Writer: Oil prices unnecessarily costly

What has cost the American taxpayers the most in dollars? Was it the fight against terrorists brought on by the murder of 3,000 innocent Americans by Muslim extremists and also the many more dollars in damages to buildings destroyed in the cowardice acts plus the destroyed dreams of many families, or was the cost of subsidies to ethanol makers at 1.45 cents per gallon just as costly as saving America from more attacks.

The price of corn rose from around $3 per bushel to $6 per bushel. The U.S. government paid out in 2007 some three billion plus dollars to the producers of ethanol. Ethanol production has raised the price of food, which is essential to every living body in order to survive. Many people around the world are starving because we value the ability of being able to drive our cars in comfort more than we value the lives of the masses of humans that can no longer afford the price of food.

The reason for this injustice lies in the hands of our elected officials in Washington. Don’t blame the president. He can only approve or veto what Congress proposes. I see Congress having hearings on food and oil prices and trying to justify the fact that everyone but themselves are to blame.

The Democrats say the oil companies are to blame. I agree they share some blame for allowing the price of oil to be tossed around among brokers and speculators rather than buying direct from the producers to meet their needs to furnish their refineries and capacity to meet the growing demand for their products. But the question remains, why are we forced to buy oil from people who would love to see the people of the United States go into ruin and knowing their oil has the power to complete the job.

“Common sense,” which seems to be a very absent virtue within our Congress, would say take it from the earth that we are sitting on which is our own country and territories in our control. We know where the deposits are and we have the know-how to recover our own crude oil. Congress says no as it may upset some of my constituents, namely they mean environmentalists and voters are more important than common sense since this is an election year.

So we will just delay any action since they say it would be years before we could begin to see the results of recovering our own oil. If Bill Clinton had not vetoed the vote in 1994, the oil would be flowing into our refineries now. I realize that some are working on alternatives to crude, but they are far more years away than we can wait on. The internal combustion engine and crude oil will drive the wheels of America long after these generations are all dead and gone.

Maybe Congress should also check the food companies. They are making huge profits.

— Ted Roth,

Newton