Friday, February 29, 2008

Canada Calls Obama's Bluff

Let me explain one point before I get into the meat of this post - Canada is the single largest supplier of crude oil to the United States. I know the media makes it seem as though we are bowing at the altar of the OPEC hierarchy, but that simply isn't the case. We do get a significant amount from the Middle East, but we also buy from Venezuela, Argentina, Mexico and our allies to the north Canada. When the press says "foreign oil", that doesn't necessarily mean Saudi Arabia and their desert neighbors.
Now with that said I will continue to the real message. Senator Obama stated in the most recent debate that he would reopen NAFTA if he were elected President. What most Americans don't realize is that when NAFTA was originally put into place, an agreement was included that maintains our flow of oil from Canada. The agreement states that in such case as a natural disaster, a slow down in production from the Middle East or other unforeseen acts, Canada will continue to provide crude to the U.S. uninterrupted and at a fair price. Well, when some ministers in the Canadian government caught wind of BHO's goal of new NAFTA rules, they said openly to bring it on. While we are at it, let's revise that little agreement we have on oil. You know they can do much better exporting it to petroleum loving countries like China instead of selling it to their old buddies the Americans. Rumors in the beltway say Obama even called the Canadian officials and said it was just politics and he wouldn't really want that. Officials allegedly replied they "hope" he doesn't "change" his mind. Show your cards boys so Canada can drag the pot on this hand.