I'm Tired of All The Crap

[Bill_Storey]

Today, on the evening news, I saw something I'm really getting tired of. The President was pushing Congress to allow offshore drilling in the 80% of the Continental Shelf which is under a drilling moratorium. He blamed it on the Democrats. The next bite was of a Democratic spokesman blaming the Republican administration because they have no energy policy.

I'm tired of the finger pointing. I'm tired of the bipartisan attitudes of all those, and there is no better way to put this, in power. How did they get to be "in power"? I thought those in government service were supposed to be servants of the people. Nothing is being done to solve our national problems, and really, nothing has been done in at least 20 years. One side gets control and takes from us one way, then a couple of years later the other side gets control and takes from us another way.

I was taught to believe the best way to solve a philosophical difference is through the art of compromise, but apparently I was taught wrong. According to what I see from our national leaders, grade school kids have it down pat. If accused of causing problems, deny, deny, deny, then make counter accusations.

[madjack]

...have you considered the Libertarians???...It's not a "throwaway" vote...especially if more folks would give them some serious consideration and this might just be the year todoso... http://www.lp.org/
madjack

[Kevin A]

Someone better do something soon, here's what China has been up to recently.
http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/c ... lling.html

[traveler]

It won't be very long , this will not be Our Country, it will be runned by someone else. All the leaders of this country have to do is to use their heads and see what is happening to the people. But it will never happen. Most of them think with their feet.

[traveler]

Why don't they shut off the oil going out of Valdez and keep it for this country. That would help us alot and most likely get the country it is going to mad at us, but if they don't like that, go find there own oil.

[Elumia]

more crap? seems this article says China is not drilling for oil offshore of Cuba... Who knows what and who to believe!

http://www.adn.com/oil/story/434045.html

[Miriam C.]

Bill you are so right! Before Georgie got in office I tracked the original oil crisis to show a point. The funny thing is the "Arab" oil crisis tracked exactly to the ongoing arguement to drilling in Alaska and building the pipeline.

Gas just went higher. Not a single time did it get back where it was nor did it even come close. Just kept doubling. It is all smoke and mirrors.

Personal opinion---(and politics ) They are all the same when you get to the top it all floats.

[madjack]

Why don't they shut off the oil going out of Valdez and keep it for this country. That would help us alot and most likely get the country it is going to mad at us, but if they don't like that, go find there own oil.

...here's your answer... http://www.snopes.com/politics/gasoline/alaskaoil.asp ...it really doesn't matter at this point, since the price of oil is set by commodities traders around the world, this applies whether it is West Texas Crude, North Seas, Arabian or Alaskan.......
madjack

[Dixie Flyer]

In my view, the folks in Washington just need to QUIT being beholden to the environmentalists. We NEED to make the country self sufficient again. So, yes, we need to drill here. I remember when the Alaskan pipeline was being built, the environmentalists all came out and said, "OMG! It will destroy the caibou!!" Well, guess what folks, 30 some odd years later the caribou are still in Alaska hanging AROUND the pipeline, frolicking and having a grand ole time.

When hurricane Katrina hit, guess what else? Not one drop of oil was spilled from any of the rigs in the gulf. Point is, we have (or have had quite awhile) the technology to protect the environment and yet still drill. The MMS is a strict outfit and you have to go by what those fellas say. (Mineral Management Services) http://www.mms.gov/

But if you really want someone to blame (other than the politicos) you don't have to go very far to find the speculators. The folks bidding on the futures contracts. Oil prices are, indeed, determined by supply and demand - not only the supply and demand for oil, but also the supply and demand for oil futures. Speculation is responsible for a huge part of the run-up in prices. (Weakness in the dollar hasn't helped any either)

So YES, we need to drill so as the prices will come down. (Ie. Competition)

We've got oil here folks. We just need to use it. And in the interim of exploration, drilling etc. We can be better developing alternative fuel sources. So as to hopefully make them affordable.

Just my two ¢.

[Bodyman]

Why don't the oil companies drill on the 86 million acres they already have rights to? Tax breaks? What about new offshore rights? More tax breaks?
I have also heard that new offshore drilling would not make a difference for at least 20 years.

[Arne]

We get two people to choose from (realistically).... out of 320 million or so, our chances of getting someone good are..... poor.

