Each of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates has a slogan. The one for Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., is "for the people." Former Vice President Joe Biden says, "Our best days still lie ahead." Former Texas Rep. Robert "Beto" O’Rourke plays it cool with slang: "It’s Gonna Take All of Us."
Clearly the polls say Americans want to feel like they are part of the team. Inclusive. A musical montage from a teen movie where everyone chips in and they save the day. But don’t be fooled: These candidates are not like you, and the policies they support are actually bad for regular Americans. In fact, their slogans should all be the same: "Do as I say, not as I do."
Nowhere is this more obvious than when it comes to being green.
As part of their required Federal Election Commission quarterly filings, the candidates disclosed how their finances and each campaign have been spending a lot of money on private jet travel. After all, how else does one get from Iowa to New Hampshire? In coach? Taking off shoes at TSA? With campaign donations picking up the tab, private jets make the campaign trail much better.
For a collective group of Democrats who decry fossil fuels, who embrace the radical Green New Deal, who demand we change our habits and diets to reflect the “existential crisis” of climate change, they sure don’t put their campaign money with their mouth is.
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Every one of the 2020 candidates supports the Green New Deal (GND) as part of their campaign, and as a reminder, this radical, socialist proposal of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez seeks to make air travel "obsolete." Air travel is such a no-no amongst environmentalists that "flight shaming" has become a common tactic the green radicals use.
So, why do these candidates get a pass? If they want us to stop flying commercial, why are they justified in flying private?
The Buttigieg campaign said it needs private jets because South Bend isn't convenient to campaign stops and the mayor has a vigorous schedule. Here’s a question for Mayor Pete: If I live in rural America and am busy, can I get an exemption under the Green New Deal you support?
We all know the answer to that question, plebeian.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., say their flights are actually "carbon neutral" because they buy carbon offsets, presumably with campaign contributions. That's like justifying a cheesecake for dinner by purchasing my neighbor a treadmill. For his dog. And the treadmill company donates to my campaign. Yet, in the silly and slimy world of D.C. politics and sympathetic press, somehow that excuse evens out.
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All these candidates are too cowardly to admit what we all know: They travel on private jets because they can. Playing us for fools just adds insult to injury.
Their private air travel is possible for one reason, and one reason alone: America is great. Right now, there are millions of Americans in rural places like Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, and Artesia, New Mexico, working in the energy industry. These are the men and women who power America doing hard, difficult, even dangerous work, and we all benefit from the fruit of their labor.
We have an incredible amount of oil and gas reserves across this nation, and many are still yet untapped. Our abundant energy means prices are low. A decade ago, oil consistently hovered around $100 a barrel. Today, it is half that. This means cheaper gas and home utility bills. Information technology is reflected in the manufacturing and shipping costs of consumer goods. Abundant energy means we spend less. This is something we should celebrate.
What happens when the Green New Deal does make air travel "obsolete" and the 10 million American jobs in the airline industry are lost? What happens when Sanders gets his wish to make fracking illegal by executive order and consequently half our oil and two-thirds our gas comes off the market?
I’ll tell you what happens: You won't fly home for Christmas. You won't buy fruit in winter. Cold weather and athletic clothing with lycra and Core-Tex and nylon won’t be affordable. Food prices will skyrocket. Shipping costs will make European goods unaffordable, and speaking of Europe, forget about going. You can't afford it, because with oil around $200 a barrel, even a cruise is out of the question.
What happens when politicians destroy the fossil fuel industry is, they destroy the economy and our way of life.
Next time you see a candidate in a stump speech decrying climate change, demanding a Green New Deal, even calling energy industry workers "Criminals," just ask a simple question: Will you, candidate, stop using these fossil fuels, the cheap gas, the plastics, the oil, the private jets, in your campaign?
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We all know the answer to that, plebeian.
Any candidate who does not live in his private life what he wants government to mandate you live in yours is not worthy of your vote to elected office. And none of these hypocrites is worthy to be your president.
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