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To: Haim R. Branisteanu who wrote (81985)	3/17/2001 5:25:54 PM
From: KyrosL	Respond to of 436258

Haim, oil costs today at $28 per barrel are one third in real terms of where they were back in the seventies. I think it is very counterproductive to publicly pressure our Saudi and Kuwaiti friends. If they seem to succumb to our demands, they risk losing their hold on power. Our support of their regime is squarely in our interest. If the current regime in Saudi Arabia loses power to the radicals, say hello to $100 oil -- about where it was in real terms back in the seventies. One of the key factors in oil pricing today is that OPEC controls a much larger share of exportable oil, and the poor countries in OPEC, which are more likely to cheat, are producing at capacity, so they are unable to cheat. Whether we like it or not, the only way to reduce our dependence is via energy conservation, and the easiest and quickest way to achieve that is to radically increase energy taxes, while at the same time reducing other taxes by an equal amount.

To: Haim R. Branisteanu who wrote (81985)	3/17/2001 7:19:11 PM
From: Haim R. Branisteanu	Respond to of 436258

Now even suspected criminals want to represent the US overseas as ambassadors what a shame ......... and those are heavy contributors to GW Bush election funds. But Mr. Gargano, a major Republican fund-raiser, has also seen to it that another letter found its way into his file in the West Wing: a recent missive from the Manhattan district attorney, Robert M. Morgenthau, clearing him of criminal charges after a two-year investigation of the Empire State Development Corporation, which Mr. Gargano heads. ............................... At first glance, the applicants seem to have little in common, and sometimes little that would qualify them for a foreign post. Yet the vast majority of these committed Republicans have shared in a common pastime: raising money, huge quantities of it, for the president. In fact, significant overlap exists between the ambassadorial candidates and the Pioneers, the special roster of Bush fund-raisers who rounded up at least $100,000 for the campaign. nytimes.com