1. "First, the increasing cost of discovering and developing new reserves, and the accelerating depletion of existing oilfields as they age. This goes under the rather misleading name of peak oil."

So we ARE drilling??? I thought drilling had all but stopped because judges were saying we couldn't drill.

2. "Second, there is what may be described as a backwards-sloping supply curve. As the price of oil rises, oil-producing countries have less incentive to convert their oil reserves underground, which are expected to appreciate in value, into dollar reserves above ground, which are losing their value."

I can understand this to a point...yet you can starve yourself waiting for the market to top out, then there's the time involved in actually pulling it out of the ground, and of course your market could dry up prior to your pulling it out.

3. "Third, the countries with the fastest-growing demand, notably the major oil producers, China and the other Asian exporters, keep domestic energy prices artificially low by providing subsidies, therefore rising prices don't reduce demand as they would under normal conditions."

This is the major reason for higher costs - higher demand. HOWEVER, they cannot keep their domestic energy prices low forever...it MUST be costing them a fortune, trying to keep up with all that demand!!!

"Fourth, both trend-following speculation and institutional commodity-index-buying reinforce the output pressure on prices. Commodities have become an asset class for institutional investors and they are increasing allocations to that asset class by following an index-buying strategy. Recently, spot prices have risen far above the marginal cost of production and far out forward contracts have risen much faster than stock spot prices."

This is what I consider the least problem of the group. Speculation can drive up a price but not for any extended amount of time.

Overall, if we reduced our dependency on foreign oil, drilled more and built more refineries, we could drop the price of gasoline.

Legend640

"Can someone in a rational, measured tone please explain to me what it was that Barack Obama did that so thoroughly pissed off HRC supporters to the point where they cannot stop spewing venom?"

Well, if I were to hazard a guess...I would say it is because above all else, Hillary would have been the first female president...and that was more important to those who support Hillary than Obama being the first African-American president.

My rationale for this is because they both seem to have fairly close platforms and so want to accomplish similar goals overall.

That's MY opinion, anyway.

Quiet Type,

"I would not be at all surprised if McCain offers Hillary his vice presidency, and she takes it."

Oh I would be shocked myself. I think it would cost BOTH McCain AND Hillary far more votes in the long run and the short run than it would be worth.

No, I can't see Hillary accepting THAT idea...and frankly, I doubt McCain would offer the position to her.

metropolitannyc,

"hey chiefpayne, i know wonkette recently changed servers so old comments aren't easily accessible, but whaddayaknow, you can still find them on google!"

Um...Ok. ???

"Clinton doesn't have a reputation as a liar, in spite of Obama's campaign's effort to portray her as one. You can choose to believe her enemies instead of her, but you are doing a disservice to a good woman."

No she doesn't...but she is a politican and she seems to have mutual admiration with McCain. Hence my questioning where she will go.

cdg02001,

"How seriously should we take these "I would never vote for Obama" democrats? It seriously scares me. I can't put myself in the shoes of a woman who has spent her life hitting the glass ceiling who sees the Obama campaign and the media as conspiring again HRC - so I can't gauge how long these feelings will last. Might this actually crush BHO in the fall? Would making HRC his running mate change that?"

Thank you...nice to get a serious conversation. My personal analysis is that MOST of the ones who say they would never vote for Obama are just really angry and since they will have a few months to calm down, they will realize their personal objectives for the country will align more with Obama than they will with McCain...so most WILL vote for Obama, no matter their dislike for him.

That being said, there may be a small margin who will not vote in the next election for Obama...they will "sit this one out".

And finally there will be a minute number who will actually vote FOR McCain in protest to Obama getting the nomination. These will be those who refuse to accept Hillary's defeat and will allow their emotions to cloud their logic. There will not be as many as those who say they will vote for McCain now...but there will be some.

Will it be enough to affect the election either way? I seriously doubt it myself.

"i can't believe you're suckering people here, lol

what a surprise, i have to assume you are the same chiefpayne that used to post pro-republican comments in wonkette. and now you're here posing as a democratic party clinton supporter?"

HUH? Not sure what you're talking about. Haven't been to wonkette.

Anyway, I don't go for either party really...and I really don't like any of the candidates. I am just looking at how things are actually shaping up and commenting on them.

To be honest, I'm not sure I can pull the lever for any of the candidates this year.