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4/22/2008
Dang it Rep. Kagen. Get your darned facts straight
Rep. Kagen is at it again – complaining about high gas prices. I suppose it’s the thing to do – to show your constituents you feel their pain. But dang it. Kagen’s rhetoric is so hypocritical and disingenuous I can’t stand it.
Congressman Steve Kagen, M.D. again urged the President to take immediate action to reduce high gas prices. Speaking at The Little Gas and Convenience Store in Green Bay, Kagen repeated his request to the President to increase gasoline supplies by suspending purchases of oil for the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).
"Mr. President, it is time to act. Record high prices for gas and diesel fuels are crippling our economy, taking our hard earned money and putting it into bank accounts of Big Oil companies and market speculators," said Kagen. "The President must take immediate action to provide immediate relief for small businesses and ordinary people who are fighting to keep their heads above water.”
After Kagen’s last press release (March 21) complaining about high gas prices, I took him to task – something all of us must consider when this kind of prevaricating comes forward. Please read the article. It incorporates these critical insights from the Heritage Foundation.
…. an Energy Information Administration study found that the impact on prices of filling the SPR is trivial. But what is particularly striking is that every sponsor of [suspending SPR purchases] is also an opponent of expanding access to domestic oil reserves, which contain far more oil than the amount at issue here. For example, a small portion of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) is believed by the U.S. Geological Survey to contain 10 billion barrels of oil…. …. So another 100,000 barrels a day not going into the SPR can provide relief at the pump, but a million new barrels from ANWR and millions more elsewhere are an inconsequential drop in the bucket. Only in Washington.
We in America can do this. Expand access to domestic oil reserves – and yes, especially to be noted on this Earth Day, expand those reserves while protecting our precious environment. As I wrote in my earlier piece…
“Crack down on those evil oil companies and confront climate change. I could scream. Representative Kagen, when will you agree to support expanding access to domestic oil reserves? …. Again, The Heritage...
Granted, ANWR oil would take years to bring online. But debate over opening it stretches back to a 1995 Clinton veto of a measure to do so. And ANWR was part of President Bush's energy agenda since 2001, but has been effectively blocked by these and other senators.
“Yes, those high prices hurt. And yes, it's definitely time.”
Original piece cross-posted from Who the Hell is Dr. Kagen?
COMMENTS
Jo, the price of oil today has two major underlying forces, the value of the dollar and speculation The world price of oil without the dollar impact would still be significantly less than today if the speculators left the market. It used to be that traders were providing services to users so prices could be hedged. No more. Traders are simply driving up the cost. Kagen's (and others) request to open up the strategic petroleum reserve has merit if doing so would break the speculation cycle. Sooner or later it will break. So, it isn't done or is done, big deal. Sooner or later the supply/demand equations will push the price of oil higher and we all know it. The problem is that we're not doing anything about it. Drilling in ANWR is nothing more than feeding the addiction. How many oil fields does Japan have? How many for Germany? How many for France? So, other than enriching oil companies who could drill internationally for less money, how much does ANWR help? Very little. This website estimates the impact of ANWR from a few years ago. Maybe 5 to ten cents a gallon. Not counting the cost the taxpapers will bear to assist the oil companies.<br><br> The real answer to rising fuel prices is conservation, nuclear, energy efficiency and public transportation. In a Flat World the idea that we have some right to purchase oil in some favorable manner is foolish. We are and will be just like everyone else in the purchase or oil. We've lost 25 years already in the oil battle by having no coherent national energy policy that anticipates the end of oil.<br><br> Let's get started and look at what the countries that have no domestic oil supplies and do what they have done. We have the "curse of oil" that causes us to be blind to the waste of a non-renewable resource and operate inefficiently.
dave allen (Tue Apr 22 06:57:08 2008)
Dave, most of what you say about moving forward, I agree with. We must find more resources, via exploriation, technology and conservation. NEVERTHELESS, our congressman is misstating the problem badly - and is a major part of the problem of inaction to boot. In that you have a contributor's line of communication to the man, what have you said to him about the failure of Congress to put together a workable and effective (and economic development-balanced) energy program?
Jo E. (Tue Apr 22 07:27:15)
Jo,
Truth be told I've never asked Kagen anything about energy legislation. Truth also be told , to push for meaningful energy legislation with the Bush administration would be a waste of time. There is no bill (other than perhaps some additional gifts to the corn ethanol industry) that would pass congress and be signed into law. The nation will wait until the next administration for this and anything else that's important. His (Kagen's) request for action on the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (whether mis-guided or not) does target something the Executive branch can do something about if it wanted to.
dave allen (Tue Apr 22 09:22:22 2008)
Truth be told, the democrats are in control of congress. Truth be told, the democrats need take responsibility for keeping this economy on track - and a responsible (not a 'sound bite') energy policy is a major piece of that. Halting deposits into the Strategic petroleum Reserve is a do-nothing, sound-good action.
Perhaps it's a good time for you to ask your congressman about an energy policy that works. Perhaps it's a good time to ask him about harmful ethanol subsidies. Perhaps it's a good time for Americans to get to work solving problems instead of blaming George Bush and the SPR.
Jo E. (Tue Apr 22 09:40:26)
Jo,
No problem having conversations about proper policy on this and other issues. believe me I hope to do so. However, while it is true that Democrats are "in control of congress" they do not have a veto proof majority or a filibuster proof majority in the Senate. Until the end of the Bush administration paralysis will reign. There has been much legislation the Democrats have tried to pass even with majorities but alas it fails the filibuster or the veto. The Republicans had six years of house/senate and executive and they squandered their opportunity for real energy policy.
dave allen (Tue Apr 22 12:33:03 2008)
Here's the point for today Dave - please don't call fiddling with the Strategic Petroleum Reserve "real energy policy." Tell it like it is - patronizing, misleading sound bites for voters, some who indeed are struggling to make ends meet.
