I read over and over that the drilling for domestic oil will have no effect on existing oil prices.  Check this out from the Department of Energy:

"Roughly, 99 percent of the U.S. endowment of solid, liquid, and gaseous fuels requires technical advances and/or further exploration to be economically recoverable. However, the estimated sum of these resources totals approximately

 51 trillion barrels of oil equivalent—43 times greater than the current estimate of the world‘s proved oil reserves.

If only 2–3 percent can be recovered economically, the United States will secure additional energy reserves equal to the current estimate of the entire world‘s proved oil reserves. This supply would endure for more than 180 years at the current rate of U.S. oil consumption (.025x51trillion/7bnb/yr)."

It amazes me how viciously some people, completely ignorant of the facts, demonize oil companies. It's like they believe BP purposely set out to destroy the fishing industry and suffer close to $2 Billion dollars in lost profits. And BP didn't need to create an oil spill to destroy the fishing industry. As a former fisherman I can tell you first hand, the heavy handed Federal restrictions on what can and cannot be fished has already destroyed the US fishing industry, ask the fishermen in New England.

Oil occurs naturally in the ground. It is not a man made pollutant. In California you have to take a bottle of rubbing alcohol with you to wipe off the oil seeping up from the ocean floor from the bottom of your feet. It occurs naturally. It was there way before the oil rigs.  In fact the oil rigs off the coast act as a relief valve and have reduced the amount oil seepage on the beach.

I notice that the loudest opponents of expanding domestic drilling drive their cars on the weekends for miles to enjoy their favorite hiking or surfing spot. They own their own private jets and yachts-none of which are solar powered by the way.

I am not saying we shouldn't have safety regulations and protections.  If the eleven men on Deep Horizon were victims of greedy managers ignoring safety regulations, they should be prosecuted and jailed. That goes double for the MMS employees who let BP install un-tested blowout preventers.

Everybody wants clean air and water. The technology exists to make oil an environmentally safe commodity. And we need oil. We all want to live in a comfortable well heated home, cook our food, and drive a fast car too.  If these people feel so strongly about reducing oil demand they can all start riding bikes, living in tents, using an outhouse and show me they really mean what they say. Otherwise their words are just so much noise.

The hate and animosity coming from big oil critics is borderline insanity. I wrote a novel about an insane anarchist who plans to sabotage an oil well to stop the lifting of the ban on oil exploration off the coast of California. It's called Moratorium. You can read it at www.chuckdsampson.com.

Bush deserves kudos for his stalwart defense of the nation at a time of peril. He had to increase spending in order to prosecute a necessary war in Iraq. A war that has resulted in the establishment of a new, democratic country in the Arab world which by its mere existence will continue to put pressure on the older more oppressive regimes like Saudi Arabia and Iran to democratize their political systems and hopefully join the first world. This is GW's legacy.

It is also a fact that he increased spending: No Child Left Behind, Medicare Prescriptions Subsidy, and AIDS are just three examples. The money allocated for these programs were excessive. The proof for this assertion is that a majority of Democrats, led by no less a liberal than Ted Kennedy, supported him with these efforts.  And then of course they criticized him for it later when it suited their political agenda.

However I think that although GW did cut taxes, which was good, and he did try to privatize Social Security, he erroneous fell for the notion that there were institutions too big to fail. In my opinion he was wrong to go along with the AIG bailout and the increases in the M1. He started us down the path of economic failure that the Obama administration is continuing, only bigger and faster.

Obama continues to blame Bush for failed economic policies when these policies were supported by the majority of Democrats in the 2006 Congress and are the same policies he continues to advocate and implement today: bailouts and stimulus packages. Obama’s only deviation from his predecessor that he delights in ridiculing is that he also seeks to increase taxes and increase regulation.

So now not only will his Government continue to soak up the much needed capital available for new businesses and existing business's growth and expansion, he is now going to suck the life out of them by imposing higher taxes and regulation. This will lead irrevocably to higher unemployment and a reduction in economic prosperity.

How is the Government going to pay for his new multi-trillion dollar health care program when there are fewer employees and less business profits from which the Government can acquire revenue? At least under Bush the golden goose of business was  robbed, but he was not killed.

Letting the treasury print money at will is a stealth tax. It devalues the money you have in your pocket and has the same effect as a tax. And it’s much worse than a tax, because it is done without a vote from Congress one way or the other. It's like taxation without representation. But why be surprised at that? Isn’t that what statist do?