Gunnard Johnston
Lithuania, Vilnius
September 4, 2008

Last June oil prices reached their all-time peak at almost $150 per barrel. At that time the situation looked desperate. America now imports about 70% of her oil from foreign nations, most of whom are either hostile or at best uncaring toward the best interests in the U.S. Fair enough.

What's interesting is that just about that time President Bush said "enough is enough, we cannot sit idly by any longer", and he proposed a bill to Congress to pass legislation that would allow more off-shore drilling for oil on U.S. sea-beds and also lands in Alaska.

Oh, what a hew and cry went up from Obama and all the Dems in Congress!!!
You'd have thought Bush was calling for each man, woman, and child in America to cut off their right arms!! Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, said, in effect, "over my dead body will we ever allow more drilling".

Yet, the mere call by a U.S. president was heard the world round, from Saudi to Russia, from Venuzuela to Nigeria to Iran. And guess what?!! The inactive pumps in those lands suddenly came back to life!! Those people who had been purposefully holding back in their production of crude oil *just so* they could reduce the supply and thus cause the prices to rise astronomically -- due to supply and demand pressures -- suddenly decided that perhaps they could stop the gouging of the people of the world after all.

And where does all this leave us today?? Today's price of crude futures is now down to $107 a barrel, and continuing to fall steadily.

And some people in Washington STILL don't get it?!!!

The President of the United States has the most influential pulpit of any one person on earth.
And: "God helps those who help themselves."