A New Years’ Resolution We Can All Stick To; My Vision for 2008
The Ross Report
by Rich Ross of Conservatives with Attitude!
There is a saying that is commonly attributed to the Chinese. It goes, “May You Live In Interesting Times.” It may not be an exact quote, but it certainly is appropriate for these times.
Looking back on this past year and even back several years, it’s amazing how many issues we face today. This coming year we will choose another president to lead us. The past eight years, actually the past 20 years, has been less than satisfying from our presidents. Endless conflicts, growing class divisions, a growing empire, broken borders, stagnant wages, corruption, lies, erosion of liberty and personal privacy, an ever expanding and power grabbing government, plus an apathetic population more concerned with trivia than reality. As one person recently told me, “I do not like to face reality”. Well my friends, I feel it’s best to deal with reality now than get a rude awakening to it tomorrow.
Although New Year Resolutions may be cliche, in 2008, I would like our new president and our nation as a whole, make ending our dependency on foreign oil top priority and a resolution to stick to. By ending out addiction to this drug, we will create a paradigm shift in our lives and in our society. As the foundation and lifeblood of our modern society, many of our problems can be traced to oil
There are 2 major reasons why we can no longer wait to end our dependency:
1. The majority of oil is in the hands of some of the worst regimes in the world. As the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security points out, it is no coincidence that so much of the cash filling terrorists’ coffers come from the oil monarchies in the Persian Gulf. It is also no coincidence that those countries holding the world’s largest oil reserves and those generating most of their income from oil exports are also those with the strongest support for radical Islam. In fact, oil and terrorism are entangled. If not for the West’s oil money, most Gulf States would not have had the wealth that allowed them to invest so much in arms procurement and sponsor terrorists organizations.
Consider Saudi Arabia. Oil revenues make up around 90-95% of total Saudi export earnings, 70%-80% of state revenues, and around 40% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). In 2002 alone, Saudi Arabia earned nearly $55 billion in crude oil export revenues. Most wealthy Saudis who sponsor charities and educational foundations that preach religious intolerance and hate toward the Western values have made their money from the petroleum industry or its subsidiaries. Osama bin Laden’s wealth comes from the family’s construction company that made its fortune from government contracts financed by oil money. It is also oil money that enables Saudi Arabia to invest approximately 40% of its income on weapons procurement. In July 2005 undersecretary of the Treasury Stuart Levey testifying in the Senate noted “Wealthy Saudi financiers and charities have funded terrorist organizations and causes that support terrorism and the ideology that fuels the terrorists’ agenda. Even today, we believe that Saudi donors may still be a significant source of terrorist financing, including for the insurgency in Iraq.”
– ‘The Commish’ A.J. Sparxx