Herman Cain: Drill Here, Drill Now (Video)

"We have an energy crisis," 2012 GOP presidential hopeful Herman Cain told fellow conservatives gathered at last week's Taxpayer Tea Party rally in Concord, New Hampshire. He went on to embrace the "Drill, baby, drill!" mentality that has become the Republican Party's mantra for dealing with tough questions about the future of U.S. energy policy:

I don’t know about you, but I have a problem when the president of the United States goes to Brazil, loans them $2 billion, and then tells Brazil, ‘We’re going to become their best customer as it relates to oil.’

Why don’t we make the United States its own best customer and drill here drill now?

We don’t need to keep sending money to foreign countries when we’ve got enough energy here to become energy independent. We need a strategic energy independence plan and that’s would you would see if Herman Cain becomes president of the United States of America.

Video of Cain's comments - energy segment starts at 4:10

In 2010, domestic oil production reached its highest level since 2003. Despite this fact, gas prices are now skyrocketing towards $4 a gallon. Volatile gas prices once again threaten to sink the economy, just as they did in 2008 - a year that saw Exxon Mobil raking in record profits.

Why is Herman Cain so eager to implement policies that would put even more power into the hands of Big Oil? It turns out that last week's Taxpayer Tea Party in Concord was sponsored by Americans for Prosperity (AFP), a group that has received millions of dollars in funding from foundations supported by oil industry giants Koch Industries and Exxon Mobil.

Cain was joined at the event by fellow GOP presidential hopefuls Tim Pawlenty and Rick Santorum. On April 29, the Americans for Prosperity Foundation (AFPF) is sponsoring a second gathering of Republican presidential contenders in New Hampshire, featuring the same lineup - plus Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann. Expect to hear the phrase "Drill here, drill now!" more than once on that night.