Top 10 reasons to blame Democrats for soaring gasoline prices

The Dems handling of energy needs for the last 15 years is a gift to Republicans much like a "goose that lays golden eggs," if the Republican candidate will decide to see it that way and handle the issue in a straight-forward manner. Is the hesitancy another sign that politicans just "don't get it?"

The Dems handling of energy needs for the last 15 years is a gift to Republicans much like a "goose that lays golden eggs," if the Republican candidate will decide to see it that way and handle the issue in a straight-forward manner. Is the hesitancy another sign that politicans just "don't get it?"

the last one tonight. r

It is becoming fairly obvious to me that the left wing environmental lobby is so intent on stopping global warming and every "save the planet" cause that they will let the price of oil go to $1000. if they could. As long as their money supports the liberal democrats they will try to defeat every drilling bill that might be proposed. The longer they can stifle any drilling of oil the more the alternative energy programs available become dramatized. More oil means more carbon dioxide emissions. They will NEVER agree to more drilling, no matter what it costs! All these alternatives are great and should be developed for the future, but until then we need to find a balance we can survive on.

Another byproduct of reduced competition is the now serious shortage of experienced technical personnel in the Oil Industry. Since 1986 the oil industry has done nothing but lay people off as they reach the 5 to 10 year range of experience in order to impress stock analysts by reducing salaries. College students who realized what was happening avoided petroleum engineering and geology like the plague. The deep dark secret about the oil industry compared to other extraction industries and manufacturing is that it is not labor cost intensive but the labor required is incredibily experience intensive. The industry does not have the experienced technical labor pool required to do the engineering and development required to change the current situation even if they wanted to. No Oil company CEO will admit to this becuase to do so he will have to admit that the so called cost savings of the 80's and 90's were mostly creative accounting and they sacfriced the long term prospects of the company in order to impress stock analysts who know about 1/10 of what they think they know about the Oil Industry.

Let's call this what it is -- economic terrorism by (mostly) Democrats and leftist. They should start being treated as such.

It is useful to remember that May 2001 was the point where the California energy crisis peaked. The Democrats in California were blaming everything on Republicans and especially Texans. The January 17, 2001 blackout was "Bush's fault" though he would not be inaugurated for 3 more days (a hangover from John Kerry's Christmas in Cambodia at then future-president Nixon's orders perhaps?)

And the Democrats were trying to obtain the minutes of VP Cheney's energy task force meetings.

Politicizing energy matters is their forte.

If only Bill Clinton had used the right "tools" to drill.....cigars just dont go thru bedrock

Democrats,(Libs) Chickens are coming Home to ROO-SSST!!

People should make up pictured stickers of Read, Pelosi and Schumer and place them over the THREE GRADES of gasoline at every gas station they fuel up at.

Not to worry all....we have before us one of the greatest minds (a visionary actually) before us running for president. One who can lead us to the promised land. Mr. Obama will tax those greedy oil companies to where they can just barely maintain themselves and provide no future exploration. Production - who needs it when you are not drilling? This will be great as it will protect the environment -- no drilling means you can't disturb the odd clam bed -- and the tax revenues can be used to finance ethanol. So what if this is a flawed technology and will cause food prices to spike... how can it be wrong if the Great Obama deems it to be "ok"?

With regards to those foreign countries drilling off the coast....well they will just like us better...and you know how important is our world image? Yes we will spend more on oil and the cost of living will go up....but let's face it...we are the world's biggest polluter and are just too fat. This will be good...so don't forget to vote for the "Great Leader" in November. Cheers.

Drill here, drill now, pay less!

We're all singing to the choir, here. You also need to share your feelings on this with your Congresscritters. Especially if you have the bad luck of being represented by a Democrat.

Also, consider a Letter to the Editor on the chance it might get published as, believe it or not, there are some folks out there that don't read conservative blogs and still rely on their local rag for their news. I've several neighbors who belong to that genus.

Jim Moody is right about the loss of techincal ability of the major oil companies. The majors are hemorrhaging 20-30 year engineers by the day with no replacements on the horizon. The age distribution of the engineering work force looks like an inverted bell curve with lots of new hires, a few ten to fifteen year people and, the 20-30+ year bunch that hired on in the 70's and 80's. And it's that old bunch that have been leaving in droves (myself being one). I myself retired in 2003 when my facility was sold but have since returned to work on occasion with the company as a consultant doing the same job I had before simply because they had no one available to do the work. And they still don't and from what I hear there are no prospects on the horizon for filling that need.

But there are other reasons to the out migration also. A certain company has made conscious decisions to eventually leave the natural gas processing business(and if you listen closely they want to eventually quit refining also). This company has come to ignore the likelyhood of a risk associated consequence and have chosen to view the consequence as an imminent outcome. This knee jerk reaction has lead to $10's of millions of dollars of lost net revenue to the company. The operations that were shutdown down were not unduly hazardous but because management didn't want their names associated with a so called "high risk operation" and the consequences to themselves if something went wrong, they pulled the plug on a money making (and an even bigger money maker with today's prices) operation.

