Posted on 06/19/2008 5:43:31 AM PDT by Libloather
Will $4 Gasoline Trump a 27-Year-Old Ban?
SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
Published June 19, 2008
WASHINGTON — One was an oilman from Texas, the other a high-paid energy executive. Despite that, or perhaps because of it, for seven years George W. Bush and Dick Cheney have been unable to persuade Congress and the public that domestic oil drilling is an answer to America’s energy needs.
With the clock running down on his presidency, Mr. Bush made one last push Wednesday by calling on Congress to end the 27-year moratorium on most offshore drilling. With oil at more than $130 a barrel, gasoline over $4 a gallon and the broader economy threatened, the White House is betting it can finally break a decades-old Washington deadlock between those who favor domestic oil exploration and those who say conservation is the key.
The question is whether Americans are feeling enough pain at the pump to force their elected leaders to go along, and whether it will make any real difference if they do.
“If Congressional leaders leave for the Fourth of July recess without taking action, they will need to explain why $4-a-gallon gasoline is not enough incentive for them to act,” Mr. Bush said Wednesday in the White House Rose Garden. “And Americans will rightly ask how high oil — how high gas prices have to rise before the Democratic-controlled Congress will do something about it.”
(Excerpt) Read more at gadsdentimes.com ...
There's nothing 'progressive' about $5 a gallon.
Maybe President Bush and the repubs aren’t so dimwitted after all?
Keep up the pressure on the Rats. They are happy with $4.00, or higher, gas as it (a) makes Bush look bad, (b) helps them push the “alternate energy” stuff which apparently private business hasn’t found profitable or efficient, and (c) continues their quest to disparage the oil companies and capitalism.
The public [and the economy] may not share the Dems happiness. They want action. $4+ a gallon of gas has a way of getting the public’s attention and helping them to focus on the issue.
When watching the gas pump roll of the dollar amount, Joe and Suzy Sixpack know in their hearts what works and what doesn’t. Crude oil, not wind or solar or ethanol has made this country great. It will seem perfectly logical to them to get more.
I have heard talk of $8.00 a gallon. Americans need to go on strike and stop driving.
Or stop paying taxes until Congress acts in a responsible manner.
Bush can sign an Executive Order lifting all bans on drilling / exploration & really put the screws to the Democrats. What is he waiting for?
Didn’t GWB agree to continue the Florida offshore drilling restrictions as a way to smooth things over for his brother’s election? I seem to recall that Jeb leaned on his brother about this.
Bumper sticker: Hate $4/gal gas? Blame the Democrats
Those high heat bills for fuel oil tanks being filled will hit just before the election. As bad as high gas prices are in the southern states, you have to double the anger to get a feeling of the rage that will come in the north!
Not Obama's core supporters. Everything is the fault of the Republicans and whitey according to them.
Not a chance, they will buy into tax penalty schemes for Oil companies.
Not many are talking about Speculators as a driving force behind high oil prices.
The recent “energy” bill defeated in the Senate would have made $4 gasoline seem a bargain. The whole carbon credits boondoggle will do nothing but raise prices to US consumers and not do anything for the farcical global warming “problem”.
I don’t get it...even if the ‘rats seize billions of dollars from the oil companies, it won’t benefit the poor who are paying $4/gallon for gas. That money will simply disappear into the federal treasury, never to be seen again. The next day, it will still be $4-plus for gas. So why would anyone be in favor of it?
Or is this just a case of people wanting to see some rich guy (i.e. oil execs) get screwed, even if it hurts them in the long run? Envy is a powerful force, which the ‘rats have used to hold onto power for many years.
If I was an oil executive, I’d be preparing to flee the country, since the government is on the verge of snatching their businesses. Why work 70-hour weeks to make money for some ‘rat senator? Just flee to the Caymans with a few million dollars and retire, right?
I don’t believe that Bush has the guts to sign EOs to open up drilling, coal production or any other energy initiative. I would be pleasantly suprised if he did but I’m not holding my breath. When clinton closed off coal in Idaho in favor of Chinese coal it was done by EO. One of his advisors used the phrase “...sweep of the pen, law of the land...”. If he signed EOs the rats would not have the guts to override any of it because they know it would be very popular with the public.
I can’t believe how fast a gas pump reaches $1 with prices at these levels. You put the spout in, squeeze the trigger, and mere seconds later you’ve pumped $1 worth of gas.
Yeah, kinda makes your head spin.
They need to rein in speculation on oil but that does not sing
like demagoguery of soaking the oil companies. Democrats want this crises so that they can make political hay and look like heroes when it abates.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.