Bush blames Democrats for high gas prices

[Lasher]

Source: Today

CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) — President Bush on Saturday blamed the Democratic-led Congress for the high cost of gasoline and renewed his call for expanded offshore drilling to increase U.S. oil supplies.

"To reduce pressure on prices, we need to increase the supply of oil, especially oil produced here at home," Bush said in his weekly radio address.

Congress left for the August recess without a solution to fuel prices. In a bid to force a vote on offshore drilling, Republicans blocked Democratic proposals to use the nation's petroleum reserve, curb oil speculation and require oil companies to drill on already leased federal lands.

The president, who is vacationing at his Texas ranch, said Americans support expanded exploration of oil in areas that include the Outer Continental Shelf. The shelf is the shallow, sloping land that stretches for miles undersea between the coastline and the deep ocean.

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-08-23-bush-gas_N.htm?csp=34

---

Jawbone of an Ass: Bush's Utter Failure with OPEC

March 06, 2008

In the pantheon of his presidential failures, the utter inability of former Texas oilman George W. Bush to influence OPEC and the price of oil stands out as the most predictable - and ironic. Just one day after OPEC members rejected President Bush's call to boost crude production, oil jumped to the stratospheric level of $105 a barrel. This latest indignity caps seven years without results for the man who once boasted he would "jawbone" his friends in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia into opening the spigots.

<snip>

By June 2000, the Bush jawbone pledge became a standard on the stump. As the New York Times reported, Bush foreshadowed future expenditures of political capital he would fail to accumulate:

"I would work with our friends in OPEC to convince them to open up the spigot, to increase the supply," Mr. Bush, the presumptive Republican candidate for president, told reporters here today. "Use the capital that my administration will earn, with the Kuwaitis or the Saudis, and convince them to open up the spigot."

<snip>

Meanwhile in Washington, White House press secretary Dana Perino admitted yesterday that the President is "disappointed that they decided not to increase production." President Bush himself whined of OPEC's intransigence that "I think it's a mistake to have your biggest customer's economy to slow down." Powerless now as throughout his presidency, Bush feebly concluded "Until we change our habits, there's going to be more dependency on oil."

Which just goes to show the American people what happens when they place their trust in the jawbone of an ass.



http://www.perrspectives.com/blog/archives/000968.htm

[Xipe Totec]

1. The Coming Energy Crisis? (Oil Industry warned of Iraq war consequences)

As submitted to Oil & Gas Journal for publication February 3, 2003

All warning signs that existed prior to the energy crises of 1973 and 1979 exist today. Various energy security measures indicate that the potential for an energy shortage is high.


Various measures of US energy security indicate that the US might be heading for an energy crisis. Many of the warning signs that existed before the energy crises of 1973 and 1979 exist today and they indicate that the current situation could be even worse. US dependence on petroleum imports has grown steadily for over a decade and has been at record levels for several years. Petroleum inventories are low and the ability of Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) and commercial petroleum stocks to cope with an interruption in imports matches the historic lows preceding the 1973 and 1979 energy crises.

The potential for an energy crisis has never been higher. Oil prices have recently exceeded $30 per barrel and they may continue to increase. The disruption of Venezuelan oil supplies has increased the US dependence on Middle Eastern oil and made the US more susceptible to supply interruption. With the crisis in Venezuela, the capacity of OPEC to meet any additional supply interruption is limited and a war with Iraq would put OPEC at its limit. Any energy crisis in the near future will hinder President Bush’s efforts to stimulate the economy through tax cuts and other fiscal measures. An energy crisis could cause a recession, inflation, and higher unemployment.

http://www.wtrg.com/EnergyCrisis/index.html

Did somebody clue in pResident Chimpy, the oil expert?

[Demeter]

22. Shrub Is Actually Right. If Congress Had Impeached His Ass (and Cheney's)

we wouldn't be in the situation we are in now: politically, economically, socially, etc.

