Bush concerned about high fuel prices. Tells Congress to open ANWR for drilling. On Earth Day.

[WilliamPitt]

Yup.

Kinda says it all right there.

:banghead:

Bush voices concern about record oil price
Reuters

Tue Apr 22, 2008

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - President George W. Bush on Tuesday said he was concerned about record-high crude oil and gasoline prices, and said the United States needs to tap an Alaskan wildlife refuge to boost supply.

"I am obviously concerned for our consumers," Bush said at a news conference along with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Mexican President Felipe Calderon.

(snip)

Bush reiterated his call for the U.S. Congress to overturn a long-standing moratorium on drilling for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), home to wildlife like polar bears and migratory birds.

"We should have been exploring for oil in ANWR," Bush said. "As a result we are dependent on foreign sources of oil."

Link: http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKN2236158120080422

[alarimer]

1. I could not hate anybody more than I hate Bush right.

Fucking asshole. I hope he chokes on another pretzel. Permanently.

[JuniperLea]

2. I thought he was going to "jaw" the Saudis...

Wasn't that part of his '04 platform?

[chat_noir]

21. Bush 2000 campaign on high oil prices

In 2000, George Bush, the failed oilman, quickly piled on in the criticism of Gore and the Clinton administration, as CBS News pointed out in 2004:

Mr. Bush was critical of Al Gore in the 2000 campaign for being part of “the administration that’s been in charge” while the “price of gasoline has gone steadily upward.” In December 1999, in the first Republican primary debate, Mr. Bush said President Clinton “must jawbone OPEC members to lower prices.”

In 2000, George Bush, the failed oilman, quickly piled on in the criticism of Gore and the Clinton administration, as CBS News pointed out in 2004:

Mr. Bush was critical of Al Gore in the 2000 campaign for being part of “the administration that’s been in charge” while the “price of gasoline has gone steadily upward.” In December 1999, in the first Republican primary debate, Mr. Bush said President Clinton “must jawbone OPEC members to lower prices.”



June 28, 2000 Bush Would Use Power of Persuasion to Raise Oil Supply

WAYNE, Mich., June 27 -- Gov. George W. Bush of Texas said today that if he was president, he would bring down gasoline prices through sheer force of personality, by creating enough political good will with oil-producing nations that they would increase their supply of crude.

"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."

Implicit in his comments was a criticism of the Clinton administration as failing to take advantage of the good will that the United States built with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia during the Persian Gulf war in 1991. Also implicit was that as the son of the president who built the coalition that drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait, Mr. Bush would be able to establish ties on a personal level that would persuade oil-producing nations that they owed the United States something in return.

"Ours is a nation that helped Kuwait and the Saudis, and you'd think we'd have the capital necessary to convince them to increase the crude supplies," he said.

http://www.nytimes.com/library/politics/camp/062800wh-bush.html

[JuniperLea]

27. Thanks! I knew I heard that... wrong campaign...

But then, all his campaigns were wrong on so many levels.

[babylonsister]

3. I just heard that. He's gone round the bend, again. nt

[spanone]

4. proving once again what an arrogant piece of shit he truly is.

[DJ13]

5. Screw Anwar, that wont help for 8 - 10 years

If he really was concerned, he would announce an end to his continued filling of the SPR.

In fact, if he wanted to help lower the price of oil he would tell the oil industry he would release some of the record levels of SPR to the market to stabilize prices.

[cynatnite]

6. Got the dog out of the room before his head exploded....

I'm.Just.Speechless. :banghead:

[Jim__]

7. Does anyone know an estimate of the reduction in the price of gas if we fully developed ANWR?

Not that I think it would be worth doing. I'm just curious if there is any estimate as to its effect on price in, say, the next 5 years.

[Jackpine Radical]

16. The best estimate of total accessible ANWR reserves is 4 bil bbl. Our

annual consupmption is about 6.6 bil bbl at present. If ANWR oil were to replace 10% of the foreign oil used for US consumption, it would last about 6 or 7 years.

[Jim__]

35. Thanks.

[librechik]

25. from what I understand, all that oil gets sold to Japan anyway

since that is the closest port. It's just technically "our " oil.

Does that help?

[Jim__]

34. since bush is recommending opening up ANWR due to record high oil prices ...

