Offshore oil could ease funding crisis

It would seem to me that if President Obama and our Congress were serious about job creation they would look at the Pentagon, the largest purchaser in the U.S., and not at a pizzeria. The concept that we must buy from the lowest bidder, instead of manufacturing them here, may be part of the problem, i.e., the Air Force refueling tankers. Foreign manufacturers may use "dump costs" or subsidized costs in order to submit lower cost bids. If we are outbid by a foreign manufacturer, which would result in our U.S. supplier being forced to lay off workers, is that being cost effective?

California is in debt over its head. It seems that one of the only things Democrats and Republicans can agree on is not to dig for the vast supply of offshore oil. There is no question that mining for oil would create jobs. There is no question that California is in dire need of funds that would be created from the royalty on oil mined. There is no question that this would help the balance of trade.

There is some question if this would impact the price of gas at the pump. A different group of alleged speculators seem to control that price. It takes four to five years to bring the oil up. We have now wasted one year.

Wally Miller

Prospect Heights