Here's an article about DEMS obstruction to drilling... How come no one is talking about that? Read it & weep. I rest my case when I say DEMS don't think we pay enough for anything. We just thirst for more control & more of OUR money. They want to bring inflation up to what it is in Europe. Sad...very sad...

DRILL, & SAVE, NOW ...


Funny how quickly $4-a-gallon gas can smoke out hypocrites - as last week's Pew Research poll, citing a dramatic spike in the share of Americans demanding more energy sources and less environmental protection, shows.

The nation, it seems, now favors developing new sources over "saving the planet" by a hefty 3-2 margin.

And get this: The biggest shift came among - yep! - liberals.

Seems sanctimonious tree-huggers and caribou-coddlers have their price: $4 gas.

The percentage of those on the left who see energy expansion as the bigger priority more than doubled, from 22 to 45 percent, in just the past four months.

We wonder how many tree-huggers will reach for their chainsaws if gas hits $5 or higher. (At six bucks, it'll be every caribou for himself up in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.)

Meanwhile, Democratic pols like New York Sen. Chuck Schumer continue to pooh-pooh new domestic oil drilling - claiming it won't bring prices down anytime soon, because it takes too long to bring newfound supplies to the market.

They couldn't be more wrong.

As Reagan-era economic advisor Martin Feldstein noted last week in a Wall Street Journal oped, "We Can Lower Oil Prices Now," you don't need more oil on the market today to nudge down prices today.

All that's required (to simplify his point) is for oil producers to expect more oil (or less demand) at some point in the future.

That in itself, he says, may be enough to trigger a price plunge immediately.

Indeed, any steps to boost supplies, such as easing the offshore-drilling ban, can lower prices right away.

Why is that?

Think about it: More oil (or less demand) down the road will surely push future prices down - reducing incentives for producers, like Saudi Arabia, to keep their black gold in the ground.

If prices are going to keep soaring, after all, it may make sense to wait and collect more later. But if prices are expected to dip, or rise only slightly, why not sell now? Indeed, in that case, it's smart to unload the stuff fast - and park the proceeds in something with a better return.

It's Business 101.

Congress, it turns out, does have the power to push oil prices down right now. So much for Schumer & Co.'s claim that there's no point in tapping ANWR because it'd be years before that oil began to flow.

Alas, no number of rebuttals - or actual facts - will change some Democrats' minds. They're just not interested in lower oil prices - not if some caribou is inconvenienced.

Dems are welcome to their priorities, even if it goes against those of more and more Americans - even liberals.

But they're absolutely wrong to claim that efforts to boost domestic oil production can't bring prices down soon.

It can. As Feldstein points out, Americans won't have to wait five or 10 years; they can see immediate relief.

Fact is, there's a high price to pay for left-wing enviro-wackiness: higher oil costs and $4-plus per gallon gas.

Too bad Dems will never admit it.


http://www.nypost.com/seven/07062008/postopinion/editorials/drill___save__now_____118666.htm

.. or you could steal gas.

I do believe you found that idea funny in a previous thread.

I'm one of the "libs" you love to bash, and I have no environmental opposition to drilling in ANWR. However, the whole drilling debate clouds the issue of getting off oil. Short-term, we need the oil, but mid to long term, lets make sure we're the world leader in the development of alternative energy. We put a man on the moon in less than a decade upon the appeal of a young president. How fast could we get off oil if we spent some of our grandchildren's resources (Nat'l debt now at 9.479 TRILLION) on alt-energy instead of death and destruction in Iraq? We spend 720M a day on war in Iraq. That would sure buy alot of solar panels and wind turbines...

I agree with you too. I think long term we should drill now & use technology long term, but if the govt. drags its foot like they are doing with putting up the fence along the border we will be paying for a loooooong time.

I'm certainly not for nuclear power but I could go for solar energy.