Our economy has already had one leg cut out from under it.  When the Fed decided months ago to print new money out of thin air, it had the expected effect of making the dollar weaker in world markets.  This raised domestic prices on fuel and groceries, and limited the buying power of consumers and businesses.  Couple that with an increasing demand for oil and a decreasing supply, added to the increased food prices due to the fact that more farm land is now being used to grow corn for ethanol, and we have a potential crisis in the making.  And all this after the housing "bubble" has already burst, hurting financial institutions across the country.

As if all this wasn't enough, our U.S. Congress is set today to vote on a bill that would rescind tax breaks for oil corporations.  That's right folks, they're not giving us a tax holiday at the pump; instead, they're going to force oil companies to increase prices even more.  Rather than vote to open up new sources of oil in our country (something that would have a near immediate effect on the price at the pump), they are acting to further vilify the oil companies.  Over the last year, as gas prices have continued to soar, Congress has been worse than useless.  They are acting to force us into "greener" cars, force us into hybrid cars, or force us out of cars altogether in favor of mass transportation or single-conveyance vehicles such as scooters, mopeds, etc.  Yet they have done nothing to actually reduce the price at the pump by increasing supply, or reducing regulations to make it easier for oil corporations to open new refineries.

These actions are completely unconstitutional.  There is no constitutional mandate to protect the environment.  There is, however, a primary directive to protect our right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."  It should not be up to the government to decide what kind of vehicles we drive, or how good the gas mileage is in those cars, and the constitution does not leave those things within the purview of the government on any level.

There are, however, several things Congress could do.  As stated above, they could move to open new sources of domestic oil.  The United States has over 1 trillion barrels of domestic oil that remains untapped because of government over-regulation.  But opening these oil fields would have a negligible effect if we do not also move to open new refineries to handle this added influx of oil.  Another thing Congress could do is rescind, at least temporarily, the regulations mandating all the different grades of fuel that are to be sold in various parts of the country.  I think there are 13 different grades of oil that must be sold throughout the country due to varying EPA regulations.  By temporarily suspending these regulations, oil companies would be able to save money on the refining process, and those savings could then be passed on to the consumer.

However, the Democrat-controlled congress is loath to do any of those things because they would "damage the environment."  The Democrat party is controlled by the environmentalist movement, which believes it is the role of the federal government to protect the environment against "evil" corporations who will otherwise destroy it.  I would like for any of them to site from the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, or any other founding document anything that comes even remotely close to giving the government that kind of regulatory power.  They can't, because there isn't any.

Passing legislation to open new oil fields would have an immediate impact.  First, it would signal to the Saudis that we are declaring independence from foreign controls over our own policies, but that's political.  Economically, it would have an immediate impact on oil futures, because people would realize that we are serious about increasing world supply, and the price per barrel would immediately begin to decline.  Within a very short time, we would see those prices reflected at the pump, especially if Congress follows up by doing other things to ease our pain when it comes to oil.

Another thing Congress could do is put a stop to this charade called "ethanol."  Ethanol is one of the biggest frauds ever to be hoisted upon the American people.  First, it causes more pollution than old-fashioned gasoline.  Second, it destroys more of the environment than it protects, and third, it is directly linked to higher food prices which cause more poverty in more places, and poverty is also linked to destruction of the environment.  Ethanol perpetuates the cycle of destruction, and does absolutely nothing to fix any problem.  But liberals don't care about real problems, they only care about making themselves look good, and having good intentions.  Who cares about the outcomes, as long as you have good intentions. (How many crime shows have we watched where one spouse says to the other, "But honey, I did it for you/us!")  This Democrat-controlled Congress is ruining the economy because they care about the world.  But if there's no money for clean-up projects, who's going to care about the world then?  Well, I guess it won't really matter as long as we're all living in tents and riding bicycles.