From yesterday’s debate prior to the Senate killing President Obama’s idea to wipe out tax breaks for domestic oil producers.

Among other things, Vitter makes note of the fact that his Democrat colleagues – and Obama’s minions – have as their solution to higher gas prices going begging to the Saudis to increase production.

Of course, the Saudis won’t increase their production. Why should they? The Saudis like high crude prices. And they don’t particularly like the Obama administration. The Saudi royals are still steaming over Obama’s having thrown their friend Hosni Mubarak under the bus, and they really don’t like the fact that we won’t do anything about Iran building nukes – at the same time Iran is doing everything they can to stir up Shiite Muslims all over the Middle East. The eastern half of Saudi Arabia is mostly Shiite, and as it happens the eastern half is where all the oil is. The last thing the Saudi royals want is a nuclear-armed Iran which then becomes a regional superpower and incites the Shiites in Saudi Arabia to make a move. They see Obama as failing to rein Iran in, and they don’t want him around anymore.

That Obama sold out the Israelis on their secret deal with Azerbaijan for bases from which to hit Iran’s nuclear program this week probably doesn’t help. The Saudis are no fans of the Israelis, but they’re also happy to see Israel hit Iran – particularly when the Saudis aren’t involved. Obama made that less likely.

The rest of Vitter’s speech is a pretty good summation of why it’s time to crank up our energy industry. It’s echoed by Victor Davis Hanson in National Review this week – Hanson’s piece recognizes that not only is a major economic growth driver available to us with domestic energy, but so is a total reordering of world politics AWAY from the Saudis and the Iranians.

But of course in order for Vitter’s speech and Hanson’s column to be more than an intellectual exercise, we’re going to need to get rid of Obama and Senators like Chuck “Let’s beg the Saudis for more oil” Schumer wherever possible this fall. It’s really a choice between ascendancy and decline; our leadership has been committed to decline for going on four years now.