” one Twitter user wrote, while @Black Voice wrote, “Stacey Dash had a perm since birth. I knew I couldn’t trust her.. ”

Others accused the actress of “voting for white supremacy,” claiming she “is white with a dark tan,” and calling Dash a slur of offensive names.

Several other Obama supporters even went as far as to encourage “the old hag” to “kill herself.”

One suicide encourager is listed as a doctor and politically active Democrat in Washington D.C., and although he reportedly has deleted the inflammatory “kill yourself” tweet, it was captured by social media news site, Twitchy.com

But Dash seems to be taking the backlash in stride.

“My humble opinion… EVERYONE is entitled to one,” she tweeted in response.

Indignant and determined, Dash added insult to injury when she tweeted a Romney campaign message in the face of their offensive remarks. That message read: “Women have had enough of @BarackObama’s disappointment. We need new leadership to get our economy growing again…”

But the 46 year old's tweet for Romney attracted plenty of applause as well. Her Twitter supporters rushed to her defense against racial slurs.

The firestorm of support gave birth to a new Twitter hashtag, #ISupportStaceyDash; and quickly the positive tweets began to push back at those who were playing the race card.

Especially effective were the tweets from conservative blacks who rallied to her cause.

Some of the original tweets, which may be seen in the photo provided, have now been shared hundreds of times.

Conservatives are applauding Stacey, whose Romney endorsement caused her to come under the kind of vicious liberal attacks often experienced by Sarah Palin.

Stacey once said, "I want to make a difference and inspire. I would like to show that celebrities are not different than anyone else, as it is often assumed. We experience the same basic need for survival and the pressures every day can bring."

It appears that the statement was prophetic.

Stacey has stood up against all of those who would deny anyone the "basic right" to endorse the candidate of their choice. All fair-minded observers can bear witness that Stacey Dash's commitment to her personal ideals has been tested by fire - and, many on both sides of the political divide have found her courage to be genuinely inspiring.

“Thank you for being willing to think for yourself despite what your haters have to say,” tweeted one user, while another noted, “You can NEVER, EVER (did I say never?) NEVER leave the Dem party if you r Black. Once you do, the name calling begins.”

To me, this lady is extremely brave for standing up and saying she endorses a candidate knowing full well she is in the minority in Hollywood. It took a lot of guts and I respect her more than she will ever know.

Racial slurs, threats, people telling her to go kill herself, all coming from Obama supporters who are supposedly morally above that sort of thing. I really wish this surprised me - but shamefully it doesn't.

Sure I have said that I don't support liberal Hollywood types, and really don't want to put a dollar in their pocket by going to their movies. And yes, I've known other conservatives who have said the same and also boycott Obama supporters. But it is because I disagree with their support of his policies.

And yes, I've known conservatives who have called liberals Tom Hanks and Bill Maher both jackasses.

But I've never heard any conservative ever say that they wanted someone like say staunch Obama supporter Tom Hanks, or say Eva Longoria who once claims that the Tea Party is an "extremist dangerous movement," to go out and kill themselves.

Even though I have problems with Chis Matthews over is objectivity - especially after his famous tingle-up-my-leg comment which to me indicated an apparent latent homosexual attraction for Obama - or with Morgan Freeman over his statement saying the Tea Party and opposition to Obama "is racist," I don't wish them harm at all.

I just see them as being misguided and hypocritical since they found it OK to attack Bush mercilessly while he was in office.

Anyone who would attack Ms Dash and actually wish her ill over her endorsing a candidate because she has observed a lack of leadership from the present administration is nothing but sorry and classless.

LAST SHOT!

Bear Attack, Well Not Quite!

Reported today, October 8th, 2012, on Fox News

On October 4th, a Sonoita, Arizona, couple got quite a surprise when they discovered a bear cub eating its way through their house.

Phil Volk heard something in the kitchen of his Sonoita home early Thursday morning and thought it was his grandchildren.

He was shocked to find it was a bear cub who had helped itself to chocolate cake left on the counter, and the contents of the trash, The Arizona Daily Star reported.

Now just for the record, I can really understand the little bear helping itself to a chocolate cake. It was there, the bear was there, and nature simply needed to take its course.

At least that's how I see chocolate cake, but let's get back to the story of how a small bear cub enjoyed a few minutes of an eating binge after breaking into the Volk's Arizona home.

Volk described the break-in as a "feeding frenzy," as the bear made its way into the pantry for chips and bread, and topped its meal off with some jelly beans. Yes, sugar!

The cub - who apparently broke through a kitchen window - was focused on food and didn't attempt to hurt anyone in the house during its eating binge.

When Volk approached, the 30-pound cub hissed and ran into a bedroom. So much for a great bear story!

The Volks called 911, the paper reported, and the operator put them in touch with the Arizona Game and Fish Department. A wildlife department manager came to the house, tranquilized the bear, and removed it, according to Karen Klima, a department spokeswoman.

Klima said the cub, probably less than a year old, was too young to be returned to the wild on its own. It's possible the bear was abandoned by its mother as there were no sightings of her.

Wildlife officials took the intrepid cub to the Heritage Park Zoo in Prescott, where it will live.

All's well that ends well!

Story by Tom Correa