by Mark Luedtke
Momentarily setting aside any pie in the sky alternate energy ideas that may or may not become practical in a couple of decades, our immediate energy problem is that oil costs way too much. To solve it, we need to implement policies which reduce the price. Barack Obama and Democrats propose a windfall profits tax. It should go without saying that when you tax something, you make it more expensive, not cheaper, and Democrats know that as well as anybody.
Democrats understood that in the '70s too, but President Carter and the Democrat Congress levied a windfall profits tax on oil anyway. The result was reduced domestic production of oil, an increase in imported oil, higher prices at the pump, and an increased transfer of wealth from America to foreign oil suppliers. Now Obama and Democrats want to take the country back to Carter's '70s. Deja vu.
Democrats know from experience that windfall profits taxes on oil companies are good for the Saudis, the Iranians, the Russians and other oil producers and bad for Americans. They knew it then, but they did it anyway. They know it now, but they're proposing it again anyway. The only possible conclusion is that Democrats are willing to impoverish Americans and enrich anti-American nations for perceived political gain.
That soft corruption dominates American politics. We have allowed professional politicians in both parties, modern day aristocrats looking out for their personal interests and power, to turn Washington, state capitals, and city halls into favor factories that harm the American people for the benefit of the politicians. In this case, Democrats are hurting the American people on behalf of their donors from Moveon.org and the powerful, anti-capitalist environmental lobby. They're also trying to keep the economy weak until November, hoping voters will blame Republicans.
All Democrat energy proposals restrict freedom and therefore harm the American people while helping their rich, anti-capitalist donors. Democrats propose price controls, another failed '70s era policy that perverts the market and leads to shortages. Democrats threaten to punish and regulate oil market middlemen. Increased mileage standards make cars more expensive. All these policies harm US economic development.
Democrats threaten to revoke existing leases that oil companies aren't drilling on yet, but the reason the oil companies aren't drilling on many leases is the environmental lobby has them tied up in court with spurious lawsuits. Revoking those leases would further reduce future domestic production of oil, increase oil prices, and be a huge victory for the anti-capitalists posing as environmentalists who fight energy production of all kinds.
Democrats want to waste more taxpayer money on favors for big donors disguised as subsidies for alternative energy development. Subsidies burden all Americans including inventors, entrepreneurs and investors and harm the development of alternative energy, not help it.
Democrats stubbornly obstruct drilling in America because increased drilling in America would keep American dollars working in America, powering US economic development instead of development overseas. Drilling would immediately drive down the price of oil by reducing speculation and drive it down further soon after by increasing supply. Drilling would give the US an immediate economic boost. Not only would that economic boost upset the radical left that owns the Democrats, it would help Republicans at the polls in November because voters would credit Bush and Republicans with economic growth, and on this issue, they'd be right.
Democrats were so beholden to their anti-capitalist base, they failed to consider the American people. Now Republicans are capitalizing. Republicans have successfully focused the entire energy debate on offshore drilling, and 70% of Americans want to expand drilling on the continental shelf. Republicans have exposed Democrats as the obstructionists to freedom and prosperity their radical base has made them.
Democrats will cave soon. Obama already mentioned a compromise on drilling. Rank and file Democrats are pushing Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid toward a way out of this predicament. They better hurry. Every day more Americans recognize Democrats' poorly disguised anti-capitalist, anti-prosperity agenda. To increase their power in November, they'll have to risk losing some of their radical base to Ralph Nader.
This drilling issue works for Republicans because it creates the illusion they are working for the American people, but they're really just working on behalf of their powerful oil lobby. Freeing more territory for drilling is good for Big Oil and Americans because increasing freedom is always good for Americans. On the other hand, Republican regulations and subsidies restrict freedom, protect Big Oil from innovative, entrepreneurial competition, allow Big Oil companies to avoid competing on price, and enable their extravagant profits paid for by American consumers.
But both parties are wrong on the larger energy issue. The press and politicians of both parties call for a new energy plan. Central planning. Socialism. But no central plan can be as effective at managing scarce resources as a free market. We've known this for centuries, it's universally true, but we seem to forget it every day. We should pressure both parties to remove the bans, regulations, and subsidies that protect their donors and hinder all forms of energy development. This would allow furious, unfettered competition to increase supply of both oil and alternative energy. Both would become cheaper, and the transition to alternative energy would happen faster.
Energy development is too important to allow government interference to continue to cripple it. We should tear down government's decades old policy of “Ban. Import. Subsidize.” and return to a free energy market.
No comments:
Post a Comment