I was just wondering if there's any connection.

It sounds like - not really. Thanks.

[Ian David]

8. Didn't he celebrate Dr. King's birthday once by doing something bad to African-Americans? n/t

[DS1]

18. I remember there was something, now that you mention it

Don't remember what, yet.

[Ian David]

24. I think this was it, but there may have also been something else...

G.W. Bush: Affirmative Action Baby
by Manning Marable

Several days before last month's national holiday celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday, the Bush administration came out forcefully against affirmative action policies initiated at the University of Michigan, which soon, will be under Supreme Court review. To his credit, Secretary of State Colin Powell informed the media that he continued to express "support for the policies used by the University of Michigan."

Condoleeza Rice, Bush's National Security Adviser, unfortunately lacks Powell's integrity. She at first claimed that she agreed with her boss's ridiculous charge that Michigan's policy of giving preferences to black and Latino applicants who came from racially oppressed communities is a "quota system." Then in a series of contradictory explanations Rice admitted that her career had indeed "benefited from affirmative action." She also acknowledged that race could be "a factor in university admissions," but not to the extent used in the University of Michigan's admissions policies.

Compounding Bush's decision to oppose affirmative action was his renomination of Charles W. Pickering, Sr., of Mississippi, to the federal appellate court. Pickering's conservative history on racial issues, such as his efforts as a judge to reduce the sentence of a man convicted of burning a cross outside the home of an interracial couple, guarantee strong opposition to his ratification in the Senate. Given the Republican Party's embarrassment in the wake of Senator Trent Lott's resignation late last year, why would Bush seem to go out of his way to alienate the African-American electorate? New York Senator Charles Schumer spoke for many when he informed the press, "I'm still scratching my head in amazement that they actually (re)nominated him."

The controversies over both affirmative action and Pickering's renomination led many columnists to question the administration's commitment to civil rights. One of the most thoughtful commentaries to appear was by author Roland S. Martin, which appeared in USA Today on the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. Posing the question, how would King have viewed Bush's rejection of affirmative action, Martin observed: "President Bush opposes the University of Michigan's admissions program because he views it as a quota system." "Yet he is proud to call himself a Yale graduate, even though he benefited from a quota system because of his family's history at the Ivy League school. That's right. Our own president is an affirmative action baby."

More:
http://www.jacksonprogressive.com/issues/civilliberties/marable/bushaababy021003.html

[DS1]

29. I think it might have been some Katrina legislation

[gatorboy]

9. Does anyone ever bring up how chummy he said he was with foreign oil in 2000?

Has the media already forgotten how he said he could get the oil prices down with a phone call?

Oil was $30+ a barrel at the time and Republicans had a hissy fit about it being too high.

[magellan]

46. KO has said as much on Countdown

But otherwise, no, no mention of how Bush** has utterly failed to get OPEC to play ball as he bragged he would.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

10. He is such a fucking idiot...

ANWR...

It is sacred, people!

There's not enough oil there to many any real difference...

And it'll take ten years to get it out...

Oh, good god...

They push ANWR because they know it makes us crazy! :rant:


K&R

Thank you, Will...


:patriot:

[hobbit709]

11. The living embodiment of irony

And even if you explained it to him he wouldn't get it.

[KansDem]

12. It's like he does this shit on purpose!

He just doesn't give a **** about this country. It's like he and his ilk sit around thinking up new ways to inflame the American people!

What'd ya want to do next?
How 'bout we announce drilling in ANWR on Earth Day?!
<guffaw, chortle, snicker>

[Triana]

13. What a royal, psychopathic ass. Ugh. (n/t)

[Malikshah]

14. Wow-- so the current explosion of Oil prices is MIHOP.

Truthfully-- this kind of action on the part of the Chimp points to the fact that he's fine with folks being gouged.

It makes so much sense.

The Chimp and Co. want ANWR profits for themselves so much they can't see straight.

ANWR is off-limits in a normal world.

How to force the issue?

Allow world financial crisis to continue...feed the flames and chaos until the *only* solution...

Open ANWR to drilling.

Profits roll in.

*Refuses to remove tinfoil*

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

15. Why is he concerned? He has got his friends what they wanted.

[TheCowsCameHome]

17. That'll help.

Gas prices will drop .00000005 in about 15 years.

