Drill Nothing, Tax Everything or Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less?

In a classic Democrats vs. Republicans battle, we now have the battle over energy. So far, it boils to two strategies:

1. Democrats - Drill Nothing, Tax Everything.
2. Republicans -Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less.

What do these statements mean, you ask?

1. The Democrat's plan (Drill Nothing, Tax Everything), attempts to punish the people of this country for using energy by refusing access to domestic energy sources and taxing them at every opportunity. They also seek to punish (with taxes and penalties) "Big Oil" for their "huge" (7 - 10%) profits. They strongly support continuing to purchase oil from foreign sources regardless of how high the price is. Results, you've seen 'em, energy prices will continue to rise...
   
2. The Republican's plan (Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less), attempts to empower the people of this country by providing access to some of the largest sources of energy in the world. By providing access to a rich source of domestic energy, two major things happen: 1. Far less money is spent on foreign energy sources, also helping to correct the trade deficit. 2. As supply exceeds demand, prices fall. Strong competition with an abundant supply will very much favor the consumer. Results, everything may be more affordable again...

Ask yourself, are you paying enough yet for your energy? Are you paying enough for food? Are you paying enough taxes? Maybe too much? Maybe much too much?

I see it like this:

1. Why vote for Democrats? Because you haven't paid enough yet, and you need to pay more. Eventually even everything isn't enough.
2. Why vote for Republicans? Because you have already paid more than enough and don't want to pay more. Enough is enough.
3. 7 - 10% profits are not huge. The taxes alone on fuel greatly exceed 10%. Think about this way, the oil company that did all of the work gets paid less than the government that did none of the work. Doesn't that make "Big Government" more evil than "Big Oil"?
4. Taxes and penalties will never lower the consumer's price. The only effect will be higher prices.
   

Don't get me wrong, the Republicans are far from perfect too. Many of them still want a government that's far too big (among other things). It's more like "not so good" (Republicans) and "really bad" (Democrats). Given only these choices, I would much rather have "not so good" than "really bad". Unfortunately, at this point, all of the "other" parties really don't have much of chance on a national scale.

As the people we have to continue to (strongly) remind our elected officials that they are in their position to represent their people. It is up to us to keep them in check...

-Bob