Posted on 05/14/2008 8:31:09 PM PDT by NoLibZone
While oil and gasoline prices continue to rise, the rhetoric and actions of Democrats in Congress seem destined to push those costs even higher, contrary to the Dems' promise that they used to get elected to majorities in 2006 that they had "a common-sense plan to help bring down skyrocketing gas prices".
Investor's Business Daily has a continuing series on "Breaking the Back of High Oil", and today's edition has a fascinating breakdown of some of the actions that the Democrats have taken over the last three decades or so to ensure that our country has no defense against the effects of rising oil prices. While doing so, they've made us all captives of OPEC and such tinpot dictatorships such as Venezuela.
Today's editorial in the series, Who Is Really Responsible For The High Prices You Pay For Gasoline?, points out that we have attempted to get Congressional approval for drilling in Alaska's ANWR region for the last 28 years. Remember that the next time a Democrat brings up the "fact" that it will take 10 years to get ANWR on line - if President Clinton hadn't vetoed ANWR drilling the time that it evaded blocking maneuvers by Democrats and got through a Republican controlled Congress in the mid-90s, we'd be in the second or third year of active production from that oil field. Any such domestic drilling would have produced substantial downward pressure on international oil prices set by the cartels - so in addition to having our own new source of oil, prices we pay internationally today would have been cheaper.
Other actions during the past few decades that the Democrats (and a few stray Republicans) have taken to ensure that we have high energy prices include:
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
later read
I remember the first couple of dim debates and THEY ALL SUPPORTED AT LEAST $3.00 A GALLON TAX for environmental reasons. That $3.95 a gallon would be $6.95 or more but hey Hillary would poke OPEC with a twig.
This is why I am not worried if the Democrats sweep this fall. After two yrs of them screwing everything up, the people with be ready for a new change all over again.
Liberal DemoRAT Energy Plan:
1. You can’t drill for oil anywhere.
2. You can’t build a refinery anywhere.
3. You can’t build a nuclear power plant anywhere.
4. You can’t burn coal for electricity.
5. You can’t allow the oil companies to reinvest their profits into exploration.
6. But you can drive up the price of food by subsidizing an ethanol industry that takes land out of food production while using more energy than it creates.
7.You must continue to tax every gallon of gas that we put in our tanks.
8.You must threaten all energy users with additional ‘carbon taxes’.
9. And just in case some entrepreneur out there somewhere may have an idea for an alternative energy concept that just might work, you must raise the capital gains tax so that investors have less capital and less incentive to invest in his/her project. count your blessings.
With the coming change in administration, it| will be a wonder if the price of gasoline doesn’t get to $10 per gallon.
All this and more thanks to Liberal DemoRATS.
Attacking the democrats on gas prices might be the GOP’s best bet this fall.
Didn’t Bill Clintoon veto drilling in Anwar?
That would be online now if he didn’t.
I live in the east bay of California. On May 6th I bought gas at my local station for $3.97. Today that same Union 76 is $3.97. In the meantime I traveled to Ohio on May 7th and the local gas station was $3.65 now it is $3.95 on May 14.
What would cause gasoline prices to spiral up 30 cents over 7 days in Columbus, Ohio yet have no price increase in San Leandro, California over the same period. I keep expecting to come home from one of my recent Midwest trips to see $4.25 gas because up until now when back in the midwest gas was always 30-40 cents cheaper.
But this is the first time in the 12 years since I moved to CA. that gas prices are pretty much equal in California compared to where I lived in Ohio.
That is pretty devastating for Ohio because people here are not making California wages. This is really out of control. Thank you Congress.
.... everyone of them!
Different regions, refineries, taxes, demand and distributors. Mostly refinery capacity in the region.
What happens when the liberals try to "punish" big oil with new taxes...big oil will pass the cost on to consumers as even higher prices and will not invest in new infrastructure for producing gasoline...remember the gas lines and odd even fill up days in the Carter administration?
I laughed when Hillary recently said she would take on OPEC with antitrust law suits...rather tough when the US isn't an OPEC member and OPEC has no business presence in the US. Yet no one in the MSM bothered to point out this outlandish claim.
The Democrats have no plan other than to tax oil more. Too bad more people are figuring this out.
Lord, in heaven! they are. Everyone one of them.
McJerk, Obamarxist, what does it matter. Neither drooling fool has a plan other than $6 a gallon gas sooner than we could think.
Then we can have a real big bona fide recession.
Or better yet, with Glocks and Browning over-unders. It’ll come to that, sooner or later.
“All this and more thanks to Liberal DemoRATS.”
Yup, but GW will get the blame from most Donks and even some Freepers...
It would be nice to live in a nation wherein the journalists and News organizations took their public responsibilities seriously and diligently questioned members of Congress about their plans to make us less dependent on foreign oil. Maybe some other time, some other place such a nation exists. But not here.
And, believe it or not, refiners aren't making squat on gasoline at the moment. You can consult our FReeper colleague, Eric in the Ozarks, who deals in high-end product, for precise details on this.
This too will change over the summer. I think you pretty much (if you're a trader, which I am) have to buy the RBOB crack spread for August (buy August RBOB, sell August WTI crude against it). Perhaps I'm short-sighted, but there is, to my view, NO freaking way that the refiners will continue to lose money or barely break even on gasoline over the driving season.
Well, I guess we'll all see, shortly, eh? Just for the record, you are absolutely spot on about fixing the blame for this fiasco on the Regress. Every time those sods 'regulate' energy mkts, every time they prevent exploration and development of energy resources, they create price rises, or shortages, or both...and THEY make a tidy 18.4 cents minimum on every gallon of gasoline sold in the US.
Nice racket, eh? The eeeevil 'Big Oil' companies would kill to make 18.4 cents/gallon; their typical margin is 8-12, and right this minute it's negative or nearly so. Not to mention the extortive taxes 'Big Oil' pay the goobermint.
Before you ask, NO, I do not work for any oil company, driller, refiner, or jobber. I'm just an energy trader.
FReegards to you!
It would be nice.
I'm a hard core Capitalist. I believe in free markets, Capitalism and the recovery of national resources. That is what made this nation great and prosperous and gave us all the belief in the American dream.
But we have a nation of foolish voters that vote in the morons that block resource recovery in the name of environmental do-goodery and then those same stupid voters whine and moan that the fellow making $10 an hour can't afford the gas to drive to work.
Thanks!
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