He is such an asshole. Really. A complete asshole.

[Leftist Agitator]

19. "We should have been exploring for oil in ANWR,"

No, you stupid fuck, we should have taken those trillions that your dumb ass pissed away in Iraq and Afghanistan and found some REAL solutions for renewable energy.

[benld74]

20. COME ON NOW-YOU KNEW THIS WAS COMING!!!!!

[samsingh]

22. he's an asshole

[gatorboy]

23. To quote Kevin Kline from "A Fish Called Wanda."

ASSHOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLE!!!

[sinkingfeeling]

26. Why sure! The only reason that the USA leads the world in oil consumption (currently) is because we

failed to 'explore for oil in ANWR'! OMG, why didn't I think of that?

[Subdivisions]

28. He doesn't even know about Earth Day. n/t

[stellanoir]

30. He's so frigging reverent.

/sarcasm

[donkeyotay]

31. That says it all, but the part that gets me is having his smarmy ass call us

"our consumers" when a) I do not belong to el Presidente, and b) I am a citizen. I'm sure that wrecking CAFE standards, invading a country, upping the Pentagon's oil consumption and turning the dollar into toilet paper had nothing to do with it.

[Blue_In_AK]

32. Why isn't he working on renewable

non-carbon producing energy sources? This guy just doesn't get it.

ed. Or better yet, why doesn't he work on a way to capture the methane that's being released from our melting permafrost as we speak. Surely all that methane could be used for SOMETHING. Leave ANWR alone.

[entanglement]

33. How about doing something to curb oil speculation?

[sammythecat]

36. There is absolutely no urgency whatsoever to open ANWR.

I don't believe that AT ALL. Bush and the people behind this push to open it up have absolutely ZERO concern for the "consumers". Alleviating any burdens for American consumers is all a big joke and a lie. I am 100% cynical about this. The reason behind almost every single initiative of this administration is always about money and nothing but money. For themselves or their associates.

A number of people stand to make fortunes if ANWR is opened up. That's why they fight tooth and nail and never give up. There's a quick and easy fortune lying up there and they intend to get it. As soon as they can. These people are highly motivated. They can almost feel the money in their hands and they want it in their lifetime. They want it yesterday.

[Johonny]

37. He's the perfect republican

No bad idea is ever lost. They just keep coming back over and over and over...

[leftofthedial]

38. put this turd out of our misery.

PLEASE!

[Lorien]

39. It's the FAVORITE freeper remedy for high gas prices. "So how did Iraq's

oil help to lower our gas bills"? I would have to ask them. Drilling in ANWR would only provide 1-3% of our oil for a few years, would hugely impact one of Alaska's two keystone species; the caribou, and would f*cking FLEECE the American taxpayer. Just who do they think would be building all the infrastructure needed to get to the oil? (Hint; Cheney will be cashing in again. Big time).

[Maestro]

40. What an ass!

Oh yeah, that is going to help global warming and fix our long-term need for alternative fuels. :sarcasm: He is such a fucking idiot! Why not announce a plan to convert the current automobile industry into one that will begin to produce more and more hybrids and electric cars? As well announcing the forcing of industry to install over a period time energy generating complexes based on solar or wind energy to help meet the demand of its own energy needs?

[elehhhhna]

41. that headline is simply sublime.

[WilliamPitt]

42. .

[scarletwoman]

43. Funny how no one ever bothers to mention the fact that it will take at least 10 years

for any ANWR oil to actually come online.

They want people to have a picture in their heads of just sticking a straw down into the ground in some desolate Arctic landscape and suddenly the price of gas comes down.

The biggest problem is not that these evil Overclass assholes want to drill in ANWR, the biggest problem is how many of our clueless and ignorant fellow citizens will be convinced by the propaganda.

[Initech]

44. This is why we shouldn't elect oil men.

He CLEARLY does not give a fuck. His concern is just an empty statement at this point.

[Ilsa]

45. Bush hasn't been paying attention to Saudi King Abdullah's advice:

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah said he had ordered some new oil discoveries left untapped to preserve oil wealth in the world's top exporter for future generations…

"When there were some new finds, I told them, 'no, leave it in the ground, with grace from god, our children need it'," King Abdullah said…

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3192658

If he was paying attention, he would see the problem with his assumption that ANWR will solve our energy problems. There is a finite supply of the commodity, it may be reaching peak, and we need to consider the future generations from whom we are borrowing the planet.

