by Matthew Hay Brown
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will give President Bush this much: He's one of a kind.
"Only President Bush could allow Big Oil to write our nation's energy policy, guarantee billions in oil tax breaks and refuse to stand up to OPEC or crack down on price gouging, and then shirk responsibility for gas prices that have more than doubled and oil prices that have quadrupled since he took office," the Nevada Democrat said today. "Only President Bush could be surprised to learn that gas was approaching $4 a gallon and then claim the White House is concerned about high gas prices."
Reid was responding to Bush's press conference this morning, during which the president said it was the Democratic Congress that was standing in the way of his efforts to restrain rising prices at the pump.
"One of the main reasons for high gas prices is that global oil production is not keeping up with growing demand," Bush said. "Members of Congress have been vocal about foreign governments increasing their oil production; yet Congress has been just as vocal in opposition to efforts to expand our production here at home.
"They repeatedly blocked environmentally safe exploration in ANWR," Bush said. "Congress has repeatedly blocked efforts to expand capacity and build more refineries. ... Congress continues to block provisions needed to increase domestic electricity production by expanding the use of clean, safe nuclear power."
While consumsers struggle, the sides contiue to talk past each other. Congressional Democrats have asked Bush and congressional Republicans to investigate oil cartel price-fixing, pursue and punish price gougers, end tax breaks for oil companies and invest the savings in renewable energy. Republicans favor drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve and the Gulf of Mexico.
"With gasoline prices skyrocketing, our dependence on foreign oil increasing, and the American people's anxiety growing, isn't it time to increase the supply of American-made energy to help lower prices here at home?" House Minority Leader John Boehner asked.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Bush's comments on the economy today "clearly demonstrate why his popularity is at record lows in national polls now, and why his administration will be viewed by historians as a failure.
"The president has proclaimed that he is the 'Decider,' but this morning all he tried to do is pass the buck to someone else rather than accept responsibility for his administration's failed economic policies and escalating gas prices."
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Comments
He is almost as unique as the voters who put him into office, not once, but twice! It takes a certain amount of uniqueness to be that blind to the President's incompetence, twice!! It takes a certain amount of uniqueness to be blind to his phoniness, twice! I hope the next round of presidential elections doesn't present the same kind of uniqueness, if it does, America will surely change for the worse!!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, Chicago | April 29, 2008 3:07 PM
I have a question...are we at least useing Iraqi oil for the war that we fund? Are we paying for it?
Posted by: bill r. | April 29, 2008 3:25 PM
Don...I didn't vote for him either time, but I have to say it was artful how he used our patriotism against ourselves.
Posted by: bill r. | April 29, 2008 3:28 PM
Do your jobs.....don't move off of topic A.
Posted by: Andrew | April 29, 2008 3:39 PM
"HARRY REID SPEAKS"
I GAVE YOU "IMMUNITY" NANCY TOOK IT AWAY.
I GAVE YOU THE "HOUSE" THE BOEHNER BLEW IT YESTERDAY.
I GAVE YOU EVERY "EMERGENCY WAR SPENDING BILLIONS AND BILLIONS AND BILLIONS. HALLIBURTON, BECHTEL, AND BLACKWATER WAITED IT ALL AWAY.
DICK CHENEY GAVE YOU FERC AND MERK, NOW AMERICA IS GOING TO TAKE IT AWAY.
THANK GOD! WE DIDN'T GIVE AWAY, THE "CONSTITUTION" THE LAW OF THE LAND.
THANK GOD! WE DIDN'T GIVE YOU IMMUNITY AND PROTECTION FROM LIABILITY BECAUSE AT THE END OF THE DAY, THAT APPEARS TO BE WHAT YOUR LAST DAYS ARE ALL ABOUT.
VETO, VETO, VETO, MULTMILLIONAIRE FARMERS VS MULTIMULTIBILLIONAIRE BIG OIL.
FILLIBUSTER, FILLIBUSTER FROM VITTER, CRAIG, FOLEY, BOEHNER, BLUNT WHEN IT COMES TO "DOMESTIC SPENDING" AND NOT "BUSH SPENDING"
NO "CONGRESSIONAL CHURN" JUST ROLLOVER AND GIVE IT UP AND GIVE IT UP AGAIN AND AGAIN IN YOUR ROSE GARDEN 7AM EASTERN STANDARD TIME AT&T GIPHONEHOME CALLING CARD MESSAGE TO AMERICA.
BOY YOU MUST BE COOOKOOOO!