[2Design]

44. exactly n/t

[goforit]

57. ROFLMAO!!! Hilariously accurate.

[sakabatou]

2. Lolz

What a maroon.

[BadgerKid]

3. Got your picture right here, *

[Drum]

6. Booyah.....damn straight!

:thumbsup:

[Lasher]

8. Ooooo, that's good!

Funny thing, how Candidate Bush blamed President Clinton, and not the Congress that had been under GOP control for 6 years at that time. Now he characteristically gives himself a pass, while blaming Congressional Democrats, who have hale a slim majoeity for 1 year and 7 months.

[BadgerKid]

21. Local radio played an excerpt

of *. He sounded tired and impotent, IMO.

[Lasher]

25. All that hard work, checking out volleyball players' asses for a whole week.

Hard work. That must be it. And vacationing yet again for an extended period at the pig farm.

[defendandprotect]

9. Couldn't be more insane --- but there will be right-wingers who'll believe it !!!

You can always sell bags of crap to the right-wing ---

[laylah]

71. And I know a few so I

decided to send them the pictures, just in case...

[Virginia Dare]

12. Huh? You put two oil men in charge and gas prices go up?

the fuck you say!

[goforit]

58. Yah tell that dumb ass to bring it on!!!

[Dr.Phool]

4. Correction: Jawbone of an Asshole.

[still_one]

5. I guess it had nothing to do with his invasion of Iraq, and destabilization of the mideast

[Drum]

7. And the bankrupting of our surplus,

treasury bailouts,
blossoming outsourcing, offshoring,
ballooning national debt,
trade deficits....

Oy, I'm giving myself a headache....

[still_one]

35. thanks, you just gave me one also. In a few months the cure for that headache will be gone

when we win

[Drum]

39. To that:

:toast:

:hi: (and sorry 'bout that.)

[still_one]

48. LOL

[defendandprotect]

10. Next . . .. the bankrupting of the Treasury is the Dems fault . . . !!!

[Virginia Dare]

11. What happened to jawboning the Sauds?

worst Pretzeldent ever, suck in it shrubby.

[HopeHoops]

32. Bush DID Jawbone OPEC - he used KNEE PADS!

[clixtox]

64. Shrub needed the "protection" while

giving his best oral pleasure, Gannon/Guckert style, to those fellow corrupt whore master oil barons, all parties being notorious for their cupidity. Of course Shrub swallowed it all with relish...

And we all got screwed royally!

[katandmoon]

13. Cognitive dissonance, thy name is George W. Bush

[Wilber_Stool]

14. I'm still waiting to hear from

Dick Cheney's Energy Task Force. What do they have to say?

[Baby Snooks]

23. They're still waiting to hear from Ken Lay...

Their Ouija board ain't what it used to be. And they no longer have the "expertise" of Ken Lay to fall back on. The expertise of how to rip everyone off and get away with it. Of course had they been smart, Ken Lay would still be getting away with it. If they'd been smart, they'd have bailed him out. But, well, there were all those assets of Enron.

Reality is we are heading for depletion. Somewhere between five and ten years. During which time we will see higher prices unless consumption in the United States, China, and India is curtailed. Even then, the inevitable is the inevitable. Any policy of Dick Cheney's has and always will be simply how to get the last dime out of the last drop.

And so far the Democrats haven't offered much else and have furthered this "domestic versus foreign" oil propaganda as if it makes any difference. It doesn't. Just ask anyone who has oil royalties. They have gone up along with the price per barrel. But the American people are lazy and stupid at times. Believing whatever they can believe in order to avoid reality. The American people won't wake up even when gas is $10 a gallon. They will only wake up when there is no gas at the pumps.

[No Elephants]

73. They said "Invade Iraq to make us richer," so we did.

[beac]

dupe

[Lasher]

16. I searched before I posted.

But I am fully capable of missing a prior posting of this or a similar article.

How about a link?

Edit: Duh. You meant your post.

[beac]

15. How many more days do we have to have the nonsense of this assclown

broadcast on the public airways?

