A Harry Situation

We live in Nevada where we have the sheer joy of having Harry Reid for a U.S. Senator. (Wow! That doesn't sound nearly as sarcastic as it was meant.) We like to keep in touch with Harry by sending him emails letting him know what we think of his policies and ideas. We're just sure that if we quit writing Harry he would miss us. Today's blog is a letter that we sent last night to Harry. This letter is part of a series of emails we have sent him asking him to allow a vote on oil drilling. It is a response to a response he sent us. Harry's response is first; our response follows in blue capital letters.

Senator,

On June 26, 2008, you sent to me a reply to a letter I had written to you regarding the need for increased drilling in the United States. I am now going to respond to your letter. Please note that my replies are capitalized.

"Currently, there are 45.5 million acres of federal onshore lands that have been leased to oil and gas companies, yet 31 million of these acres are not producing." THEY ARE NOT PRODUCING BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO OIL. OBVIOUSLY, IT WOULD BE POOR BUSINESS FOR OIL COMPANIES TO PAY HIGH GOVERNMENT PRICES TO LEASE THE LAND, THEN PAY YEARLY RENTS TO THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ON THEIR ALREADY LEASED LAND, TO THEN NOT FULLY DRILL AND DEVELOP THAT LAND. SHAREHOLDERS WOULD BE UP IN ARMS. SO WHEN YOU SAY THAT 31 MILLION OF THOSE ACRES ARE NOT PRODUCING, YOU DON'T MEAN THAT THE NON-PRODUCTION IS BECAUSE OF LACK OF EFFORT ON THE OIL COMPANIES PART; YOU MEAN THAT THERE IS NO OIL ON THOSE 31 ACRES. JUST MORE REASON TO OPEN UP MORE SITES FOR DRILLING. (Note to blog readers: oil companies fully develop the land they lease. They often find after they pay the lease they won as highest bidder at government auction that not all of the land is oil producing.)

“Additionally there are 33 million acres leased in the outer continental shelf that are also not producing.” SEE MY ABOVE RESPONSE

“Opening up even more land to drilling would only reward big oil companies which have already amassed over $600 billion in profit since 2000 and provide little price relief to consumers.” WHAT DO YOU HAVE AGAINST COMPANIES MAKING A PROFIT? ISN'T THAT WHY PEOPLE START BUSINESSES? IF THAT'S SUCH A PROBLEM FOR YOU, WHY AREN'T YOU GOING AFTER PHARMACEUTICALS AND ENTERTAINMENT BUSINESSES THAT AMASS MUCH MORE PROFIT THAN OIL COMPANIES. THE PROFIT MARGIN FOR OIL COMPANIES IS AROUND SEVEN TO TEN PERCENT. PHARMACEUTICAL PROFIT MARGINS ARE IN THE TEENS; ENTERTAINMENT IS HIGHER THAN THAT. FURTHERMORE, THE U.S. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT GETS A HUGE PORTION OF THE OIL PROFITS, SO I'M NOT BUYING INTO THE EVIL OIL COMPANY CONSPIRACY. (Note to blog readers: recently the news reported that oil companies made an 11 billion dollar profit for the last quarter. What they failed to tell you is that the U.S. Government made 32 billion dollars from oil for the quarter.)

“The United States consumes roughly 25 percent of the world's oil, but only has 3 percent of the world's oil reserves. Even if oil companies were permitted to explore and drill for oil and gas on any federal land they wish, America would still be dependent on foreign oil. And OPEC, oil companies, and oil speculators would still have the power to decide what price Americans pay at the pump.” AND YET, WE ARE DOING NOTHING TO EVEN TRY TO EASE OUR BURDEN. I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CAN CONTROL ANY OF THE U.S. LAND. OWNERSHIP OF LAND BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT BORDERS ON SOCIALISM; WITHHOLDING THE LAND FROM THE CITIZENS OF THE COUNTRY BORDERS ON COMMUNISM. RIGHT NOW ALL THE AMERICAN PEOPLE CAN SEE IS THE POLITICAL TUG-OF-WAR THAT YOU AND NANCY PELOSI ARE CURRENTLY DOING WITH THEM.

“For these reasons, I believe that major investment in efficiency and the domestic production of clean renewable energy and alternative fuels is both the best solution and the inevitable solution to our dependence on oil. Unfortunately, the oil companies have only invested negligible amounts in these solutions thus far.” BECAUSE THE EVIL FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS IN CONTROL OF THE PEOPLES’ LAND.

SENATOR, YOUR SELFISH POLITICAL MOTIVES ARE HURTING THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. AS OPPOSED TO YOU, I ACTUALLY WORK AND LIVE WITH REGULAR EVERY DAY AMERICANS AND I KNOW WHAT THEY ARE SAYING ABOUT YOU, ABOUT CONGRESS, AND ABOUT DRILLING. YOU NEED TO ALLOW A VOTE ON DRILLING AND YOU NEED TO RELEASE THE AMERICAN PEOPLES' LAND TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. IT'S NOT YOUR LAND AND IT'S NOT YOUR LIFE OR POCKETBOOK THAT'S BEING RUINED. YOU ARE HURTING ME, YOU ARE HURTING MY FAMILY, AND YOU ARE HURTING THIS COUNTRY. SIXTY-NINE PERCENT OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE WAITING FOR YOU TO START DRILLING.

I AWAIT YOUR RESPONSE.