A thought from the road

As I was heading home our flight was diverted over the Gulf of Mexico (America’s southern coast) and we saw several wells off shore pumping oil and natural gas for local consumption.  It’s the stuff that drives a good chunk of the southern coastal economies.

 

That got me to thinking briefly about the offshore drilling ban...

 

Wouldn’t it be nice if the federal government got out of the way of the states so that the states could make a determination what they would like to do with their own resources?  Why not lift the executive order and put the ball in Congress’s court?  Why not lift the statuary ban and put the ball in the executive court?  Why not extend the ban to the southern coast and be consistent and protect the southern states from themselves just like you protect the east and west coasts from themselves?  Or, if they’re not capable of being responsible with their resources, reduce the number of representatives they have in Congress, because if they can’t be responsible for themselves, why should they be allowed to have a disproportionate say in legislation that affects anyone else?

 

Come on, now.  If we’re going to have a “new kind of politics”, why not make that a consistent and rational kind of politics?  I want to hear a candidate say he’ll be consistent with the law for all the land.  I want to hear a candidate say that the same laws and protection that applies to those states apply to the other states, as well.  I want a candidate to claim that the “Equal Protection” amendment applies to the states’ rights to handle their own resources. 

 

Or, I suppose we can continue with some states being more equal than others…  and the beat goes on…