Engineers see this type of behavior from management and want nothing but out. And they are taking their pensions plan payouts as lump sums because they doubt that the companies won't be around to meet their obligation.

Oh, the majors will do the big developments in the future but the cost of the mistakes in design and operation because of the lack of technical experience will be huge. Hey, I participated in the 70's and 80's boom and did my share of mistakes before I learned how to construct and operated the big facilities. I know of what I speak.

I appreciate this list and would like to use it in discussions with others. The one item that concerns me is the lack of discussion about disposal of nuclear waste.
Is there a type of fuel that France uses that is less toxic than what the US currently uses in its power plants?
How do the French dispose of the waste?
The only way to discuss this with environmentally sensitive folks is to address the issue of the waste, not the prospect of a future with an abundance of power. The holdup in the US is how to get rid of the toxic waste from the power plants.

Folks, Mr. Tate and YOU and I might know the truth: that the Dems and the radical anti-capitalist environmentalist to whom they are beholden are the ones responsible for our current crisis. But no one else who follows the liberal-run media knows it. The media will continue to point the finger at Big Oil (which in people's minds, they hope, are associated with Republicans.)

And as long as the Dems in Congress drag in CEO's for their their shameless Stalinist show trials, they will continue to deflect the blame.

This is their agenda until November and beyond. And shame on every single one of them.

http://VocalMinority.typepad.com
Jewish AND Republican?? Oy gevalt

(P.S. Hey Tony B - Rush Limbaugh proposed your idea last week on his show.)

The Democrats are the senescence gene of our USA...and, sadly, the earmark spending Republicans are no salvation. Tragic.

Dave - the French reprocess spent fuel, and have done so for many years. They also reprocess spent fuel from Japanese nuclear power reactors. Tney have the same type commerical reactors that we have - but they also have "breeder reactors" that make more fuel than is used, but reprocessing is essentially the same.

A typical commerical reactor uses uranium fuel that has been enriched from 0.7% U235 (natural levels) to about 4% to 6%. The remaining Uranium is U238. A typical fuel bundle might be 1000 lbs - and the "active portion" is Uranium Dioxide in a ceramic form. The fuel is contained in a zirconium tube. After 1 - 2 years of operations, a reactor will discharge 1/3 of the fuel and put in new fuel. The discharged fuel will sit in a "spent fuel pool" for several years, and then can be reprocessed.

The discharged (spent) fuel might have about half of the U235 used up, but a small amount of the U238 will have become Plutonium. The fuel bundle is "rended down" and perhaps 950 lbs of the 1000 lbs can be re-used and returned to a reactor - including the remaining U235, all the U238, and all of the Plutionium. (Additional plutonium might have to be mixed in to bring the fissile amount up to an adequate level.

The 50 lbs of fission products (highly radioactive) that are removed can be vitrified (embedded in glass) and buried in salt mines or other stable geologic areas. Afte 1000 years, the fission products will be less radioactive than the original uranium fuel, and while there is radiation, the levels are very very very low. In fact, the fission products eventually become stable "rare earth elements", and some day in the future, when we are trying to make exotic superconductors that function at higher temperatures (perhaps -100 degrees F, vs -300F to -400F), we will consider spent fuel products as a resource to "mine" rather than to bury!!

Reprocessing has been done safely for years, and the US should have been doing it since the 1970's - but for the actions of the idiot Jimmy Carter. We should also consider starting up "breeder reactors" so that we can reduce the fuel costs and ensure an essentially unlimited supply of fissile material for power reactors in the U.S.

You are all missing one HUGE point. Once the messiah, Obama is elected, all He will have to do is touch an ear of corn and it will become ten thousand ears of corn, a barrel of oil will become ten thousand barrels of oil. All this drilling and research is a waste of time. Just let Obama turn water into oil, after all, He is the Messiah, right?

(sorry for the sarcasm)

In every corner of the land there are enviornmentalists eager to sue at any suggestion of energy self-sufficiency. There are two proposals in the news recently for expanded oil refining capacity--both of which are met with deep pocket law suits from environmentalists.

I'm not a scientist, but it is clear if you research the nuclear issue, that at 19 grams per cubic centimeter, uranium is 19 times as dense as water, therefore, scientists say the waste of one home's energy needs for a decade can fit in a shoe-box. Also, uranium can be "re-cylced" back into the kind that goes into a reactor. Our navy has been running on nuclear for the past 40 years, so accidents are also a thing of the past. We have to get over the illogic of Meryle Streep's "China syndrome"

No one mentioned the fact that the ethanol laced gas eats up fiberglass gas tanks on Boats. Ethanol subsidies take food production out of the fields. When are we going to wake up?

