Who am I voting for? Depends on how much gas I have in the tank on election day.

OK I am exaggerating, obviously I would not vote on a whim like that..but I cannot for certain decide who I am voting for until I hear some answers. It seems that both political candidates are promising change (Obama more so than McCain, but then again Obama is not the typical candidate). I would like to know first of all the energy policies of these presidential candidates.

We all know that Obama is promising a tax cut for the middle class and a windfall tax on oil companies’ record profits (which I am all for); however when asked about short-term solutions, Obama has skirted the issue by pointing towards a middle-class tax-cut and using the windfall tax to help families. I just mentioned that twice. Well Obama has mentioned it more than twice, in fact one too many times. First of all, I admire Obama’s empathy, but the fact of the matter is that we can’t keep putting band-aids on the issue of our energy crisis.

There must be mid-to-long term strategies taken to quicken the idependence of foreign oil. Obama cannot keep pointing to a windfall tax as a “real” solution; because those taxes will be passed on to the consumers in the form of prices in the future. Oil companies are already paying around 50% of their revenue in taxes; any further taxation will result in an increase of gasoline prices. Add this to fact that America is in massive debt; and to give tax breaks to the majority of the population by $1000 cannot be something that can be repeated every year. Please correct me if I am wrong, but would this just not further weaken the American dollar, reversing the recent trend of dropping oil prices per barrell. After all, oil futures are traded using American currency, clearly a further weakend dollar will cause an increase in prices, along with oil companies raising prices to preserve profit margins. Ahh….this is giving me a headache already, so I can’t blame Obama for trying to come up with a temporary solution.

But then, there’s McCain. Now this guy wants to lift the ban on off-shore drilling. And now 2 out of every 3 Americans support offshore drilling. WAKE UP PEOPLE! There is no way that off-shore drilling will result in a reversal of rising fuel prices. Even the Department of Energy has said that it would take at least 10 years before the effects of off-shore drilling reach prices at the pump. You can read all about that here. I mean, McCain is telling the American people that off-shore drilling is the answer. Even T. Boone Pickens has stated that drilling will not solve the problem…and Pickens knows all about oil. So why are we listening to President Bush and McCain banter on about off-shore drilling?

Well it’s a psychological thing. Gas prices are a big concern to people now a days. We are more tempted by the offer of cheap fuel than cheap food. Seriously think about it…car salesmen are now offering $500 gas cards and what not instead of the usual cash-back rebates. And we are further tempted by this…when in reality a $500 discount or rebate is a lot better of a deal than a $500 gas card. (Cash can be invested, spent on whatever a person wants, gifted, etc.) But perhaps Bush and McCain aren’t just banking on the psychological aspect. It’s quite possible that one of their goals is to push the issue to a long-term issue. So maybe that the issue is something that becomes more of a factor after their term is over. Think about it…I promise you some great solution in a few years…maybe 5 maybe 10 years. Well it doesn’t matter, I might not even be around as a president at that time; I can be relaxing after finishing my term and let the next bloke deal with the mess. Obviously McCain would want a 2nd term as the ruler of the world, after all that is what the American president assumes he is; but you know what I am getting at.

And recently McCain and Obama are trying to compromise on a bipartisan solution to the energy crisis. Um…no. Each side is merely conceding a bit so as to appease the American public, but come on now, we all know it’s going to be a long time before some serious solutions pass through congress. In the meantime, I would like for both candidates to give me the straight answer: What is your proposed short-term solution; and your solution for the future for America’s energy independence movement. I don’t want the fancy answers that mean virtually nothing. Let’s be honest America, tax cuts are not the solution. And windfall taxes will result in not much of a significant decrease in price at the pump. And off-shore drilling is definetely NOT the direction we need to be heading.

How about letting the car companies and Americans suffer for a bit? Supply and demand is doing a great job at this point, as evidenced by a drastic slump in truck and SUV sales. I am not by any means from a wealthy family, we are probably better categorized as of the lower end of a middle class immigrant family. And, I am truly sorry for American families that are living in poverty and not able to afford necessities, I really am. But I also am not that empathetic towards Americans who bought 8 cylinder SUVs in the suburbs of America during the past 5 years. It is just as much their fault as the car companies, who have done little in terms of improving fuel efficiency in their cars (except maybe a few Japanese manufacturers and even fewer American car models). This is supply and demand taking place, and while I am waiting for a solution from the aforementioned two politicians, we still are responsible for our own careless usage of oil.

Hopefully we can go back to the days of cheaper fuel…but that might result in the problem that’s gotten us to this mess in the first place: we as Americans wasted a precious resource. We must be careful to take measures to use less, conserve more, and eventually switch over to a renewable source of energy. In the meantime, all we can do is sweat it out. Which brings me to global warming; …*reader falls asleep*… but I think I will save that for a later post.