They're Not Serious

No-drill Democrats are looking wan under the bright light of rising gasoline prices. So what do they do? They retreat to their worst ideas and claim they've brought a fresh set of solutions to the table. The Hill reported Wednesday that "Democrats say they learned their lesson from the summer of 2008 and have resolved to go on the offensive to avoid another pummeling over high gas prices." Sounds promising. But anyone who thought Democrats had given up on their crackpot energy proposals will be disappointed to learn that the party still refuses to offer any serious answers. Instead, they drag out the usual nonsense, such as opening the Strategic Petroleum Reserve — which was not intended to be a tool for market manipulation and does nothing to increase the supply of crude — and pressuring other nations to increase production while the U.S. economy recovers, a guaranteed diplomatic failure...more

In addition to prosecuting OPEC members and cracking down on speculators in the oil markets, the Dem's are proposing to fine oil companies $4 for every acre of public land or water they lease but aren't drilling on. But as the editorial says:

This, of course, is an effort to make the Democrats look like they support drilling. But it's a cynic's game. They know those fields aren't being used because oil companies have determined that drilling them is not productive. If Democrats were serious about drilling, rather than trying to force resources from unproductive tracts, they'd let oil companies drill where they know the crude is.

Drill? As the editorial points out the only thing they want to drill is the taxpayer's pocket.