Laugh or Cry

Oil Prices Surge to $64, a New Record

Is it just me, or should someone be paying more attention to this and less time clearing brush?

Crude oil for September delivery climbed $1.63, or 2.6 percent, to settle at $63.94 a barrel this afternoon on the New York Mercantile Exchange after trading as high as $64 a barrel. Oil prices have risen about 47 percent this year.

The new record price was reached on the same day that President Bush signed an energy bill that was four years in the making. The bill provides incentives for domestic oil and gas producers, but does little to curb consumption.

I guess you know the situation is bad when economists start giving sarcastic quotes to the Times--and get them published:

"Other than the weather, and hurricanes, and refineries going down, and Saudi Arabia and Iran, and strong economic statistics, there really is no reason why crude oil prices should be so high," Ms. White said. "It must be speculation, don't you think?"

Here's some speculation--if these prices keep going up, and housing prices keep going up, more and more ordinary people are going to become fed up with Bush's unwillingess to lead the nation's economy in a more sustainable direction. The top tax rate will be back up to 39% by 2009. Maybe we can spend some of the money on developing a more energy efficient nation?