Oil, OPEC, and the Presidential Election

Before I even start this post/rant of mine, I would just like to say that I am by no means well versed in politics and all the political topics that are now surrounding the upcoming presidential election. However, I will do my duty as an American citizen and vote for our next President. Therefore, I'm trying to learn more about what I feel are the "important" topics, so I can participate in all the fun debates/discussions that will crop up at get-togethers and what nots as the election draws nearer. I'm hoping that this post will not necessarily inform others, but rather bring on comments that will help me better understand the topic at hand.

Obviously, one of the biggest issues our Presidential candidates will be debating this year is oil and rising oil costs. After all, we're all getting a bit sick and tired of paying $4.00 for a gallon of gas and $4.79 for a gallon of oil to heat our houses. (A quick side note: In European countries gas is over $8.00 a gallon. I'm not going to bitch about gas prices anymore. That would be ungrateful and and just plain silly. I'm going to be happy I'm not European. (Another side note: American citizens are not even taxed the average gas tax. We are soooo far below the average its not even funny if your not American. Check that out here at the OPEC website and stop the complaining about gas prices and Republicans unfairly taxing us.))

This is what I don't understand: Democrats are blasting the Republicans for such high and rising oil costs. I've seen articles and political ads that blame Republicans for the fact that oil costs have risen so high and are still rising. So, when did Republicans start setting oil prices?

I was under the impression OPEC set the prices for oil. And last time I looked the United States was not a member of OPEC. President Bush was not attending their meetings and asking them to raise the oil prices. Republicans in our government were not voting at OPEC meetings to raise the oil prices. So tell me, how do Republicans raise the price of oil? How are the Republicans at fault for rising oil costs?

I've heard some argue that its the war in Iraq that cause such high oil prices. Okay, but not entirely the Republicans fault. 58% of Democrats who voted to authorize the use of US armed forces against Iraq voted "Yea." (And don't even give me the whole, "Well, I didn't know exactly what I was voting for." If you don't know exactly what you are voting for then you shouldn't be voting and you definitely shouldn't have been running for President, Hilary!! Do your research and read the TITLE of the resolution! Stupid...) Also, according to National Geographic, while Iraq supposedly has huge underground oil reserves it only produces about a fifth of what Saudi Arabia produces. We're not at war with Saudi Arabia.

Still though, how does the war (apparently the complete fault of the Republicans) itself actually cause higher oil prices? Were we getting that much more oil from Iraq prior to the war? Was Iraq the biggest supplier of oil before 2003?

Let's not forget that the USA is not the only country to use oil. If this war is about oil, do you think we're the only ones over there fighting for it? Publicly...yes. But the only ones, period...absolutely not. American citizens are one of the biggest groups to use oil and to use the high quantity that we use. So even if the war is about oil, its about protecting the oil that the American citizens need and use to live in daily life. Or do you walk to your Democratic political meetings and war protests, Obama?

Back to the original topic...since the Republicans were not the only ones to vote "Yea" to the war, let's take that off the table. How are they still responsible for oil costs? America is not the only country is purchase oil. I have a hard time believing those in OPEC sit around and say, "Hey, dude. Let's totally piss off America and raise oil prices. I mean, I know England, Canada, France, Japan, Russia...well, hell, all developed countries and even those who are still trying to develop themselves buy oil also, but, think about it dude, let's piss off the USA. Raise oil prices. And we'll blame the Republicans."

Really, this isn't just an American issue. Rising oil costs are all over the world. To blame Republicans for oil being at the price it is...well, its silly and uneducated and it makes no sense whatsoever. To me, anyway. It seems more like a supply and demand kind of thing. We're (as in the world/Earthlings) getting to the point where we are demanding more than can be supplied. We're not at the end of our oil supply yet, but those who are well versed in the Earth's oil usage and supply are predicting we'll have reached the halfway mark by 2030, give or take a few years. After that, it will be even harder and more expensive to drill the second half of our oil supply. The less we have, but the more we want, the more expensive its gonna be. I'm pretty sure that's Economics 101, not the Republicans.