January seems SO far away sometimes.....

[Lasher]

17. 150 days to go.

I got a bush contdown calendar for Christmas. :)

[Politicalboi]

50. Me too!

[DebbieCDC]

66. I got one for Christmas too

I check it every day :)

[AlbertCat]

18. Lather, rinse, repeat

repeat this....(I'm glad they included it)

In a bid to force a vote on offshore drilling, Republicans blocked Democratic proposals to use the nation's petroleum reserve, curb oil speculation and require oil companies to drill on already leased federal lands.

once again...


In a bid to force a vote on offshore drilling, Republicans blocked Democratic proposals to use the nation's petroleum reserve, curb oil speculation and require oil companies to drill on already leased federal lands.


So, because of politics and the need to push a measure that is BS and won't help, Republicans blocked Dem ideas that might actually work.

Thank you, and good night...

[benld74]

19. I'm the decider, bring it on, drill drill drill blah blah blah effin idiot

[geckosfeet]

20. It is abundantly clear from the chart in OP that oil price spikes are not caused

by lack of drilling. They are caused by speculations that oil supplies are threatened in the middle east.

Energy independence is the solutions for this. Not drilling for oil.

Oil may be part of an overall energy plan, but we need to pioneer efforts to develop other technologies that we can market to the rest of the world.

Unfortunately the oil corpos have a strangle hold on our elected representatives.

[lonestarnot]

24. Is anyone listening to that stupid mother-fucker these days? Even Barney pisses on his leg.

[Lasher]

27. Yes, the dumbest 29.4% still do.

That's his RCP average approval rating today.

[Hulk]

26. This dillusional ass-wipe is a Texan-bad-joke. Just ignore him, and he'll soon go away.

What a total ass wipe. Honest to God, does anyone but the "dyed in red fascist/neocon/repugnant loyalist" believe anything that comes out of this mans anus? (aka mouth)

He is a ignorant, lying, bastard fool. Go drink a beer, and stay away from electrical appliances, you ignorant SON of a BITCH!! (talking about you too barbara!)

[Kierkegaard]

47. Hey, there's nothing at all wrong

with sticking a knife in the toaster. :evilgrin:

[Stern21]

28. The man needs a sign on his desk that reads

"The Buck Stops (anywhere but) Here."

He's an embarrassment to bipeds everywhere.

[Lasher]

30. Just like Saint Gipper

Reagan blamed Carter for his many failings, almost to his last day in office. McSame, of course, is another clone.

[whistle]

29. Something is not right with the chart I see no $140.00 per barrel spike in 2008

[Lasher]

31. Please note, the 'Jawbone' article is dated March 06, 2008.

So I guess that's why the 2008 spike is not reflected in the graphic.

[ryanmuegge]

33. If this makes it into the 24/7 news cycle, we better refute this hardcore.

Issues generally don't matter to the public at large (people on a political message board are an exception), but the gas price issue is important.

[Lasher]

59. This comes up again and again as part of a deliberate campaign of deception.

They're trying to get people to believe Congressional Democrats are responsible for all the failures of the Bush presidency. It's part of the GOP genre. All of Saint Gipper's fuckups were Carter's fault. All of Clinton's considerable successes only came about as a delayed reaction to the damage done while the idiot Reagan was in office. Same old snake oil.

[whistle]

74. Article is five months old

:shrug:

[dipsydoodle]

34. Whilst I don't agree

nothing changes the fact that everything is cause and effect.

A post earlier on DU this week pointed out the causal relation between this : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Afghanistan_and_Sudan_(August_1998) and what culminated in 9/11 as a result of the primary event bringing together the Taliban and Al Queda.

That post is here : http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3446714

So start there and just follow the path.

edit spelling mistake

[anitar1]

36. Fine, because I blame him for a million or more deaths. n/t

[nytemare]

37. Was it McClellan or Cheney who said "Rising fuel prices are the sign of a failed presidency"

Back when * was running, and gas prices were around 1.60?

