By Warner Todd Huston ——Bio and Archives--April 19, 2012
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I believe there is no way to justify drilling in ANWR in the name of national security. Oil extracted from the wildlife refuge would not reach refineries for 7 to 10 years and would never satisfy more than 2 percent of our Nation’s oil demands at any one time.Well, it’s ten years, folks, and because the Democrats continually defeat new efforts to drill or explore for oil on American soil we are once again out of luck for exploiting our own sources of energy. Thanks to Obama and his party we stay dependent on foreign sources of energy.
…we hear that the President is announcing some kind of task force on oil speculation today. In other words, the same thing Washington Democrats always call for when gas prices go up.If I were to guess, I’d say today’s proposal by the President probably polls pretty well. But I guarantee you it won’t do a thing to lower the price of gas at the pump. It never has in the past. White House officials admit as much. Why it would it now? This is the same president that just recently scolded others who claim their plans can reduce gas prices. In the weekly radio address of March 17, Obama said, “Any career politician who promises some three-point plan for two-dollar gas – they’re not looking for a solution. They’re just looking for your vote.” Yet less than a month later, here Obama is offering a “5-point plan” to do just that. “We’ve got a President who told us he was a different kind of politician doing the same old things and using the same talking points politicians in Washington have been peddling for years,” McConnell said pointedly. “I mean, weren’t these kinds of gimmicks and stale talking points precisely the kind of thing President Obama campaigned against? I thought he was offering something new and different.” Even the National Journal scoffs at Obama’s claim that his new effort can change gas prices. NJ points out that speculating on the market seems to have “little effect” on gas prices.
In 2008, an investigation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission concluded that speculation has little effect on the price of oil, which is still largely driven by the fundamentals of supply and demand.So, once again, all we have is smoke and mirrors, simple election-year posturing to make it seem as if Obama is doing something when in truth his failed energy policy is what is in large part to blame.
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Warner Todd Huston’s thoughtful commentary, sometimes irreverent often historically based, is featured on many websites such as Breitbart.com, among many, many others. He has also written for several history magazines, has appeared on numerous TV and radio shows.
He is also the owner and operator of Publius’ Forum.