Gas prices undermine Bush ties (more GOP lies)

[ProSense]

Gas prices undermine Bush ties

By Edmund L. Andrews The New York Times
THURSDAY, MAY 4, 2006

WASHINGTON Under pressure to deal with high gasoline prices, President George W. Bush and Republican leaders in Congress are struggling to marry a new-found zeal for conservation with their traditional loyalty to big cars and Big Oil.

In one sign of the awkward straddle, the Bush administration proposed on Wednesday to overhaul fuel- economy requirements for cars while also saying that it opposed "perverse incentives for manufacturers to produce smaller and more dangerous vehicles."

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They also are renewing their wish list for the oil industry - opening the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve for exploration and drilling, as well as millions of additional acres in the Gulf of Mexico and along the Atlantic Coast. The Republicans also are blocking calls for a windfall-profits tax on major oil companies.

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Almost any Republican discussion about higher fuel-economy requirements represents a big change in tone, if not substance. In five years, House Republicans have defeated three bills to raise the average fuel efficiency of cars to 33 miles a gallon. In the 2004 campaign, Republicans ridiculed Senator John Kerry, the Democratic presidential candidate, for supporting higher standards, warning they would lead to job losses.

The automobile industry, though it counts many Democrats as powerful supporters, has contributed three times as much money to Republican candidates as to Democrats. Oil and gas producers have close ties to Republicans in general and Bush in particular. The industry's political action committees have given eight times as much money to Republicans as they gave to Democrats in the past 18 months, according to Political Moneyline.

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http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/05/04/business/energy.php

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=2607030&mesg_id=2607030