Who's to blame for our high gas prices? The oil companies? The Saudis? OPEC? The answer, unfortunately, is closer to home: The "No-We-Can't" Left in Congress. Last Thursday, with oil at $124 a barrel, liberals on the Senate Appropriations committee voted to block environmentally sound development of oil shale in Colorado.
According to the Investors Business Daily there are an estimated 1 trillion barrels of oil trapped in shale in the U.S. and Canada. Retrieving just a tenth of it would quadruple our current oil reserves. But the "No-We-Can't" Left in Congress -- as they're prone to do -- said no, and Americans will pay the price. Colorado Senator Wayne Allard (R) put it best when he said: "If we are really serious about reducing pain at the pump, this is a vote that would make a difference in people's lives."
The Left just doesn't seem to get it. They spent much of last week ridiculing the President for visiting Saudi Arabia in an effort to lower oil prices. Here's what Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said on Friday:
"The president seems to value his friendship with the Saudis more than his obligation to help the American people with gas prices."
But what Senator Schumer doesn't seem to understand is that the Saudis did more last week to lower oil prices than liberals in Congress did. While liberals were voting to prevent domestic production from oil shale, the Saudis, following President Bush's visit, agreed to boost their oil output by 300,000 barrels a day. It won't fix the problem, but at least it won't make it worse, which is exactly what liberals in Congress did last week. As Americans, we all need to ask ourselves the following: Which is it -- the Congress or Saudi Arabia -- that has a greater obligation to ease our energy prices? And which is the greater obstacle to energy independence and security?
As I mentioned, the higher energy prices Americans are paying are the equivalent of a huge tax increase. One economist calculated that the price of oil rising from $80 a barrel to $100 a barrel had the same effect on Americans' pocket books as a $150 billion tax increase -- and the price of oil has risen an additional $27 since then!
So how is it that the liberals in Congress, faced with an opportunity like the one last week to lessen this burden on Americans, could reject it without a second thought?
Once again, the answer seems to boil down to three little words: "No we can't."
Here we go again! First, the things Obama is saying are eerily similar to the policies of Jimmy Carter, which brought true disaster upon the economy. Second, to remain energy dependent is truly insane, and that insanity is what the Left steadfastly clings to in the name of whatever ridiculous cause it can make up. Once again, the Left reveals its utter hypocrisy when it comes to energy, and once again Congress fails to do its job in providing the best possible opportunities for America.
When will the American people realize who the real problem is? When will the American people demand leaders with the political will to achieve energy independence from foreign nations that are passively (or actively) hostile to us? Newt sums it up this way:
Our energy and environment challenges are real. But America has the technological know-how and the entrepreneurial spirit to overcome them. And, as I pointed out last week, Americans overwhelmingly support more domestic production of energy to help ease gas prices.
We -- not the Saudis or the oil companies -- control our energy future. We just need the political will to do so.
High energy prices aren't theoretical, they have real consequences for real people. The answer, to paraphrase Ronald Reagan, isn't easy, but it's simple -- so simple it could fit on a bumper sticker:
Drill Here
Drill Now
Pay Less
That's a great slogan! I hope someone actually makes an actual bumper sticker out of it soon! We need a little less insanity in America these days.
There's my two cents.
No comments:
Post a Comment