With Congress on Summer Break, Some Old-Fashioned Political Theater Over Oil Drilling

Democratic Agenda

The Democrats trying to rationaly defend a no oil drilling policy has no basis in reality. Every barrel of oil that hits the market exerts a downward push on price.

The environmentalists scream about ecological disaster with every effort to develop our own resources, yet the disasters never seem to happen that they cry about and one's that aren't forseen, such as the Exxon Valdez, in the long run the damage seems pretty weak and heals fast. I don't see a hue & cry from the media for them to account for screaming "fire" in a crowded room...

The only concern for democrats that I see is to have a perpetually poor or struggling class of americans that are angry, with the democrats pointing to "villians" in the republican party that are "responsable" for their fate.

If there were no struggling families in america, the deomocratic party would be finished. Does anybody really believe that the democrats want a good thing for them to end? Do you really think they honestly "feel your pain", to quote from ex president Clinton?

The idealogially of the far left (Obama) and the rest of his "turn the other cheek" crowd would just wreck this country. Were not a socialist country but a Republic. We need a national energy policy not held hostage to each states selfishness and a huge construction effort to build many nuculear plants to power the future instead of wasting valuable hydrocarbons to generate electric power.

On the other hand, the only way I see to fix federal politics in this country would be term limits on the congress and senate but the politicians have been sucessful in beating that threat to their way of life via the courts.

Once a politician is in office for years on end and it becomes an "occupation", the corruption starts in my opinion. Their ALL for sale to the highest bidder.

The only hope were left with is to pick the lesser of two evils on voting day and hope that some of the crumbs they can't stuff into their pockets go along with our personal beliefs.

As a vet, I'll probably vote McCain/Palin this time, at least they both have gone against their own parties wishes and seem to put the United States intrests in front of their own. McCain is a vet and Palin has a son in service. How many in high office have sons/daughters in uniform? Very few I wager.

Magical thinking about oil

The magical thinking that prevails regarding oil supplies amazes me. I remember seeing drilling rigs in Illinois in 1980, and learning later that 30,000 wells had been drilled in the US that year, and yet Saudi Arabia was capable of producing 9-10 million barrels per day from 700 wells. The US now produces about 5-6 million bbl/day from 500,000 or more wells. Get it? The [cheap] oil is about gone. The US imports 2/3rds of its supply, the rate of discoveries in the US peaked in the 1930s, and globally in the 1960s. If that line of reasoning does not convince, the try this: 2.5 billion Indians and Chinese will say that the US is not entitled to 1/4th of the world's oil -- or at least what there is left of it. Blaming liberals, or environmentalists, or Dick Cheney and the evil oil companies, or the Saudis, or the tooth fairy will not change these facts. To paraphrase James Howard Kunstler's trenchant critique of the decisions Americans have made, "We've just witnessed the greatest misallocation of resources in human history: the suburbanization of the US."

Oil Companies Bribe Legislators

Everyone in Congress who voices favor for "drill here, drill now" does so because he or she has been persuaded by "campaign contributions" from corporate lobbyists. Despite the fact that there will be ABSOLUTELY NO BENEFIT to the people of the USA (excluding oil company execs), but MASSIVE ENVIRONMENTAL DEVASTATION just like every other place where oil companies operate, we still have legislators supporting the land-grab.

How can they pretend to represent their constituents' interests when they are backing policies which will hasten global warming and worsen the economic disaster? How can any of them pretend that any Republican anywhere, particularly a corporate tool like Gingrich, has a shred of credibility left? How can they even entertain the notion that this is anything but another brazen rip-off by the Cheney-Bush Gang and their corporate masters?

Easy! They were paid off! This country will have useless offshore drilling legislation crammed down its throat by the crooks in the oil industry and their paid Congressional puppets just because the oil execs want to be sure they can rob us blind, dump carcinogenic sludge into our drinking water, and exterminate any/all wildlife whenever the whim strikes them without any legal repercussions (they bought the Supreme Court, too, just to make sure of that).

Corporatists bribe Congress and get whatever they want. Taxpayers pay and pay, only to be stabbed in the back by their supposed representatives. Republicans are always eager to nationalize the debts accumulated by corporatist failures, and privatize any profits for the exclusive use of their sponsors and themselves.

Time to reverse the flow: nationalize the US oil & gas industry, and seize the money and property accumulated by the corporatist crooks. Make all legislators taking "campaign contributions" from corporate lobbyists pay all of that bribe money into the treasury. "Drill here, drill now" is nothing but a swindle which will neither increase supply nor lower prices in our lifetime. Write your Congress-people and tell them we're tired of being cheated and robbed by the Republicans and their corporate owners.

BABYSITTING PELOSI

We can't have that in our white house now can we? She's fired ! I can do that because I am one of those people she is supposed to serve. I am the Boss !

First, just replace her.

