The summer spike in gas prices, combined with the downturn on Wall Street, has contributed to… The summer spike in gas prices, combined with the downturn on Wall Street, has contributed to mass confusion and anxiety among the American people. The presidential candidates have been feverishly releasing plans to resurrect a seemingly failing system, but the esoteric nature of the monetary system has contributed to most people’s lack of understanding when it comes to politicians and their speeches on the economy. Was the short-term bailout the right choice, or is it long-term fundamentals that must be restored before we can get back on the right track? Unfortunately, Sen. John McCain’s and Sen. Barack Obama’s public discourse on the economy fails to relate these questions in terms that the average voter in the upcoming election can comprehend. Both of their proposals have been eerily similar in recent weeks, as if neither wants to go out on a limb and distinguish himself from the other. Whether this shows that both candidates possess inadequate knowledge about the economy that they are trying to conceal ‘mdash; or that they just happen to agree that bailouts, frequent interest-rate fluctuations by the Federal Reserve’ and stimulus packages are healthy and promote stability ‘mdash; is yet to be determined. An important issue that has been lost in the background of the recent calamity on Wall Street is the offshore drilling question, which only a month ago was a primary concern to the campaign and Congress. However, little has been done, and increased energy output in North America seems far away, considering the layers of bans and regulations that prevent oil companies from exploring off the coasts and in the interior. I cannot endorse either candidate’s support for the bailout or their economic philosophies in general, but a critique of their outlooks on drilling reveals some slight distinctions that might indicate what we can expect from the next president. During Tuesday night’s debate, McCain reiterated his campaign’s stance that America needs to commence offshore drilling immediately, as well as turn to nuclear power. He also included wind, hydro, solar, natural gas and upgraded automobile standards in his plan. These can all contribute to relieving us of our dependence on foreign oil, which he stressed is a necessity, considering the significant sum of money that ‘ends up in the hands of terrorist organizations’ on account of our prodigious expenditures for fuel. McCain’s straightforward response, which tied in the national security issue involved in the energy crisis, was in large part similar to Obama’s statement on drilling and alternative energy sources. After acknowledging the security threat our reliance on foreign oil poses, Obama said, ‘And that means, yes, increasing domestic production and offshore drilling, but we only have 3 percent of the world’s oil supplies, and we use 25 percent of the world’s oil. So we can’t simply drill our way out of the problem.’ Obama and McCain have settled on the fact that drilling must be a part of the energy equation for the future; however, Obama’s readiness to slap a windfall profits tax on the same oil companies he would expect to do the drilling is counterproductive. Drilling would be profitable for the oil industry in the long run, but it would require a considerable outlay of money to purchase the capital necessary to begin exploration. A windfall profits tax could only cut into the oil companies’ capacity to fund the process of tapping that 3 percent of the world’s oil that we possess. Over-taxing one of the few healthy industries left in the U.S. economy at a time when we desperately need it to expand so that it can explore domestic sources of oil sounds like a disastrous plan in a desperate time. Many people justifiably believe that politicians in Washington are responsible for the mismanagement of the economy in the last decade. Our problems today are not a failure of the free market, but a failure of those running our economic system. The fact is that little confidence exists at a time when America is desperate for skillful leaders. McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin have been enthusiastic backers of offshore drilling throughout their campaign. Obama, along with other leaders of the Democratic Party, has only recently reassessed his feelings about domestic drilling. McCain has been far from perfect in recent weeks, but his consistency and leadership on the drilling issue make him far more favorable than his opponent, whose only two economic tricks seem to be more taxation and more regulation. E-mail Bart at [email protected].