RUSH: Mike in Hillsborough, New Jersey, thanks for waiting. You’re next on the EIB Network on Open Line Friday. Hi.
CALLER: Mega dittos, Rush, you are great. I really appreciate what you’re doing for this country.
RUSH: Thank you very much.
CALLER: And for my family. I’d like to suggest, you were talking earlier in your program that there’s a mind-set, there’s a mentality, primarily, we have to deal with the battle in our time. You mentioned two items: illegal immigration and the war on terrorism.
RUSH: Yes.
CALLER: I would like to suggest to you that overarching to those two items is a conflict of interest for state and federal government to do anything about the supply, to increase the supply of oil, because that will be Congress doing a de facto tax cut, and they will not do it voluntarily.
RUSH: Wait. Are you saying that there is a government interest, state and federal government interest in limiting the supply of oil?
CALLER: There is no incentive for politicians who can legislate, for example, an increase in supply by allowing for drilling, or allowing for the development of additional refineries without barriers, without obstacles. If they have that incentive, then the result will be more drilling, more refineries.
RUSH: No, I understand that. Maybe I’m caught up with the wrong thing. I thought you said that they don’t want any of that to happen. I don’t know what your theory is as to why. I gather that you believe they want to limit and keep the supply of oil low because if there’s more oil out there, somehow that’s going to result in a tax cut. I’m losing you.
CALLER: What I’m trying to explain is, if the supply of oil goes up, as helped by government legislation, for example, the price per gallon will plummet. The percentage… Every state and the federal government will —
RUSH: Oh, I see what you mean. So you’re saying they want the supply limited to keep the price up because there are taxes?
CALLER: Absolutely.
RUSH: Well, the more gasoline sold, the greater the tax revenue. The tax rate is static. Whatever the price, in some states it’s a percentage, but in other states it’s a static rate. Whatever the price of gas is, the tax is the same. So the government does not lose money when the price of oil goes down. Government does not lose money when the price of gasoline goes down. If they wanted to increase their tax revenue, they would have to encourage more gasoline be sold, and that is what isn’t happening. Well, it is happening, but not because they’re encouraging it. Pelosi and these people are trying to scare everybody about rising gasoline prices, but you’re right. They are not allowing it. It’s the Democrats running around talking about energy independence. It’s sort of like… Remember the Wizard of Oz? We talk about this a lot, but Dorothy had those red slippers. All she had to do is click her heels and, bam, whatever she wanted, she got. Magic slippers. Sometimes, I think the liberals are Dorothy of Kansas. Want energy independence? Snap their heels! Bam! We got energy independence. We want alternative energy, jam the red slippers together, we got alternative energy.
It’s like it’s going to happen by magic. They just say these things platitudinally in order to score political points with it, but while they’re out there demanding alternative energy and energy independence, they’re the ones standing in the way of the things that you mention, new supplies, new refineries and so forth. With liberals, with Democrats, the reason for this in every instance is political, and the prism of politics, how can we be benefited by doing this? The last thing Democrats want is a definable, something people can feel, roaring economy with a Republican in the White House. They just want misery. They want chaos! They want you rolling on the floor in angst, worried that we might be running out of breathable air. It’s all about them getting their power back, folks, and then when they get it, they’re never, ever surrendering it again.