Congress' Energy Quagmire

I usually avoid the word "quagmire" because those on the left use it way too much. There were Democratic party senators, using the term the week BEFORE we entered Iraq (technically it means "soft miry land that shakes or yields under the foot" kind of like the land under the bridge leading off of Chappaquiddick Island).

There is no better way to describe the Democratic Party controlled Congress, than the word quagmire, especially when it comes to energy policy. Instead of looking for a ladder out of the deep energy hole the US congress is looking for scapegoats. "Tax the Oil companies," the "CEOs make too much money," it is simply childish. I have a 13-year-old at home who blames his sister for everything, I am very proud because if he doesn't mature, one day he TOO can be in Congress.

Taxing the oil companies will do nothing except raise oil prices. And if you think that CEOs make too much, well, they deserve it, their companies are having great years. I don't see congress investigating Barry Zito of the SF Giants because he is making $14.5 Million. If there ever was a windfall profit its a pitcher making that kind of money, who gives up almost six runs per game.
The Fact is there is anywhere from 18-95 BILLION Barrels of oil underneath our continental shelf. There is almost 7 TRILLION Barrels of Oil in the shale under the Rocky Mountains (to be fare, with present technology we can only get to around 800 billion barrels of it. (source) Today America Consumes about 20 Million Barrels/day approximately 7.5 million of which we get domestically. My math tells me, using the minimum numbers (18+800 Billion- t0 95 to 7,000) divided by 20 million, divided by 365 days, the US has an import free Oil reserve of 112 -972 YEARS. Or putting it another way, if we started drilling now, the NY Jets might win another Super Bowl before we run out.

I agree with both parties, we cannot rely solely on drilling to get our way out of the crisis. We must find alternate ways of providing energy. We MUST use nuclear fuel. Senator Obama thinks that McCain's 300 Million dollar prize for battery technology is a cheap ploy. It is. It is also a great incentive for a company to spend money on developing battery technology.

What Senator Obama and his Democratic Congress keeps forgetting is that we have a Capitalist economy it is truly easy to direct. Just like a plant grows toward the nourishing sunlight, businesses grow toward profit. The way to develop alternate sources of energy is to provide the incentive for corporate America to grow that way. Congress' only other role is to get the roadblocks out of the way so the corporations can do their jobs.

America needs development of our own energy resources and incentive to find new ways to provide energy, but the Democratic congress is stuck in the "soft miry land" of a quagmire. The only way to get out of it is to vote the Democrats out of Office.