Devoted to Managers and those that seek to improve their management skills

The first thing I want to say before we get into the story is that government shouldn't be in the business of managing energy, but because it is, we have to deal with those realities. We'd be in a much healthier situation if the US government hadn't interfered throughout the years, and gas prices wouldn't be what they are today.

Much of this came during the Clinton administration when he capped the number of refineries in the country, and we have been paying the prices ever since. Even if a lot of oil is produced, we have the issue of how much can be refined in a beneficial manner.

Now the ethanol fiasco we're involved in has already made matters much worse; not only for Americans, but for many poor countries around the world, as food prices have been artificially raised because of decisions to subsidize the corn-based ethanol industry.

Chuck Norris Drills Congress

Last week we talked about the fact if the Republican Party were to become the energy party of America, they possibly could stem the tide that many people feel is inevitable, with Democrats poised to make huge political gains.

Personally, I don't think that's a surety, and many things could happen before the general election. One of them is initiating a sound energy policy, with much of it based on government getting out of the way of private business, and releasing oil companies to drill on American soil and coastal waters, where billions of barrels of proven reserves reside.

Chuck Norris--Follow up--Drill Here, Drill Now

While there is no doubt we must continue to develop alternative energy sources, there's no excuse for not taking advantage of the ones we have and know work. Leaving billions of barrels of oil in the earth and under the ocean to appease environmental thugs - at the expense of regular Americans - is unconsciable.

To that end Chuck Norris has taken up the burden of getting Americans engaged in pressuring politicians to change their misguided policies and release the oil that is rightfully ours to use. while I don't hold to Norris' view that he's glad of the ethanol policies legislated this year, I do agree with his overall tone that we need to pressure and demand our lawmakers get out of the way and give us access to what's ours.

If this had been done 10 years ago, we wouldn't be in the gas price predicament we're in today. It's far past time to take charge of this energy crises that has been mostly man-made, and begin drilling and production of oil. It won't have an immediate effect, as it'll take time to get it going, but over the long haul it'll bring some sanity back to gas and oil prices, and decrease dependence on foreign oil.

Norris did cite the Energy Policy Research Foundation, which has concluded that the price of gas could be cut fairly soon by 37 cents a gallon if 20 million barrels of oil in our Strategic Petroleum Reserve were released for use, while aggressive drilling and access to shale oil reserves were initiated.

To bring pressure on our representatives to take these steps, you can go to American Solutions and sign a petition to: Drill here. Drill now. Pay less.

In this case, as mentioned above, the best way the government can manage the situation is to not manage it and get out of the way of the free market which can bring us much needed respite from escalating gas prices over the long term.