To John McCain - some more unsolicited advice
Well my friend, in your effort to appear relaxed, non-confrontational and appealing to those of us seriously concerned with the outrageous rise in gas prices, you spoke to Matt Lauer over at the Today Show and said some things that really do not help the conversation. All morning I listened to the various talk shows playing your comments and then blasting you for siding with the Democrats in beating up on "Big Oil." Now lets face it. You are right when you say this is a supply and demand problem. Prices go up when there is a greater demand than available supply. But is it really Big OIL who is controlling the speculation on the futures market? I do not think so. and you are right to raise the question of the competence of the federal government to interfere with the market.
But comments about "sharing profits" amounts to giving cover for Obama's line about further taxing of the oil companies.
Lets go back to the reality. The U.S. needs a steady and reasonably priced supply of oil to fuel our economy. we can drill within the U.S. and along the shores if Congress would allow it. So Congress is a part of the problem.
We also need to be able to refine the product and make it usable. That means we need to build more refineries. Again Congress and the government bureaucracies are in the way. In our own Arizona, a refinery in the southwest part of the state near Yuma could be a major help to the entire western state region. Mexico would be delighted to send their crude to us and we could ship it right back at a profit. This project would create jobs along the border and improve relations with our neighbor to the south. Tapping the reserves that we have in the U.S. would slow down the speculators and stabilize the barrel price. It is also a matter of national security. The U.S. cannot afford to have its economic power held hostage to speculators on hte futures market. The military and the transportation arms of our economy must have ready access to fuel.
There is also another issue at play. If families are spending more money to put fuel in their vehicles, then that means less saving, less spending on durable goods and less discretionary spending in an economy that unfortunately relies too much on consumer spending. Reducing the price of gas at the pump helps the transportation sector as well as mom and dad. Providing more output allows the market to stabilize.
Now liberals are delighted to seethe price go up. They like to control people's movement and hate the automobile because it allows us all independence. They want the population to depend on mass transit. The liberals are not your friends. They are not the friends of the poor, the working class and the middle class. Gore will complain about global warming ands then use his private jet to travel at his leisure. He is part of that elite class of citizens who "know best."
Remember that it is the every day people who make this country work. $4.00/gallon for gas is not acceptable.
You want to be president. I want you to be president as well. Here is an opportunity to lead this nation. We all remember the 1970s and the gas crisis. That was not a pretty time. We can do something. America is looking for leadership. America needs leadership.
"Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country. "
But comments about "sharing profits" amounts to giving cover for Obama's line about further taxing of the oil companies.
Lets go back to the reality. The U.S. needs a steady and reasonably priced supply of oil to fuel our economy. we can drill within the U.S. and along the shores if Congress would allow it. So Congress is a part of the problem.
We also need to be able to refine the product and make it usable. That means we need to build more refineries. Again Congress and the government bureaucracies are in the way. In our own Arizona, a refinery in the southwest part of the state near Yuma could be a major help to the entire western state region. Mexico would be delighted to send their crude to us and we could ship it right back at a profit. This project would create jobs along the border and improve relations with our neighbor to the south. Tapping the reserves that we have in the U.S. would slow down the speculators and stabilize the barrel price. It is also a matter of national security. The U.S. cannot afford to have its economic power held hostage to speculators on hte futures market. The military and the transportation arms of our economy must have ready access to fuel.
There is also another issue at play. If families are spending more money to put fuel in their vehicles, then that means less saving, less spending on durable goods and less discretionary spending in an economy that unfortunately relies too much on consumer spending. Reducing the price of gas at the pump helps the transportation sector as well as mom and dad. Providing more output allows the market to stabilize.
Now liberals are delighted to seethe price go up. They like to control people's movement and hate the automobile because it allows us all independence. They want the population to depend on mass transit. The liberals are not your friends. They are not the friends of the poor, the working class and the middle class. Gore will complain about global warming ands then use his private jet to travel at his leisure. He is part of that elite class of citizens who "know best."
Remember that it is the every day people who make this country work. $4.00/gallon for gas is not acceptable.
You want to be president. I want you to be president as well. Here is an opportunity to lead this nation. We all remember the 1970s and the gas crisis. That was not a pretty time. We can do something. America is looking for leadership. America needs leadership.
"Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country. "
posted by Jakubczyk on Life | 11:51 AM
