Blue State Congress, Voters, Responsible for High Gas Prices

RPC on the Money
[Click on images to enlarge them.]



One great subject, two great Red Planet Cartoons.

The subject: why the Dem-controlled Congress' posturing on the environment is costing every energy-user in the USA more money.

RPC starts with the cartoon above and adds some interesting notes from Investor's Business Daily:

Uncle Sam bans states from drilling in the Atlantic, Pacific and eastern Gulf mainly to protect the environment. Some 85% of the U.S. coastline is off-limits to energy production — including huge reserves off Florida’s coast, which China is exploiting in Cuban waters.

To change that, a lawmaker is offering a novel idea. Rep. Sue Myrick of the House Energy and Commerce panel wants to let coastal states decide whether drilling is environmentally risky. She has introduced a bill that would give coastal states that want offshore drilling the power to opt out of the Interior Department’s offshore restrictions…

One dirty little secret about high gas prices: states collect more sales tax the higher the price goes.

While motorists fume over the skyrocketing cost of gasoline, state officials say the extra sales tax revenue from high prices at the pump is proving to be a boon as California faces an $8 billion budget deficit. And lawmakers are likely to tussle in coming weeks over how to spend the unexpected revenue.

If gasoline go to $8 a gallon, California's state coffers will be flush.

The editors at National Review have also wondered why Congress is driving the price up with their restrictive drilling policies.

A decrease in demand is one natural market response to rising gas prices. The other natural response — an increase in supply — has not been as forthcoming, and the price of oil continues to rise even though Americans are driving less. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is partly to blame for this market recalcitrance; the international oil cartel manipulates supply in order keep oil prices high. But if members of Congress really want to mitigate the effects of high oil prices as much as they claim they do, they could start by letting oil companies bring America’s vast untapped supplies to market.

Of course, the Dem Congress will do no such thing unless the market--and their constituents--bring them, kicking and screaming, to economic reality.

RPC includes a link for readers to sign Newt Gingrich's petition to Congress to allow more drilling in the U.S.



Red Planet's latest cartoon, reproduced above, is entitled, "Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less". The piece is packed with chunky, informative link goodness.

Again, IBD leads the charge:

It’s now a cliche: fat-cat oilmen control our destiny by holding back supplies, letting prices soar, then pocketing the profits. But if any fat cats are to blame for the energy crisis, it’s those on Capitol Hill.

Funny how so few, especially our friends in the mainstream media, seem to notice Congress is the culprit. When it’s not stopping the development of the energy resources we need, it’s busy demonizing the very entities — such as the oil companies — that can go get them…

That oil has surged to $130 a barrel is no surprise: The supply is shrinking. Yet, Congress refuses to let our oil companies tap the massive assets that lie offshore and under our mountains — reserves that dwarf what we have today.

That's it in the nutshell.

Few things are more pathetically clownish than listening to Congressmen/women poseurs whine to oil company executives about high gas prices--while Congress itself is responsible for the policies responsible.

But ultimately, the voters which send these buffoons to Washington, DC, are responsible. They won't change their electoral ways until their representatives drive the price of oil up so high it forces them to face the market's harsh realities. $13 a gallon gasoline might make liberal voters a bit more conservative in their economic politics.

So, here's a toast to $13 dollar a gallon gasoline in the blue states of America, especially California.

by Mondoreb
images:
* Red Planet Cartoons
* Gateway Pundit



Source:
* Strangling Supply
* Dems Mock Bush-- Vow No New Drilling or Nuclear Plants!!
* Drill Here. Drill Now. Pay Less.
* Drill Coast Haste
* Drill Already!
* Crude Scapegoats
* Gas prices drive up sales tax revenue in state