Actually this is quite simple. The planet has been storing radiant energy for about a billion years. Life has absorbed energy, and buried it underground for hundreds of millions of years. That means it has taken heat away from the surface, and stored it away. Now in one hundred and fifty years we release all this heat into the atmosphere, while cutting down the forests that are able to re-capture it. Does this make sense?
No, it does not, not for the long term. Ergo, if we wish to keep the ballance we must either find way of exhausting heat out to space, or re-store the energy we release, or capture and use the energy that is added to the system by the sun, leaving the stored energy untouched.
Israeli companies are now installing 1.5 Gwatt capacities of solar enegy in the Mojave. Every square mile of desert can yield 1 GW of electricity with today's technology. Think what can be achieved tomorrow.
So let gas prices go up, so that good old American ingenuity be revved up again to find better resources than dinosaur juice.

it's easy to come up with top ten lists and whatnot but what are you doing? the dems nor the repubs will do a thing to chang oil/gas prices the oil companies own plenty of land with oil to drill but they refuse to do it. elementary penguins would know better

Water-fuel car unveiled in Japan‏
http://www.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=84561&videoChannel=74

Environmentalism,,, the new socialism or marxism whichever flavor you like.
Republicans,,, inept at counterpunching so I dont expect a coherent strategy to expose dems for their energy failure, etc. Too bad, so sad.

"Mike V" is incorrect.

Nuclear reprocessing that results in production of plutonium was stopped in the United States by a Presidential Directive issued by President Gerald Ford in October 1976. When Carter took office, he extended the ban indefinitely. While President Reagan lifted the ban, by then the economic damage had been done--reprocessing had come to a halt.

The purpose of the ban was fear of nuclear proliferation--nuclear reprocessing can be a part of producing weapons-grade plutonium. And it has long been U.S. policy, even before Ford, to discourage other nations from even thinking about using plutonium in commercial power plants for that reason.

http://www.nrdc.org/nuclear/bush/freprocessing.asp

I agree that the democrats have had a hand in this problem - ummm - but didn't President Bush have the house and senate in his pocket from 2001-2007 because of the Republican majority? Why couldn't the Republicans get anything done during that time?

Most liberals and Democrats are on government payrolls, or work in social programs that receive most of their money from taxpayers. As long as that remains the case, they will continue to advocate socialist policies and oppose market base policies in energy.

President Bush is in his current predicament because he was too short-sighted to realize that fully funding his opponents (ever since early 2001 with his massive expansion of federal education programs at the behest of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy).

President Bush fully funded the socialized medicine crowd with his Prescription Drug entitlement programs; he reversed welfare reform by singing off on bills that mandated full WIC, housing, medical, and other benefits for illegal aliens; he fully funded the EPA by refusing to rescind the last-minute Clinton regulations and power-grabbing authorizations; and he fully funded the leftist media by signing off on huge expansions in NPR and other pubic radio funding. All of this activity funded an army of political opponents who can sit on government payrolls, and advocate bigger or more government -- using the clout of their public employee unions (all of which are fully funded by oppressed, lowly taxpayers).

The proposale and programs outlined in this article are good ones. But none of them can get any traction as long as Republicans continue to foolishly fund their opponents first, and then beg for equal treatment afterwards.

Dumbocratzies!

While I would like to participate in the Democrat-bashing about energy prices, I can't help but notice that Republicans have been complicit in the whole debacle. I simply can't just pin this one on the Democrats. The problem is that over time, the difference between Democrats and Republicans has become so blurred that there is no meaningful difference. It's gone beyond a battle between Republicans and Democrats, or even between the right and the left - we're quickly descending to the point at which it a battle between right and wrong.

The real point that needs to be made, time and again is that our elected representatives and our judicial institutions have abrogated the very laws and legal processes upon which we used to rely. It is up to us, you, me, that guy over there, your spouse, all of us, to join together and oust the corrupt crowd from our courts and legislatures.

Failing to do that will result in more of the same as we have now.

Why don't more people get information like this? Why cannot this be broadcast on television/radio and other news media? Is it really true that the Dems control the press/media and are unwilling to allow the population of this country to know the truth? As for blacks voting for Obama bin Lyin, Charles Barkley, former NBA all-star and now an analyst for ESPN so succinctly put it a couple weeks back, "Blacks have been voting for Democrats for 50 years and they are still poor".

The USA never established a comprehensive national energy policy, which should have been done during the 60s. All the administrations, from then until now, let things slide. Too much compulsive behavior on the part of consumers, business people, and bureaucrats. Now the piper is being paid.

Democrats will only promote solutions that either:

A) Limit demand

B) Promote false support for increasing supply by proposing unfeasible "alternative energy" solutions. Then when those solutions become viable they'll deny their construction as well.

The goal here is to control the behavior of the public and democrats know that the more they damage our energy supply the more power they'll have in controling us.

Please give us an email of the culprits such as Polosi and Reid so that we can let them know how we feel!!!

please forward this to our so call presidental candit John McCain,he seems to be out of touch with the consertive wing of the republican party,he must have cross over to the other side, the democratic nuts.

"The majors are hemorrhaging 20-30 year engineers by the day with no replacements on the horizon."

PLenty of smart people can fill those positions. Once the demand is there, the pay will go up, and the slots will be filled. China and India turn out some great engineers, I work with them. The demand can be filled, just not at current pay.

