During the Athens Press Club’s political forum at the Melting Point Monday night, 10th District candidates U.S. Rep. Paul Broun, R-Athens and challenger state Rep. Barry Fleming, R-Harlem gave some oil slick answers to the issue of how to lower gasoline prices at the pumps.

Both men said that by simply announcing today that we would begin drilling for oil in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge and off the Gulf Coast, consumers would benefit from an immediate price reduction on gasoline. The reason, they said, was that by telling the world we would begin tapping into our own resources, speculators would stop driving the cost of a barrels of oil up, and therefore our own wallets would feel relief instantly.