Unfit To Lead On Oil

Unfit To Lead On Oil


By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Tuesday, September 02, 2008 4:20 PM PT

Congress: If anyone still thinks Democrats can provide leadership on the No. 1 issue of the day — energy — then Harry Reid's remarks to their party's convention last week should dispel the notion for good.


Last month's invasion by Russia of neighboring Georgia showed the utter bankruptcy of the Democrats' energy policies. With its attack, Russia seized control of the main non-Russian pipeline from the energy-rich Caspian to Europe, giving it a stranglehold over nearly a third of Europe's energy supplies.

So what do the Democrats have to do with this?

Plenty. By refusing to let companies drill for energy on U.S. soil and pursuing policies that keep oil prices above $100 a barrel, the Democratic Congress, in effect, is helping Russia to finance its aggression against Europe — a kind of Marshall Plan in reverse.

Yet, listening to Reid, you'd never suspect this was the case.

Start with his defense of Jimmy Carter as an energy prophet who "proposed real solutions — conservation, fuel efficiency and alternative fuels — to what he correctly named the 'moral equivalent of war.' " Remember soaring oil prices? Gas lines? Rationing? Russia's invasion of Afghanistan? If so, you know Carter lost his "war."

The Senate's Democratic leader also lamented "an era of oil industry dominance" that began in 1980. Funny, but oil prices plunged 60% during Reagan's time in office. That's "dominance"?

Nevada's Reid then claims President Bush slept as "oil shortages worsened, oil prices soared and dollars by the ton were delivered to terrorists' banks in Iran, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela."

Wrong. That's what Congress did — refusing to drill for more oil as petrotyrants like Putin threaten America's national security and its allies. It's a shameful, dishonest policy.

"The simple fact," Reid stumbles on, "is that the promise of more oil isn't part of the solution; it's part of the problem."

Actually, the "simple fact" is more oil is the solution. Private and government estimates all agree oil will make up 75% to 80% of our energy needs for the next 50 years at least. To refuse to drill for the 136 billion barrels we have available borders on criminal.

More oil means lower prices. If we can get oil down to $80 a barrel or so it will work like a huge tax cut, especially for the poor who've been hit hardest by the Democrats' failed energy policies. Lower oil prices will stimulate the economy, weaken inflation and make us and our allies around the world more secure.

Reid's poisonous words do nothing to move the country forward. But they do give voters an idea of what's to come if Democrats keep Congress and win the White House.

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