With as complex a power structure that exists in Washington, it is laughable to lay the energy problems at the feet of one party and ignore all the shortcomings on the other side. When the Republicans had the majority they also did nothing useful. Wake up to the fact that the whole spy vs. spy mentality fostered by party bickering is useful to those in power because it distracts us from the prospect of any real change.

Who has the guts to respond to this?

Reading this article kind of reminds me of a crook who commits the same crime, until he or she is caught. Here is the evidence. You judge it & tell me if the Repub Crooks gotten caught yet?

Transcript:

Mr. HALL of New York. Madam Speaker, over the weekend, gas reached the $4 national average for the first time in our Nation's history. The majority in Congress has worked to combat these prices by advancing new energy solutions and efforts to protect consumers. The standard refrain from the oil companies and their allies is, ``We need to drill for more oil here at home.'' I would ask them, ``Who is stopping you?''

The oil company myth is that we need to open up the Arctic refuge and give the oil company a free hand to go wherever and whenever they want to chase oil. The reality, however, is that about 75 percent of the oil in the United States is on land that is already open for production, but less than one-third of that land is actually being used by the oil companies.

They are literally sitting on 10,000 permits and millions of acres of leased land that would let them start pulling more oil out of the ground here at home. So I say to the oil company advocates, start drilling for more domestic supply. Start drilling on the lands that are already open, and stop posturing while American drivers are in pain at the pump.
END

Video Transcript:

http://www.c-spanarchives.org/congress/?q=node/77531&id=8583217

I am sure Rep.Marsha Blackburn will be blame her long tail on the faulty intelligence she is receiving from web sites like this one.

Republicans blaming liberals for their screw-ups? Quel surprise!

All this is so wrong. The reason gas prices are going up is because God is mad at the US for not banning gay marriage. The flooding in Iowa, which started when California approved gays marrying, proves it. And you can blame the GOP. They stole the election of 2004 by promising to stop those gays and they didn't follow through. If only we stopped all gayness, then all our problems would go away.

Question:
Do Politicians placate to the media? If so why? The reason is public opinion. If you agree with this concept it is safe to say the people have the power and the influence, just not the vehicle to make the difference. The answer to all of our problems is staring us in the face. The Internet is the solution and no politician can stop it. Time is running out. To complete this project, we need a few developers to help complete the site. We need people who can edit video and we need a group of individuals to start out setting up the committees and the voting panels. Every human has something to offer to make the world a better place. Republicans and Democrats would have you believe they are the only ones that can make your life better. In reality it is the opposite, the power struggles, intoxicated with greed and control. It is you our so called leaders that have truly hurt this great nation. Since I was 7 all I have ever wanted to do with my life is to improve others lives. I have found when I help others it is the greatest gift I could ask for. When I explain to people what I am trying to do, I normally get a strange look. The Challenges are many, first to get anyone who cares about making a difference to listen to the idea, second explaining the entire process in application and in the perceived value to the public. With everything I am as a person, as an American, as a Christian tells me that this will work but I cannot do it alone. I need your help. We the people are the greatest resource America has, let's not waste it. I have faith in Americans to solve all the worlds' problems; I have no faith in the politicians who continues to destroy this great country. Welcome to the Age of Accountability

National Association for the Advancement of ALL People (NAAAP)

The site is the Hub for all Mankind
1 Promote the cause and display all that is great about humanity
2. Charity exchange Donate and Request- In most cases we have what we need just not where we need it.
3. International Outreach Country to Country people to people changing the world
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5. The heart of it all Biometric Voting system to inform, educate and activate humans to pass the laws that we need TODAY

We need your help - Not your money, just your passion and your time.

Gun Trash is right. Write letters to the editor and encourage others to do so. The lefties need to see they have serious competition. If you dont write they will think they have won. We need to inundate the editors with reasoned letters.

Thanks alot Pelosi and Reid. You idiots could screw up a wet dream. Can't drill here, can't drill there because it my infringe upon the rights of gay hamsters... Time to throw these nabobs out... Grow some balls America throw these idiots out this November.

God said that if man would turn from his wicked ways and seek Him, that He would heal our land and return us to prosperity. Until that happens, nothing will save the U.S.A. Enough said!

To my fellow African American voters out there.... Don't vote for the Democrats this November. They have been lying to us for the past 50 years and nothing has improved. Time to vote for Republicans to control Congress, Enough is enough with Reid, Pelosi, Clinton, Kennedy, and the rest of idiot's club.....

Prior to 1980 I attended a meeting of the Pennsylvania Electric Association where a number of papers were presented. I had a copy of one which has disappeared during a number of moves was titled : "A Clean Environment Will Not Look So Good When You Are Cold, Hungry, and Sitting In The Dark". It sure appears that this may Occurr.

If I remember correctly,during Bush's first term as President the Republicans controled the White House and the Congress. Why not do something then instead of blaming Democrats Now.It's all about money and control.

