Awhile back, I wrote to Senator Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John McCain, and posted a copy of that letter here. And Senator Obama replied. Here is what he had to say.

"Thank you for writing to me with your concern over our nation’s energy independence. I appreciate hearing from you.

In a shocking display of hubris, U.S. Department of Education (USDE) Secretary Margaret Spellings (SecUSDE) is going to require all of the states to use the same formula to determine their graduation rates as part of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) program. Why? Well, because some districts cheat. Shocking, isn’t it. And, why do they cheat, you ask?

Has Dana Perino, mouthpiece for President George W. Bush, even looked at Operation Lifeline or HOPE NOW? In response to what the Bush administration was going to do for the little guy, after keeping Bear Stearns alive with a $30 billion low interest loan to JP Morgan Chase to acquire the firm and keep it afloat, said:

Well, the forces supporting the continued invasion of the United States by illegal aliens are going to repaint the pretty picture awaiting the country if the Department of Homeland Security and ICE don't press their efforts. More flag burnings by illegal aliens, more rioting, more racist slogans... don't you just love it?

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them. Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits? Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes?

At least Obama and Clinton have found their records, or more appropriately, NON records, on energy policy to be fodder for sniping.

In a short term measure, the Federal Reserve will be taking some of the heat off the very banks which helped create the foreclosure crisis hitting the United States.

The Federal Reserve Bank is set next week to further reduce interest rates for banks – the very banks that are looking to continue tightening the reins on granting credit. The Federal Reserve by all current wisdom would seem to be powerless to do anything but effect interest rates – but that is not the case.

Now THIS is an energy technology that makes sense. Almost no moving parts, works off the sun AND runs even after the sun goes down, relying on built up heat to continue generating electricity. I wonder when the home-based models will be available?

Now, let us look at the facts. The mayor of Pontiac asked Governor King Rod Blagojevich to declare the city and county a disaster area. And it took King Rod 9 days to do it. When, if he was a normal commuter, traveling between Chicago and Springfield every day, he'd have SEEN FIRST HAND the flooding and woe. But flying over doesn't quite have an impact, I guess.

Does Al Gore know something about these agreements that we don't? He must, since he BLASTED his home nation in Bali for being the problem in global warming - when it sure seems the Chinese recognize they have issues, too.

The Senate’s “new” energy bill is just more of the same, without any real effort to put an end to the dependence of the human race on using combustion for its energy needs. Are we still cavemen building a fire? Instead, it is a “feel good” measure, aimed by the Democrats at President Bush’s head in an attempt to gather ammo for the 2008 presidential election.

The United States and China, the world's two largest energy consumers, have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to promote the use of bio-fuels according to a joint press release from the Departments of Agriculture and Energy. This comes as part of a series of economic discussions that began December 12 in Grand Epoch City.

Oh GOODEE! Bush found a clone of Alberto Gonzalez, who thinks our right to private communications isn't protected by the Constitution. Make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside to know the nation's top cop feels he can listen and read everything we say, write, or put on the net.

Ah, it was SO good to see that Illinois House member Jesse Jackson, Jr., who was elected riding on the fame (some say infamy) of his father's name, much like Daddy Jackson has lived off the public trough because of his loose association with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Junior this past week voted - now get this - to start impeachment proceedings against GW Bush.

The White House continues its outward look with President Bush’s veto of the 5-year, $23 billion Water Resources Development Act.

This comes under the "WTF" category of abuse of power. Who at the White House has the technical expertise to edit testimony from the Center for Disease Control? I don't care if the testimony was on hangnail treatment, the POINT is that the White House decided to hide portions of the CDC's findings from our DIRECTLY elected leaders in the Senate.

The National Science Foundation disclosed that one more step into the nightmare world portrayed in George Orwell’s 1984 has been achieved by researchers at the University of Arizona.

Jose Ernesto Medellín was convicted on June 16, 1994 of murder and sentenced to death in the State of Texas for the rape and murder of two teenage girls. On October 10, the United States Supreme Court is being asked to decide whether the laws of the States preempt international treaties.

King Rod Blagojevich in yet ANOTHER clearcut case of the pot calling the kettle black, blasts Bush for vetoeing a bill, when King Rod has left literally 10s of thousands of Illinoisans scrambling for their very survival. Can you say "hypocrisy?" I knew you could.