For what reason? Taking impeachment off the table. Not because I want to see Bush and Cheney impeached, but because she had no business doing that.

By the way Bush does need to be impeached for all the laws he has broken. We don't live in some communist country. If you boys up on capitol hill cannot do the job then get the hell out !

Second - We don't need congress's permission to do a damned thing in this country. And we don't need nancy pelosi's permission, or the epa (they are not elected officials) . If those oil boys want to go and drill just go and get it. It is ours to take after all.

NOW YOU ALL GET THE HELL OUT OF OUR WAY, GO PLAY GOLF OR SCREW SOME HOAR, OR WHATEVER. TAKE A VACATION AND TELL THOSE OIL BOYS THEY HAVE ONLY TO GO AND GET THE JOB DONE. GEEZ IT'S NOT ALL THAT HARD !

BY THE WAY THAT EMAIL LINK DOES NOT WORK. NOW YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO DO.

WHAT IS A DEMOCRAT?

BY THE WAY. JUST BECAUSE PELOSI IS A SO-CALLED LIBERAL OR SOCIALIST DOESN'T MEAN THAT ALL DEMOCRATS ARE EVEN TUNED TO HER WAVELENGTH.

YOU ARE AMERECANS, NOT SHEEP.

THE SOCIALIST-ENVIRONMENTAL DEMOCRAT TALKING POINT.

TO FATESIDER OF CA.

IF YOU ARE FROM L.A.THEN YOU DESERVE TONY VILLAR. IF YOU ARE FROM S.F., THE CITY OF FRUITS AND NUTS, THEN YOU DESERVE NEUSOME.

YOUR ARGUEMENT IS STRAIGHT OUT OF THE DEMOCRAT PLAY BOOK.

I HAVE ALREADY RECEIVED IT FROM FEINSTEIN.

YOUR #I IS NOT TRUE. EVEN THE THREAT OF DRILLING FOR NEW OIL BY THE U.S. WILL SEND A MESSAGE TO BOTH OPEC AND TO THE WALLSTREET SPECULATORS. THE PRICES WILL CONTINUE TO DROP.

#2 WE ALL KNOW THAT THE DEMAND FOR OIL WILL INCREASE. HOWEVER, THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE CURRENT RIP-OFF.

#3 IS JUST A REPEAT OF # 1 AND # 2 ABOVE.

#4 IS ONE REASON FOR YOUR #5

#5 SEE #4

PERHAPS ONE DAY AN EARTHQUAKE WILL DUMP L.A. AND S.F. INTO THE PACIFIC OCEAN AND THE LEFT COAST WILL BE RIGHT AGAIN!

# 6 SEE #1 ALSO, WHY NOT DRILL NOW AND DEVELOP ALTERNATE FUELS AS WELL?

The Bush legacy to oil companies

Despite Daisy's assertion that Bush isn't an 'oil man', both he and Cheney have deep and abiding ties to the oil industry and both men, or their families, will profit handsomely should the US lift it's drilling ban on protected areas.

1. No amount of oil drilled now or in the future will help offset prices without a HUGE reduction in demand.

2. Demand is expected to grow by 10% or more per year - indefinitely. (That's doubled the current rate of demand in only 10 years).

3. Oil is a finite resource. It will run out. Based on that alone, prices can only go up, even if it's as cheap to drill for and refine as it once was - and it isn't.

4. The costs of getting the oil that's left out of the ground increases each time as the quality of the oil decreases (increasing refining costs) and the difficulty of extracting it increases.

5. The oil companies have done nothing with millions of acres of lands already permitted for drilling and exploration. Why add more in sensitive areas until those areas are exploited?

6. No matter how fast permits are issued, drilling will not reach a commercial level for at least 5-10 years, and refining capacity is still the same, leaving the oil sitting around or, more likely, being sold at a profit to other nations. (Companies are in the business of making money, not being nationalistic). This means no change, and more likely higher prices at the pump every year.

Unless new technologies come along that makes demand for oil moot, the price of a gallon of gas will only increase. Opening the protected areas to drilling makes no economic sense when that money could be used for researching, developing and distributing renewable energy instead. It's more economically sound to invest in energy sources that won't run out in less than a century. It's also economically sound to do that investing NOW, when prices of gas are moderately high rather than cripplingly high in an economy rendered stagnant or depressed because the average person can't afford to drive to work.

The ONLY thing drilling in protected areas will do is put more money in the pockets of oil companies and their investors. And since trickle-down economics doesn't really work, that does nothing for the average American.

Two Oil Men in the White House

The media continues to refer to Bush and Cheney as oil men. Hardly. Bush also owned the Texas Rangers, but that doesn't mean he can hit a major league curve ball. Cheney was a short term figurehead for Halliburton recruited to help develop better business leads in the middle east.

If they are oil men, they are clueless as to the real drivers of the business.