How to explain that voters will not only tolerate drilling off America's shores and in our shale, but actually demand it?
According to Demo-blog What's Required, the reason is that voters are (a) wrong because they are (b) stupid:
First: while the public does indeed favor expanded domestic drilling, there are two forces at work here that can’t be discounted before the GOP uses a new data point as an excuse to keep the economy thriving for the top half of 1% of us. First: we have an angry electorate. That means they’re more ready to lie to pollsters than ever before, act completely out of character in the voting booth, and generally be as hard to govern as a sack of cats. They’re not telling you that you have to drill, really–they’re telling you that the percentage of their income that is spent getting from point a to point b has to go down. Do it with drilling, do it with electric cars, do it with flying carpets, but get it done, and now (and we will point out that electric cars would get it done BEFORE drilling). Second: the American public, even if they’re not being overspecific like they are here, can be really, really [expletive deleted] wrong.
Good thing we have enlightened, progressive intellectuals to set us straight.
More is at play than our differences on energy policy. It is an axiom of liberalism that the common man is stupid. This is especially true of poor people; it's why liberals think they are poor. This sense of elitism causes "progressives" to tie all sorts of strings to government entitlement, because they don't trust the poor dumb people to make wise choices as to how to spend the taxpayers' money without guidance from bureaucrats. (The bureaucrats, in turn need guidance from the Demo-blogs.)
Conservatives, in contrast, believe that most people are smart enough to act in their self-interest and make good decisions. (And to the extent they don't, they should not be rewarded with even more government entitlements.) That's why we believe that American inventors and entrepreneurs can make our country energy independent in the long run -- but only if government gets out of the way.
Showing posts with label ANWR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ANWR. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
GOP vs. Dem. Response to Gas Prices
The two political parties confront $4 a gallon gas and respond with distinctly different attitudes. The parties can't even agree on whether high gas prices are good or bad.
For Barack Obama, rising gas prices are not such a bad thing -- because they force ignorant consumers to finally become green. He just wishes the increase had been more "gradual."
Republicans, in contrast, watch gas prices skyrocket, realize that this hurts individuals and our economy, and therefore try to formulate policy that will lower prices. Consequently, Republicans persist with the shocking notion that perhaps energy independence begins at home, by extracting the coal and the oil with which our country has been so richly blessed.
Democrats mock the idea that drilling in Alaska or off our coasts can reduce gas prices. They complain that it would take eight years for the oil to reach the gas pump, which coincidentally, is about how long ago Bill Clinton vetoed the necessary legislation. In any event, given that today's oil price reflects the futures market, even an announcement that we will begin drilling in Alaska would lower the price of gas today; estimates range between fifty cents to a dollar a gallon.
Rather than looking for energy in an oil or coal field, Democrats cry for blood from the supposed Robber Barons of the oil industry: sock 'em with windfall profit taxes. We've seen this movie before. Jimmy Carter tried it during our last energy crisis and it didn't work.
On this point, John McCain is correct: Obama is running for the second term of Jimmy Carter's failed administration.
And to get that second term, it's in Democrats' interests that oil prices remain high and voters remain mad. (Ironically, it was just that sort of voter anger that forced Carter out of office.)
Just as Democrats had an interest in the surge not working in Iraq, they have a distinct electoral interest in gas prices increasing up to the election. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell addressed their conflict of interest head on.
"Washington Democrats have repeatedly refused to allow increased energy production here at home — even though, as we all know, increased supply leads to lower prices. It’s as if they are doing everything in their power to keep gas prices from going down,” McConnell said.
For Barack Obama, rising gas prices are not such a bad thing -- because they force ignorant consumers to finally become green. He just wishes the increase had been more "gradual."
Republicans, in contrast, watch gas prices skyrocket, realize that this hurts individuals and our economy, and therefore try to formulate policy that will lower prices. Consequently, Republicans persist with the shocking notion that perhaps energy independence begins at home, by extracting the coal and the oil with which our country has been so richly blessed.
Democrats mock the idea that drilling in Alaska or off our coasts can reduce gas prices. They complain that it would take eight years for the oil to reach the gas pump, which coincidentally, is about how long ago Bill Clinton vetoed the necessary legislation. In any event, given that today's oil price reflects the futures market, even an announcement that we will begin drilling in Alaska would lower the price of gas today; estimates range between fifty cents to a dollar a gallon.
Rather than looking for energy in an oil or coal field, Democrats cry for blood from the supposed Robber Barons of the oil industry: sock 'em with windfall profit taxes. We've seen this movie before. Jimmy Carter tried it during our last energy crisis and it didn't work.
On this point, John McCain is correct: Obama is running for the second term of Jimmy Carter's failed administration.
And to get that second term, it's in Democrats' interests that oil prices remain high and voters remain mad. (Ironically, it was just that sort of voter anger that forced Carter out of office.)
Just as Democrats had an interest in the surge not working in Iraq, they have a distinct electoral interest in gas prices increasing up to the election. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell addressed their conflict of interest head on.
"Washington Democrats have repeatedly refused to allow increased energy production here at home — even though, as we all know, increased supply leads to lower prices. It’s as if they are doing everything in their power to keep gas prices from going down,” McConnell said.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Thank Chuck Schumer For Pricey Gas
For every 20 gallons of gas we buy, New York Senator Chuck Schumer is complicit in raising the price ten dollars, according to George Will.
When President George Bush travelled to Saudi Arabia last month, Schumer imperiously demanded that we halt all arms sales to Saudi Arabia until that country increases oil production by one million barrels a day. Such an increase, Schumer said, would cause the price of gas to drop by fifty cents a gallon almost immediately.
