Washington Times by Thomas Pile.  While the nation’s leaders focus on expanding government’s role in our health care system, they are working simultaneously to chew away at another foundation of America’s economic strength and our individual liberties — affordable, reliable energy.  (Comment: It’s hard to watch any more than a single ball being kept airborne by a great juggler; when we try to watch two or more balls, the whole activity turns into a blur.  Today, citizens are bombarded with so many juggled issues that it is easy to lose count of them all and what they all mean to the country’s future.  There is ‘tarp’ and ‘cash for clunkers’ and ‘global warming’, and ‘government medical takeover’ and more.  The above story refers to ‘Cap and Trade’ a legislative proposal designed to ‘solve’ global warming by limiting carbon output.  Sound good?  It’s not.  There is no evidence that U.S. cap and trade efforts will affect the global climate one way or another.  Even if it were a good idea, the huge financial hit on American families could not come at a worse time, as we are trying to pry ourselves out of recession.  If Cap and Trade becomes law of the land, consumer utility bills will increase by several thousand dollars per year.  This will be enough to push more families into bankruptcy.  Cries will fill the air and the politicians who created the crisis will seek to deflect criticism.  They will try to demonize the utilities, oil and gas and coal companies.  They will claim that these companies are (1) gouging customers, and (2) not doing their jobs to find sufficient domestic supplies.  This will lay the basis for attempts to nationalize fossil energy exploration and production on Federal lands.  This productive prize of America’s economic culture will thus become a major producer of funds for political agendas, a major employer for socialist friends of the Administration and a most useful provider of new union jobs.  Let’s be careful to keep our eyes on all the balls in the air, not just one, lest we be fooled again and again within a brief 4-year presidency and risk having our Nation brought to its knees.  -dh)