Her's what the Bush administration doesn't want you to know...

It’s time Americans wake up and do a little independent homework as to why we are all getting hosed at the gas pumps. There is NO shortage of petroleum deposits. There are more on-shore oil deposits within North America (especially Canada) than in Kuwait. Expert geologists acknowledge over 60 Billion barrels await us in North America and more than triple this amount in Russia. The real shortage is artificial – refineries. Despite billions in record profits the major oil companies have not built a new refinery in almost two decades thus created the “shortage” by deliberately limiting production. If they wanted to they could build two new refineries for less than 15% of their total annual profit of 2007 and thus increase U.S. production by 25%. But increased production equates to increased supply and more importantly – lower prices. What company do you know of that wants to make less money than more? Get real! This is the tail wagging the dog folks. By the way, we also have steam injection technology right here in America that for pennies on the dollar can get our old capped wells flowing again (Google Ivanhoe Petroleum Engineering)

To add insult to injury, our beloved government officials, despite their lip service on CNN news clips, do not really want lower fuel prices because their second largest revenue stream (next to income taxes) are from fuel taxes which funds roughly 30% of all government projects. Do they really want less tax revenues than more? NOT!

Lastly, please remember that the oil industry has traditionally funded American [political campaigns for years including every Bush family member that held political office Lest we forget President Bush used the Enron corporate jet for his campaign appearance in 1999-2000, his family was heavily invested in Penzoil for years, and five of his cabinet members were on the board of directors of oil companies? Their cronies were all rewarded with the trillion dollar oil fields of Iraq, but their greed is so insatiable that they now want to scare us into drilling off-shore so they can grab every penny they can squeeze from our fragile and ailing Earth as well.. This oil “crisis”, just like the Iraq War, was fabricated for no other reason than profiteering. If you cannot smell the stench of it all, thank the news media which no longer investigates facts but only regurgitates government press releases that were spoon fed to them. Ben Franklin once suggested that "Due diligence is a duty of every citizen" and I can't agree more.

In both Venezuela and Kuwait, residents can pump a gallon of gas for less than $1 because the oil industry is a public service provided by their government. In America our government prefers to keep energy sector private so they can squeeze billions a day in fuel taxes from us. So folks, the real crisis in America is not oil, but greed and those that "serve" we the people simply cannot stop their own gravy train and have no incentive to compel new refineries to be built. It appears that American citizens are for milking not for serving these days. Just imagine if the profit was taken out of oil by making energy a government service like Venezuela or Kuwait!

Offshore drilling without new refineries only perpetuates the rape of American consumers at the pumps and puts our already fragile environment in greater peril. Have we already forgotten the sad lessons of the Exxon Valdeez? T. Boone Pickens is right on target and only by implementing alternate energy sources can break the cycle of profiteering. Timing is truly critical as our gasping economy is already on life-support. Delay can be fatal for our nation. If American consumers keep buying into this shameful "oil crisis" ruse, it will be the Chinese driving and Americans pedaling sooner than you think!

Submitted By Bruce A. Gorcyca

Parma, Ohio