Thursday, July 17, 2008

Commonsense we can live without

Flashback to the spring of 2006. With a Congressional election looming in the fall, the Democratic Party teased and taunted us with promises of a "commonsense plan" to reign in the then-skyrocketing gas prices.

Taken from her own press release in April 2006
Washington, D.C. – House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on President Bush’s, Speaker Hastert’s, and the Republican Congress’ empty rhetoric on gas prices. Key facts on the Majority's failure to address gas prices follows Pelosi’s statement.

With skyrocketing gas prices, it is clear that the American people can no longer afford the Republican Rubber Stamp Congress and its failure to stand up to Republican big oil and gas company cronies. Americans this week are paying $2.91 a gallon on average for regular gasoline – 33 cents higher than last month, and double the price than when President Bush first came to office.

I'll give her credit here, she's correct. Consulting the Energy Information Administration, the average price of U.S. regular gasoline on April 24, 2006 was indeed $2.91. It was also up 33 cents from a month prior. This figure did double the average price of $1.31 in January 2000, when President Bush first took office.


Flash forward a bit to January 2007. The Democratic Party, having received the majority in both the Senate and the House, take over the reigns of the Congress. They now control what bills are brought to the floor for vote, and what bills are not. The average price of U.S. gasoline had dipped a bit, now at $2.16 a gallon - even before any aspect of the promised "commonsense plan" could be enacted.

OK. Flash forward yet again, back to the present. On July 14, 2008, the average price of U.S. gasoline sits at $4.11 a gallon.

Using these figures, and a little commonsense math, we do see a 100% increase in gasoline prices between January 2000 and April 2007. We also see a 92% increase in the price of gasoline between January 2007 and July 2008.

So, while it took almost seven years for a gallon of gasoline to double in price under President Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress's watch, the new "commonsense plan" of the Democratic-controlled Congress was able to accomplish almost the same thing in just 18 months.

Applying some more commonsense math, at this new commonsense rate, we'll be paying well over $60 for a gallon of gas in seven years.

So, just what IS their commonsense plan anyway? While we're all still waiting to find out, I can tell you what it is NOT.

PELOSI: “The United States cannot drill its way to energy independence.”( Speaker Nancy Pelosi, “Today, Congress Took Action On Real Solution To Lower Price At Pump,” Press Release, 5/13/08)

SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI: “The President should reverse his 'drill and veto' policies and return from his Middle East trip with firm guarantees from OPEC for increased production levels …” (Speaker Nancy Pelosi, “President Should Push OPEC for Increased Production, Abandon His 'Drill and Veto' Policies,” Press Release, 5/13/08)
Did you catch that???? Nancy Pelosi challenged President Bush to pressure OPEC to drill and produce more oil, but still states that we cannot drill our way to energy independence. So, she'd rather the U.S. become even MORE dependent on foreign oil.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked President Bush on Tuesday to draw down a portion of the country's Strategic Petroleum Reserve as a way to reduce crude prices and help motorists who are suffering from the rising cost of gasoline.
Did you catch THAT one??? While increasing our dependence of foreign oil, she's requesting we draw from the country's Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Hmm...not a very smart idea, when we already import over 60% of our oil from the Middle East, and with Iran threatening to close off the Strait of Hermuz and all...


Borrowed from Ben Pershing of the Washington Post
Building on last month's bipartisan legislation passed overwhelmingly by the House requiring the Commodities Futures Trading Commission to use its emergency powers to curb excessive speculation distorting the energy markets, the House Agriculture Committee this week will hold three days of hearings on oil market speculation. The goal is to present the House with strong legislation this month to bring transparency to the markets and to end speculators' ability to artificially inflate the price at the pump.

So, here it is folks...their magic bullet, "commonsense" plan to combat high gasoline prices and reduce our dependency on foreign oil..Don't drill anywhere but the Middle East, siphon from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and go after the market speculators with committee hearings.

Sounds a lot like the previous administration's response to the first WTC terrorist attack. Rather than combating the true source of the problem, they sent in their lawyers and indicted Osama bin Laden.

Yeaaahhh, I think he missed his court date.

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