FORUM: Let them eat cake

I find it sad and curious when pundits, like Mr. Martin above, choose to obscure facts using partisan rhetoric to obscure the reality we face. Study after study has shown that loosening the restrictions in ANWR and the continental shelf will take many years to put into effect, not reaching peak production well into the 2020s. The Department of Energy itself has said that that we can only expect less than 2% of world demand for oil to be fulfilled by ANWR drilling and somewhere between 5-10% by off-shore drilling. And even so, the oil produced would be absorbed into the world market and prices would continue to be set by world need. Americans would get no price break on oil produced domestically. That combined with the future increased need of emerging markets like India and China will only heighten competition and prices for everyone. Right now, America uses three times the amount of oil than the next closest consumer nation which is China and their expected consumption in the near future is expected to rise dramatically. The IEA expects world consumption to rise 35% by 2030, making the small contribution of ANWR and off-shore drilling negligible. That being said, it shouldn't have to be my job to counter the factless rhetoric of a paid partisan shill. And I'm tired of being lectured to by people who seem to know less about the issue than I, using it only as an opportunity to attack the opposing party. If Mr. Martin had any scruples whatsoever, he should fairly present known facts about each of the parties' positions. For example, Mr. Martin should plainly say that the phrase "let them eat cake" was first attributed to the writings of Rousseau, who penned an anecdote in 1766 (when Marie Antoinette was 10) that includes the phrase. It was also attributed to the Duchess of Tuscany. It was only in anecdotes, mostly posed by populist agitators, attributed to the late Princess who by most first-hand accounts was sweet, clueless and simply unconcerned with public life. It was easier, as Mr. Martin tries above with the "liberal elite," to demonize her rather than establish the base of your own position to bring about political change. And for any pundit to portray his party with the working class needs at heart is ludicrous. 1 in 3 Senators and 1 in 4 Representatives are millionaires far beyond the ratio of average Americans. And don't be fooled that this money is somehow created by hard-work and entrepreneurial acumen. John McCain is a perfect example of this, having married into wealth that continues to fund the McCains' extravagant lifestyle. If Mr. Martin was interested in being genuous, perhaps he should have titled this commentary "Let them eat oil" since without studied and progressive intervention, it's likely to be a commodity well out of the reach of the average American in the near future.

I have come to realize that the GOP nor its cronies have to back up anything they say. They can just spew it out and a certain demographic will attract to it like flies on dung. I'm a southerner so I call it like I see it. Mr. Martin is a real piece of work.