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Thursday, June 19, 2008
As gas prices move beyond four dollars
a gallon, some suggest the economic heart of America is suffering permanent
damage. While Congress equivocates on solutions and the media agitates
over causes, the average American is paying the bill and pressing on toward an
unknown future. Who would have thought, just one year ago, that we would
be hostage to forces seemingly beyond our control?
The
cause of higher gas prices rests in three areas - inflationary monetary policy
by the Fed and Congress, a 'missing in action' energy policy by a parade of
Presidents, and a failure in accountability by the rest of us.
The
Fed has been manipulating our currency for years with a printing press used to
compensate for a lack of governmental spending restraint. The 'fly now
and pay later' approach to managing our economy builds in a hidden inflationary
'tax' that has seen our post millennium dollar erode anywhere from 20-40%
against most currencies. Gas that is imported from outside the country
has nowhere to go but up under irresponsible monetary policy fueled by a spend
thrift Congress and a power hungry Fed.
When
it comes to preferred transportation, most people vote with their feet - by
resting them on the floorboard of a car. Somewhere between expensive
gas-guzzlers and the sardine opportunities afforded by mass transit systems
lies a middle ground whereby we can keep our feet where we want them.
That opportunity requires a coherent energy policy. Since the last fuel
crisis of the seventies, America's energy policy has been about as intentional
and mature as a campus-streaking event of the same period. It is a good
bet that if we are not planning for our energy needs, someone else will - most
likely without our best interests in mind.
Lastly,
we have a long history of electing leadership with apparent indifference to the
futures of our children and grandchildren. For decades far too many of us
have lived today at the expense of tomorrow and allowed our government to do
the same. We have watched our leader's fail to responsibly protect our
borders, avoid unnecessary foreign entanglements, national debt, social
security insolvency, and other major problems. No culture can sustain
itself under these circumstances - there is no "they" when it comes
to the responsibility of looking out for America.
The
success of countries like China and India in growing their economies has put
market pressure on limited petroleum resources. The oil companies are
making a huge profit, but bigger still is the government's bite. To make
matters worse, speculators and international power brokers drive up gas prices
for their own gain.
In
the end, one thing is clear - our gas pumps are charging four dollars a gallon
and we are paying it. Temporarily we might be willing to take food from
our children's mouths, build up more debt on our credit cards, or just angrily
mumble, but that four dollar a gallon a- - whipping calls for something a
little more aggressive.
This
is America - the long-standing beacon in a fallen world. This same
America has pulled the world out of two wars, put a man on the moon, and
uplifted more struggling souls than any force in history. We have met the
challenges of the past with a success equation firmly grounded in liberty,
opportunity, and responsibility.
As
late as 1990, when a barrel of oil cost $9 - that's right, $9 a barrel -
thousands of stripper wells across Kansas, the Dakotas, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana,
Pennsylvania, Nebraska, and other states became unprofitable and were
capped. According to Charles Bisbee of Energize America Now, in 2005,
Nebraska's stripper wells produced 1,558,224 barrels of oil. Nationally,
stripper wells produced 1.9 billion barrels of oil in 2005 - that was 17% of
America's production that year. While Congress debates the exotic, the
opportunities to incent this and other production opportunities and take
control of our own destiny rests on the ground.
It
is also time to give American companies the liberty to drill for oil wherever
it makes good sense - including Prudhoe Bay and offshore. They know how
to do it and protect the environment and we know how to make sure they
do. We can incent the creative minds of other Americans to explore the
unlimited opportunities for maximizing the efficiencies of existing and new
energy sources - including that big red ball above our heads that beams the
world's real energy future. As individuals we can stop laughing and mumbling
at our leadership and start insisting on accountability. Those leaders
whose thinking, actions, and courage cannot match the standard set by great men
and women in our past deserve retirement, not a permanent perch at the trough.
We
are in control of the price of gas and everything else. No one on this
earth has the power to do more than create temporary hurdles if we take on the
risks and challenges and get serious about our responsibility for our
future. As Americans, many of us have been on break while bad forces have
crept in the back door. It is time to step away from our television sets
and recapture the flag.
Carl
Mumpower
11th District Republican Congressional Candidate
#108
Principles before party, power, or popularity -
always.
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