I recently posted a blog called “Hey Obama – Lift the Ban!”. Before I hit the Publish key, I was already hearing, in my head, my liberal friends quoting Barack’s arguments about drilling offshore:
“It won’t produce oil for 10 years or more” and “Even if we drill, it won’t affect the price of gas much”. However, like most of Obama’s positions on the global warming, the success of the surge, capital gains taxes, etc., you have to conclude either his judgement is poor or he’s not telling the truth to American voters.
For example, let’s take his argument that “drilling offshore may not produce oil until 2030″ or 20 years from now. The fact is some areas off the coast of Florida, in the Gulf of Mexico (where there is existing infrastructure), can start producing oil in about two years. In addition, oil futures trade on trends and announcing that the US will finally start dumping millions barrels of oil per day on the world market in a few years will push the price down, significantly. Even though we have only 3% of the world’s reserves, we can have a big impact on the price if we can just increase the world supply enough that it is a couple million barrels per day more than current world demand (currently about 86 mil bbls/day). I know this is a little complex but a presidential candidate in 2008 should be all over this. Why doesn’t Obama understand this? I think he does understand so my next question is, why is he lying to American voters?
He also says that, even if the ban is lifted, it will “not have any effect on gas prices”. Well, there are about 86 billion barrels of oil in the Outer Continental Shelf and 14 billion in ANWR and the promise of billions more once drilling starts. That may yield a couple million barrels per day. Democrats in Congress recently passed H.R. 6022, sponsored by my own Peter Welch (D-VT). It required Bush to stop buying 70,000 barrels/day for the SPR. Democrats proudly proclaimed that this “may reduce gas prices 5 to 24 cents per gallon”. All Senate Democrats, including Obama, voted for that bill. If 70,000 barrels a day will reduce gas prices by about 15 cents per gallon, does he really believe a couple million extra barrels of US oil won’t affect the price of gas at all?
Of course not! Obama knows drilling will lower gas prices significantly, perhaps $2 per gallon, so the question is why is he lying to us? Perhaps he wants us to suffer so much we’ll vote for “Change”? That sounds dreadful. Maybe he just wants the price of gas to stay up high enough, and long enough, for alternative energy sources to become competitive? That seems more likely. Why doesn’t he come out and say that? Because if he did, no one would vote for him and winning this election is very important to Obama.
Personally, I’d rather have cheap gas and cheap food again and Obama can go back to the Senate.
1 response so far ↓
jeff roensch // August 5, 2008 at 8:08 pm
The only energy or oil monopoly in this country is a governmental institutionalized monopoly on our country energy market. The legislative branch has been engaging in anti-competitive energy practices from drilling to building new refineries and much more. They are in clear violation of the
“Sherman Antitrust Act
This Act expresses our national commitment to a free market economy in which competition free from private and governmental restraints leads to the best results for consumers.” http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/contact/newcase.htm#file
Clearly the governmental restraint are in violation of a free market economy and is criminal negligence on the part of the liberal politicians who are the real cartel that profit in taxes more then 3 to 1 to the oil companies that actually work for their money and then have to pay taxes on top of that. So when Oil profits go up the tax revenue increase is 3 times that of the oil companies. So who do you think is the real cartel???
This criminal incompetence of the democrats and legislative politicians anti free market energy economy in allowing American companies to meet American Oil needs is in need of change and with bush opening up offshore drilling it is time that we conservatives take a page from the left wing play book and for us to us the judicial system in upholding our laws and open up drilling.
Why dose the Senate call for investigations on big oil? Because they are trying to transfer the blame off of them by placing the blame on someone else. By placing the blame on the oil companies and keep people from seeing that government is the true problem they are able to offer false hope in an effort to gain more power and money from taxes while eliminating a free market economy in our country and forcing us to send our money to unfriendly Middle Eastern countries.
Why should we drill?
1) Create more high paying jobs for Americans
2) Become energy independent and stop sending $700 billion to middle eastern countries that support terrorism
3) Invest the $700 billion in America
4) $700 billion is 6% of the yearly US economy, and investing this in America would do what to our economy? Lower inflation and strengthen the US dollar?
5) Instantly drop the price of oil because oil Speculators like me would invest in commodity producers that provide the product like Exxon, Chevron, BP, Shell, because this is the smart investment. When Oil Speculators transfer investments the Oil price falls on the stock market.