And no, your vote does not count...... trust me.

[tbeau]

I have also heard that new offshore drilling would not make a difference for at least 20 years.

Thats what they been saying for the last 20 years!!! If they would have started then we might not be in this much trouble.

I say drill for it and use it all, at this point I think we will finally find some alternitives. Other wise, oil and gas will be so high our kidds and their kids can not afford it any way!

[tk]

This opinion will probably catch me some hell but here goes anyway. A few days ago syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer proposed a solution that to me makes a lot of sense. Now I'm generally of a liberal persuasion and C.K. is generally conservative so I usually don't like what he has to say but this was different. Gas prices should have a minimum baseline at something like three or four or five dollars a gallon. When oil and gas prices go down the prices stay at that minimum and the balance is collected as a tax directed towards alternative energy research and development. No one thinks there is an unlimited supply of petroleum so eventually we have to swtch to alternative energy sources. The sooner we head in that direction the less disruptive to our economy and lifestyles and the less we have to worry about what the Arabs and the other OPEC bandits are doing.

The real problem is that such a solution or any other sensible one is unlikely to ever be adopted because it is a pain in the pocketbook and most of us vote based on what is good for our individual bank accounts rather than what is good for the country and the larger world as a whole or some other single issue (abortion, gay rights for or against, the environment, whatever). Is it any wonder politicians act as they do? Does anybody really think the energy problems we face are going to be solved painlessly? Yet we continue to vote for the pols that line (one way or another) OUR pockets. Do they line theirs? Probably. Are they beholden to special interests? Certainly. But it's still the 50% or so of us who vote who put the bums in office. I think it was Shakespeare that said, "The problem is not in our stars, but in our selves."

Best,
Tom

[caseydog]

Well, I'll chime in on the topic of the original post.

There was a time when the House of Representatives was the loud and argumentative side of congress, and the Senate worked things out through negotiation and compromise. It still is, but not to the same amount.

Remember the "I voted for it before I voted against it" quote? That was common in the Senate -- all part of the give and take of negotiation and compromise.

But now, the far right and far left will crucify a Senator who doesn't adhere to far right and far left ideology.

Keep in mind, ideological voters who make up the far right and left, will stay at home on election day if their party's candidate compromises. Politicians are afraid of these voters.

Another factor in this partisanship is the Newt Gingrich factor. When Newt got the "Contract for America" movement going, he brought a lot of very ideological conservative candidates into government. They had no interest in compromise. Guys like Tom DeLay and Rick Santorum were take no prisoners politicians. Compromise is a blasphemy to guys like that.

That began a trend. And, the modern entertainment-news media really jumped on it with more and more, "he said-she said" news stories. And the American people ate it up.

Now, we have nearly 50-50 Senate, and a situation where the Minority leader is determined to fight an ideological battle with a heavy use of the filibuster threat. Republicans in the Senate have filibustered 73 pieces of legislation in the current session of Congress. It has been projected that, at the rate this session is going, there will be more than 150 filibuster threats (calls for cloture votes) by the end of this session of the Senate. The previous record was 62, BTW.

We are not going to get a government that is truly interested in negotiation and compromise until A) we the people become willing to negotiate and compromise, and B) we show it in the voting booth.

If you look at the posts on off-topic forums like this one, about issues like guns, taxes, school prayer or abortion, I think you will see that Americans in general have issues to deal with when it comes to negotiation and compromise.

Heck, even the posts in this thread about finger-pointing are pointing fingers of blame.

Our government is a reflection of the people -- and it isn't always a pretty reflection.

[QuietOutdoorsman]

A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine.
---- Thomas Jefferson

Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.
---- Thomas Jefferson

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.
---- Thomas Jefferson

If the present Congress errs in too much talking, how can it be otherwise in a body to which the people send one hundred and fifty lawyers, whose trade it is to question everything, yield nothing, and talk by the hour?
---- Thomas Jefferson

The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers.
---- Thomas Jefferson

A few pointed quotes from one of the most important figures in US history. It is not only the right but the duty of every citizen to hold our elected government accountable to the people they represent. If the elected representatives do not properly represent the people, it is our duty to remove them from office. The vote is your voice, use it!