ABOUT OIL & POLITICS

Every time we have an oil “crisis” you can count on the politicians and the pundits to spout off, look for scapegoats, take the “populist” line and try to distract the public from who is really at fault for high gas prices. Most of the news shows will cater to the politically motivated, the ignorant and the misinformed, especially if their views serve the liberal agenda. Two issues concerning energy are particularly widespread in the media these days.

One “argument de jour” is that the oil, companies have “millions of acres” that they can drill on so its nonsense to open up more. This argument strictly caters to the uninformed “greenies” and is so phony it’s almost laughable. Anyone who knows anything at all about the oil business knows how expensive it is to drill for oil, especially in the ocean. Nobody in his or her right mind is going to sink a well if the chance of finding oil is “marginal.” When the government leases acreage and ocean area for drilling it includes a lot that is not suitable but the oil companies must bid on ALL of it, along with the part that might be suitable. Until seismic and other high technology exploration is done, the prospects for that territory are not known so the oil companies are “stuck” with a lot of land that is not suitable for drilling. They could drill in my back yard too but the chance of finding oil there is nil. The politicians know this but they insult the public intelligence by prattling this hogwash filled argument. Our suggestion is, if you hear a politician spouting this view; don’t vote for him or her. They are telling you that you are too stupid to figure it out and who wants that kind of politician in office!

Another is that “speculators” are driving the price of oil up? Well, that’s more hogwash! There will always be people who speculate in markets and bet one way or another on whether a marketable commodity will go up or down but the idea that they “control” the price is ridiculous and every professional trader knows that. To try to control a market is economically stupid and financially dangerous for those who try to do it. Do we want to destroy our free market system because of a populist mythology being spread by those who advocate government control of everything? We think not! What controls the price is availability and PERCEIVED availability. When some Iranian nutcase talks about wiping out Israel or when Nigerian radicals actually do blow up a pipeline or when the nitwit dictator of Venezuela threatens to disrupt oil supply why don’t we consider all of them to be “speculators.” Those are the real “speculators” we should be “spiking” and not the producers and those who trade in the free market.

The answer to our energy problems is to ENCOURAGE PRODUCTION not to tax it, ration it, stop it, discourage it and listen to misguided liberal politicians promoting a socialist agenda. Free markets will eventually “deal” with the speculators. They always have, when allowed to. Under Ronald Reagan's Presidency, even bankrupt Communist regimes embraced the free market philosophy. They found that free markets were a much better tool to build personal and national wealth than the old socialist style controls. It's too bad that the Democrat Party seems to have lost its way! Any attempt by politicians to control free markets will end up with scarcity, rationing and, eventually much higher prices! Only the "chosen few" will have a decent standard of living and the rest of the population will be "rationed" into REAL poverty (Not the "perceived" kind we hear all the whining about). How many times must we keep learning the lesson? If we want to bring prices down at the pump, America’s leaders need to send a message to the world that we mean business about becoming energy self reliant. While we are doing that, we and our friends, will develop ways to remove us from dependence on the America-haters around the world. We can do this but to make it happen we need common sense leadership that believes in American values. Maybe high energy prices will finally show people that they need to support and vote for those who believe in free markets. Policies that bring a bright future to America, whether it be in energy independence or anything else, will not be found among tax and spend Democrats who support socialist liberal politicians. Neither will it be found among tax and spend Republicans who fail to provide real leadership and who pander to special interest money. Maybe we have to experience real hardship and depravity before we finally see the light. Let's hope not!