President Bush:
"What's a bully pulpit"
Posted on 06/22/2008 8:47:45 AM PDT by Uncle Ralph
In his radio address [Saturday] morning, President Bush went after the Democrats on energy:
The fundamental problem behind high gas prices is that the supply of oil has not kept up with the rising demand across the world. One obvious solution is for America to increase our domestic oil production. So my Administration has repeatedly called on Congress to open access to new oil exploration here in the United States. Unfortunately, Democrats on Capitol Hill have rejected virtually every proposal. Now Americans are paying the price at the pump for this obstruction. So this week, I asked Democratic congressional leaders to take the side of working families and small businesses and farmers and ranchers and move forward with four steps to expand American oil and gasoline production.
Bush pressed the Dems to open up the Outer Continental Shelf, then added this:
There's also an executive prohibition on exploration in the OCS, which I will lift when Congress lifts the legislative ban.
The President went on to talk about shale oil development in the Rockies:
Second, we should expand American oil production by tapping into the extraordinary potential of oil shale. ... One major deposit in the Rocky Mountain West alone would equal current annual oil imports for more than a hundred years. Unfortunately, Democrats in Congress are standing in the way of further development. In last year's omnibus spending bill, Democratic leaders inserted a provision blocking oil shale leasing on Federal lands. That provision can be taken out as easily as it was slipped in -- and Congress should do so immediately.
Next was ANWR, which can be exploited with "virtually no impact on the land or local wildlife." Finally, refining capacity:
It has been 30 years since a new refinery was built in our Nation, and lawsuits and red tape have made it extremely costly to expand or modify existing refineries. The result is that America now imports millions of barrels of fully refined gasoline from abroad. This imposes needless costs on American families and drivers. It deprives American workers of good jobs.
Finally, Bush laid the problem once again at the Dems' door:
I know Democratic leaders have opposed some of these policies in the past. Now that their opposition has helped drive gas prices to record levels, I ask them to reconsider their positions. 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.
Excellent stuff. We need to do this every single day.
Nice to see that W has dispensed with that “new tone” crapola. Unfortunately, it took him nearly 8 years to do it.
Hammer time!
although there are Republicans who are complicit in the obstruction also. When there was a Republican Majority in congress, energy legislation should not have been a problem.
RIGHT???
The high cost of gasoline and heat is a consumer driven problem affecting ALL Americans. We have the numbers to speak up and be noticed. But apparantly the price of gasoline isn’t high enough to bother anyone but the poor. And the poor class is the ones the Democrats champion and embrace, and always consider as most important to the survival of America. /sarc
Unfortunately too...President Bush’s weekly radio address on Saturday isn’t heard...nor is it covered significantly.
Wake me up when he nails the RATS in a nationally televised press conference.
He should have been going after them on this in each of his last 7 SOTU speeches....not 150 days before the election.
Fortunately just in time for the 08 election and on an issue that will kill the dems if they keep going in their historic direction......as they likely will.
Nah, they’ll benefit from the needy poor. They can set themselves up as heroes when they propose mailing checks to them for covering gas expenses, or some other stupid idea.
He should make an emergency proclamation tonight at 7:00 pm. He has the bully pulpit.
Thats exactly what I mean. DemoRats only want to help the poor because without dependency they have nothing else to offer America.
Righto. If we didn't know better one would think Clinton was still President.
I agree. If Bush, McCain and congressional Republicans stay on the same page and relentlessly attack the Dims on this issue, the GOP’s fortunes may vastly improve by November.
The principal objection the left has to drilling the Continental Shelf seems to be that we might "spill it", we should be quick to point out that there were some 700 derricks in the gulf that were disabled by Katrina, and not one drop was spilled.
This will be the end of it. The GOP and RNC are incredibly lazy and spineless.
They're stuck on "reaching across the aisle," and group hugs; and then get smacked every time. These Republicans are slow learners...
Which he could do. Reagan did it every week. The Mumbler is afraid to put down the gauntlet and smack the liberals.
President Bush:
"What's a bully pulpit"
http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/20638319.html?index=1&c=y
Newly elected Dem/LA supports drilling
“There’s also an executive prohibition on exploration in the OCS, which I will lift when Congress lifts the legislative ban.”
the democrats already challenged him on that, why oh why does he not simply remove the executive prohibition?
The drill stem is laying at his feet he can either, get it set upright and turning right or trip over it.
Develop simple, to the point and coherent talking points and hammer it and then hammer it some more.
And for God sake, stop looking at losing this fall as a foregone conclusion.
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