LARRY KUDLOW: Energy independence is a tremendous first step out of this malaise

Remember back a couple of months ago when mainstream media types were saying the new Republican Congress wouldn't get anything done, and really wasn't all that important?   

Well, turns out, just after a few months, the GOP Congress is important, and is getting things done. One of the things the House Republicans are doing to rescue the economy is to put together the Lower Energy Costs Act, H.R. 1, which is scheduled for a Thursday vote.   

This by itself is a very big deal. It will lower inflation and increase growth. It's going to turn the fossil fuel spigots back on with permitting reform, opening the door for critical minerals, a return to the one federal decision approach of the Trump years, reopening the door to the Keystone XL pipeline, streamlining the Clean Water Act, producing fertilizer to get food prices back down, promoting LNG exports and any number of related things.  

As I've said many times before, we find refined petroleum products, which have become very costly under Biden's war against fossil fuels, permeate virtually every nook and cranny of the economy and, by the way, permitting reform in H.R. 1 will help renewables, allowing the production of minerals for electric vehicle batteries without having to rely on China, as Interior Secretary Deb Haaland acknowledged today that the U.S. relies on China. Can't have that. This bill would stop it.  

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Joe Biden's already threatened to veto it. That shows how important the bill is. That tells you what a positive impact it would have on the economy. A Biden veto is always a leading indicator of decline.  

The Republican Congress is doing a lot of other things: Oversight committees on censorship, parents and education, Hunter Biden's laptop, the weaponization of Joe Biden's federal law enforcement. All these excesses are being investigated.  

The Ways & Means Committee is looking at tax cuts, the new Budget Committee is drawing up a pro-growth, balanced budget plan. In other words, a GOP beehive of activity. Of course, Joe Biden is still in denial about Republican conservative principles coming out of the House.  

So, just today, Speaker Kevin McCarthy is turning the heat up on Biden to have a second meeting to discuss a new debt ceiling with additional budget savings. Just as in the past, the two are inextricably linked.  

Speaker McCarthy emphasized that the best way to reduce the national debt is to limit spending, save taxpayer money and grow the economy. He has offered to sit down and discuss a variety of means with Biden, but so far, Biden won't cooperate.  

I want to personally highlight one of Speaker McCarthy's points. He suggested the importance of strengthening work requirements, as was enacted under President Bill Clinton, and then-Sen. Joe Biden voted for it. Workfare is such an important principle. It is essential to the American ideal of the dignity of work to climb the ladder of opportunity.  

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We've seen a lot of polls recently showing tremendous voter pessimism on the economy and on traditional American values like patriotism, religion, childbearing and culture, but the root of all these social issues seems to be closely linked to a declining economy besotted with high inflation. 

Energy independence is a tremendous first step out of this malaise. A strong budget deal coupled with debt ceiling adjustment would calm financial markets and promote economic growth. The question is tonight: Why is Joe Biden resisting? That is my riff.