The Spin Never Ends
It’s insulting enough when Speaker Pelosi tells the American people that the House passed pro drilling legislation. It only took a visit to the IER website to expose the gimmicks in the bill that look like drilling provisions but aren’t. Now she’s saying that Pelosi’s Democrats “took strong action to curb excessive speculation” in the marketplace. If this exaggerating continues, I expect her to eventually say that she’s able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.
This week, the Democratic-Led Congress has taken serious and comprehensive steps to ensure American energy independence and help consumers with the price at the pump.
Earlier this week, we passed comprehensive energy legislation to put us on the path toward energy independence by expanding domestic supply, protect consumers with strong action to lower the costs of energy and to protect taxpayers by making Big Oil pay for its fair share of our transition to a clean, renewable energy future, ensure a clean, green future through energy efficiency and conservation, and commit America to renewable energy and help create millions of good-paying green jobs.
Today, we have built on that accomplishment with another critical step to protect consumers and lower energy costs. Experts have testified before Congress that excessive speculation in the oil markets may be responsible for inflating oil prices by as much as $20 to $60 more per barrel. With the legislation passed today, we have taken strong action to curb excessive speculation in the energy futures markets, and make the market work for the consumer.
The American people have been clear: it is time for an oil change. The Democratic-led Congress has responded by taking our country in a New Direction.
I’d bet that King’s students could explain that supply shortages are the driving force behind most speculation. I’ll also bet that those same students will tell you that speculation dries up the minute supply outstrips demand of whatever commodity they’ve been speculating on.
Considering those facts, I’d like to hear how Pelosi’s Democrats have done anything about speculation. For that matter, I’m wondering if she’s able to explain what they’ve done anything to increase America’s oil supply. I know how the president of IER explained it:
For months now, energy prices have been draining the budgets of American families while Congress just keeps talking and talking. Instead of crafting legislation that removes government barriers to increased domestic energy production, policymakers have accomplished nothing. America needs more American crude oil, but Washington just keeps peddling snake oil.
The beneficiary of this critical failure is OPEC. The leading energy proposals in Washington will lead to higher prices, additional tax burdens for American families, and even greater dependence on imports from unstable foreign regimes. None of these measures will grow the size of American energy supplies, but they will surely grow the size of government bureaucracy.
In addition to issuing that statement, Mr. Pyle highlighted these specific points:
The proposal passed by the House yesterday:
- Bans access to the largest and most accessible offshore energy reserves, and only allows oil and gas exploration in areas that are expensive to access and contain relatively little resources.
- Fails to open new, energy rich areas for exploration and development in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.
- Perpetuates, indeed legislates, the myth that oil companies sit on expensive oil leases instead of developing them.
- Opens the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska to exploration but not the nearby ANWR.
- Provides half-measures to allow exploration of oil shale reserves (our largest hydrocarbon resource) by increasing roadblocks to the experimentation necessary move economic production ahead.
- Increases oil prices through increased taxes on oil companies while lavishing subsidies and tax breaks on expensive, inefficient energy sources.
If Ms. Pelosi keeps insulting the American people like this, she’ll soon find herself in a smaller, less prestigious, office.I dfy Ms. Pelosi to refute a single thing found on IER’s summary of the legislation that they just passed. Better yet, I’ll offer this bet with Ms. Pelosi. For everything she’s able to refute, I’ll pay her $5,000 with the stipulation that she gives me $5,000 for each time that IER’s research refutes one of her claims.
It’s time that conservatives and common sense people of all political persuasions joined together to strip Ms. Pelosi of her agenda-setting powers. We can’t afford someone so owned by the special interests to be setting the agenda on the most important issues of the day.
Technorati Tags: Gas Crisis, Nancy Pelosi, Speculators, Legislation, Insitute for Energy Research, OCS, ANWR, OPEC, Election 2008
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog