This Is Why We Will Never Make Progress With Dhimicrats In Positions of Power

House passes bill to sue OPEC over oil prices By Tom Doggett

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved legislation on Tuesday allowing the Justice Department to sue OPEC members for limiting oil supplies and working together to set crude prices, but the White House threatened to veto the measure.

Yeah. That'll stop them. I'm sure they fear US Courts. Where does a large portion of investment capital in this country come from again?

The bill would subject OPEC oil producers, including Saudi Arabia, Iran and Venezuela, to the same antitrust laws that U.S. companies must follow.

And what are we going to do when they look at us and yawn? Beat them Up? Could be damn hard to get there without OIL.

The measure passed in a 324-84 vote, a big enough margin to override a presidential veto.

Thus demonstrating that shrewness overpowers intellect when enightened self interest of the voting parties is in line.

The legislation also creates a Justice Department task force to aggressively investigate gasoline price gouging and energy market manipulation.

Sound and Fury Amounting to Nothing.

"This bill guarantees that oil prices will reflect supply and demand economic rules, instead of wildly speculative and perhaps illegal activities," said Democratic Rep. Steve Kagen of Wisconsin, who sponsored the legislation.

It guarantees nothing but high prices and short supply. How stupid are these people?

The lawmaker said Americans "are at the mercy" of OPEC for how much they pay for gasoline, which this week hit a record average of $3.79 a gallon.

$3.79 a gallon? I wish it was that cheap.

The White House opposes the bill, saying that targeting OPEC investment in the United States as a source for damage awards "would likely spur retaliatory action against American interests in those countries and lead to a reduction in oil available to U.S. refiners."

That evil President. How dare he be right!

The administration said less oil going to refineries would limit available gasoline supplies and raise fuel prices.

Duh.

Foreign investment in U.S. oil infrastructure has declined in the last decade. But the state-owned oil companies of several OPEC nations are owners of U.S. refineries, and those investments could be affected if the legislation becomes law, said Arlington, Virginia-based FBR Capital Markets Corp.

So we get to screw with our too-few refineries as it is. How wonderful.

The bill also requires the Government Accountability Office to carryout a study on the effects of prior oil company mergers on energy prices.

It is stupid energy policy that put us in this mess. We need to be drilling where the oil is, and as Glenn Beck has stated "I am willing to drill right through a polar bear's head to get it if that's where the oil is." And we need new refineries too. Lots of them.

The Senate would still have to approve the House measure.

I never thought I'd be glad for the Senate.

The Senate previously approved similar legislation as part of a broad energy bill. However, the OPEC-suing provision was removed after White House opposition in order to get the underlying energy legislation signed into law.

The adults said no, and the kiddies still want it their way. These people will get us all killed.