DRILL NOW, KILL THE DANGEROUS PLAN OF THE "GANG OF 20"

There is a nutty but dangerous compromise being talked about in Congress that will allow miniscule offshore drilling, put a big new tax on oil companies that will raise gas and heating oil prices and will forbid drilling in most offshore areas forever.

Shamefully, some otherwise, at least sometimes, sensible Republicans are supporting this national security disaster. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is, so far, denouncing half-way measures. This isn't even half-way. It will ensure American dependence on hostile oil producers forever.

This air-headed compromise must be blocked. To get things moving in the right direction, drill now, no ifs, ands and buts. Do the other things, too, no problem. T. Boone Pickens is wrong, We can drill our way out of our problem. (Even he says drill now.)

With new technology, the ability to obtain oil from Rocky Mountain shale along with the resources offshore Alaska and the lower 48, we have more energy resources than Saudi Arabia. We published this chart back on July 13th, courtesy of Power Line, who found it:

The chart is hard to read, but the great majority of U.S. reserves are in Rocky Mountains shale. If we allow offshore drilling, our reserves would be much, much higher. Offshore exploration has been banned for decades by Congress, so no one knows how much is out there. Take a lesson from Brazil, which is aggressively exploring off its coast; in just the past year they have found tens of billiions of new barrels of oil.

Obama says we can end dependency on oil in ten years. Nonsense, we can't, no matter if we do everything right. Oil is the best fuel for transportation and won't be replaced easily. Jet planes can't be plugged in and fly. But we have the oil to reduce our dependency on foreign producers dramatically in ten years. We can do enough in that time period so that we are relying on ourselves and our friends in Canada, Mexico and, yes, Brazil.

We need to get our head outs of the sand and our dreams out of the sky and do what we need to do. The most environmentally sensitive drilling in the world is done in the U.S. So at the same time as we draw on our own resources for national security purposes, we are ensuring that best environmental practices will be followed.

How silly -- as well as how dangerous -- is the so-called compromise from the Gang of 20?

How about this?

From LaughTech.

It really isn't funny, but the message hits home.

Whether you are Republican or Democrat or independent, contact these senators who are undercutting the cause of energy independence and tell them to knock it off. Here they are:

Amy Klobuchar
Ben Nelson
Blanche Lincoln
Bob Corker
Elizabeth Dole
Evan Bayh
John E. Sununu
John Thune
John W. Warner
Johnny Isakson
Ken Salazar
Kent Conrad
Lindsey Graham
Mark Pryor
Mary Landrieu
Norm Coleman
Saxby Chambliss
Susan Collins
Tim P. Johnson
Tom Carper

If you know any of them, contact them and tell them they are dead wrong. They are putting America at risk and why? Who are they pleasing? A substantial majority of Americans want to drill now. Why are these senators falling into the trap of satisfying environmental extremists?

Lindsey Graham is one of the instigators of this plan. He purports to be a close friend and supporter of John McCain, but he is ignoring the position taken by John McCain and the energy expertise of Sarah Palin as governor of Alaska, who says the oil is there and can begin flowing in one or two years. McCain should show tough leadership and tell Graham he's wrong and to back away.