Tuesday, November 11, 2008

The Democrat Congress: The most powerful member of OPEC

Pajamas Media » We Can Solve the Financial Crisis by Destroying OPEC
We need to ask ourselves the question: Why has the housing market collapsed? If you want the answer, just follow the money. It’s gone to pay for oil.

Consider: This year, with OPEC-rigged oil prices averaging near $110/barrel, Americans will pay $900 billion for their oil supply, and the world as a whole will pay $3.6 trillion. These petroleum costs are up a factor of ten from what they were in 1999, and represent a huge highly-regressive tax on the world economy. For Americans, the $900 billion oil levy (up from $80 billion in 1999) is equivalent to a 33% increase in income taxes across the board — with sixty percent the sum being paid over in tribute to foreign governments.

To see how this tax can destroy real estate values, it is only necessary to compare expenditures. In 2003, Americans paid $268 billion for new homes, and $197 billion for oil. In 2008, we paid for new homes at an annual rate of $134 billion, and $900 billion for oil. So the increase in our oil expenditures was more than five times as great as the fall in our spending for new homes.


OPEC functions by limiting supply to drive up prices. What is the response of the Democrat Congress to the recent fall in oil prices? They announced they will block oil exploration, not only off shore but on land -- in other words they will keep millions of barrels of oil (every day) off the market.

The most powerful member of OPEC is the Democrat Controlled Congress. They keep more oil off the market (by far) than any other member. And the American people pay through the nose. Why would they do anything to undermine the organization of which they form an important part? If they can find a way to get control of that money rather than sending it to foreigners — then maybe. Still, they will want the money (or more to the point the "power of the purse" and the power of regulation), not affordable fuel. They need expensive fuel to make their alternative future, with them in command in DC, a reality.

What do you call Bankrupting the coal industry? A good start on the road to bankrupting oil.

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