I know one thing: blaming speculators for oil prices is nonsense. I agree that there should be some oversight but Matheson is a typical politician trying to cast blame elsewhere when (not necessarily Matheson) but Congress over the years is to blame.
If anything we should thank the oil speculators for stabilizing prices (because that is what futures trading does in all commodities)because without them God only knows what could have happened to oil prices.
The Saudis aren't stupid. They know that high prices for oil just force the American economy to be more efficient and in the long run that isn't good for them. The best cure for high prices is high prices.

Matheson ahead of the curve? Unlikely. He's targeting the bogey man speculators who have little to do with the price of gas. He wants to say he is doing something about the price of gas, but he and his Democratic party have been the destructive forces behind the increase. Al Gore wants $5 gas and it looks like he will get it. Of course, we suffer while the elitists celebrate.

If you're throwing out kudos to a politician for being ahead of the curve in energy matters, you need to give Jimmy Carter his props.

"Any politician or environmentalist who says we can do it just with conservation or clean energy is either terribly naive or a liar." (Webb)

Too bad there are so many naive people and liars among us and in congress.

These two responses were the perfect example of the liberal mindset and the conservative mindset. The liberal offers no solutions or ideas whatsoever, other then to say hopefully this won't screw up my party's rise to power. The conservative actual made several proposals to help the situation. Most of these proposals are common sense and nothing ground breaking but then congress has very little common sense and is incapable of breaking ground on anything, other than things like museums dedicated to the hot dog, and research centers to study the effects of wicker furniture on the American people.

Frank's right, as usual. Obama needs to get very serious about the "Manhattan Project" on energy. It's the only rational thing to do anyway. McCain is just more of the same addiction to Big Oil until the price drives us to our knees and we have to start selling everything we have to pay off the Pushers--Exxon, Shell, etc. (BTW, the Pushers love it!)

Would the price of gas (barrel of oil) be lower,higher or the same had we not gone into Iraq looking for the famous weapons of mass destruction that did not exist?

The idea of a so-called "Manhatten Project" for energy is based on the assumption that no one is interested in making a gazillion dollars for coming up with a viable alternative to oil. The belief that government can come up with a solution that private individuals or corporations can't is ludicrous. The incentives are there, but the simple fact is that nothing is easier to extract, cheaper to process or yields as many BTU's per dollar as oil.

Your point and counterpoint about the serious energy situation energy provides a respectful and good summary. Sadly, the demeaning "Opus" cartoon (printed page T4) does not.

way to go lavarr!!!...its about time you spoke up and showed some kahuna's.....you offered at least 5 bullit points for action, and good old predictable frank and his demos offered more legislation and an idea for a bumper sticker to soothe voters...sorry you dems don't like the drill, drill, drill because not only is it the right thing to do it fits on a bumper sticker!!

I say the "oil crisis" is an attempt to get our attention and hold it while politicians get away with ignoring immigration, health care, Iraq, and the plethora of other concerns they should be addressing especially during this election year. They're going to get us to forget to hold them accountable for the things they haven't addressed and the things they've left undone.

Kill the oil crisis with innovation. Man the economy, full speed ahead. Nothing will save our necks like creating a whole new deal. Taking the integrated circuit example, look how much more bang for the energy buck we get with those compared to 10, 20, 30 years ago.

We've got the brainpower. We can finance making solutions viable. We need the will.

Once again, Matheson proves that Democrats, especially those that are lawyers, do not know how the real world works.