Dems To President Bush On New Drilling: Take A Hike!
By Ross Balano, Midwest Voices columnist 2008
Today President Bush, speaking in the Rose Garden, put forth a four-point plan to lower gas prices but predictably the Democrats basically told him (and us) to take a hike.
The president’s speech was way overdue but his four point plan was right on! It reminded me of my own four point plan as set forth in the Midwest Voices column of The Star on May 5th of this year, genius!
The president encouraged the Democratic- controlled Congress to lift restrictions on drilling in ANWAR, the Gulf of Mexico and the Continental Shelf and to allow drilling for shale oil in the Dakotas and other places.
I know that it would take time to get to this oil and bring it to market but just the fact that we are taking action will result in lower oil prices in the near term. The latest Rasmussen poll shows that 67% of Americans favor more drilling.
The Democratic reply was basically that the only places they will allow new drilling are in our (yours and mine) pockets. It will take increased supply to bring the price of gas down and Democrats have not come up with one idea that will result in one additional gallon of gas.
The president then went on to ask for new refineries in this country. He asked for congress to speed up the approval process. It is worth repeating that there hasn’t been a new refinery built in this country on over 30 years. One has been recently, although tentatively, approved but construction hasn’t started yet.
Some Democrats now want to nationalize this country’s refineries. Can you say Hugo Chavez? Is that what we want in this country?
Finally Bush asked for increased use of nuclear power and the building of new plants. This is a highly productive way to generate electricity and is non-polluting.
I would like to have seen Bush add a bonus for new technology as well; say something like a $5 billion prize for the viable alternative to the internal combustion engine that would burn an abundant and non-polluting fuel yet would be priced so that the average person could afford to buy one. We’re nowhere near having such technology in the near future however, so for now we need more oil.
The Star should print a list of all running for office in the fall and it should detail who favors more drilling and who doesn’t. It’s something we all need to consider when voting.
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This is a winning issue for Republicans everywhere! Get on board candidates if you want to have a chance at winning this Fall.
June 19th, 2008 at 5:50 amWe need to come up with a way to frame future drilling in America as “Green Drilling.” Since the buzz-word “green” seems to give so many mindless individuals instant hard-ons, it would be wise to incorporate it into drilling efforts.
June 19th, 2008 at 6:29 amThe fact that our industrial complex is not socialized and is not funded by a single source (the government), we do not have the constraint of funding (or the speed of funding). Individual companies can carry out different tasks with their own funding, so while some companies drill other companies will be researching the replacement for oil. If the government was running the oil industry, there would be drilling when Republicans ran things with little going to research and vise-versa when Dems ran things. The American people cannot afford that and deserve better. There is no affordable and widely adopted alternative for oil (right) now and there is no guarantee that any potential alternative will be fully available before our economy gets crushed completely. The only logical way to last until an alternative is fully available is to drill, drill and drill some more. What is the worst that can happen, we have an oil surplus?
June 19th, 2008 at 8:11 amThe doofus dems and environmental wackos say no domestic production and the oil companies have too much money. But they won’t let the oil companies invest some of that money in domestic production. In addition, for the leases they already have on land and all the money they have to drill, environmental restrictions and Sierra Club lawsuits keep them from doing so.
June 19th, 2008 at 8:42 amIf anybody cares to call the capital switchboard and give Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi a message to drill, start clean coal now, build new refineries, # is 1-202-224-3121. Another dem that says prices won’t change for 10 years after we start drilling is congressman Nick Rayhall. As soon as we mention the start of all this production the markets will adjust to positive future outlook . Opec may worry about competition and drop prices.
June 19th, 2008 at 8:44 am