The American Spectator

Reader Mail

Oil for One

5.11.06 @ 12:01AM

(Page 2 of 5)

I'm confused. Why does Ben Stein -- one of the most level-headed columnists whom I regularly read -- have any need to employ a psychiatrist? (I am assuming that's what he means when he uses the word "shrink.") Perhaps this is a legal requirement for obtaining residence in Malibu? That would explain a lot...
-- Todd Stoffer
Cleveland, Ohio

Richard Nixon ended the Cold War?????
-- unsigned

MISCALCULATION
Re: G. Tracy Mehan III's Concentrating the Army Corps of Engineers:

That's $1 million per resident, not $100,000, if there are 1500 residents and the bill for levee repair is $1.5 billion.
-- Bill Andersen

AN EASY MISTAKE
Re: Steny Hoyer's letter ("Democrats Cry False") in Reader Mail's Hoyer Endorses Pelosi:

What's with all the [sic][sic][sic]'s embedded in Steny Hoyer's letter? With all the Ben Stein advertising banners, including one in the middle of Hoyer's letter, it is quite possible for the casual reader to assume that every word in the Spectator is produced by Ben Stein. And I suspect Steny Hoyer is at best a casual reader of this site.
-- Glen Hoffing
Shamong, New Jersey

MARKET FORCES
Re: Ben Stein's Stop the Scapegoating:

Ben Stein hits the nail on the head once again. There's nothing more ridiculous than the "consumer-environmentalist" who commands "Give me all the energy I want at a price I can afford and don't mess up the environment while doing it!" There's nothing more pathetic than environmental leaders who preach and pray about conserving energy and then join the braying herd whenever oil prices go up -- which is the thing that makes people conserve in the first place. And there's nothing more dangerous than an American public that has been deluded into thinking resources are infinite and price will always remain the same. Public attitudes are going to have to change at some point. Let's start by building a few more nuclear plants.
-- William Tucker

I would ask Mr. Stein, whom I greatly respect and admire, just when does profit become grotesque and obscene? No one faults companies for making a return on their investments, however when that return tops $8.4 billion dollars for one company for ONE quarter, one has to ask is the fair or overpricing of the final product.

I agree that Americans seem to feel they have to have the biggest SUV (Navigators, Hummers et al) to show the world "Here I am," "I have arrived," but I also look at their major auto producers who either cannot or will not produce vehicles that are efficient and economical without government getting into the act and forcing them through legislation to do so. THEY must shoulder some of the blame also.

We need to wean ourselves off foreign oil period. There are enough reserves of crude oil and natural gas in area 181 in the Gulf of Mexico to sustain us for a considerable length of time. It is time that congress took the bull by the horns and did what is needed to get us on that road to energy independence.

I, for one, when I build my new home in the Pacific NW, will invest in a fuel cell power unit for my home. I will be able to generate adequate electrical power necessary, produce clear fresh water as one by product and hot water as the other. In addition I will be able to feed my excess into the grid in off peak hours.
-- Allan Pilger
Catonsville, Maryland

I understand everything you have said in the above article, HOWEVER, you are either purposely or ignorantly missing the point of the latest public outrage. The issue is GASOLINE prices, NOT oil prices. Most of us burn gasoline in our cars not oil. Yes we understand the market forces that cause the price of oil to go up and down. What we do not understand is why the oil companies (some would say purposely and illegally) fail to increase gasoline refining capacity to meet market demand. This is not rocket science.

We (the U.S.) have reportedly started to import fully refined gasoline from Europe to meet demand. This is a total waste of money. We should be refining our own gas right here instead of paying to ship it all the way from Europe. Some say that the oil companies (who own the refineries) are allowing refining capacity to fall behind demand so that they can cash in. Some also say that this is made possible because there is now not enough competition in the refining market due to the mega-mergers of the oil companies. They say that the oil companies should be broken up and the refining business separated from the oil exploration business. You should be commenting on this, not the tired old argument that oil companies don't control the price of "oil." We are past that. The fact is that they do have control of the capacity to refine oil into gasoline and that misuse of that power can drive up the price of gasoline.

What say you to that, sir?
-- Sean M.
Orlando, Florida

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Taxes, Education, Economics, Business, Federal Budget, Social Security, Environment, Constitution, Law, Supreme Court, Military, Iraq, Energy, Oil