Posted on 07/13/2008 10:03:32 PM PDT by Uncle Ralph
WASHINGTON -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, back from the Fourth of July break, last week delivered a typical harangue on Republican obstructionism and Democratic virtue that included a promise: By week's end, 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 Friday, Republicans had seen nothing of Reid's plan because of internal Democratic disagreement on details. But plenty of other Democratic legislative proposals floated around Capitol Hill claiming to resolve the nation's gasoline woes by regulating oil futures trading. 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...
The dems in Congress are a bunch of useless popinjays desperately clinging to stupid liberal playbook stunts that solve nothing.
Why not? The Congress regulating the mortgage banking industry has worked out so well. Might as well take over the health care industry while they're at it.
That playbook works when circumstances are solid.
They are not solid now, and it will be an interesting fall. I wonder which Dem will be the first to throw that idiot Pelosi over the Green wall?
The filthy, useless, lying socialists of our worst-ever Congress, continue their stream of BS and deception blaming the Repubs for EXACTLY WHAT THEY HAVE CAUSED.
Those stupid enought, ignorant enough, and selfish enough to believe their charlatan crooks DESERVE THE GOVERNMENT THEY ARE GOING TO GET.
I don't know, but I think it's going to be soon. Pelosi's "house cleaning" has brought the House down around her ears. 9% approval. That's gotta leave a mark.
I haven’t had time to research this, but didn’t oil futures start to skyrocket at exactly the same time this year when Obama jumped to the lead in the primaries?
He scares the hell out of Wall Street and financial people in general.
“aggravated by uncertainty about oil supplies in the Middle East....”
To the extent that uncertainty plays a part in the oil price — the Democrats’ push to release oil from the SPR is beyond stupid. The less oil in the SPR, the greater the uncertainty & therefore, the greater the price.
We’re keeping the tanks topped off. Once the politicians succumb to public pressure and monkey up the market, there will be gas lines.
The upside is we don’t use much gasoline anymore and we set our own hours so we can keep track of when the lines are smallest.
We can't release our way out of this.
The dems in Congress are a bunch of useless popinjays desperately clinging to stupid liberal playbook stunts that solve nothing.”
I particularly loved (not) their waste of the taxpayers’ money (again) not long ago, proposing and debating a bill that included suing and/or prosecuting OPEC (first promoted by Hillary during the campaign). Yeah, THAT’S a plan... puleeez.
Those stupid enought, ignorant enough, and selfish enough to believe their charlatan crooks DESERVE THE GOVERNMENT THEY ARE GOING TO GET.
Even if “they” do deserve it, WE DO NOT. It could very well get worse than McCain - just look at the other side of the ballot. Try to imagine THAT world.
What about the plan to tax “Big Oil”? It’s like saying,”Go ahead and gouge everyone as long as the government gets a cut.” Yeah, that really helps.
OBTW, if speculators and big oil are the problem, why are they so interested in releasing the reserves? And then... what happens when it runs out? The same problems all over again, if it helps anything at all.
I can’t believe the idioitc dingbats we have at the helm. They could not pour piss out of a boot with the instructions on the heel.
That, and because I spilled a bit of gas when I was filling up my lawn mower.
Darn rights He and Democrats in general scare the hell out of wall street. That's why everything secure is going up. It is speculation that is driving up oil prices, not shortage, but there is nothing that regulating the market can do, except make it worse. What we need is more refinery capacity. We need more gas on hand, not more crude.
Drill here, drill now and watch prices stabilize. Got a liberal telling it will take years to bring it online...ask'em where the solar and wind power are that they promised us in 2006(2 years ago)? Or better yet why the government has put a 2 year moratorium on solar to study its environmental impact?! So now we're looking at 4 years before anything in alternative energy is accomplished.
The oil will get here first.
What other country on earth refuses to utilize the resources it has? We need to begin drilling, building refineries and nuclear power plants, expand our use of coal including Escalante, and continue to develop alternative energy sources.
obama's quote about "not minding four dollar gasoline, it just got there too quickly" should tell us everything we need to know about the democrats agenda. They are embarrassed that the United States is still looked at as the only super power country on earth. They want us brought down to the level of the rest of the world by pushing their global agenda. Somewhere along the line a group of marxist figured out that along with our ultra-stupid congress, energy dependence was our weak spot.
*LOL!* I like that one!
Where are all the Bill O'Reilly nutjobs and illiterate goons stomping around demanding that all hedge fund managers have their head's on pikes? What happened to the all the "wind & solar" republicans saying that this is the fault of Big Oil refusing to drill leases that don't have oil on them and claiming that we need to make investing illegal?
For the last couple of weeks I was pretty much under constant attack and told that I just don't understand the oil business or the financial markets. After working successfully in that business for much of the last 20 years this came as a bit of a shock to me. And now it seems that everyone is getting the message after all.
This is a problem that congress is causing and the speculators are simply "ratting them out" for. Oil is exactly where it should be based on the uncertainty created by congress.
How can world demand for oil exceed the supply?
Is the world using a magic ‘alternative’ to oil to plug the shortfall?
If so, what is it? If it’s cheaper than oil, I’d like to buy it’s refined version - gasoline.
I realize that is probably a terrible oversimplification, but it does illustrate at least a part of the Dim obtuse obfuscation.
I agree with your sentiment, but “popinjay” is rather too mild a description. Couldn’t we agree to punch it up a little to something stronger? ;^)
Even if “they” do deserve it, WE DO NOT. It could very well get worse than McCain - just look at the other side of the ballot. Try to imagine THAT world.
::::::::
Yes I have, and I will take my chances with McCain over the OBVIOUS radical, fanatic, socialist, anti-American position of The Obamination without any reservation.
Popinjay = a strutting, supercilious person. You’re right. That’s really a description of Obama. We need something stronger for the idiots in Congress.
Communist traitors and their useful idiots.
No. They're not. They know exactly what they're doing.
The political left is in league with our enemies.
I can’t believe the idioitc dingbats we have at the helm. They could not pour piss out of a boot with the instructions on the heel.”
oh, they’re absolute idiots who don’t have a clue about the situation. just watching cspan this evening earlier, seeing the two factions “reacting” to GW’s lifting the ban on offshore drilling, at press conferences - what a difference - first, the dems, Harry Reid et al (of course), then the repubs, Pete Domenici and Lamar Alexander. Such a contrast. The first group were absolute, bull-headed, hateful lunatics - the second group made total and reasonable, rational sense.
Actually, the Reps are about Yes We Can on this energy issue, but to every proposed alternative plan, the Dems’ answer is No We Can’t. (and No We Won’t)
First the Dems want to “prosecute” OPEC, now they want to whip the oil companies into producing more oil on existing leases only (which they’ve been TRYING to - duh), but whenever and wherever they DO come up with more oil, they’ll then tax the hell out of them. Well, THAT’s a great incentive for business and corporations to perform.
Heaven help us - and unless these remaining elections turn around, we’ll have an even bigger nightmare to deal with, congressionally and senate-wise.
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