Whenever oil prices increase and the trip to the pump becomes noticeably more painful, the mantra is repeated over and again: prices are set by supply and demand and the only remedy is to change that relationship.
The right trots out its favorite slogan, “drill baby drill,” to the undoubted delight of the oil companies. This line of discussion conflates market pricing with energy independence, usually employing the metaphor of a U.S. president bowing to a Saudi prince with unmanly obsequiousness.