I do agree- the Government probably was not the cause- they were too busy making sure we noticed what they were doing at the time- which was spending the tax money that they had collected, in the best way to benefit their districts or their "profiles and accomplishments"
As for the off shore drilling - the time frame for production might not have as big an impact as just letting it be know that we do intend to proceed with that- it will send a message that we no longer are going to wait for OPEC and all the others to provide us with the oil we need and consume- maybe then we won't be so subject to every "tip of the balance" that occurs to send the price of oil up , as it seems to do- and the speculation that goes along with it- every  hostage capture, every blown up oil pipeline, every off shore rig that is being attacked- all of this just does not really do much to the oil production- just the speculation about what "might" happen- and the prices go UP and we seem to have to pay for that kind of mis-information- just like when Merrill Lynch made the outlandish report that oil would probably reach $150/barrel by the 4th of July- and then the prices took off- that person should be punished for the damage he/she did as a result of that improper statement- maybe pay back the American consumer the difference in the prices before and after that statement? Who knows- but we are now in a downward spiral , hopefully with no "bad news" for a while- and the price of oil might return to its "normal" level.
Steve Meinecke
Franklin, TN
(the price of reg here is $3.86 today)