"We'll drill for that oil!"

I hate Cuba getting the upperhand hand on the U.S., but given my current opinion of politicos, I think that this is funnier than hell:

Few Americans paid much attention last year when Cuban President Fidel
Castro announced China would help explore potentially large oil reserves off
Cuba's northwest coast - not far from the Florida Keys.

But now - with gas prices climbing above $3 a gallon - the prospect of
China drilling near the United States has become a hot political issue as two of
the world's largest economies vie for new sources of energy.

Some members of Congress warn that China and other countries could lock
up oil supplies at a time when U.S. companies are barred from doing business
with Cuba because of a 43-year-old trade embargo.

"We sit here watching China exploit a valuable energy resource within
eyesight of the U.S. coast,'' said. Sen. Larry Craig, an Idaho Republican.

Whose fault is that, Senator Craig? Quit bitching and do something about it.

Ahh, but wait. Senator Nelson hopes to stop the Cuban drilling altogether:

But Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida, worried that a Cuban oil spill could hurt the state's environment and $50-billion tourism industry, wants to block drilling in Cuba's northern waters.

"Any oil spill 45 miles from Key West is going to absolutely devastate all those delicate coral reefs, the fragile Florida Keys,and would endanger pristine beaches all the way up to Fort Pierce,'' said Nelson, a Democrat.

Yep. There ya go folks. Senator Nelson isn't unhappy because the Cubans might drill oil that we should have been drilling for years ago to prevent this current pinch we're in. He's unhappy because there is a one in one thousand chance some oil might spill. I bet he'd vote to tax oil companies profits derived from an artificially tight market, too.

I really hate saying this, but maybe we'll be better off if some Senators and Reps are embarrassed by Cuba harvesting oil we should have been on years ago.