Bwild:

> are you saying the US government purchases all the oil and commodities..then resells it to suppliers who in turn sell to the public?

I was getting tot he fact that Romney has been castigating China and saying that the USA "borrows" money from China to pay for the dificit. In reality the debt to China is the result of massive consumption of goods manufactured in China, rahter than the government borrowing money directly from the Chinese government.

Then I drew a parallel to the consumption of oil and natural gas. Romney says nothing about how the foreign debt is increasing as a result of oil and gas consumption from places like Saudi Arabia and Canada.

In answer to your questions, yes and no. The American government does not profit from buying and selling oil, but it controls the supply of oil through what is called the strategic reserve. This is a reserve of crude oil, distillates and gasoline that are kept in inventory in case there is ever scarcity of those products. It was created during the Opec crisis in the 1970s. IN practice, the profits remain in the hands of oil companies. If the American government was profitting from oil, there would be no soverign debt!