William-

Great post. I borrowed from this in my response to Rick Moran, who tries to pin the blame on "we the voters," instead of on "them, the liberals."

Good stuff.

I'm not voting this year. Partisan politics has torn this country apart. I want to return to a monarchy or kingdom.

In response to Jay's Post...It was because of the likes of the John McCains and John McCain himself that President Bush was unable to get through legislation to increase refining capacity and to open up new drilling. It was John McCain's vote that prevented the Anwar go-ahead...according to Rick Santorum. That one vote would have started the drilling. Maybe we would not be in this mess today if he had done the right thing...allowing drilling in no-man's land. Just the fact that we would have considered new drilling would have caused OPEC to produce more...as they did in the 70's...and may do right now. Think about it.

I hope that the American public is finally beginning to see that the far left is willing to sacrifice this country in order for their agendas to pass. What I'd like to know is why?

I hope that the American public is finally beginning to see that the far left is willing to sacrifice this country in order for their agendas to pass. What I'd like to know is why?

It does my heart good to read most of these posts. But, unless the uninformed masses, known as the dumb masses in some circles, read, understand and believe these reasons, we are going to loose at the polls again this Novemeber.

The GOP does a terrible job getting information out to anyone other than those of us who already have a clue. Conservatives typically do not like rustling feathers of their neighbors and co-wrokers and the education process stops with those who already understand. We conservatives are spineless when it comes to making our point with the uneducated. We need to grow a pair and fast!

You republican lemmings make me as sick as the democratic lemmings do. What has either party really done for us over the last 30 years? Face it, the only reason they point fingers at each other is because that's the easiest way to stay in power. They all work together to stay where they are, and we are the ones that suffer.

Ferd Berfall voiced it correctly: "Time to throw these nabobs out... Grow some balls America throw these idiots out this November." The thing to remember is that they ALL have to go. Dems, repubs, lobbyists, the whole lot of them.

To Matthew Dickinson I say: This is exactly what they want you to do. The less people that vote, the easier it is for them to put the wrong people in the job. If you think that you can only vote for McCain or Obama, you have forgotten that we are supposed to be living in a democracy that allows for many parties. The only "wasted" vote is a vote not placed.

I really don't care if you are conservative or liberal, if you don't like the candidate that your party puts up, find one you do like and vote for them. As long as the majority of voters refuse to use the muscle between their ears, we will continue to fall back into the monarchy that this country was founded against.

Is it true that a large proportion of oil from Alaska is shipped to Japan?
Is it also true the Japanese pay less per barrel for this oil than refineries on the US west coast?
If the government opens ANWR in Alasaka to drilling, what proportion of this oil will reach the lower 48, and how much shipped to Japan?

I am a Democrat and I agree with about 30% of this list. Unfortunately the author and many of the semi-literate posters here are being willfully intellectually dishonest.

For example #2 which accounts for 60% of the estimated over-charging of gas was caused by a bill sponsored by REPUBLICANS. The architects of this conservative stupidity work for McCain right now! Phil Graham has blocked every attempt by Dems to fix the problem and McCain is the one trying to stop reform. Clinton signed it because it was in a bill with hundreds of other riders (that's how it is done in Washington kids) and he did it over the objections of the Dems.

Now compare that to a 10% drop in prices if we drilled in Alaska. Your own facts make the case that speculation the good old American free-market way accounts for 6 times the effect on gas prices as does drilling in Alaska. Where is you sense of honesty if not your ability to work mathematics?!?!

Drill here, drill now, pay less is a bumper sticker, not an energy policy. Grow up.

PS Newt is

Above Kathy asks: "I hope that the American public is finally beginning to see that the far left is willing to sacrifice this country in order for their agendas to pass. What I'd like to know is why?"

Answer: It isn't trying to do that anymore than the Jews were trying to control Germany in 1930 or that communists in the 1950's were planning on overthrowing the government. You really need to educate yourself in other places besides this website and FOX News, before falling for biased ideas.

The Left as you call it, just sees some of the responsibilities of fixing America in terms of corporate and social responsibilities, while the Right sees them as merely personal responsibilities. That is fine, but my problem with most of the people who post at this site is that people on the right are also the first to go for monarchies and "tough leaders" who by definition would NOT be pro-personal rights and responsibilities. That is the basic, underlying contradiction at the heart of the neo-conservative Republicans right now.

I know at least half of the people who read this website must be honest thinkers. Don't fall for bumper sticker propaganda - faith, family and patriotism are too important to be misused by the Right. The Left cares JUST AS MUCH as you folks do about those things. We just believe in a few more things:
1. America is not the only valuable nation on Earth.
2. Corporate welfare is as problematic as personal welfare, both should be limited.
3. Clean air and water are as important as secure borders. If you don't believe that, why not visit parts of the old Soviet Union.
4. Authority should always be questioned and if anyone has to call themselves "fair and balanced" they probably aren't.
5. Government regulations are usually added when stupid, greedy people do bad things and hurt others - not because bureaucrats want more power. Stop excessive polluting or overfishing or using poisons in food and the regs can go away. Why blame the doctor for your bad judgement.

