Much in the news about oil prices.
The price of a gallon of gas is at the same level as a gallon of Evian. It's an outrage.
I'm quite disappointed in my national leadership. They're missing a huge opportunity to lead and I hate missed opportunities.
The United States is a an oil fueled slut. We are hugely productive, but we are also wasteful. We waste more energy in trivial pusuits than most nations use in production. Up till now there has been no reason to do elsewise. Energy has been ubiquitous and seemingly endless. But now, with hostile powers in charge of production and canny commodities traders bartering up the price, the world is changed.
We could do much better. With just a little forethought and occasional sacrifice we could cut our consumption by 5 or 10 percent. Not often before have we had such a reason, (WWII, 1973 Oil Crisis) But we've cut back when it made sense. It seems a good idea now.
Americans like to be on winning teams. We like to have a national goal and we like to stick it to the opposition. I say it's time.
Our gasoline delivery enterprise is a finely tuned machine. If we were to cut our real consumption by 5%, wholesale storage facilities would be full within two weeks, refineries would need to cut production in three weeks. And in 4 weeks, oil tankers would begin to stack up outside our ports. The price would plummet.
Oil traders that have bought long contracts (positioned for price increase), would scramble to dump those contracts. Fortunes would change hands. The spot market would crash into the 20's or 30's. This is what happens when a bubble bursts. There is a bubble right now, and it's compounded by that rabble-rousing Iranian Mad-Man and the Commie Venezuelan.
It gets better. The hostile powers of production around the world have become accustomed to the high prices at these levels of consumption. They have taken out loans against future revenues. They need the price to stay up and they need to export the volume to generate revenues. They prop up their nasty little governments with oil revenues. Money is power
When the price drops, the first tendency will be to cut production. Whether the price is lower or the volume is less, they will have to make adjustments. Hard adjustments. These adjustments contain strategic advantages for us.
Oil companies do not set prices. Consummers set prices. If we all refused to pay anything higher than $2.00, the gas price would be $2.00. Prices are set by demand and if we reduce demand, we can also eliminate any artificial influence from the current price.
Mr. President, the country will help you with this. The Rebublican base, the environmentalists, the soccer moms, the blue-collar masses and the professionals. We want to control this situation. If you announce and support the strategy, we will respond. We can cut enough waste to make a huge difference. All you have to do is ask.
