More Gas From Washington

Evidently the Republicans are all atwitter (not the internet kind) about the high price of gas. They view this as a great opportunity issue to pummel the Democrats with in the 2012 elections. I guess the obvious conclusion to reach from current high gas prices is that in just two years the Democrats have created the conditions that produced high gas prices. How unfortunately for us! Had the last election worked out the other way, no doubt the price of gas now would be more to the public’s liking. Isn’t it wonderful that America’s present economic tribulations are a godsend issue to a political party!

The Democrats are of course not blameless for the mess we find ourselves in, but not because they are the party that caused the mess. No, just like the Republicans they have failed to define or to deliver any effective or pragmatic approach to leading America toward the perpetually promised “energy independence”. I never tire of hearing the politicians tell us how they are going to save us from the ultimate doom that our addiction to foreign oil will drive us to. What would we do without them for satire?

So is the intelligent thing to turn to the Republicans because they want to reduce governmental policies that drive up the price of oil? You know, expand domestic oil production including encouraging more off-shore drilling. That would reduce the price of gas, if we don’t have to pay for another disastrous oil spill; and if, and this is a really big if, the oil companies and speculators don’t just keep the price high because that is what the world market will bear. The Republicans also want to do more of everything, more nuclear, more solar, more wind, more everything. Well they’ve got the wind part down. What has been holding them back for so long? Yes, politics is a salient factor; but more than anything else the most significant reason neither Democrats nor Republicans have succeeded is that they don’t know what to do. They just know how to promise a rosy day, if you just elect them. Then they go off and do the things that they are really interested in: forcing their views and ideologies upon everyone else.

So in the end we will return to the big question: Is the American public really so ill-informed and unaware about why gas prices are so high that they will fall for yet another pack of prevaricating politicians’ puffery? The answer will be provided shortly, see the 2012 election results.