The Politics of Oil

Well.  An entry about politics.  :)  Here we go...

Hillary Rodham Clinton (henceforth referred to as HRC) and Barack Obama (henceforth referred to as BHO (because 'BO' makes it sound like he's got body odour)) are on differing sides about the same question.

HRC is touting suspending the petrol tax for the summer driving season.  She's also for having the oil companies pay for the tax, in order that they reign in their record profits.  In theory, that sounds like a good idea.  It would save people some money that they could use for other things ... like groceries, rent, etcetera.  BHO is with John McCain (henceforth referred to as JM) in opposing this idea.

I do like some of HRC's ideas, but she's wrong about this ... in my opinion.  Here's why:

Suspending the petrol tax is about $.18 on the US dollar.  It can be more or less in some areas.  The government uses these monies to build, maintain and repair roads and bridges.  Suspending this tax would deprive the government of some of these monies, and it is possible that some repair projects could face funding problems.

Another reason that this is a bad idea is that BHO is correct when he said that the oil companies would simply raise prices, like they did in Illinois.  Seriously.  The oil companies would raise their price, thereby offsetting the savings from the tax.  The oil companies would make more money ... hence more profit.  Oops. 

I don't know how many people reading this entry (assuming that anybody actually IS) were around during the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo.  A very well-written description can be found here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Oil_Embargo for those that weren't.

I, however, was.  I remember my father and my mother sitting in our vehicle waiting to get petrol.  And it wasn't pretty.  Yes, some fist-fights DID break out.  Harsh words were exchanged.  (I do need to point out right here that my father never participated in the fights or the exchange of words.  None of us did.)

What does that have to do with this?  Simple.  We need to end our dependency on oil.  I've written this before, so it's not new.  Also, after the Embargo, we as a Nation looked at alternatives to oil.  But it didn't last long, and the smell of sweet crude and dollar signs made the industry complacent.

Could the Embargo happen again?  It certainly could.  And at some point, it probably will.  Only this time, we'll have let it happen by not exploring alternatives.  And I don't mean drilling in ANWR, I mean getting off of oil.  IT CAN BE DONE.

But BHO and JM are correct in that this is a bad idea.  I'd go further and call it a cheap political stunt.

I'm in no way suggesting that I'm in favour of higher taxes.  I believe that we're already overtaxed.  But this idea is a bad one...a very bad one.  It deprives the government of monies it needs to maintain the roadways, and does nothing to solve the long-term problem.  And making the oil industry answer to Congressional hearings?  I've not forgotten that they have ALREADY had their hearings in the past over the price of petrol.  We've already been down this road, HRC.  It didn't do any good because the politicians (that's you, by the way) and the oil industry decided it shouldn't.  Now here we are again.  Same problem.

Perhaps HRC will come back later in the campaign and say she 'misspoke' or was taken 'out of context.'  How many times have we heard THAT line during this campaign ... from ALL parties?  As I've already written, it's come to the point where I wouldn't believe ANY politician, no matter WHAT they said. 

We need to get off of oil.  It really is that simple.