Dear President Bush:
John Kerry is a liar or a fool if he thinks that releasing any of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve will do anything appreciable regarding the current gas prices. We have gone over this hundreds of times, so I hope you do not cave in and pursue bad policy because of their demagoguery.
Remember- they do not care about the outcomes of the policies and whether it really solves the problem. They just care if it appears that they are doing something and that will in turn get them votes. You can not out pander them- trust me.
Regards,
John
PS- In the debates, please ask John Kerry how he intends to ‘pressure’ OPEC. Will he have to go to the UN to ask permission, first?
*** Update ***
More evidence of Democratic demagoguery flying in the face of reality from Dan Drezner.
Rick
Lord knows my complaint with the President is that he *has* sought to out-pander the Left. Yet still he’s consider a “radical” right-winger.
Don’t tap the SPR; turn again to the wasteland of the northern Alaska tundra in an attempt to drill in a few hundred acres.
Cordially…
van
The best way to “pressure” these OPEC folks is to limit our exports. Our foodstuffs are not just consumed by us but by others in the world. Although we always talk about a trade deficit, we still do export products. I don’t know what these people import from us, but it would be interesting to find out.
John Cole
Drilling in ANWR is a good idea, but it will do nothing to really address the current situation. Regardless of the fluctuations in the supply and price of crude, we are still structurally limited when it comes to our refining capacity, something that no one is doing anything about.
carsick
Perhaps you’re right. We should realize that we have no abilities to “pressure” OPEC and therefore we should give in to whatever demands they have. Just as we have no ability to pressure insurance companies and healthcare providers.
We are but consumers afterall.
JKC
John is EXACTLY right: the problem is on the refining end, not the production end. Given our increased consumption, the lack of increase in refining capacity is inexcusable. Drilling in ANWR ain’t gonna change that.
van
We cannot build anymore yucky refineries. We’ll polute the planet and sin against the Green Mother. How can we become anymore puffed-up? To believe we can destroy a planet is really going to left field.
Kimmitt
Perhaps we could casually mention to Saudi Arabia that if they wish to continue buying our F-14s (and the maintenence thereof), they should perhaps refrain from choking off our economy.
That said, I find it unlikely but possible that a release of crude from the strategic petroleum reserve, in concert with other actions, could bring down the price of crude oil. I do not think it possible for it to do so by itself; there just isn’t enough crude there to significantly impact world supply.
It really is too bad we haven’t improved Iraq’s oil production capacity; then we might actually have gotten something out of this war.
Slartibartfast
“Perhaps we could casually mention to Saudi Arabia that if they wish to continue buying our F-14s (and the maintenence thereof), they should perhaps refrain from choking off our economy.”
I didn’t know Saudi Arabia had aircraft carriers. Maybe you meant F-15s.
Agree regarding SPR. That whole idea is just not very well substantiated.
Rick
“Drilling in ANWR is a good idea, but it will do nothing to really address the current situation.”
John,
But it’ll P.O. the dirt worshippers, and make me feel good.
So it has much to commend it.
Cordially…
CadillaqJaq
I overheard yesterday on AM talk-radio where Kerry’s suggestion of tapping the strategic oil reserve MIGHT lower the cost of gasoline a penny per gallon…. Holy Shit! There’s a big vote getter! I’d have saved two-bits this morning!
Why not rescind the federal gasoline tax for a few weeks?
Kimmitt
“I didn’t know Saudi Arabia had aircraft carriers. Maybe you meant F-15s.”
Preview is my friend.