Posted by: Roger Morris | April 29, 2008 3:44 PM
Harry "Land Deals" Reid, who has high-paying lobbyist jobs for his sons, is such a farce. Harry Reid is about the worst person in Congress, a true unpatriotic piece of trash, who will say and do anything. As usual, Harry Reid has no clue what he talks about. What new?
Posted by: John D | April 29, 2008 3:53 PM
" bill r ', I'll try to put this as respectfully as I can: The voters who voted for him once, but especially for those who voted for him twice, were either blinded by their own fears or too mean-spirited and close-minded to consider the better choices, in both instances. Those were two, fine Americans that were ripped apart because a segment of this country didn't want to loose the advantage they had grabbed, during previous Republican administrations. The NeoCons are just one example of that segment, the ( not-too) Swift Boaters are another!! These are men and women who will sabotage any national referendum that allows then to lose sway or power over the nation. A very good example of this is presently being played out in the Senate, where you have a minority, with a Presidential veto being waved about, and they are stifling the will of the people. You know all of the good bills they have filibustered against, to the tune of about 70 times!! In there eyes it is good Republicanism, in the nation's eye, it is a dysfunctional Congress. I hope the nation realizes, you get the " leaders " you vote for, unfortunately, the last pair weren't leaders. I hope they will look closer, with eyes more keenly alerted to who they are voting into office, my guess is they will continue to vote blindly and hope for the best!!!
Sorry about that " bill r ", I went off on a tangent!!
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, Chicago | April 29, 2008 4:05 PM
The Bush administrstion just goes to prove that a President who has ties to the military/industrial/oil complex and the Neocons should never be voted into office. It would behoove us as a people to have our representatives in Congress initiate a bill to investigate any candidate running for the Presidency or any other higher office for their ties to the "evil" conglomerates mentioned above. Since supposedly this government is of the people, by the people, then we need to make certain that all those candidates for whom we vote do not have ulterior motives for their quest for power.
A new dawn must be on the horizon that will protect us from the evils of a another Bush/Cheney administration. Lobbyists must be barred from the doors of D.C. The people need to take back their government and reinvigorate the wonderful Constitution and ideals of this nation's forefathers.
Let November become our nation's dawn from eight years of lies and darkness. And may all those perpetrators of evil against our people and the world and the killers of innocence wallow in their own personal Hell while we the good people of America attempt to repair the damage done to our good name and the morale of our nation.
Posted by: the truth | April 29, 2008 4:43 PM
Don....I think that sumed it up quite nicely.
Posted by: bill r. | April 29, 2008 4:52 PM
Gee, I know the answer to all our problems. Elect McCain and give him big majorities in both houses of congress and let him run the supreme court. Then we will be back in those oh-so-happy days of 2001.
Posted by: Kenneth Janowski | April 29, 2008 4:57 PM
Clearly the solution to ALL our energy problems is to drill in ANWR! To hear Bush talk you'd think ANWR held more oil than the middle east oil fields. He and Dick must have sunk some serious money into ANWR oil rights. And I love the line about environmentally safe oil production. I wonder what the fishermen and other folks living around Prince William Sound would say about that one?
Posted by: Tom O | April 29, 2008 5:55 PM
Bush is unique. He's a president with an IQ of 90!!!
Posted by: Logic Prisoner | April 29, 2008 9:13 PM
GW Bush = Laughing stock.
He went to Saudi, hat in hand, and begged the King to increase oil production, to which the King said 'no!'
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Bush then gave Saudi $30Gb of military hardware. Brilliant, I say, brilliant!
Posted by: C.Morris | April 29, 2008 9:44 PM
I find it extremely interesting that Bush and all of the candidates are backing the "tax holiday" on gasoline. This is like putting a bandaid on a bleeding gash that the oil companies have orchestrated since the 1970's. I would like to offer a solution but unless the "oil backed" legislators are forced out of office for "conflict of interest" ethics there is no "solution" that we provide.. In 1970 decisions could have been made to mitigate the big oil hostage tactics and here in 2008 the hard decisions have to be made to prevent future occurances of this situation. I fear that the people in office will continue with the "bandaid" soultions until another 30-40 years have gone by and wake up and say "somthing must be done, How about a "Gas Tax" holiday"? As the saying goes 'Those that forget the past are doomed to repeat it". Well, we learned nothing in the 1970s and here we are. Why are the pols suprised??
Posted by: W.Wright | May 2, 2008 7:24 PM
John D:
I can think of worse ones-Sen. Dianne Fienstien (read about MILCOM), Reps. Stenny Hoyer, John Conyers, Henry Waxman and Pelosi (no wage increase in Samoa-TunaGate) but yeah Vegas Hank Reid is on the list. What is the tie that binds? Democrat
Posted by: For John D | June 19, 2008 1:31 PM