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.
The context for the statement was "what can be done in the short term to alleviate the problem today"!
It will take years to develop new oil fields and bring them on line. Even when and if we do that, new refineries must be constructed.
These are long term fixes that must start now.
As for today, there is no way to lower the price, unless and until demand slows by 1.5% and then the price will fall.
Or the citizen who calls for a reduction in taxes and an ease in the production of gasoline additives because gas "costs too much".
If it is a diesel, he is just doing the normal things you do with a diesel.
Correction -- YOU voted for someone you thought would be a leader. Democratic governments don't have leaders -- especially in countries like ours where nanny-state attitudes prevail among the vast majority of the voters.
I knew George W. Bush would be an improvement over Clinton and would certainly be better for this country than Gore or Kerry, but let's not kid ourselves. George H.W. Bush was the last president this country will ever have from the WW2 generation, so we'd better get used to the mediocre adolescents from the Baby Boomer generation who are going to occupy the White House for a few decades.
Big corporations like airlines hedge their energy costs with futures contracts.
Hedging has become big business because risk of high energy prices is perceived as a threat to the bottom line.
BUMP
Oil was so cheap back then because so many of the Asian currencies collapsed, resulting in a huge drop-off in Asian demand for just about every raw material.
"Bush, Hastert and Frist have completely squandered the opportunity the voters handed to them on a hard-earned silver platter. We've been had."
Sad for me to say, but I think you are right here. Where is a leader who says, "Whoa, hold it, this America, we can do anything we find the will to do. We are Americans
, we are problem solvers. Here is where we start..."
To hear the President say we can do nothing is way too....French for me and I am starting to get irritated.
Aside from waste, think of the smell! Why does he do it? Why do you let him?
If you are willing to pay $3 for a gallon of gasoline today, then you are going to be willing to pay the same $3 even after the taxes have been eliminated.
Yep - especially those who pay with food stamps.
Remember during the last election, Kerry and Edwards said they were getting Ford Escape Hybrids. Do you think they ever took delivery?
From ConocoPhillips site: (http://www.conocophillips.com/newsroom/other_resources/energyanswers/gasoline.htm#Refinery_produce_more_gas)
"Primarily because U.S. refining capacity hasn't grown as rapidly as gasoline demand, the shortfall has been made up with increased gasoline imports from Caribbean, Canadian and European refineries. Imported gasoline now accounts for about one out of every 10 gallons of gasoline sold in the United States. In the last 10 years, gasoline imports have risen by more than 60 percent."
From http://www.gravmag.com/oil.html:
"In addition to all the crude imported, the U.S. must import about 66 million gallons of refined gasoline because our refineries can't make enough "
( I was just doing some personal research over the weekend and was familiar with the info. )
I live in NJ where, for now, there is no tax on clothing. If I pay $10 for a shirt in NJ, that same $10.00 shirt cost $10.00 plus tax in a neighboring state.
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