Why do Republicans whine about high gas prices and the need to drill more when US...

[PopsMcGee]

...oil exports are increasing? http://www.forbes.com/reuters/feeds/reuters/2008/07/03/2008-07-03T184028Z_01_N02435397_RTRIDST_0_USA-OIL-EXPORTS-ANALYSIS.html

US oil exports have increased over the last year to the point where close to 10% of our production is being shipped to foreigners. Wouldn't it save a lot of time and money if we just made sure that oil was kept and sold here in America, instead of drilling for more oil that will just be exported?
So all the Republican answers so far have been really dumb. They want to let the oil companies destroy our environment to drill for more oil but they won't make sure that oil stays in America. Why should we allow that to happen if there is no benefit?
italian: that's really stupid. Why would oil companies continue to pay for leases on that land if there was no oil there? Why would any business waste money and lower it's profits for useless land?
swf42: alot of the exports have already been refined.
So all the Republican answers are basically saying we should let the oil companies drill anywhere they want, regardless of the environmental impact. But then these companies can sell it to the highest bidder (China) so we won't see a drop of oil. How will this help Americans, and why should they agree to such a stupid plan?

 

[Griggnax]

Don't forget too, a few weeks ago, the CEOs of the major oil companies told Congress that they don't need to increase refining capacity either, because they have enough to meet demand.
If they kept the oil here and "flooded" our market, so to speak, the price of gas would drop, and that would hurt their bottom line.
Exxon recently announced that they were selling off the retail portion of their business because the profit margin was too small. What that means is, the gas stations which Exxon actually owns were not making ENOUGH of a profit, so they want to sell them.
Greed, money, power, and greed.

 

[doctdon]

So why do democrats whine about high oil prices and continue to deny any more drilling? You can't have it both ways. High fuel prices have no political affiliation. Everyone is whining.

 

[Puller58]

You must be mistaken. Gramm couldn't have meant Repulicans were whiners.