Lowerusgas.com a scam?

I just saw a commercial on CNN for a website called "lowerusgas.com." The commercial features a woman screeching "The oil companies are making record profits." It's a bit troubling, and completely misdirected, to blame the oil companies for high gas prices, and their profits are irrelevant, IMHO.

Forgive me for asking, but what the heck do you get for your 'membership?' Information? I can get that free by blogging on the internet.

There's no stated policy or goals of the organization, other than to 'stand up for Americans.' I also read their membership info, and politicians that have accepted more than $100 from energy companies and oil company executives need not apply. Hehe.

I can't tell what policy this group is advocating (like "Drill Here, Drill Now, Lower Prices"), if any, but it does appear they consider 'big oil' to be evil.

Looks like a not-so-well orchestrated scam to me. The writing on the website isn't particularly well done, the site is a bit disorganized. These guys are amateurs, but their empty rhetoric on the site may be just enough to get people to fork over their cold hard cash. After all, the Obamessiah's been doing it for some time now.

I'm keeping my $50, thank you.

Snappy Answers to Leftist Lies about Oil

From American Protest comes this nice little piece about why we need to Drill Here, Drill Now, Lower Prices:

Snappy Answers to Leftist Lies about Oil
By Thomas LindamanPosted: 07/18/2008

It’s one of the biggest news stories out there right now, one that directly impacts us on so many levels. If we don’t address this issue soon, we will be thrown into a depression that will take years to overcome. I’m speaking, of course, of the racy photos of Miley Cyrus circulating on the Internet.

Oh, and there’s that whole kerfluffle over oil prices.

Watching the news coverage and commentary about oil prices, it’s clear there’s more spinning going on than in Enrico Fermi’s lab, but I’m here to help. Whenever you have a Leftist spouting any of the lines you’re about to read, use the responses or a variation of them to confound and infuriate him or her.

1) We need to nationalize the oil industry. Remember the controversy over the horrible conditions at VA hospitals last year? The people responsible for that are who you’d be putting in control of the oil industry if you nationalize it. And let’s not forget that government isn’t subject to the laws of economics (or the laws of this country, for that matter…). When you have people who have no clue of how economics works with control over a vital resource, it doesn’t end well.

2) Oil profits are too high. This chestnut has been flying around for a while now, but it has no basis in fact. In reality, oil companies make between 6 and 8 cents off every gallon of gas sold, and they take all the risks to produce a gallon of gas. Government, on the other hand, takes several times more in taxation and takes no risk whatsoever. In other words, government makes a profit off oil companies for doing nothing, both in the production of oil, and in general.

3) Oil speculators are driving up the price of oil. Essentially, commodity speculation is betting that a particular commodity will be at a certain price at a certain time. However, that speculation in and of itself doesn’t drive the price up or down. It’s like betting on what the score will be in the Super Bowl. It doesn’t impact what the score is whatsoever, but it’s fun to try to be a commodity Carnac.

Read the entire article here.