Just some things Rightwingers should think about.

It's time to stop blaming each other and just get something done.

Macgregor,

The Left only does stuff to reduce supply. I don't care if it's widgets or gas, it drives up gas prices. And the current awnser of paying $4.65 per gallon that Pelosi advocates doesn't work for most Americans. Considering it was only $2.50 per gallon when the Democrats took majority two years ago. Dems have done wonders on gas.
Besides, isn't it just insane not to use resources we have ample supplies of? Or I guess being vulnerable to the whim of OPEC fit's in leftist manifesto.
Everyone please just yell at your benchwarming Senator every day gas is over $2.50. It's not like they'll care otherwise.

Florida's Republican House Speaker calls McCain 'disingenuous' for linking drilling to gas prices.
Though he supports offshore drilling, Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio (R) "challenged Gov. Charlie Crist and John McCain's implication that drilling could lower gas prices anytime soon." Rubio told the Miami Herald today that Crist and McCain are making a "disingenuous" and "flawed" argument:

"For anyone to represent that someone drilling off the coast in Florida is going to lower gas prices here or anywhere in this country is disingenuous and a flawed argument," he said. "Oil drilling could take 10 years before any oil is pulled out of the ground, and there are a large number of leases held by oil companies that are not being exploited now. We can't say we need more until we've exploited those."

Macgregor, the Dems don't have a real majority... the Senate is a not controlled and Bush will veto anything that he doesn't like. Or use signing statements to ignore any law he doesn't like.

Bush has had 7+ years to be a "leader". After 9/11 he could have gotten the country to do almost anything. He chose to go to war with Iraq, rob our treasury (diverting our money to Blackwater our first mercenary army in history, KBR, Halliburton etc.).

Why did the Bush administration push and a Republican majority pass massive tax breaks ($8 billion) to the oil companies back in April 2005? Again robbing the tax payers.

House Republicans stood by the measure, which provided $8 billion in tax savings over a 10-year period to ExxonMobil et. al (corporate welfare) and providing no tax breaks for hybrid cars. It was approved by the Republican controlled committee in a 26 to 11 vote that was along party lines. This was at a time when oil was at $55 a barrel and the oil companies where making record profits!

Do remember when Paul Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld, and others in the administration arrogantly predicted the Iraq war would "pay for itself?" The U.S. is spending around a billion per week on fuel related logistics in a land that has almost 10% of the worlds oil reserves.

Wake up. Were is the fiscally conservative outrage and the demand for accountability?

I wouldn't blame democrats or republicans; I would blame congress dating back to the oil scares of the 1970's. The parties were sitting on their you know what doing very little for energy. We need to elect better officials. Unfortunately, most are the very essence of the negative connotations associated with the word "politician."

Myth 5 in the article is categorically false. Refiners are no where near full capacity, so having another refinery built won't help.

Myth 10 is false as well. Well you can get facts and figures to show different data drilling in ANWR, but at best would reduce the cost of gasoline less than a dime.
ANWR has about 11 Billion barrels. Americans use about 20 billion per day. That means ANWR has a 3 year supply if we had it all out of the ground today. However, it becomes harder and harder to extract oil (and more costly) as the reserve is sucked dry. Once you use about 50-60% of the reserve the extraction process will slow significantly. Plus the not all the oil may be light, sweet crude (what we want), So in reality ANWR is good for 2 solid years of oil supply for the U.S. That is hardly a solution.

This leads me to the point that more drilling will not do much for oil prices. Speculation on futures contracts have driven up crude prices more than anything. Clinton may have helped the cause unkowningly by opening up trading, however I think were rather certain that George and Dick would have been all for it 8 years ago. I myself invest/speculate in oil. Hey, if you can't beat 'em join 'em. I'm not rich, but I could care less if gasoline ends up at $10 per gallon (granted not good for the economy). I don't know why so many people feel as though it is there birth right to have inexpensive oil. Cut down on where you go, Move closer to work, etc.

Myth 3 on global warming is not a myth. There is plenty of evidence if it is looked at objectively. Real Basic: Burning fossil fuel creates gases such a carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide unequivable traps heat. Any basic experiment will show that. Just put two blocks of ice in a separate see-through sealed compartments of the same size outside both equidistance from the sun side-by-side. Pump x amount of carbon dioxide into one compartment. Then, pump the same amount of regular air (mainly comprised on Nitrogen and Oxygen - what we breath) into the other compartment. Everytime the ice block in the carbon dioxide chamber will melt faster. That simple experiment is more than enough to raise a few eyebrows especially when coupled with all the data from arctic and artarctica (which is too long of a topic to go into here). But basically, ice reflects sunlight more than water, so when more ice melts at the poles more sun is absorbed and it accelerates into a potential runaway greenhouse affect.

Electric and Hyrogen cars are the future. They will be affordable and practical long before the roughly 8 years it would take to extract our first drop of oil from U.S. reserves. Check out teslamotors.com and fiskerauotmotive.com. While these cars are expensive, price will come signicantly in the next half to full decade.

