Posted on 07/15/2008 10:38:53 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid promised that by the end of last week he would show Republicans his proposal to deal with "this speculation thing" that he calls the root cause of $4-a-gallon gasoline. It would attempt "to end speculation on the oil markets."
By week's end, Republicans had seen nothing of Reid's plan because of internal Democratic disagreement on details. Plus, Democratic leaders were focused Monday on denouncing President Bush's lifting of the executive ban on offshore oil drilling.
Still, plenty of other Democratic legislative proposals floated around Capitol Hill, claiming to resolve the nation's gasoline woes by regulating trading in oil futures. The claims are extravagant that these bills would dramatically lower prices at the gas pump, which lawmakers agree is the overriding concern of their constituents.
After consulting a wide variety of experts on both energy and markets, I could find nobody who sees speculation as a major contributor to the oil spike. The problem is massive global demand overpowering a finite supply, aggravated by uncertainty about oil supplies in the Middle East, Nigeria and Venezuela. But the image of evil men on Wall Street manipulating oil prices fits, to borrow the trenchant phrase of the late historian Richard Hofstadter, "the paranoid style" in dealing with the current crisis.
In a fortuitous coincidence, Hofstadter's 1965 book, "The Paranoid Style in American Politics," was reissued as a paperback last month. He described the paranoid politician viewing his adversary as "sinister, ubiquitous, powerful, cruel, sensual, and luxury-loving." As a liberal, Hofstadter was writing about Barry Goldwater's 1964 takeover of the Republican Party but acknowledged that the syndrome "is not necessarily right-wing."
(Excerpt) Read more at ocregister.com ...
Follow the money. Sierra club and other liberal big money environmentalist organizations are some of the biggest donators to democrats in congress. Especially the likes of Maria Cantwell who said it would be over her dead body that they would drill off the washington coast.
Sounds like more of the same.
The Dem Congress doing nothing.
Where does the line form.
If I was president, I would declare that the first drill rig should be placed over her Seattle home.
Well Maria has money - maybe if I write her she’ll give me gas money.
I’d save that for Algore.
Most analysts are pointing to Bush’s threat to drill for bringing down oil prices today.
Yep, speculation alright.
Just think if we actually did commit to drill?
Never under estimate Bush’s can opening ability, when a bit of whoop ass is finally called for.
Maybe this explains the Democrats’ difficulty in settling on action...
Pelosi Says Drilling for More Oil “Not the Answer”
House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said calls by Republicans to drill for more oil “is not the answer America needs.”
“Making gasoline more affordable would be the exact opposite of what we need to do,” Pelosi asserted. “We need to wean the country off of its dependence on fossil fuels. We can only do this if we discourage Americans’ love affair with their cars and put an end to the frenzy of excessive and senseless driving.”
In support of her contention that Americans’ driving habits are “excessive” and “senseless,” the Speaker pointed to a recent study showing that rising fuel costs were linked to declining highway fatalities. The study by two university professors looked at fatalities and fuel prices over the 1985-2006 timeframe and concluded that fatalities dropped by two percent for every ten percent increase in gasoline prices.
“The fact that the peak gasoline price in 2006 was $2.50 a gallon tells me that at today’s $4 a gallon we’re saving even more lives,” Pelosi conjectured. “Rather than undermine this salubrious trend by attempting to reverse the rising costs of fuel we should be celebrating our good fortune.”
read more...
http://www.azconservative.org/Semmens1.htm
The democrats are being really stupid by getting on the wrong side of drilling. The public is very unhappy with gas prices and they will make whomever they see as the cause pay heavily at the first opportunity. That opportunity is coming in November...
This is the strangest election I’ve ever seen and anything, literally, good happen.
What these morons do not understand is: even IF there is no immediate solution, lifting restrictions NOW will have a long term positive effect in the FUTURE. Don't these idiots ever think beyond their immediate orgasm?
Stretch is old enough to remember all the mental masturbation Carter put us through thirty years ago.
That skunk passed the smell test in the 90's.
Not anymore GeeMaw!
Call Granny and tell her to buy some batteries for her hearing aid!
202 225 0100
ask her for President Bush's phone number so you can thank him for lifting the executive ban!
I think the New Yorker is stealing your thunder.
The GOP may regain majority. Then what? Would they work to shut down Federal departments and agencies? Deport illegal aliens? Enforce existing laws?
Yes it's that simple. Meanwhile Reid and Pelosi fiddle while prices skyrocket.
Blaming speculators for high oil prices is like blaming the thermometer for a hot day.
Small businesses are dropping like flies thanks to over regulation and over taxation. But for that, we could weather the energy issues. The two together create a perect storm.
There will be a crash, a hard landing. The question is will this nation re-embrace the free market or respond with further socialism? The latter happened under FDR’s “Great Society,” and that laid the groundwork for our present ills. Without a Reagan on the scene, and with a dumbed down populace (thanks, NEA), we are more likely to follow the same path again - with even more dire consequences.
“it would attempt to end speculation on the oil markets...”
but don’t drill.
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