Jane Chastain : Politically Direct

Gasoline prices are soaring and there is no end in sight.  It’s a case of supply and demand.  Since the green extreme has crippled our ability to increase our supply of fuel, there is no relief for the foreseeable future.   The price of everything we use that is transported — which is virtually everything — will continue to rise as our standard of living falls. Read the rest of this entry »

It was one of the most revealing moments in the U.S. House of Representatives.

In a hearing of the Judiciary Committee, Maxine Waters, a Democrat congresswoman from Los Angeles, was lecturing Shell Oil President John Hofmeister when she got caught up in the moment and blurted, Read the rest of this entry »

The price of gasoline has everyone worried.

Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and John McCain want to suspend the federal gas tax during the summer. Clinton wants to pay for it by imposing a windfall profits tax on “Big Oil” while her Democratic rival, Barack Obama, says that would exacerbate the problem. He thinks the tax holiday would encourage evil Big Oil to raise prices even more, which would inflict greater pain on consumers when the holiday expires.

While I welcome any kind of tax relief– however brief – the attempt to blame rising gas prices on windfall profit-taking by the big oil companies is misplaced.

If that were the case, the answer to solving your personal energy crisis would be simple. Buy oil company stocks! Then, any rise in gas prices would be offset by the profits in your portfolio. Read the rest of this entry »