While politicos volley back and forth on the good and the bad of offshore drilling in the United States, Louisiana had its worst oil spill in many a decade. And it wasn’t from drilling on or offshore. It was from a tanker barge hit by a boat while transporting oil along the Mississippi River in New Orleans.
That could have happened anywhere in the country, no matter where the drilling took place that produced it.
California and Florida residents have been notorious about opposing drilling off there beloved shores while Louisianians have loved the ability to make money doing it and supplying the nation with some of the fuel it needs. Now that gasoline has flirted with a price of $4 a gallon, residents of other states are having a change of mind. People in even California and Florida reportedly support offshore drilling by slight majorities.
This writer has gone back and forth to Grand Isle for most of his life. It is in the center of our offshore oil production area which has never experienced a significant oil spill from any source. One very small spill did occur just two weeks ago and was cleaned up in less than half a day. From whence it came, we do not know but it could have been from a boat or oil barge such as happened in New Orleans. At our last investigation, there were doubts that it came from an oil drilling platform in the Gulf.
The oil is there offshore below the Gulf and it is to our benefit to drill for it while there is a need until we can find alternative fuels to take its place. And other states in the nation should allow it also.
Will we become one-party nation again?
One of the main reasons to vote for John McCain for President is to avoid giving one party control over the administrative and legislative branches of our government. It is a foregone conclusion that the Democrats will continue their control of Congress.
If Barack Obama becomes our chief executive, he will also have Congress following his will for the most part.
It shouldn’t necessarily be so But the two-party system thrives when one party can be a watchdog on the other. That doesn’t happen if the President has solid control of Congress.
Obama may be an upcoming young leader. But he is an upcoming young leader.
We need someone who has experienced the battles of the past in Washington and on the warfront and understands what the United States of America has done in bringing freedom and democracy to the world. Yes, we have gone to war many times and in most cases it has been for good causes and has brought and kept freedom to much of the world.
Obama grasped the displeasure of the public on the Iraq war and pledged to bring the troops home right away. In other words, he used that war as a major campaign issue he expected would provide many votes for himself.
So if Obama is elected President with a Democratic Congress that supports his beck and call, we will be a one-party nation for the time being. Of course that happened before when Franklin Roosevelt enjoyed the opportunity to run the nation single-handedly in the thirties and forties. There were other occasions when one party domination took control.
It didn’t destroy the country. But the record states that we have done best when a second party has some power and uses it with discretion. It is something to think about when we vote this fall.
Be the first to comment