It’s not nonsense.
It’s parody.
How could anyone take my comment seriously?
I was poking fun at the guy who said we should subsidize American oil producers.
How’s this:
Reward U.S. producers for progress in lowering cost of production @ U.S. fields with a tariff on imported oil. Proceeds of the tariff to be split between revenue to the Govt., specifically directed to pay down the U.S. debt, and some $$ as direct rewards for reducing production costs. Possibly some portion of the reward $$ should be allocated to “capital only for new refinery construction or increased capacity @ current U.S. refineries.”
I’m sure this proposal needs some “refinement” itself, but the basic idea is the ol’ carrot (incentives for U.S. production) and a “stick”, not aimed specifically at the Saudis, but instead at all importers. As mentioned multiple times on this thread, the Saudis can withstand somewhat lower prices better than can their political rivals. My guess is that in the big picture, low global prices are more advantage than disadvantage to the Saudis, at this point. Also, since they can’t really force prices up, those who might wish them to do so have little leverage.