10 ANWR: Bush opened up the refuge and of course spills there became ecological disasters and killed millions of innocent animals. I guess the Democrats were right! McCain agrees with the Democrats and wants ANWR to be closed.

9 Coastal Drilling: This is a hot topic, but it is a ecological disaster waiting to happen. I agree that it may be necessary in the short term, but not unless gas tops $10/gallon. And the government should be putting more money into funding grants to research electric vehicles and improving mass transportation instead. Of course, all those programs were killed by Republicans in the mid-90s when oil companies started funding campaigns.

8 Ethanol: I agree that ethanol is not the answer, but saying that we shouldn't invest in alternative sources of fuel is stupidity. Besides, the "democrat controlled congress" is about 55% Democrats, right? And I believe that act passed by a lot more than that. I also remember some Democrats speaking against it. That means that a lot of Republicans voted for it too.

7 Nuclear Power: The answer is that he does need to say more. Republicans are against nuclear power too, and he didn't say that Democrats were to blame. Besides, power companies don't want to build nuclear plants because they are very expensive and with new options coming out they may not last long enough to pay for themselves. Why do you think FPL is always giving out energy rebates. Given the choice, FPL would not build a new nuclear plant any time soon.

6 Coal: The article they linked to says that "environmentalists" are against this, it doesn't say Democrats. But lets assume (safely) that only Democrats are environmentalists. Coal produces several times the pollutants that gas does to burn, and despite the claim that it would reduce our dependance on foreign oil, it would be almost as expensive and last less than 40 years. The environmental destruction would last thousands, or be permanent, and cost billions to attempt to clean up.

5a Refinery Capacity: The opposition to this is bi-partisan and mostly because of the negative health effects on the surrounding communities.

5b Floodgates: Unrelated, but I'll answer it. http://www.alternet.org/story/24871 shows that Bush is responsible. http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/01/judge_dismisses_lawsuits_again.html talks about how the army corps of engineers, though responsible, cannot be sued over this. As for why the corps is responsible, take a look at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9532037/. So the corps is responsible for having allowed them to remain unfixed, and Bush is responsible for having diverted funding that would have funded them. We'll add this to the long list of murders committed by G.W. Bush.

4 Reduced Competition: So the fact that oil companies reduced in number is Clinton's fault? That's like blaming Bush for the increase in traffic accidents on I-95 in Miami-Dade county last year... I'm sure I could find a way to blame him, but I doubt that he has any control over it. If anyone is to blame (and I don't this they are since there are still enough companies to have competition if they aren't colluding), it is the Department of Justice for not bringing antitrust suits.

3 Global Warming: This isn't a myth, it is undisputed. The dispute is over whether people are to blame or it is a natural occurance. 80% of the world agrees that either people are to blame or at least people could reduce the effects through "greener" living. 20% is living in la-la land and probably believes that G.W. Bush was sent by god and that animals that die from oil spills and soldiers that die in Iraq were sinners who deserved what they got.

2 Speculation: Although the loophole in this law is pretty stupid, the law was otherwise supposed by both parties. And the law isn't the reason that people speculate on oil. Just like speculating on corn, energy speculation happens regardless of oversight.

1 Bush's Plan: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1336960.stm (thanks to the BBC for being impartial on American politics once again) talks about how the plan was basically to destroy the world by increasing nuclear plants and allow drilling in the ANWR! Note that 2001 was year 7 of him trying to get people to take this plan seriously and even his own party didn't. The plan didn't provide for a way to dispose of nuclear waste! And of course restoring the grant programs that the Republicans cut would have been a better use of energy money.

According to Bush's own energy department for May 2008 http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/servicerpt/anwr/pdf/sroiaf(2008)03.pdf

"Additional oil production resulting from the opening of ANWR would be only a small portion of total world oil production, and would likely be offset in part by somewhat lower production outside the United States. The opening of ANWR is projected to have its largest oil price reduction impacts as follows: a reduction in low-sulfur, light crude oil prices of $0.41 per barrel (2006 dollars) in 2026 for the low oil resource case, $0.75 per barrel in 2025 for the mean oil resource case, and $1.44 per barrel in 2027 for the high oil resource case, relative to the reference case."

Meaning "little to no impact on the price at the pump, today, tomorrow or for the foreseeable future." Also this was in 2006 USD so if the dollar falls in the future than the savings is even less. At best, this would save mere pennies on a gallon of gasoline 20 years from now.

So please stop spreading the ANWR myth. If anything the almost $1 billion dollars a week the military is spending on Iraq fuel-logistics is depleting out national treasury and driving up demand. Also the oil companies are not utilizing the 68 million leased acres onshore and offshore that could be used to produce energy.

Bush has fleeced the country. His lack of leadership, his failure to dictate an energy policy after 9/11, his disastrous policy in Iraq, have all contributed to the issues we have today. Frankly as a fiscal conservative I am outraged at this administration's cutting taxes in a time of war and the total lack of oversight and accountability for the billions of dollars wasted or unaccounted in Iraq. The waste of money and resources not to mention lives.