[EFerrari]

47. How have we ever survived eight years of this idiot? n/t

[w8liftinglady]

48. so did my pal Smoky Joe Barton..prepare to puke

http://www.thedailylight.com/articles/2008/04/22/opinion/doc480cd45fd371b722396035.txt
Getting a grip on gas prices
BY U.S. CONGRESSMAN JOE BARTON
Published: Monday, April 21, 2008 12:56 PM CDT
You see the signs everywhere from Mexia to the Metroplex. With summer vacations just around the corner, prices at the pump are at an all-time high and continue to rise. In fact, many experts predict a gallon of gas will soon cost $4.

This historic rise comes on the heels of many in the Democrat-led majority vowing to lower fuel prices.

Around the country, people are starting to call the difference between what gasoline cost when the Democrats took over and what it costs now — regular unleaded is up more than a dollar since then — the “Pelosi Premium.”

When the Democrats took control of Congress, new Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said, “Democrats have a common sense plan to help bring down skyrocketing gas prices.” (4/24/06)

Since that statement, AAA reports that the national average for a gallon of gas has risen from $2.33 in January 2007 to a record high of $3.42 this week. As you probably realized last time you filled up, gas prices in our area aren’t far from the record breaking average.

Skyrocketing prices are hitting truck drivers and farmers especially hard. A gallon of diesel is already more than $4 a gallon at some stations, which means filling up a big rig can cost more than $1,000.

So whether diesel fuel is being used to power farm equipment or haul goods across country, increased gas costs are being passed on to all of us through higher product prices.

There are two very different ideas about the future of our nation’s energy supply in Washington. I believe in exploring all energy sources.

We are making great gains in creating and producing renewable fuel sources.

Biodiesel and other bio blends offer great promise and can compliment our current energy supply. However, this change won’t come overnight and we can’t turn our backs on the fossil fuels that drive our economy.

Remember we aren’t the only ones who depend on oil and natural gas. Growing countries like India and China could soon replace the U.S. as the number one oil consumer in the world. Their hunger for fossil fuel helped push oil prices up over $115 a barrel earlier this week. The cost of that crude oil now accounts for almost 70 percent of the price you pay at the pump.

To offset this problem we must increase our domestic energy production. I have long been a supporter of oil and gas exploration.

We have large, untapped reserves off of the east and west coasts and in Alaska. Some experts estimate that there are more than 100 billion barrels of oil in these areas, enough to supply the U.S. for decades.

But some in the Congress won’t let us find out for sure. I have supported efforts to expand domestic exploration, but each time members of the majority have led the charge to shoot down the proposals.

Often they argue that energy exploration and production would destroy environmentally sensitive areas, but in Alaska’s Artic National Wildlife Refuge, for example, the process would only use 2,000 of 19.6 million acres — that is just .01 percent.

But as today’s gas prices prove, “NO” is not an energy policy for America.

Some in Congress have recently proposed raising the gas tax by 50 cents a gallon. They say that adding another half-dollar to the price of gasoline will finally force people to cut down on their driving.

I don’t understand this logic. Texans will still need to use their cars, trucks and SUVs to go to work, pick up their kids from school and go to the grocery store. Raising the gas tax will only make these everyday tasks more expensive.

So until some lawmakers change their views, higher gas taxes and an unwillingness to explore and use our own reserves will continue to handcuff working families who are struggling to make ends meet.

We have the knowledge and resources right now to help beat back record prices at the pump; I hope my colleagues in Congress believe it’s time to use them.

U.S. Congressman Joe Barton, R-Ennis, represents the Sixth Congressional District of Texas.

[Cleita]

49. Oh, hey there.

I did a cruise of the gas stations in my area today. No earth day was celebrated here. Maybe more screw the gas consumer day. Over $4 a gallon here. Yesterday, I filled my tank at $3.74 a gallon at the cheapest gas station in town (a really hard place to get into and pump). The same station was $3.94 for the low grade gas today and it still was the cheapest place in town.