A thought on releasing oil from the SPR.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

We all know that Dear Leader treats the SPR as the holiest of holies. We all know that he does not want to release even a drop. Some of us know that the amount and pace at which he has been filling the SPR with oil totally exceeds anything the US has ever done before. Even less of us know that this amount and rate of filling salt domes in Texas and Louisiana causes a lot of upward pressure on oil prices, as it pulls the oil off the market, lessening market supplies, so it is, in fact, a craven manipulation of the market.

But what the least amount of us know is this: Since Dear Leader hijacked the Oval Office, the SPR has been run by the Koch Brothers of Texas. They are family, as one of them is married to Dear Leader's sister, Doro Bush.

Now, a posit:

What if the amount of oil that is truly in the SPR diverges, more than margins of error and natural loss, from the reported amounts of stored crude oil? Could that be a reason that Dear Leader is blocking access to that oil, along with a desire to run up prices at the pump and in the markets?

Never doubt that this is possible. The Koch Brothers are two of the finest examples of Oil Field Trash that have ever drawn a breath. They would throw their sainted mother into a woodchipper for a buck or a barrel, in the grand tradition of Oil Field Trash everywhere.

Something tells me Congress ought to get the GAO down to those salt domes ASAP.

[Indydem]

1. Its a Strategic Petroleum Reserve..

If OPEC shut off the taps tomorrow, we only have enough oil in the Reserve for 40 days. Maybe we should be filling it higher in case Lord Pissy Pants pisses someone off who controls the spiggots.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

2. Personally...

I expect that within 6 months of the end of this administration, we are gonna be awash in stories about the efforts of sane military officers and other sane people in Washington(The Few and The Harried) to keep his hands off of the levers of power, so he cannot fuck up anything else.

Of course, he will go down kicking, screaming and shitting his nappies all the way. But I have a feeling that some of the wiser Washington hands of Poppy's administration are using what influence they have to keep him from destroying the family name and the earth, to boot. Along with whatever the dems are doing.

[islandmkl]

3. and f***ing dick cheney will be right there, saying:

"I'll push that goddam button. Give me that case."

[Nickster]

4. You know, I thought I was cynical, but that thought didn't even cross my mind until I read your post

Damn, I'll bet you anything that's probably closer to the mark than you'd think.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

5. I don't doubt...

The very real probability for a second. It's how they do "bidness" down there: you fuck everybody and their three-legged dog.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

6. Are you referring to Koch Industries?

I believe Koch Industries has been the largest political contributor to Bush over his career than any other privately held company. Enron was the largest publicly traded contributor to bush. Koch Industries was being investigated by the Clinton Administration for releasing some 91 million tons of carcinogens into the environment at Corpus Cristi, Texas back in the 1990s. Clinton hit them with some $350,000 in fines and its executives were facing up to 35 years in federal prison. When Bush came in in 2001, he dropped all prison time against the Koch brothers and reduced their fines by 90%.

It was the first major scandal of the Bush Administration, one that has largely been forgotten. I remember Ari Fleischer doing a song and dance at a press conference in April, 2001 when asked whether George Bush would return the campaign contributions he received from a company which had committed several felonies. Fleischer merely said that since the money came from the executives themselves and not the company, Bush would keep the contributions. However, Koch is entirely family owned and the difference between the executives themselves and the company is insignificant.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koch_Industries

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

8. Yes, I am. nt

[Adsos Letter]

7. And all along I've been thinking ...

that the SPR was being maintained at high levels because an anticipated attack on Iran is going to make an emergency supply necessary.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

9. If we attack Iran...

40 days worth, at present usage levels, will mean nothing. We will be cut off from Gulf oil for decades, at the very least. The US oil companies will lose an abundance of contracts for exploration, throughout the world. The economy will crash. No one will be making their pile.

So think about it: Why should they attack Iran when they get a better deal by rattling sabers? I mean, even Iran is making out on this deal. Why screw up a good thing by attacking?

Talking about attacking Iran is making a lot of their friends rich. Attacking Iran will stop that in its tracks.