President Biden’s address to the nation was met with mixed reviews. Although I thought he did an adequate job there were two main points that stuck out like a sore thumb; the release of 60 million barrels of oil and funding of police.

In the decade that I’ve been writing this blog, I have honestly attempted to write about issues from the center, without bias to the left or right. Weighing issues is not always easy, because in doing so, the side that disagrees with you will always call you biased or worse. But no matter, I will always call it as I see it.

First, if President Trump had one correct policy position in his Presidency, it was addressing the need for energy independence. Like it or not, we are not yet ready to hit the switch to green energy. We are probably 10-15 years away. What does that entail? It entails enough wind farms in our oceans off both US and Canadian coasts including Nova Scotia, British Columbia, Maine, Massachusetts, New York New Jersey, and the Carolina’s. It entails, solar energy particularly in states like Nevada and Arizona. States like California, Florida and Hawaii should have both Solar and Wind power. It means installing the infrastructure for fast charging stations for electric vehicles including cars, motorcycles and bikes. It means ensuring that the power grid for the US and Canada can handle the increased demand, particularly in the summer when scheduled brown outs in states like California are common. Clearly we are not there yet and despite all those on the left who hope it happens tomorrow, let’s remember that Hope, is not a plan.

Just to make sure that everyone with short memories and those who claim it would not have made a difference are reminded, on Day One of his Presidency, President Biden killed the Keystone pipeline after he blocked the permit. This pipeline was to move up to 830,000 barrels of crude daily, connecting Canada to Nebraska and then to other pipelines that feed the oil refineries on the US Gulf Coast. It placated his base but was the wrong decision at the wrong time. I am all in favor of conservation. We need to eliminate oil and coal as fuel sources sooner than later. But we are not yet ready.

Last summer I personally extracted hundreds of single use plastic bottles from the ocean. As a lifelong sailor, I have an appreciation and respect for our oceans that few except other boaters have. Most people, even those who claim to defend the environment, have no clue where their plastic waste ends up. There’s a false narrative out there, that apparently makes people feel better. “We’re saving the planet.” Not until all of the other factors are considered equally. Are we supposed to pat the President on the back and say good job for releasing 60 million barrels of oil when he killed the pipeline which would have absolutely helped lower the surging prices we now face?

Heading into Spring, with a war in Ukraine, additional price pressure due to this war, gas prices are reaching and exceeding $5.00/gallon. Of course $5.00/gallon to millionaires and billionaires doesn’t mean much, but to middle class Americans who may have to drive to their jobs, it could mean the difference between paying all their bills or going into debt. Isn’t it ironic that the side that claims to be for equality and fairness for poor and middle class people, are the same people who are pushing to prematurely eliminate the fuel that fuels our economy? The left is hurting the middle class in this case and there is no other side to this issue. I suppose to those on the extreme left, the climate change supersedes human suffering. I disagree!

Second, President Biden said, “we should all agree the answer is not to defund the police. Fund them.” He also called for more funding and “training for police to protect our communities.” In fairness to the President, he never actually said that police should be defunded. However, in an interview with liberal activist Ady Barkan, when asked if “we can agree that we can redirect some of the funding”, Biden says “yes”. So if one wanted to be kind, it could be said that the President didn’t actually say defund the police. But any reasonable person could infer that’s what he meant. If money is redirected to other areas, obviously it’s being taken away from the police.

Then at the SOTU, he says, we need to fund the police. Could that be in response to the alarming increase in crime throughout the country? Can we assume that Biden at first caved in to the extreme left of his party? Just to give two examples, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, in response to the $1 billion dollar NYC police budget said, “Defunding police means defunding police. It doesn’t mean moving school police officers from the NYPD budget to the Department of Education budget so that the exact same police remain in schools.” Rep Rashida Tlaib tweeted, “No more policing, incarceration, and militarization. It can’t be reformed.” If that’s her wish, who exactly does she think is going to protect women from rapists and innocents from murderers? It’s a certain level of emotion and stupidity that can’t be rationalized.

We must fully fund our police and provide the training and tools to ensure that communities throughout the country are protected from those with bad intentions. Remember that most murders aren’t random. The victim knows the attacker. So we must provide those who are threatened with better safety measures. We must also hold bad cops accountable. Derek Chauvin will rightly spend the rest of his life in jail. He’s a murderer, but holding all cops accountable is foolhardy and bad policy. Most cops are essentially defenders of those who need defending, even those who detest them.

What we are seeing is our largest liberal cities suffering under a major uptick in crime that can not be allowed to continue. This notion that if we somehow did away with our police departments, poor people and minorities would be safer, is insane. We need community policing so there can be trust between law enforcement and community. So when there is a crime committed, people in the community will feel safe and trust law enforcement to protect them. That won’t happen if law enforcement is defunded. You know who does love the concept of defunding the police and not prosecuting criminals? Criminals!!! Break into stores, steal whatever you like, because even if you get caught, there will be no ramifications; no consequences for your actions.

These two major issues addressed in President Biden’s SOTU address, were glaring in their inaccuracy. The leftists of the the Democrat party and the President, own these issues. The left is more concerned with with climate change, than with the suffering of poor and middle class Americans. Similarly, those hurt most by defunding police, are poor and middle class people who are unable to defend themselves against the “real” bad guys. The Democrats need to be held accountable on both issues in the upcoming mid-term elections.