Opposition or enemy? Biden and Clinton at odds

Who has the better message to help our nation and our economy?

DISCLAIMER: THE FOLLOWING "Cost of Freedom Recap" CONTAINS STRONG OPINIONS WHICH ARE NOT A REFLECTION OF THE OPINIONS OF FOX NEWS AND SHOULD NOT BE RELIED UPON AS INVESTMENT ADVICE WHEN MAKING PERSONAL INVESTMENT DECISIONS. IT IS FOX NEWS' POLICY THAT CONTRIBUTORS DISCLOSE POSITIONS THEY HOLD IN STOCKS THEY DISCUSS, THOUGH POSITIONS MAY CHANGE. READERS OF "Cost of Freedom Recap" MUST TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR OWN INVESTMENT DECISIONS.

NEW CALLS FOR BOTH PARTIES TO WORK TOGETHER AMID GROWING DIVISIVENESS IN DC

Steve Forbes: Unfortunately Biden, I think, was also addressing this to his boss who wants it his way or the highway. He refused to compromise on Obamacare, on the Stimulus Package, on corporate tax cuts, he wants a tax increase. You have to have 2 sides willing to cut a deal as Reagan did in the mid-1980s when he got those fabulous tax cuts. But this guy, President Obama, he’s not willing to compromise. I wish Biden had been successful in having Obama obey what he suggested.

John Tamny: I think friendship, compromise, and working together are vastly overrated when it comes to politics. This is what got us Sarbanes–Oxley that turned into a situation where we made CEOs criminals. It got us the bailouts of banks that weaken the economy and weaken the banking sector. It annually gets us spending bills that rob us of liberty and reduce economic growth. It’s much better when they’re not working together because they’re not doing us harm.

Elizabeth MacDonald: The problem is if you have continued political gridlock, then everybody looks to the Federal Reserve as the economic savior. It’s sort of like we’re suffering from post-bubble amnesia. We forget what happens when the Federal Reserve is a go-to place for fixing the country and it shouldn’t be. I get it; we don’t want bad laws passed. That is the checks and balances that we need. But I think we need to get the country moving again. There’s too much gridlock, too much incumbency as well, and half the retiring congressman becoming lobbyists, that’s part of the problem too.

Sabrina Schaeffer: I think that might be the exception, not the rule. I’m sort of with John on this, that we want to be careful. The more that there is consensus, the more that we grow our government and diminish our freedoms. At the same time, we have to remember that the country was formed on debate. That back and forth is very important and healthy in effect for democracy. What worries me most, and I think this is what Vice President Biden was alluding to, is that when the political divisiveness becomes something that Americans begin to own. They are divisive with one another. Most Americans don’t have a coherent political ideology. Most Americans are somewhere in the middle and this kind of divisiveness draws them away from the political process and I don’t think that’s a good thing.

Rich Karlgaard: Let’s add in the fact that Russia, China, ISIS and other organizations like that look at our dysfunction, they interpret it as weakness and they get very aggressive in the world as a result. We see it’s becoming a beacon for everybody who yearns for democracy and prosperity. But, I don’t think you can force a consensus. I think you have to get the American people to demand it, and that’s what we’re not doing. There’s not a candidate out there on either side that is making the convincing case for peace and prosperity.

Bruce Jaspen: I would say that Hillary is probably more correct. I think that whichever party controls both the White House and Congress is going to get something done because I think the ship has sailed since Reagan was in there. I think there’s just too much gridlock.

REPORT: OPEC IS ABOUT TO CRUSH OIL BOOM IN US

Elizabeth MacDonald: We are actually flaring off. We’re getting rid of our gas by burning it off. We don’t have a way to deliver it to market. Our gas and oil guys out there are saying “We need the pipelines, we need the infrastructure, we need the terminals,” but the Obama administration keeps rejecting all of that, so we’re literally burning off the fuel that we could be bringing to market. By the way, we could be creating so many manufacturing jobs and building out our economy and bringing in more tax revenues into the government. Wow, we are really handing a gift over to our enemies overseas.

Steve Forbes: What it is winning is the Obama administration that doesn’t like oil and gas. OPEC is overrated. When the dollar is strong, prices go down, when the dollar is weak, oil prices go up. Liz is right, the Obama administration is blocking the development of our natural gas industry, especially LNG, Liquefied Natural Gas Terminals, and so they are hurting us.

Rich Karlgaard: In the short term, you have to throw in economics, because Saudi Arabia oil is so cheap. They can make money at 10 dollars a barrel, nobody in the United States can. I’m of the opinion that the House of Saud is going to fall in five years. I think Iran is going to become a regional power, and for that reason, we have to go energy independent even if it costs us a little more.

Mike Ozanian: I don’t like the term “energy independence.” We’re not independent when it comes to consuming food, we import food and certainly that’s just as important as oil. I want to hit on what Steve said which is that our government has always been our biggest enemy when it comes to energy. In the early 70s we cut oil production from 10 million barrels a day to 8 million barrels by 1973. We had the National Energy Act in 1973 by Nixon. That was a catastrophe. We need the government to get out of the way and the market will produce ample energy here in the U.S.

Sabrina Schaeffer: If you want to get an energy license in North Dakota, it takes about 10 days. To do that on federal lands, it takes over 300 days. I think that put it’s into sharp relief. I think that the goal to be energy independent may be a good one, but it’s sort of putting the cart in front of the horse. The reality is, the first thing the government should do is, do no harm. They’re doing harm routinely through the regulations, whether we’re talking about fracking regulations or not allowing us to drill on federal land, or if they’re distorting the market by subsidizing green energy companies that simply aren’t providing a necessary good. I just think we need to sort of step back and say how can government get out of the way before we talk about the next steps forward?

Bruce Jaspen: Obama once told Romney that he would be in favor of a diverse strategy that included oil and natural gas. I think a diverse strategy is what people would back, including wind and solar. The environmentalists want him to do more with fracking and he hasn’t really done that.

REPORT: NEW SURGE IN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS CROSSING SOUTHWEST BORDER

Steve Forbes: It’s unconstitutional and a moral outrage that a city like San Francisco won’t honor a request from federal officials to keep in custody illegal aliens who are suspected or who have committed violent crimes. They come across the border, they get deported, they come back again. They commit crimes, and San Francisco releases them. This is just an outrage.

Bruce Jaspen: This has worked for San Francis co for 25 years. The answer here is comprehensive immigration reform, so the undocumented immigrants can come out from under the shadows, start paying taxes, and live their lives in this country. That’s what the answer is.

Elizabeth MacDonald: This is about stopping future murders, this is about national security, this is about stopping the outsourcing of national security to cities like San Francisco. This is about protecting the border.

Rich Karlgaard: San Francisco is so full of itself. Let me say, as a resident of the Bay Area, that San Francisco is the luckiest city on the planet. It’s blessed by great geography, great weather, great Silicon Valley technology, therefore, the city is booming. I’d like to see what San Francisco does with its sanctuary policy if it had to deal with the same issues that Toledo or Detroit did.

Mike Ozanian: I just don’t understand why if cities and states have to abide by the federal government when it comes to Obamacare, why don’t they have to abide by the federal government when it comes to illegal immigration?

John Tamny: As members of the right, we should always defer to cities and states over the federal government. This is an offensive insult to immigrants.

STOCK PICKS

Elizabeth MacDonald: Invesco Diversified Dividend (LCEIX)

Mike Ozanian: Madison Square Garden Network (MSGN)

Fox News First