they will hang each other out to dry on this one so fast your head will spin. Everyone wants to look like the good guy....

there is absolutely no need to expand offshore drilling when oil companies are sitting on over 12000 permits already without doing a damn

thing with them

$4 per gallon gas is a great reason. Not importing oil from radical states is a second....

then tell them to develop witht heir current permits

why do they not develop them? And yet demand more? How do we KNOW that if they got everything they wanted, they wouldn't just sit on them?

And do you think that we would actually see any relief at the pumps anytime within the next decade were we to expand offshore drilling?

So let's all just sit on our hands and do nothing but put air in our tires for another 10 years.

How about invest in alternative energy, for one? Oil is not the only way to keep us moving.

We have to do more than just drill. We need new refineries. We need new nuclear plants. We need to continue researching alternatives.

Yes, doing something now will have an some affect at the pumps. Each year that passes will have a greater effect.

The argument of it takes 10 years is ridiculous. We've been hearing the same thing for 30 years.

Alternatives are definitely a must have, but my current cars will not run on electricity, so more oil still is needed.

Where would be now if we had started this 30 years ago? Where will we be 30 years form now if we don't start? We are over regulated.

the thing is, the oil companies HAVE allt he permits they could possibly need for exploration ehre at home and yet refuse to use them

Over-regulated? HA! We have seen constant DEregulation since the raygun years. The only thing left is that new refineries must be built in

The refineries and nuclear are stopped because of regulations...

Let's give them permits where the oil actually is..

such a way as to lessen the effect of pollution. ZOMG! WE CAN'T POLLUTE! But we CAN earn BILLIONS in profit every QUARTER and bring out the

old song-and-dance of how we NEED those profits to invest in our infrastructure, which never really happens

The oil companies earn about a 10-12% profit margin. Is that a windfall? Hardly.

why ask for permits where the oil ISNT? How do they actually KNOW there is no oil there if they refuse to do the research to find it?

Heaven forbid anyone should make a profit.

Google makes about a 25% profit margin. perhaps we should tax them more heavily?

you are telling me that $10B in PROFIT is NOT a windfall? Please

Based on the amount INVESTED? No. Jealous of rich people?

Fact is, who are the beneficiaries of those profits? The shareholders. Millions of people are invested in oil Companies via mutual funds etc

And we're not all billionaires.

I love the "jealous of rich people" schtick. I just tend to think that the oil companies should have no fucking right to fleece us whenever

someone sneezes. Or any industry for that matter. Sorry you don't feel the same way. Sorry you don't feel that consumers should be

protected from gross speculation as we have seen in the energy industry

As I pointed out before, who are the beneficiaries of the profits? Not all billionaire oil men.

you probably think poor people deserve to be poor too. Or that a minimum wage of $7.25 is onerous on business, even though a worker can

hardly live on that

There's not an economist worth his weight in sand that will say the minimum wage laws are a good thing. But my time is wasted here. So long.

yes it is wasted here. Because I happen to think that the people who DO the work that make companies BILLIONS in profits

should earn a living wage instead of living in povery.

what do you think a living wage is? Should it be different by region, inner city, suburbs, country, etc.?