oil, energy independence, and political lube jobs

I don't spend as much time running around in the car as I did a year or so ago, so I almost never hear AM radio. Even when I'm driving, I can usually only stomach it in small nips, maybe 30-45 seconds at a time. Today, I was punishing myself with a little Sean Hannity, and heard part of his phone interview with Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri, the House minority whip. They were chatting about energy independence, the favorite Republican topic after Obama's Uppity N-ness.

Somebody's lying, and I need to find out who. On the one hand, we have this constant whine on the conservative side that we need A BILL PASSED pronto to allow drilling for oil offshore, in ANWR, and anywhere else the oil companies want to drill. About 60 percent of Americans have a vague notion that if Congress will just PASS THAT BILL, gasoline prices will be back down around a dollar per gallon by this time next year.

Then I read that if THAT BILL was passed Monday, it would still be years before any appreciable amount of oil made it from where it is now to where the refineries could do anything with it, and even then, the effect on gasoline prices would be minimal.

So pardon my confusion, but somebody's lying. Could it be that the Republicans, who've been telling one big-ass lie after another since the 1994 midterm elections, are not being completely honest about their motives for wanting THAT BILL passed ? Or is everybody else jerking me around ? I know what I suspect, but can't prove.

The more I ponder on it, the more convinced I am the Dems are screwing the pooch on this issue. They need to get on top of it if they want to build on their congressional majorities, which is all they have left since they've decided not to seriously compete for the White House this year.

An article I read discussed one of the national polls on the issue; I forget which poll. As usual, about 65-70 percent of those polled wanted an offshore drilling BILL passed pronto, but when they were told it would take a long time to actually produce any oil, support dropped off dramatically, to less than 50 percent.

The hardcore environmentalists aren't powerful enough as a voting bloc to get anybody elected, so screw them. If there are legitimate reasons not to drill offshore or in ANWR, the Dems need to be making the case much more persuasively than they have been. My personal preference would be to call the GOP bluff. Let the Repubs present their bill, debate the everlovin' hell out of it, negotiate the usual compromises in committee, then hold the vote, up or down. If it passes, so be it. At that point, the Dems get in front of every microphone and TV camera they can find and talk about how they've listened to the voice of the people and despite their personal misgivings, have decided to give the Repub plan a try. Make it clear that we'll all be anxiously awaiting that cheap gasoline people like Hannity have been promising. Pound that drum every minute until election day. Get the voters drooling over the prospect of wonderful days just beyond the horizon.

In the event the story has a happy ending, the Dems get the benefit of not obstructing the program. If it doesn't, they can make the case to a disappointed, angry nation that once again, the Repubs tricked the common man with lies. Either way, it beats what they're doing right now.