Finally, someone has written a true account of the true problem behind rising gas prices.  Mr. Bray’s July 11^th column was a breath of fresh air for those of us who are sick and tired of politicians wasting our time and money to investigate and politicize a serious problem.

While I too understand the delicacy of exploring for oil under the Great Lakes, its absurd to think that we can lower prices at the pump while ignoring the fact that to produce gasoline you must first drill for oil.  

To me the problem seems to be our politicians.  Whether its an election year or not, Senators Stabenow and Levin seem to work themselves into a frenzy to get us to believe that they are saving us from certain doom.  Rather than wasting out tax dollars on useless press conferences and endless hearings, why not start investing our money in ways to explore and develop new sources of energy so that we are not faced with these types of gas price hikes year after year.  That would be a true display of leadership, not the usual political pandering we are currently getting from Levin and Stabenow.     

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It seems quite clear that Senators Levin and Stabenow are playing tricks with the people of Michigan.  The July 11^th editorial describing their recent antics was a perfect example of their political pandering and lack of actual problem solving. 

It’s a shame that after 23 years in the Senate Carl Levin has nothing better to do with his time than waste our money on an investigation that we now know was bogus from the start. 

Mr. Bray’s editorial was right on the money, except it left out one very important fact:  Senator Levin is up for re-election next year.  I think it’s highly likely that Carl Levin’s recent “investigation” into gas prices was nothing more than a ploy to pretend he is looking out for his constituents in Michigan.  The only person Levin is looking out for is himself.

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I am not surprised to see Carl Levin blaming oil companies for the late spring surge in gas prices.  During 23 years in Washington, Senator Levin has not paid attention to the problems developing in our national energy policies.  Where was Carl when refineries shut down, and what was he doing as our domestic energy production fell and we became more and more dependent on foreign oil? 

Senator Levin has been asleep at the switch.  Rather than solving the problem, Senator Levin is simply pointing fingers – and that’s not helping anyone.

If after 23 years Carl Levin can’t offer us any solutions, then perhaps he should retire and let someone else take over. 

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While watching the Emmy awards announcement this morning, I couldn’t help but think our two Senators from Michigan were cheated.  Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow deserve Academy Awards for their recent performances during the energy debate. 

I completely agree with the recent News editorial regarding Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow.  First Senator Levin tells us he is going to investigate “big oil” and find out why gas prices were so high.  Then Stabenow tells us she is going to protect us from drilling in the Great Lakes.  Neither of these grandstanding moves will do anything to either drive down the price of gasoline or protect our environment.  Levin’s investigation is nothing more than a publicity stunt, and Stabenow’s legislation is a toothless tiger with little real relevance to the issue of drilling under the Great Lakes.   Both of them have played off of each other to appear as if they are doing their jobs.  Bravo, an excellent performance!

I am sure that now that gas prices have come down we should expect a press conference any minute from Senators Stabenow and Levin extolling the virtue of their hard work.  I am waiting breathlessly for their next performance.