Strategic Petroleum Reserve

Jim Neal on How to Lower Oil Prices NOW

Submitted by JimNeal on Wed, 04/02/2008 - 3:27pm.

[crossposted on Daily Kos and my campaign blog]

It’s critical to understand the reasons for our skyrocketing oil prices if we want to lead our country away from protracted conflicts in the Middle East and towards energy independence.

The United States is the world’s largest consumer of oil, using about 20 million barrels per day. Petroleum is not traded in a free market. If the oil market were truly free, it’s unlikely we’d be paying over $100 a barrel. Oil prices are in fact highly manipulated by people who claim to be proponents of free market capitalism and cartels that are interested in anything but a free market. But our government has the power to manipulate oil prices as well. It could bring down the price of oil, if it so chooses, by opening the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Tapping this cache of over a half a billion barrels of oil would have a dramatic and immediate impact on oil prices.

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And Helms begat Reagan...


Arguably, Ronald Reagan's Helms enabled win in the 1976 NC primary was all the encouragement he needed to try again in 1980, setting the stage for the Reagan Revolution and synergistic escapades like this one...

TrueMeckDem on Myers Park Pat

"My opinion of Pat has changed over the years. I used to think he was truly a man of the people but the longer he has been mayor, the less I think of him.

As with most cities, Charlotte has three political parties: Dem, Rep, and Chamber of Commerce. Pat is definitely the puppet of the COC here. What is good for business is good for Charlotte and Pat ... very personable guy, he has gotten a bunch of Dems in these parts to vote for him but I don't trust him."

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