Lake of the Ozarks Real Estate

The cost of oil cuts across every aspect of our economy. More importantly, it’s hurting millions of Americans who are struggling to make ends meet. I have friends and members of my own family who live on only their Social Security. What scares me for them is how are they going to heat their homes this winter? Are they going to have enough money to buy food and the medications that keep them alive?

A few days ago, I was in our local Office Max picking up some copying. I was talking to the young man who was helping me. He said he was saving for a home, but now the money he could have saved was going to pay for gasoline. The high costs hurt our client’s ability to make that first down payment or to stay in the homes that they have already bought.

What’s frustrating about this is that we’re begging the folks in the Middle East to produce more oil when we’re sitting on billions of barrels here at home. Did you know that a recent find in North Dakota and Montana has 400 billion barrels available? The largest field in Saudi Arabia only has 50 billion barrels. We have proven reserves off our coasts. China and Cuba are sucking out the oil just 60 miles off the shore of Florida.

Another major problem is that we have is that we have not built a new refinery in 30 years. The good folks in South Dakota passed a measure that will allow the building of refineries there.

Did you also know that the oil companies make four percent in gross profit and that the government takes 15 percent in taxes?

These issues are troubling and they dramatically affect our business. I think that everyone is in agreement that we have to take steps to protect our environment and that alternative energy sources are needed. There’s much that each of us can do in these areas. There is one other thing you can do. If you’re part of the 81 percent of Americans who believe that we should, “drill here, drill now, and pay less,” sign the on-line petition at http://www.americansolutions.com/ to get Congress to take action to do something to help us now.