Jo E. (Tue Apr 22 13:42:42)
If you really want to reduce (but not eliminate) the problem, monopolistic acquisitions must be prohibited and the Feds must break up ExxonMobil just as they did Standard Oil in 1911. And we must force Iraq to start paying us back in oil. Then congress must authorize an oil exploration department to drill in the deep Gulf, federally-owned like the U.S. Postal Service.
But all of this assumes that ExxonMobil doesn't own a piece of every congressman through their campaign contributions, and another piece of those who own major shares of their stock.
>>> "Truth be told, the democrats are in control of congress."
Hogwash, Jo. Mitch McConnell has filibuster power and the Senate Dems are powerless.
>>> ".... harmful ethanol subsidies."
Follow the money, Jo, especially that coming from Archer Daniels Midland. Ethanol subsidies are here to stay, no matter how inefficient they are.
I agree with drilling in ANWR, and remember that filling the Petroleum Reserve has consequences. You may not agree, but the oil industry and their campaign dollars are at play here. It drives prices up, not down.
Jack Lohman (Tue Apr 22 13:06:52 2008)
Jack said, "And we must force Iraq to start paying us back in oil."
This kind of remark is so exasperating it's unbelievable.
Lon Ponschock (Tue Apr 22 14:39:46 2008)
Oh, someone doesn't like the filibusters (that Dems started over the last 7 years)? It comes around doesn't it? Had the dems in congress started out the year doing the things they promised, they may have had some cooperation from the Rep. But they were down right nasty and belligerent. That's how they lost the 2004 election. Bashing and ridiculing. They just can't stop. And now that we have a real joke as a representative, another as speaker and even worse in the Senate, we'll never get anything done. They just don't get it!!!
John Hyland (Tue Apr 22 15:57:41 2008)
Jo, I never called pulling oil from the strategic petroleum reserve real energy policy. Real energy policy as i have said here will only happen under the next administration (no matter who wins). What I said is that it may have some impact but maybe not.
The fact is that when the Republicans had the opportunity to have real energy policy from 2001-2006 all they did is give massive tax breaks and push for drilling for more oil. They totally ignored (and continue to ignore for the most part) any energy policy that would lead the nation and the world. Head in the sand and dollars to big oil. That's not policy, thats graft and stupidity.
For those in this forum who say that the Republican filibusters today are payback for Democratic filibusters, nonsense. the Republicans could have implemented many many things if they had fought for good policies. Thank God the Democrats could stop a few of the boneheaded ideas by filibuster. Can anyone here point to a significant, positive energy policy attempted or passed under the Republican congress from 2001-2006? (and I don't count the attempt to pass ANWR because like it or not, ANWR will not be significant whether it is ever drilled.)
dave allen (Tue Apr 22 18:00:11 2008)
Evidently someone has forgetten Pelosi's warning in 2006, that the Dems would not vote for any Republican or Administration initiative---- regardless. Then when they took over last year they were arrogant and downright nasty. So the minority leadership did the right thing and prevented them from passing anything.
It was pay back for both measures implemented by the Dems. They just don't get it!
John Hyland (Tue Apr 22 19:02:03 2008)
I would like to see the exact statements by Pelosi and also, the energy legislation that the administration would have introduced (only to be ignored presumably by congress). This administration never hesitated to fight hard for anything they cared about even doing things by executive order that should have been legislated.
And, they are afraid of Pelosi? I think not. More excuses for 6 years of energy policy failure (on top of decades of others to be sure). This administration used tremendous increases in executive power and a complaint congress to drag us to war in Iraq, push through huge tax cuts, strong arm us on wasteful Medicare part D, abrogate the ABM treaty etc., etc., and it's the bad Democrats fault that the administration couldn't get anything meaningful done on energy policy???
dave allen (Tue Apr 22 20:38:32 2008)
I love how the Democrats blame the Republicans and vice versa for not "controlling" energy and its associated costs correctly. Let's face it, both sides are moronic, giving and withholding subsidies for what they consider proper energy development. I'd be willing to bet that not even a handful of representatives have done any serious study on the energy solutions they are promoting or against. How many of them know enough about nuclear power to tell you that uranium is an alpha particle emitter and can be held in one's hands with no ill effect or that many states sit on concentrated uranium deposits and that those states' inhabitants are not sicker than their peers or that 97% of nuclear "waste" can be recycled and reused?
Because modern society is based on energy — something on the order of 10 percent of electrical energy goes to power computers — and rationing energy is not an energy solution, we need energy development. To get such energy development, take away all subsidies and most government restrictions on producing energy, promise companies that any energy sources developed in the next ten years will never be taxed federally, and we'll have plenty of energy. And the lowest cost and cleanest energies to boot — because that's what people (consumers) want.
I love it. JE
Kurt Williamsen (Wed Apr 23 11:52:35 2008)
I'm with you. However, environmental regulations and other regulations are needed. To wit, Enron and the manipulation of energy costs in California.
dave allen (Wed Apr 23 20:26:41 2008)
Jo, so what do you think about McCain's (and Clinton's later) proposal to have a gas tax holiday?
It's important to conserve, without impacting economic growth, and to be more aggressive in devleoping new energy sources, be they petroleum-based or not. JE
dave allen (Wed Apr 30 07:21:47 2008)
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