I'm not sure, because whoever said it, the quote kinda just "poofed" off the internets.

[BearSquirrel2]

38. I give up on anyone who believes this ...

Seriously. Anyone who believes this is too stupid to be regarded seriously with any respect at all.

[Joanne98]

40. Bush is a mythomaniac

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mythomania

[Doug.Goodall]

41. Bush blames Democrats - Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha

The whole blooming world blames Bush for starting an illegal war for oil

[JonLP24]

42. Does anyone realize how much gas is being used in Southwest Asia?

Gun trucks, tracktor-trailer trucks, and other military vehicles are running 1000s of missions using free gasoline doesn't even come close. Thousands of tents, lighting structures, buildings, in Bases all over Iraq, Kuwait, and Afghanistan are ran by generators, the generators use gas. The gas usage is insane and it is free for US and coalition forces(actually probaly provided by government to expense) but 'fill-up; or get gas for any reason is absolutely free, all you have to do is sign a clip board and wait for Third-Country national to fill you up.q

[BrklynLiberal]

43. If there is a shred of a doubt that prez shit-for-brains is drinking again, statements like these

provide abundant proof of his total lack of any coherent thought processes.

[CitizenPatriot]

45. another compelling reason for the National Joke to consider AA

once and for all

No more drinking and talking!

[santamargarita]

46. What do you expect from that Goddamn Fascist Pig?

I can't wait for that sonuvabitch (I mean that literately) to get the hell out!

[Politicalboi]

49. What an ass Bush is

To lower the price of oil if half they need to close the Enron Loophole.

[jeff30997]

51. Of course dumbfuck.

It's never your fault.It have nothing to do with the invasion of Iraq.:eyes:

[DFW]

52. Well, of course

Everyone knows that Bill Clinton was CEO of Halliburton,
an T. Boone Pickens supported John Kerry in 2004........

[L. Coyote]

53. 2000.12.12 = $1.42

[Lasher]

56. $1.46 per gallon when Junior assumed the presidency on January 22, 2001.

According to The Energy Information Administration. Good scoop to keep for the never-ending email wars with the zombies.

[L. Coyote]

67. This is the only bumper sticker needed in 2008!

1.22.2001 $1.46

However, why not run of a million of these too:

InSane 4 McSame

[Lasher]

68. Great idea, Coyote!

My BIL asked me to explain this one to me today when he saw it on a car:

1.20.2008
End of an Error

[olddad56]

54. "Blaming" one of the few things Bush has done well while in office.

[Arkana]

55. It must be nice in George's world.

There, the sun's always shining, the birds always sing, the Democrats are responsible for all of life's evils--from oil prices to a case of athlete's foot--and unicorns cavort about and shit gumdrops and fucking rainbows.

[Imagevision]

60. Cheney to Bush; "just blame it on the democrats, fuckem..."

[Angleae]

61. Graph of gas prices during Bush presidency

[Caretha]

62. Do Americans own any of the natural

resources in this country. How is it that the oil companies get to drill on our public land and offshore, and make only profits for themselves. Isn't this somehow wacky? Why do we get zip and they get ALL OUR NATURAL RESOURCES for profit??? Something seems really fucked up with this picture.

[Wizard777]

63. What ever happened to "lets not play the blame game?"

It looks like the republicans are ready to play the blame game. It's time to move on those atricles of Impeachment.

[Lasher]

70. Republicans think it's just supposed to work one way.

That's the way it's always been.

[Lorien]

65. Yeah Bushboy, keep borrowing those Petro dollars to fund your wars

it's not like destabilizing the middle east and driving down the value of the dollar had anything to do with it,now, does it? News flash; the USA does NOT set oil prices; it's done by your buddies in OPEC. Drilling more only enriches Big Oil, as the prices will remain unchanged-but you already knew that, didn't you?

[superconnected]

69. And the answer is "yes, republicans really are dumb enough to believe him."

[No Elephants]

72. The Uniter is delusional to the bitter--very bitter--end.