All of these oversimplified schemes to lower oil prices by tax holidays or plundering the strategic reserves are political posturing, and both parties are guilty of it, as are those from both parties to be credited who oppose it.

However, there is at least one justification for the strategic reserve proposal: it makes a lot more sense to buy and hoard petroleum when prices are low, than to do so when they are going through the roof. That would only make sense economically if it is expected that prices are never going to come down and will continue to rise indefinitely. I believe that's what Mr Bush's advisors are telling him (but not the public), because it is the only justification I can see for such a lunatic poilicy. I think Peak Oil is already here, and that's why Rumsfeld and Cheney really wanted us in Iraq.

If I were dictator, I would keep the strategic reserve exactly where it is, in the ground, but I would put a hold on adding to it while foreign crude is so expensive, and where just another buyer will only force prices even higher. (Unless, of course, my advisors told ME Peak Oil was already here.) I would also implement a program of exploration to locate new sources of domestic crude, but I would not turn it's discoveries over to the oil companies so they could turn around and sell it all to the highest bidder.

As for all the vast reserves allegedly lying offshore and in our public lands, they are already serving two useful purposes: they are a true strategic reserve we may one day thank the gods we didn't rape for the sake of short-term profit, and they serve as an extremely convenient excuse for not having implemented prudent and modest conservation measures while they still might have done us some good.

You see, TB, the same voices who in the past continuously egged us on to consume as much oil as we could because it was never going to run out are now the same ones who want us to listen to their advice on how to conduct our energy policy, and to be honest with you, I don't think anyone believes a damned word they say any more.