Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

1. Record-high prices paid by consumers have fueled the $342.4 billion in profits enjoyed by the major oil companies since Bush has been president.

2. We'll never be able to produce our way to lower prices, because America is already the third-largest producer of oil in the world. The United States produces more oil every day than Iran, Kuwait and Qatar combined. The problem is that we consume more oil than any other country; every day, we use one of every four barrels of oil consumed in the world.

3. On average, it costs a company like ExxonMobil about $20 to extract a barrel of oil in Nigeria, Alaska or elsewhere. The company then sells it to American consumers for $70 a barrel.

4. A new income tax on these windfall profits could be dedicated to funding clean energy fuels, renewable energy, energy efficiency and increased investment in mass transit.

5. Strengthening fuel economy standards will make new cars more efficient, allowing them to use less gasoline. Improving fuel economy standards to 40 miles per gallon over the next decade will reduce our oil consumption by one-third.

Slocum managed to make his points heard with engaging good humor, even through the equally good natured spoofery which is Colbert's stock in trade.

I don't know how many billions of  tax payer furnished dollars have been dumped into the black hole of Dick Cheney's Leave no Oiligarch Behind Energy Policy but I'm sure that you will not find these five points mentioned.

With all the tens of billions in subsidies given by our Governmental den of thieves to our private den of  thieves all that has been accomplished is the fleecing of the taxpayer, the maiming of the working class, and the near destruction of the American economy.

All the while the bloated plutocrats have prated on about the complexities of global markets and the difficulties in the refining process and other transparent obfuscations.

There are simple solutions to energy, to health care, and to a myriad of other problems and in these five simple statements Slocum, with Colbert's comic guidance managed to shine a light toward the simplicity of the approach required.

Somehow, I think we've been overpaying our governmental officials and all the consultants and think tanks that they hire on our dime. Why not just turn Comedy Central into another publicly funded channel?

They made more sense on energy policy in a few minutes of television last night than this crooked administration has made in six and a half years.

The show repeats tonight at 8:30 EST.

Bob Higgins
Worldwide Sawdust