What are Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi telling you and rest of the American people regarding the rising cost of gasoline at the pump?

Simply put; "Let them eat cake."

Callousness... It's as if Reid and Pelosi hold the American people -- who are upset that they've done nothing to advance a commonsense energy policy since they took control of Congress -- in total contempt!

Congressman Adam Putnam, in an editorial published in Investor's Business Daily, perhaps said it best:

"On this issue, Washington isn't just broken -- it's AWOL."

Putnam also wrote:

"This broken status quo represents little more than government by trial and error. With each wrong turn, the pain at the pump worsens.

"This is the Democrat majority's favorite mistake: say any number of actors are to blame for a particular public policy challenge, and then go around groping for one silver bullet to fix it."

But Putnam really doesn't go far enough!  Pelosi and Reid aren't simply out to lunch; nor are they simply proposing "solutions" that make no sense whatsoever and will do NOTHING to lower the price of gasoline at the pump.

In actuality, they are actively blocking the ONE THING that will help lower the price at the pump and bring relief to millions of Americans; namely, lifting the congressional moratorium on offshore drilling. 

Pelosi even went so far as to call drilling domestically "a complete hoax."

To quote conservative columnist Ann Coulter:

"This is like telling a starving man, 'You can't eat your way out of being hungry!' 'You can't water your way out of drought!' 'You can't sleep your way out of tiredness!' 'You can't drink yourself out of dehydration!'"

According to legend, Marie Antoinette said; "Let them eat cake" when she heard the starving French people had no bread and the French people executed her for her callousness.

Essentially, Reid and Pelosi are saying.  'No drilling in Alaska.  No drilling offshore.  No drilling wherever oil can be found.'  As for those who can't afford gas or food: 'Let them ride bicycles.'

Drive Small Cars And Wait For The Wind.

According to the Capitol Hill newspaper The Hill, an unnamed Democrat confided that the REAL Democrat energy strategy is "driving small cars and waiting for the wind."

But in actuality, Reid and Pelosi's energy strategy can be summed up in one word: SOCIALISM!

Congressman Putnam again:

"Last month, one of Speaker Nancy Pelosi's fellow California Democrats said she would be 'all about socializing' and 'taking over' the oil companies. Just two weeks ago, another senior House Democrat said the 'government should own the refineries.' ...

"... Socializing, nationalizing and driving small cars. It's enough to make you think they attended the Hugo Chavez School of Capitalism."

Congressman Putnam was referring to a recent statement from Congressman Maurice Hinchey calling for the "Nationalization" of Oil Refineries:

"Maybe they'd be willing to have these companies owned publicly... owned by the people of the United States."

He's also referring to a statement from Congresswoman Maxine Waters, on the floor of the House of Representatives:

"This liberal will be all about SOCIAL____ (abrupt pause) uhhhh... uhhh... (pause) will be about... (pause) basically taking over and the government running all your companies."

Reid and Pelosi's energy policy appears to be consistent with the increasingly overt Socialism that they believe is the answer to all of our nation's problems: 'Why not just turn our lives over to government and be done with it?'

Obviously, whether it's energy or health care, some Members of Congress want government to either control or outright own the means of production.  They're no longer hiding their intentions!

Let's Take a Closer Look at Reid and Pelosi's Solutions

Majority Leader Reid blames the speculators for driving up the price of oil and he's advancing legislation to go after the speculators.

Last week, CQ Politics wrote:

"House and Senate Democratic leaders plan to bring energy legislation to the floor this week, using procedural tactics designed to block Republicans from offering amendments that would lift the drilling ban."

"In the Senate, Democrats hope to take up as early as Wednesday a still-un-drafted bill that would tighten regulation of speculation in energy futures, which some lawmakers contend adds as much as 30 percent to the price of crude oil.

"Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-Nev., said he would block any effort to propose amendments to the bill that did not deal directly with the speculation issue."

In other words, Reid is essentially saying that he will BLOCK any legislation that calls for more domestic oil exploration, which would actually do something to drive down the price at the pump, unless conservatives agree to pass legislation that would allow MORE government intrusion into the free market.

And what about the speculators?

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission, along with the Department of Energy and the Federal Trade Commission just released a report on Tuesday which states: "fundamental supply and demand factors provide the best explanation for the recent crude oil price increases."

Moreover the report also concludes that the rise in oil prices is being caused not by speculation but by rising consumption and diminished supply. 

As for the speculators, the report "does not support the hypothesis that the activity of these groups is driving prices higher."

But obviously speculation plays a role in the price of oil.

In fact, since President Bush announced last Monday that he was lifting the executive prohibition on offshore drilling and urged Congress to lift its prohibition, the price of oil has dropped about $20.00 a barrel.

According to columnist Jack Kelly, writing for the Toledo Blade:

"On July 15, President Bush announced he was lifting the executive branch moratorium on offshore drilling. In the 24 hours that followed, crude oil futures plunged $9.26 (6.3 percent), the biggest oil price decline in 17 years."

"'Traders took a look at a feisty and aggressive George Bush and started selling the market well before a new drop of oil has been lifted,' said financial analyst Lawrence Kudlow. 'If Congress moves to seal the deal, oil prices will probably keep on falling. That's the way traders work. They discount the future. Psychology and expectations can turn on a dime.'"

That's unprecedented!  The price of oil went down approximately 15 percent in one week.  About half of that drop occurred in the first day!  It should be FRONT PAGE NEWS... The presses should be stopping!

But the major media only gave fleeting mention to the price drop!

Why? 

Perhaps one reason is that making a big deal out of what should be a big deal would lead people to the conclusion that speculation CAN lower the price of gasoline at the pump and the only thing prohibiting it from happening is Reid and Pelosi's REFUSAL to lift the ban on offshore drilling!

And Reid wants to go after the speculators? 

Hey Harry, why not just allow a vote on lifting the Congressional ban on drilling (if you simply let the vote occur, it will happen) and let the speculators do what comes naturally and lower the price?

Oops, forgot... it's not really about lowering the price of gasoline at the pump, now is it?

More Idiotic Solutions...

Why do liberals keep telling us that it will take "10 years" to recover and bring significant amounts of domestic oil to market (which, by the way, according to some is a high estimate)?

And then, in the same breath, advocate so-called alternative energy "solutions" even though (in many cases) no one has any idea how long it would take to bring these solutions to market or if they'll even be affordable.

Why do liberal legislators prohibit us from drilling where we know there IS oil unless the oil companies agree to drill where there IS NOT oil (or it's simply cost prohibitive to recover)?

And, did you happen to catch the following news blurb that came from FOX News on Sunday?  Are our legislators actually trying to raise taxes on gasoline?

"Despite calls from the presidential campaign trail for a Memorial Day-to-Labor Day tax freeze, lawmakers quickly concluded... that having $9 billion less to spend on highways could create a pre-election specter of thousands of lost jobs."

"Now, lawmakers quietly are talking about raising fuel taxes by a dime from the current 18.4 cents a gallon on gasoline and 24.3 cents on diesel fuel."

And finally, why are Pelosi and Reid pointing fingers at everyone else even though gasoline prices have doubled since the Pelosi-Reid gang took control of Congress?

And why are they proposing so-called solutions that will only compound our problems?

Remember what Congressman Putnam wrote?

"This is the Democrat majority's favorite mistake: say any number of actors are to blame for a particular public policy challenge, and then go around groping for one silver bullet to fix it."

But Reid and Pelosi aren't really trying to find a "silver bullet to fix it."

It really is about "Socializing" and "Nationalizing" and "driving small cars and waiting for the wind."

That's NOT the American way!