The Path to Retaking the House?
I don’t know whether this idea is enough but it’s worth thinking about. Here’s what a commenter said that I think is worth considering:
This is the issue that saves the day for Republicans. The entire Republican Congressional and Senate delegations should assemble on the steps of the Capitol under a banner that reads “Republicans- The Party That Wants To Drill For Oil”. There should be an Energy Contract With America that includes the end to ethanol tariffs, building nuclear power plants, converting coal into gasoline and building new refineries. This will all take time, of course, but we should dump the enviro-nuts and start NOW!
With people extremely upset with high oil prices, people are looking for a comprehensive solution. They know that alternative energy isn’t the only thing that’s needed. They also know that conservation alone isn’t the solution. It’s my strong belief that people understand that we also need to increase our production of domestic oil. The best shortterm solution to energy prices is drilling domestically for oil. It isn’t subject to the production preferences of the Saudis, Venezuelans and Russians. It’s entirely within our control. Powerline has a great post up about the oil executives’ testimony. This should be the wake up call to Republicans. Here’s testimony that will wake people up fast:
John Lowe pointed out:
I cannot overemphasize the access issue. Access to resources is severely restricted in the United States and abroad, and the American oil industry must compete with national oil companies who are often much larger and have the support of their governments.
We can only compete directly for 7 percent of the world’s available reserves while about 75 percent is completely controlled by national oil companies and is not accessible.
BINGO!!! Here’s what John Hofmeister said in his testimony:
Senator Sessions, I agree, it is not a free market.
According to the Department of the Interior, 62 percent of all on-shore federal lands are off limits to oil and gas developments, with restrictions applying to 92 percent of all federal lands. We have an outer continental shelf moratorium on the Atlantic Ocean, an outer continental shelf moratorium on the Pacific Ocean, an outer continental shelf moratorium on the eastern Gulf of Mexico, congressional bans on on-shore oil and gas activities in specific areas of the Rockies and Alaska, and even a congressional ban on doing an analysis of the resource potential for oil and gas in the Atlantic, Pacific and eastern Gulf of Mexico.
The Argonne National Laboratory did a report in 2004 that identified 40 specific federal policy areas that halt, limit, delay or restrict natural gas projects. I urge you to review it. It is a long list. If I may, I offer it today if you would like to include it in the record.
When many of these policies were implemented, oil was selling in the single digits, not the triple digits we see now. The cumulative effect of these policies has been to discourage U.S. investment and send U.S. companies outside the United States to produce new supplies.
As a result, U.S. production has declined so much that nearly 60 percent of daily consumption comes from foreign sources.
Based on Democrats’ statements yesterday, there isn’t proof that they think that the principles of supply and demand doing apply to oil prices. It’s almost as if they think that oil prices should come down just by them talking about it.
Frankly, people are fed up with high oil prices. Anyone offering a plan that includes increasing production will be seen positively. The Democrats’ plan is too focused on conservation and alternative energy products. It’s hostile to the oil and coal industries. People don’t like oil executives because blue collar types don’t like executives of any industry. We shouldn’t confuse that with them not agreeing with increasing oil production.
If Republicans were to run on an agenda of increasing oil production and national security, I’d bet they wouldn’t be headed for electoral defeat. I’d bet that they could do better than expected, much better than expected.
Technorati Tags: NRCC, Oil Production, Saudi Arabia, Oil Executives, Pat Leahy, Jeff Sessions, Judiciary Committee, Election 2008
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog
May 22nd, 2008 at 4:49 pm
For the Republicans, taking the House is unlikely.
Speaker Pelosi and her Congress are very unpopular, but it is unlikely they can sink even further.