Kimberley Strassel is on the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal, and she went on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart last week to talk about oil prices, oil companies and ethanol. Her basic argument was that high oil prices at the pump are not the fault of oil companies and their record-breaking profits (ExxonMobil, for example, made more than $8 billion between January and March of this year, a jump of 44 percent over last year) but instead the fault of congress and unrest in the places where we get most of our oil. And, of course, a high rate of consumption. Strassel did not answer Stewart's question that, even if oil costs more per barrel, shouldn't the companies' costs be going up and their profits remaining pretty much the same?

On ethanol, Strassel said that nobody would use the fuel if congress hadn't mandated ethanol usage last year because it was difficult to transport and store. She didn't mention anything about local ethanol plants that are coming online across the country.

For at least a little while (a month or three), you'll be able to watch the clip here, after that you'll have to buy the show on iTunes.

[Source: The Daily Show]