Posted on 04/24/2006 4:59:57 AM PDT by FerdieMurphy
SAN JOSE -- As oil prices hit a record, drivers worried about $3-a-gallon gas and politicians feared the impact on elections, President Bush on Friday acknowledged the pain but seemed resigned to being able to do little about it.
"I know the folks here are suffering at the gas pump," the president said while promoting his competitiveness initiative at the Silicon Valley headquarters of Internet networking company Cisco Systems Inc. "Rising gasoline prices is like taking a _ is like a tax, particularly on the working people and the small-business people."
But to address the immediate problem, Bush offered only a pledge that "if we find any price gouging it will be dealt with firmly."
Bush said that lowering America's dependance on foreign oil imports will help reduce the country's vulnerability to global oil price fluctuations. On Saturday, the president was pushing his proposals to boost spending to develop alternative energy sources, particularly hydrogen-fueled cars.
Critics say Bush's ideas are too modest and focus on solutions that are far from being a reality in the marketplace.
Crude-oil prices broke through $75 a barrel Friday amid concerns about the standoff over Iran's nuclear ambitions, rebel disruptions of oil production in Nigeria, and tight U.S. gasoline supplies. Analysts say they are likely to climb even higher.
Prices at the gas pump also kept rising and were not considered at their peak, with the average price of a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline at $2.855. That's 3 cents higher than a day earlier and more than 60 cents higher than a year ago, according to AAA's daily fuel gauge report.
Democratic efforts to score political points by focusing on gas prices have Republicans worried that their majority in Congress could be at risk in the fall midterm elections.
High gas prices were hardly the only problem facing Bush's White House as he embarked on a four-day swing to California and Las Vegas. He was traveling with new chief of staff Joshua Bolten, charged with reinvigorating a White House rocked by public discontent with the Iraq war and a series of missteps ranging from an ill-fated Supreme Court nomination to a bungled response to Hurricane Katrina.
Bush's poll ratings are at their lowest point. Hundreds of protesters called for his resignation near the Cisco compound where he spoke.
Even his trip put the president squarely in the middle of a federal-state dustup.
Bush decided not to grant the pre-emptive federal disaster declaration sought for California's fragile levees by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican who faces a tough re-election fight and has had a chilly relationship with Bush. Instead, the president is allowing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to help speed repairs at the state's expense.
Bush seemed aware of the precarious political landscape.
When Bush turned the microphone at Cisco over to Schwarzenegger, the governor said, "First of all, I want to say congratulations."
"For what?" asked the president, appearing genuinely surprised.
The governor, who had discussed the levee issue during a limousine ride with Bush, replied that he was glad to see the president "really paying attention" to the competitiveness issue.
Afterward, Bush talked privately with scholars from Stanford University's Hoover Institution, including former Secretary of State George P. Shultz, a Hoover fellow and early defender of the use of pre-emptive force to deal with Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq.
Plans to hold the meeting at the Hoover Institution were scuttled when protesters blocked Bush's motorcade from going through the only entrance. Shultz, who was already hosting a private dinner for Bush later at his Palo Alto home, had the session moved to his two-story, gray-shingled house.
One reason for a weekend trip with a lot of downtime in beautiful places became clear even before Bush boarded Air Force One to leave Washington. Crew were seen loading two shiny mountain bikes _ one a red-white-and-blue Trek adorned with the presidential seal and "United States of America." With stays scheduled in picturesque Napa Valley and the Palm Springs area, the bikes weren't likely to remain clean for long.
"Tomorrow I'm going to be riding my bike in Napa Valley. I can't wait," Bush told his Cisco audience.
Before returning to Washington Monday night, Bush was making stops to raise money for the national Republican Party, visit with Marines and Navy sailors, and press Congress to break a logjam over the immigration legislation he wants.
With our jobs you know if you're going to need to stay late. We work around it.
LOL... I think that only works for democrats.
Most are. But "free market" is a misnomer in these days of ubiquitous government regulation. Do the letters EPA mean any thing to you? Does "reformulated gasoline" ring a bell? It is absurd to talk about a "free market" these days.
The fed and state taxes alone on gas are outrageous. they should start there first.
That's how you end up with the typical case of a medical doctor who calls on government price controls of gasoline because gasoline "costs too much," and a gas station owner who calls for nationalized health care because his medical insurance "costs too much."
You'll get no argument from me on that!!
I agree. However, the free traders would call you a protectionist. IIRC, the EPA closed down some oil wells in Texas in the 1980's. All of this has a purpose.
Am I correct that oil was at $12/barrel in '98? If so can anyone explain how things have changed so fast? Are the basics - supply and demand - so difficult to gauge and predict?
I want him to show some 'intangible' things such as resolution, fighting spirit and political insight as he explains things to the American public.
What I am seeing is a defeatist attitude, a shrugging of the shoulders, Casper Milquetoast demeanor, and the blaming of the American people for being fuel "addicted".
That really works to inspire confidence at high levels, yah.
Leni
What do you want the POTUS to do? Place price caps on gasoline? It's amazing how many folks on this board claim to be conservative, but want the feds to control prices when a commodity gets expensive.
Average consumers have more power over the cost of gas than ANY politician. If folks lower consumption, demand falls. As demand falls, prices fall.
"We import gasoline, not just oil, "
Really? First I've heard of this. Details, please.
I absolutely agree with you. The "what about me?" refrain sounds odd coming from a group who's supposed to think people should not depend on government for so much.
It bears repeating, again. Bush is not up for reelection. But congress is. Let people take this out on congressmen. Those who have been on the right side of energy issues will stay. Those opposing Anwar could go. That's strategery for you.
It's exactly what he's been saying... for the last six years. Have we seen ANY progress whatsoever? We have not.
My point is this: We voted for someone who claimed to be a leader. What we got instead was a politician. Ditto for the House and Senate. Our country is weaker because of an utter lack of will on the part of our republican't "leadership"... and the political weakness of the republicans is illustrated by our current gas prices.
We hold a do-nothing view of Clinton, who for nearly a decade bemoaned the ills of the social security system but did nothing to fix it. Bush is ineffective as a doer, and his spinelessness and disconnect from the American people echoes his father's administration. I pray that he will get off his a$$, grow a pair, and use the last two years of his office to do something, anything, to reverse the slide of our country.
Even if the president believes this, it isn't a constructive sound-bite to come out of his mouth, imo.
If nothing else he should have made a comment about democratic obstructionism.
Bush and his people should be on the airwaves 24/7 talking about Hyannisport windmills and the rats hypocracy,
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