Blame Democrats, not oil companies, for high gas prices

Another must-read editorial in Investor's Business Daily about the real culprits behind rising gasoline prices in the United States. Hint: They are led by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.

From "Blame Washington, Not Oil Companies" --

Congressional ignorance of basic laws of supply and demand is at once bizarre, breathtaking and frightening. For example, the American Thinker Web site this week took note of a speech delivered by New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer on May 13. In it, he urged the U.S. to force Saudi Arabia to pump a million barrels a day more of oil — which Schumer claimed would slash the price of crude by $25 a barrel.

What Schumer didn't say was that 1 million barrels is exactly the amount of extra oil the U.S. would today be pumping if President Clinton hadn't vetoed drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in 1995. Despite this, Schumer still opposes drilling in ANWR.

As for those massive oil profits, Democrats want to slap Big Oil with a "windfall profits tax." In fact, since 2002 the U.S. oil and natural gas industry has earned about 8.1 cents per dollar of sales — exactly the same as all U.S. manufacturing, excluding autos. Not much of a windfall.

Read the full editorial here.