Your thoughts please (politics and gas prices)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080714/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush

So What do you think?

Are you for or against bush's idea?

I'd rather have money...what's behind door #3?

I'm torn here...

While it's an awesome idea... I mean, the oil will reduce the gas prices greatly... we'd be less dependent on foreign crude oil, among other things.

However, the rigs could get busted, therefore endangering important wildlife, spilling out into the ocean and on our beaches... plus I don't wanna see a huge ugly rig when I'm chillin' on the beach... you catch my drift?


I dunno. I'm torn...

I think that we should rely on ourselves for a bit. We're a nation of importing, and I think we should try to break that habit.

My other thought here is that a certain percent of gas prices are federal tax and then state tax(highest being federal). If the government really wanted to help us they should drop the tax on gas... or at least have it a set amount instead of a percentage of current gas prices. I mean, even if they changed the amount to reflect what they were getting last year it would help out at the pump! of course... i'm still for dropping it completely! lol.

If the government really wanted to help us, they'd do something about popping the bubble on oil speculation.

A-freaking-MEN.

It's not my country, but I am against it... I think. Then again, digging for your own oil, would possibly be good for the USA and could be very good for the economy, if the deside to sell the oil.

Well.. if they start off shore drilling the speculators will drop massively.They are the ones driving the price up.. Even if they get not even one barrell of oil, at least its open.. Its like anything else- if the production of something stops, the price goes up- when it becomes open the price falls.. ( no different than paper in the revolutionary war..)

Weeeeeee-l-l, off-shore drilling is not as ecologically hazardous as its often made out to be. But accidents can be catastrophic, but they are rare, especially with American rigs.

What bothers me about this, primarily, is that its not really going to do much good . . by the time the new rigs are up and running we'll be out of the current crisis. I think we'd be better served by throwing our resources all out at renewable solutions (NOT corn bio-fuel). However, considering that is unlikely to happen, it will reduce our future dependance on foreign oil, which is a national security benefit. All in all, I'd rather they didn't do it . . .but it doesn't horrify me.

I do think this is a political manuver on Bush's part, rather than one really intended to be helpful.

I personally think that we have many sources of oil here and should tap them . We have to go back to thinking for ourselves ..... Too many things are sent or bought from elsewhere . We have to become the United States again !

very much agreed. We're going broke now and it will only get worse if we don't keep US $ in the US.

When Indiana sent so many factories to Mexico I really felt it was a slap in the face !!! When we were in the men's clothing business we gave out buttons saying " Buy American " .....didn't do much good !

I am ALL about buying american. I own two cars, both are FORD! yay.

although, now they do the percentage thing, and the camary came in as #2 this year!... as long as it wasn't the hybrid.

I'd rather pay a little extra to know that one of my fellow americans has a job to go to everyday and that those extra bucks are being kept in our economy. We really need to learn to keep to ourselves... we only really started going "out" after wwII... Now i'm not saying that we haven't gained alot, but we need to learn to be re-self dependent. Because our greatest weekness right now is how much we import.

I will observe that depending on the model and the make, many "foreign" cars are manufactured, in whole or in part, in the United States. So just because its a "Japanese" car doesn't mean Americans aren't getting jobs . . . its something to look into when buying a car if you want to buy American . . . broadens your options.

However, both my cars are American brands too . . . I just like American cars.

Explain?

Oh, and I agree with whoever said we need to put our money into renewable energy. I think that will help the most.

Oil speculators are the ones that control the price of oil. Things COULD HAVE been better a LONG TIME AGO if Bush would have called for an inspection as to WHY the oil speculators were deeming the prices of oil so high, and if they would have nipped that a long time ago. Because it's WRONG.

But why do that when he has money invested?? He doesn't honestly GIVE A CRAP about what Americans are paying. NONE OF THEM DO.

Do I believe for one second that if we start drilling here that prices will come down in gas/oil? Not really. Maybe at first to make us THINK things are improving so that we become content with the prices of oil/gas and content with the economy.
But believe me, I think eventually any of the money we are saving due to cut prices of local oil, will just end up BACK in someone's pocket, who is, undoubtedly, more rich and has more money than they know what to do with.

But...I tend to lean towards the Orwellian train of thought, and no one is going to convince me that ANY politician has mine or any other "commoners" best interest at heart.

Uhh.... you do know that most fords are built in Mexico or Canada, right?

Seeing as it costs Ford about $1000 less to make a minivan in Canada than it does in the US due to pensions and what not they promised factory workers back when they dominated the american car landscape.

Yeah, I didn't think that people still thought that American branded cars were actually made in America.

Barely any of the profit gained for the companies of American cars are actually going into the pockets of American workers (er...unless you count the corporate heads who take money from wherever they can get it).

I think toyota makes more cars in america than ford does... I think honda does the same thing. They ship some parts over from Japan, and an american worker builds it.

Amen! Offshore drilling is not nearly as hazardous as the environmentalists make it out to be. We need to find a new energy source (and ethanol is OBVIOUSLY not going to work, so let's stop focusing on that...) but in the mean time we should be drilling what we can HERE. But first we have to let the domestic oil companies drill here.