Mrs. Sue OPEC

If you did a Google search for "sue OPEC" right this moment, you would get countless matches concerning the NOPEC bill that was recently passed in the House (Is Sue a female suicide bomber? credit for that joke goes to Joe Calhoun). The bill changes the Sherman Anti-Trust Act to allow for Congress to sue OPEC. If you read the bill, you realize that Congress would be suing OPEC for things that Congress does itself. In short, this is pretty arrogant, moderately hypocritical, and mostly stupid. In his blog, my father (click the above "Joe Calhoun" link) suggested some appropriate rewriting of the bill. He is far nicer than I am, and I offer this piece of editing:

"`(a) In General- It shall be illegal and a violation of this Act for any foreign state, or any instrumentality or agent of any foreign state, to act collectively or in combination with any other foreign state, any instrumentality or agent of any other foreign state, or any other person, whether by cartel or any other association or form of cooperation or joint action--

`(1) to limit the production or distribution of oil, natural gas, or any other petroleum product;

`(2) to set or maintain the price of oil, natural gas, or any petroleum product; or

`(3) to otherwise take any action in restraint of trade for oil, natural gas, or any petroleum product;

when such action, combination, or collective action has a direct, substantial, and reasonably foreseeable effect on the market, supply, price, or distribution of oil, natural gas, or other petroleum product in the United States.

`(b) Sovereign Immunity- A foreign state engaged in conduct in violation of subsection (a) shall not be immune under the doctrine of sovereign immunity from the jurisdiction or judgments of the courts of the United States in any action brought to enforce this section.

`(c) Inapplicability of Act of State Doctrine- No court of the United States shall decline, based on the act of state doctrine, to make a determination on the merits in an action brought under this section.

`(d) Enforcement- The Attorney General of the United States may bring an action to enforce this section in any district court of the United States as provided under the antitrust laws.' We of Congress would like to take this moment to confirm to the people that we govern that we are in fact arrogant, corrupt, useless morons. Thank you, come again."