So you think the politicians are pushing the Offshore Drilling idea because it is something that will make the price of gas go down? I guess you also believed that in the 2004 election, that this Administration was going to do something about Gay Marriage? The reality of what this Offshore drilling talk as ONLY about is a hot button issue to get people to vote a certain way. After they are in office do you think anyone is going to be so stupid as to drill for oil off the coasts of California or Florida? It is not going to happen!



You have to understand that the price of oil is all about the market. India, China, Thailand, Malaysia are coming on-line and using more and more petroleum everyday increasing market demand and decreasing available supplies. Drilling off-shore is not going to change that. Just for argument sake, let's say we start drilling for domestic oil. OK, we get more oil. The price of oil is based on the global market pricing. Do you think that if we had a local surplus of oil, which by the way is never going to happen no matter how many holes we put in the ground, that the oil companies are not going to sell that surplus to the highest bidder no matter where that could be?! Of course they will They are a company in business to make money. Will it bring down the price of oil to do more drilling? Of course not. It just allows the oil companies to get more oil to sell and make more money. Now you have Florida and California beaches that have a nice film of escaped oil on them. So much for the tourism economies of these two states!

It is just not going to happen! These guys are just pushing people's buttons to get them to do something that is actually against their better interests. It reminds me of when I was back in grade school. The class Smartelic would mess with the kids that were easily upset over petty little things that aren't true or don't? really matter. We are supposed to be grown up now. Let's act like it. Wouldn't it be better if there was more talk about important issues like getting out of Iraq, taking care of Guantanamo, and getting a handle on the mortgage crisis?

What should we do with oil companies windfall profits and tax breaks? Since these companies have sweet heart deals with the U.S. Government to get their tax breaks, we need to renegotiate these deals so that if they want the tax breaks, they have to give back as well. Whenever they have windfall profits, they should be required to use that money to do research and development into alternative energy resources.

So when it comes time to vote, please remember what you read here and understand the truth of the matter. This is a ?hot button? issue and that is all it is. Please vote for what is good for YOU. This issue has everything to do with Oil companies and their profits. Not your profit!

Addition comments on this subject can be found at the NY Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/19/opinion/19thu1.html

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