Hypocrisy & American Energy Independence

Today House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged the president to stop contributing to the US strategic oil reserve. And here we have, yet again, another example of hypocrisy and American energy independence.

The US strategic oil reserve was created in 1975 as a result of the previous Arab oil embargoes against the US. Crude oil is stored in abandoned salt caverns in Louisiana and Texas. Said reserve is to be used in an emergency akin to another embargo or massive interruptions in supply as in the Katrina aftermath. The salt caverns hold 701 million barrels of crude, and President Bush is continually adding to that total.

Ms. Pelosi claims that if we stop adding to the reserve we can lower prices at the pump from .05 to .24 cents at the pump. Again, leave it to the Left to offer the expedient and imprudent fix. Like ethanol and the compact fluorescent light bulb, rarely ever is the first fix the best fix. No, such important measures should only be embarked upon after much exhaustive and through research as to the BEST remedy; not the quickest or easiest.

Say 'Ol W. follows the Speaker's advice and ceases contributing to the reserve, all for the ridiculously low return of from 5 to 24 cents per gallon. I don't know about you, but 5 cents a gallon ain't gettin' it! When gasoline is $3.50 a gallon, saving a nickel per gallon ain't squat, but it does sound all touchy feely, right? And isn't that, after all, the point Ms. Pelosi is really pushing here? You betcha.

Let's engage our imaginations for a moment. What is the likelihood that Bush follows Pelosi's advice and the result is we save a dime a gallon at the pump for the entire driving season, the summer? Say Bush goes along, and then we have another Katrina like event. What then? Can you engage your imagination and hear the criticisms?

"Bush is incompetent! Bush doesn't care about you, the average Joe! " Can ya hear Hillary, Obama and Pelosi as they one after the other launch into their standard "this present crisis is a failure of the Bush Administration to effectively lead and govern our nation!" I can hear them now.