Pandering to morons

It seems that Chuck (the rat) Schumer is at it again attempting to gain popularity among America’s less than salient citizens. This time the Senator from New York, who makes Wyle E. Coyote seem like an amateur plotter, wants to investigate Big Oil Companies because he’s sure they’re ripping off hard-working American consumers at the gas pump.

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At a press conference held yesterday at a Buffalo-area Sunoco station, Schumer called for the Federal Trade Commission to look into price fixing by US crude oil refiners, whom he accuses of keeping the gasoline supply artificially low in order to charge more. At one point Schumer referred to “big, fat oil companies” unfairly profiting, claiming that in January the margin on a gallon of gas was 42¢, while this month it’s up to 80¢. Schumer noted that the price of crude has been declining. “If the free market system was really working, gas prices would go up and down at the same rate. The numbers just don’t add up.” Well they do, Senator if one uses the right math. The price of crude could drop to the 1986 level of $10.00 per barrel today and the price of gas would definitely not decline at the same rate, simply because there isn’t enough refining capacity in the United States. And who’s responsible for that lack of refining capacity? Glad you asked because the answer takes us back to the Democrats, the party of Mr. Schumer. Since 1976 there hasn’t been one new refinery built anywhere in the US, meaning that refining capacity has more or less remained constant, while demand has increased logarithmically. And the reason that no new refineries have been built in the US is that the environmental lobby and their pet dogs, the Democrats, have steadfastly opposed such developments, citing concerns about the environment. But sticking closely to the Democrats’ playbook of never letting a crisis go to waste, Schumer is attempting to garner brownie points by attempting to reassign blame for high gasoline prices. And of course many Americans are buying Schumer’s spiel because those “big, fat oil companies” are making too much money by gouging innocent consumers. To say that Schumer’s claims are disingenuous is to understate the underlying dishonesty. The current “crisis” in gasoline prices is one that’s in the Democrats’ best interest to perpetuate because it aligns with their strategy of fostering class envy among Americans, who can conveniently blame the rich for their own economic woes. For years the Democrats have been intransigent in their opposition to drill for oil in any of the places where oil is easily obtained. Be it the oil reserves in Alaska’s ANWR, or those beneath the Dakotas or those off any US coast, the answer is always the same: “NO!” In addition, their “NO!” is bolstered by the rationalization that drilling now won’t solve the problems we face today, as it would take the better part of a decade to actually bring the oil to market. This is the argument that started back in the 1970s and has been raging for the better part of 40 years. Yet if the Democrats had really had America’s best interest at heart, instead of their own, we wouldn’t be buying our crude oil from such unsavory sources as Saudi Arabia or Venezuela; we’d be using our own. And so it is with refining capacity. Schumer and his ilk will be fighting tooth and nail to keep any new oil refineries from opening anywhere within the US, either through legislative initiatives or through the Environmental Protection Agency, should legislation not work. After all, if the US were to be self sufficient in providing its own crude oil and have the capacity to refine enough to keep prices low, who would be around to take the blame for the Democrats’ poor energy policies?