[SP01715]

Originally Posted by mtml427

I don't consider myself a liberal but the idea that conservatives or liberals have much do with the current gas prices is nonsense (in my opinion). This gets down to supply and demand with the underlying policy of make as much as you can regardless of the ramifications. There are no new refineries because more supply would decrease the cost of oil products. There is no new technology on board to help solve our dependency problems because of the lobbyists who lobby against changing the status-quo. Oil companies are making record profits because there is no hesitation about s......ing you or me. The irony may be that their greed will come back to haunt them because of the straggle they have placed on our economy. Oil should be considered a necessary resource barred from commodity trading. Over 50% of the cost of oil is due to investor speculation. It is not entirely what the companies are being charged by foreign suppliers. One other oxymoron is the idea that Iraq is being allowed to keep all of the profits from their oil while we lose our trooops (or our children) and incurr huge debt being purchased by the Chinese which translates to a less valuable dollar.

Liberals have blocked the building of new refineries for years. Liberals have blocked the building of new nuclear plants for years. Liberals have consistantly required different fuel blends that cost more money to make (MTBE etc...) and usually are found to have problems and then the blend is changed again. Liberals have blocked the drilling of oil in Alaska and off the coast of California. Liberals have blocked to building of wind farms that would help to conserve oil (Ted Kennedy) because they would be built near their mansions. I could go on but I think you get my point. Other than that I agree with the rest of your statement.