The XL pipeline bill is stagnant in Congress as I write this and will face a veto for sure but the real problem is not whether it will pass but if it does, where are  new refineries going to come from?  No one is talking about the refining issue and this is the real issue of oil in this country.  We don’t have an oil shortage, we have a refinery shortage and the only way to correct  this error is to build 3 new refineries along the proposed route of this pipeline.  That way, we could put the oil to use before it gets to port and gets sold to someone else, and in the process, add infrastructure re-builds East and West off this pipeline to rebuild the roads in this country.  By placing  refineries in the northern tier, central area and southern end of this pipeline, we can address multiple issues that are in need of repair.  Sound simple?  It is if we have the courage to do it and quit lobbying back and forth like a like a tennis match between tired players.

In addition to this, the price of oil will stay down where the middle class needs it and the only casualties will be Putin and the middle eastern concerns. Small frackers will have to get out of the way but that is happening already, so get ready for a newer more sophisticated oil war to develop from here.  Most analysts put oil at $65 a barrel by mid year and that is probably what it is worth on the world market,  so $2.50 a gallon at the pump we probably can live with over the long term.  Prices usually go up all spring to peak at July 4th for the driving season pinnacle and stay there till labor day when kids go back to school and a slow down happens.   If this is too much common sense being displayed here, let me know because I believe it to be true.

And what about ISIS, are they coming after us.  You bet your ass they are, in every conceivable way they can, but right now they want to scare us by beheading every prisoner they can use to their psychological advantage.  The good news about this is that even the Arab countries are starting to hate these guys and they believe in an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.   Obama continues to discuss a strategy that may work , but won’t listen to his middle eastern intelligence analyists because he thinks he is smarter than they are.  He keeps looking for non-military solutions and they don’t exist because these guys are declaring war on everybody they know who doesn’t agree with them,  non-Muslims and Muslims alike .  So now is the time to develop an anti-ISIS coalition. That way, we can keep this conflict in someone’s else’s backyard, and deal with vital issues at home like this pipeline, our loss of water resources, and economic productivity in all sectors.  If we take care of the home front, the rest of it will take care of itself.  A semi-isolationist policy may be the best avenue of approach right now, and the old adage of minding your own business may be the best path of all.  And our business is this, water resources first, oil resources second,and economic productivity after that.  You can’t buy dinner at the oasis if the oasis is dry because you will die for  lack of water,   its that simple.