I am also outraged at the Republicans in 2005 for giving oil companies an $8 billion dollar incentive package over 10 years when the oil companies were and are making record profits when at the same time there were no incentives for hybrid cars et. al.

We need diverse energy policy that combines wind, solar, oil/gas, and nuclear. This misinformation does not help promote a heathy discussion based on facts. I for one am open to all options as long as the pros and cons of all solutions are carefully weighed against the perceived benefits.

This constant bashing of the dems and the us vs. them attitude is juvenile. You can argue issues with both sides of the aisle and the fact that politicians seem no longer concerned with coming up with a decent compromise that will work for all Americans.

We need to all work together.

Wow...how misleading. There are so many distorted facts and omitted information in this article. For example, although #2 (Speculation) was signed into law under Bill Clinton, it was Phil Graham, a Republican senator that proposed and pushed the law, thus leading to the Enron loophole and one of the main reasons gas prices are so high now. The worst part is that Phil Graham is now McCain's economy adviser and policy writer.

Wow.... "Black Cell" what a handle. Must be one of Clancy's insiders at the NSA. Gimme a break there Rainbow 6. How about all of the law suits brought on by the enviro-nuts that keep oil exploration in the courtroom instead of the field.

Why pay for litigation when you can buy foreign oil?

Those permits are useless if you can't use them.

Yeah, that's right your 24/7 download forgot to present that side of the story.

Better stick to your Mother Earth News and High Times Magazine.

Obama should pick OJ Simpson for VP that would surly get him the JOB

Very interesting take on whose at fault for the current energy crisis. Typical to have the democrat liberals against the republican conservatives. It is also typical to have the same set of facts and information leading to opposite conclusions as to whose at fault. What is atypical in this string is the balanced view of shared culpability for the mess that we are in. The spineless democrats weigh everything to ensure that the public will sway their way while the greedy republicans move heaven and earth to ensure the wealthiest sect of our society has it easier in fiscal and social matters. But remember that the hig level democrats are just as "wealthy" as the high level republicans and the middle class to lower classes are largely unrepresented in this gaggle of who's right. What in the hell would it be like if the folks who have the most problems making ends meets had a say in the compromise. This household budget crunch that is beginning to really present some ugly CHOICES for the public in general. Diminishing travel, smaller entertainment budgets, choices of school activities, extracurriclar activities and the likes are all choices that will likely be made. While the well heeled cool theirs in relative luxury at any fuel price scenario, the mass of Americans will have to adjust to the incovenience of a diminished pursuit of happiness. The below povery line poor will simply become wards of the state as jobs that depend on the masses' spending habits become more scarce.

It is typical that the contributors to this blog don't need to care that much as we have computers and at least enough money to "keep the lights, phones and water on". If there is a casulaty in all of this it is the way of life for the average American that used to be able to pursue happiness. Diminished jobs will be our heritage while the Dems and Republicans in politics we "cheer on" are OK any way the ol' ball bounces. WAKE UP FOLKS!!! You being led to care about who wins rather that whether we all win. It simply won't get any better on the current path. We will continually fight it out as little people as the "BIG BOYS - and GIRLS" sidle up the feeding trough of our hard earned and freely given tax dollars.

the french recycle the fuel until it is almost nothing to dispose of we could do the same with nuke plants, It saves millions on disposal fees

The Republican vs. Democrat blam-game is pure crap. We're being cheated plain and simple. Refineries? "In fact, oil executives have stated that the reason they did not expand refining capacity in the 1990s is that the low profitability of the business did not justify the investment". Link: http://www.nrdc.org/air/transportation/gasprices.asp
And I agree, ethanol is pure crap. Corn=food.

We all need to contact elected officials and tell to vote for all of the above issues, or we will vote against them. The day the US lifts all goverment intervention in the energy business, the price of oil will colapse to $10-$20 per barrel.

The democratic congress is causing this, now that is rich. Gas was $1.50-1.75 in 2000, the Republicans run the entire show for the next 4-6 years, all the while prices consistently go up. The dems win in 2006, and in the next 15 months fight their way through record setting filibuster efforts by the Republicans to MAGICALLY raise the price of oil all on their own? No seriously, tell me you all were kidding with that one. You give the Dems a lot more credit than I do, and I consider myself to be one. You people are seriously disillusion.

Bob Johnson, you are a fool.

The prices have gone up since the Dems took control of congress in 2006 because the futures market recognizes that Pelosi, et. al. are determined to stop domestic production. Period.

The GOP has been promoting energy independence since the days of R. Reagan. Literate people know this. They also know that it takes a super majority in the Senate to get anything done. The GOP has never had a super majority while there was a sitting GOP president. So can you just please shut your ignorant mouth.

Thanks.

Did you know - - gasoline is about 6 cents (on average) cheaper in the red states? So much for blaming Bush for high gas prices.