I see stupid people

It's tough to read or hear people talk about oil these days. The amount of wrong information is amazing. My summation of the stupid shit I've been exposed to lately:

1. EVIL BIG OIL makes record profits and that's bad. Missing from the discussion of course is the fact that EVIL BIG OIL also paid record taxes. And also missing from the discussion is the fact that the government is making record profits from gas taxes. Gas taxes are a % of the price of a gallon. The higher the price, the more the tax. Combined state, county and federal tax ranges anywhere from 40 to 70 cents per gallon throughout the country. So for all you enviro-conscious drones with a "GOT OBAMA?" sticker on your Civic in Berkeley or Cambridge or Missoula bitching about EVIL BIG OIL as you fill up....realize that of your $70 to fill up, about $15 is going to the government. To put in terms you can understand, that's enough to buy 2 cups of 1/2 caff, non-caf, decaf, low fat soy latte with a twist of cinnamon at your locally owned, non-Starbucks affiliated, green friendly, hippie house of coffee.

2. Drilling is useless because it will take 10 years before any oil makes it to the gas station. This one is probably the stupidest thing I hear. While it's debatable whether it's 10 years - some say it could be as little as 2 years off the coast of Cali - people with no sense of economics don't get it. The price of oil is set on the belief of what is coming in the future. After all the majority of oil trading is in the FUTURES market. People buy and sell contracts to buy and sell oil in the FUTURE. That's what those EVIL SPECULATORS do. If there is a belief that in the FUTURE there will be more oil, the price goes down. Hence, if right now you knew today with some certainty that in 1 or 2 or 5 years there will be more oil, you will be willing to pay less for a FUTURE contract of oil. So it doesn't matter when there will be more oil. The only thing that matters is do people think there will be more oil or not. Unfortunately the average American thinks he pays no income tax if he gets a tax refund, so it is no wonder that he also believes the Democrat and MSM lies told to him nightly about how the price of oil works.

3. If we drill off the coast, lots of that oil will go to Japan or China so it won't lower the price of gas at home. OK. I take it back. This one is the stupidest one I've heard. Oil is a global commodity. Oil from Alaska is no different than oil from Saudi Arabia. It all goes into the same pool of available oil for the world. The more there is in that pool, the lower the price. Doesn't matter if Alaskan oil is sent to Japan and Saudi Oil is sent to Florida. The price is set at one centralized point regardless of who produces or who consumes the oil.

4. Drilling more means no investments in alternative energy. Right. Since this whole issue is binary. It's either drill for oil or explore alternatives. Or so the MSM and Democrats (I repeat myself) want you to believe. As I type this there are people all over the world exploring for alt. en. They know that they stand to make a shitload of money if they come up with the magic bullet. The reason the far left and the MSM can't understand this concept is simple. They believe it is the government's job to do everything. So either the government allows drilling. Or the government allows research for alternative energy. The far left and the MSM (there I go again repeating myself) can't clue in to the fact that Exxon can drill for oil and at the same time GM and Honda and some dude in a Garage next to MIT can keep on coming up with ideas for that 150MPG car. This country can walk and chew gum at the same time.