PrintApril 30, 2008
Gas Prices - Dems are getting exactly what they fought for
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell has a wonderful little snippet up at The Hill's Congress Blog, As Gas Prices Rose, Democrats Ignored Opportunities to Help Production:
Gasoline today at the pump is $1.25 more, on average, than it was when the Democrats took over Congress. Why is that a good place to measure? Because during that period, we've had an opportunity to build more refineries, and the Democratic majority voted it down. We've had an opportunity to open up additional parts of the Outer Continental Shelf and the Democratic majority voted it down. It's clear that on the production side of the equation, this new majority is not interested in doing anything.
He's right. In addition, what we have today is exactly what the Democrats and the environmentalists have wanted for years - high gas prices that should, by their very nature, reduce demand. The only thing that the Democrats would like more is if a few U.S. oil companies were going bankrupt at the same time, but unfortunately for them you can't have both things at the same time.
Remember, it was just last July that Democratic Representative John Dingell of Michigan announced that he wanted to increase the gas tax by 50 cents, as a punitive measure that he believed would cause consumers to drive less, thus reducing "greenhouse gases." You'd think that the recent rise in gas prices, and the subsequent howling from the Democrats about how awful the rise is for the average voter (err, consumer), would cause the Democrats to reconsider any increase in the gas tax. On the contrary, Dingell is still pushing the issue, even though polls are showing that Americans are against such a move.
There are many issues affecting the rise in oil and gasoline prices, not the least of which is open-market speculation by entities unrelated to the oil companies. But you have to look at the underlying fact that is part of the basis for such speculation - the oil producing countries have the United States by the short hairs.
The world knows that with the power structure in Congress that's been in place since long before the Democrats took over the majority, the Dem will fight against and, in fact, will not allow 1) any more domestic oil production; 2) any more domestic refining capacity; and 3) the further development of any existing technology, such as nuclear, that could have an immediate and significant impact on our domestic energy production. Couple that with domestic policy thrusts that are designed to increase the price of gasoline at the pump...you get the picture.
Imagine sitting at a negotiation table, and you already know that your opponent will not take any positive steps to help him or herself out. They've also been upfront and open about the fact that they have no secrets up their sleeve. Your opponent is just going to sit there and wait for you to dictate to them your terms -- terms that they will have to accept.
That's the position that oil-producing nations have us in. And that's the position that the Democrats want us to be in, and are doing everything in their power to make sure we will always be in.
How does it feel?
Thomas Lifson adds:
This should be a major campiagn issue for the GOP in Congressional races across the country. Instead of playing defense, Republicans should be on the offense, tying Dems to higher gas prices.
Gateway Pundit scored some great points:
Democrats promised they had a plan to cut energy prices--
So far they have not produced this plan.
And reproduces this amazing map:
