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Sunday, March 25, 2012

Why Can't Somebody Tell The Truth??

There is no question the price of gasoline is increasing!  I just paid over $60 to fill my own small car.  Every 1 cent increase in the price of gasoline takes $1 Billion out of the economy that could otherwise be spent to bolster the sales of small businesses so they could hire new employees.
So we can agree, the price of gasoline is important, but the question is what are the politicians in Washington doing about it.

First, the Democrats.  Obama has increased the mileage goals that new cars must meet, and that is is a good thing.  But at the same time, he keeps giving money to companies like Solyandra (and another one that never gets mentioned in the news) so $1 BILLION is wasted.  He just doesn't seem capable of learning that governments CANNOT pick winners.

 Now for some actual facts:  First, the Republicans continue to blame Obama for the increased prices while they know damn well prices are set in world markets and the current run up is the result of Wall Street speculators.  But here is the real problemPetroleum is a fixed quantity, as in they Ain't Making It Anymore.  But finding what is there is a different question.  For a decade, or more, there has been a controversy in the oil business around a concept called "Peak Oil".  What that means is that all the oil that is going to be discovered has been discovered and all future finds will be smaller and more expensive to achieve.  But the counter argument is that improved technology will let us find petroleum from new sources.  A good example is the new technology that allows for "fracking" which is opening up huge new gas and oil fields.

Second, the Republicans.  Paul Ryan (the mentally challenged, self appointed guru of the Republican party) has just introduced a new bill that would eliminate federal subsidies for alternative energy companies, and that is a good thing.  But he also wants to remove all funding from energy research and that is stupid beyond belief!!  That is killing the golden goose.

Why can't anybody tell the truth anymore?  Is there something in the Water in Washington that makes politicians utterly stupid?  Anybody have any ideas?

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