Although it's reassuring that Schumer understands that prices drop when supply increases, his choice of how to increase supply is misguided. Schumer (and many other Democrats) continue to oppose drilling in Alaska and off America's coasts -- even though China and Cuba drill closer to U.S. shores than our government allows our own companies.
That one million barrels daily of increased oil production that Schumer wants from the Saudis could be flowing from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, had Bill Clinton not vetoed production there in 1995. Now Democrats like Schumer have the nerve to complain that even drilling in Alaska won't help matters because of the time lag between sinking the first drill and refining the first gallon of gas.
We are the third largest oil producer in the world, behind the Saudis and the Russians; why aren't we tapping those resources with which we've been so abundantly blessed?
Schumer makes demands of other countries to increase production, and yet he prevents us from buying American under the guise of environmentalism. This, even though foreign countries drill 60 miles from the Florida coast. Schumer's underlying assumption appears to be that the Chinese will be better stewards of our coastlines than will American companies.
Will tells those New Yorkers who elected Schumer that they are getting the gas prices they deserve, as a direct result of his voting record. "Also disqualified from complaining are all voters who sent to Washington senators and representatives who have voted to keep ANWR's oil in the ground and who voted to put 85 percent of America's offshore territory off-limits to drilling," according to Will.
Kentuckians, in contrast, have elected U.S. Senators who understand that we must explore, extract and refine as much of our own energy as possible. That includes converting coal to clean liquid fuels -- an industry that can increase energy independence, and provide jobs and tax revenue for Kentucky. This is an area in which Kentucky can lead not only our country but the world.
Democrats like to talk about conservation, and decreasing demand is certainly part of the equation. Here's the beauty of the marketplace: consumers are smart enough to change their buying habits when prices increase sufficiently. As a result, last month the sales for SUVs plummeted 34 percent -- about the same amount that sales for small, fuel-efficient cars increased. Consumers don't need the incentives of tax breaks or the threat of regulation to do what is in their own self-interest. Schumer forgets that the American consumer is smart enough to make a wise choice without him dictating the result.
Americans are also creative and tenacious enough to solve the technological problems that we confront as we seek to become energy independent. Our country pioneered the auto industry; we can lead the way in clean and efficient energy technology as well. The research and development that is required, however, won't happen if we punish companies for doing well by slapping them with "windfall taxes." It's in the oil companies' interest to invest in R&D; they don't need an edict from Chuck Schumer any more than the American consumer does.
The Chuck Schumer effect: a ten dollar surcharge for every 20 gallons of gas we buy. We could honk or give a one-finger salute when we fill up, but it would be more productive to just sign Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell's petition that Congress address all three legs of the stool with an energy policy that encourages not only conservation but exploration and innovation.
When President George Bush travelled to Saudi Arabia last month, Schumer imperiously demanded that we halt all arms sales to Saudi Arabia until that country increases oil production by one million barrels a day. Such an increase, Schumer said, would cause the price of gas to drop by fifty cents a gallon almost immediately.
Although it's reassuring that Schumer understands that prices drop when supply increases, his choice of how to increase supply is misguided. Schumer (and many other Democrats) continue to oppose drilling in Alaska and off America's coasts -- even though China and Cuba drill closer to U.S. shores than our government allows our own companies.
That one million barrels daily of increased oil production that Schumer wants from the Saudis could be flowing from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, had Bill Clinton not vetoed production there in 1995. Now Democrats like Schumer have the nerve to complain that even drilling in Alaska won't help matters because of the time lag between sinking the first drill and refining the first gallon of gas.
We are the third largest oil producer in the world, behind the Saudis and the Russians; why aren't we tapping those resources with which we've been so abundantly blessed?
Schumer makes demands of other countries to increase production, and yet he prevents us from buying American under the guise of environmentalism. This, even though foreign countries drill 60 miles from the Florida coast. Schumer's underlying assumption appears to be that the Chinese will be better stewards of our coastlines than will American companies.
Will tells those New Yorkers who elected Schumer that they are getting the gas prices they deserve, as a direct result of his voting record. "Also disqualified from complaining are all voters who sent to Washington senators and representatives who have voted to keep ANWR's oil in the ground and who voted to put 85 percent of America's offshore territory off-limits to drilling," according to Will.
Kentuckians, in contrast, have elected U.S. Senators who understand that we must explore, extract and refine as much of our own energy as possible. That includes converting coal to clean liquid fuels -- an industry that can increase energy independence, and provide jobs and tax revenue for Kentucky. This is an area in which Kentucky can lead not only our country but the world.
Democrats like to talk about conservation, and decreasing demand is certainly part of the equation. Here's the beauty of the marketplace: consumers are smart enough to change their buying habits when prices increase sufficiently. As a result, last month the sales for SUVs plummeted 34 percent -- about the same amount that sales for small, fuel-efficient cars increased. Consumers don't need the incentives of tax breaks or the threat of regulation to do what is in their own self-interest. Schumer forgets that the American consumer is smart enough to make a wise choice without him dictating the result.
Americans are also creative and tenacious enough to solve the technological problems that we confront as we seek to become energy independent. Our country pioneered the auto industry; we can lead the way in clean and efficient energy technology as well. The research and development that is required, however, won't happen if we punish companies for doing well by slapping them with "windfall taxes." It's in the oil companies' interest to invest in R&D; they don't need an edict from Chuck Schumer any more than the American consumer does.
The Chuck Schumer effect: a ten dollar surcharge for every 20 gallons of gas we buy. We could honk or give a one-finger salute when we fill up, but it would be more productive to just sign Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell's petition that Congress address all three legs of the stool with an energy policy that encourages not only conservation but exploration and innovation.
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