Let's not even get into the whole Democrats-will-get-us-out-of-Iraq 2006 campaign pledge that turned out to be an electorate, below-the-belt sucker punch. Now the cause-de-jour is the "skyrocketing" price of gasoline and the political cry "Do something!"
Let's activate the Way Back Machine, shall we...? On Monday, April 24, 2006,
"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.
"With record gas prices, record CEO pay packages, and record oil company profits, Speaker Hastert and the Majority Congress continue to give the American people empty rhetoric rather than join Democrats who are working to lower gas prices now.
"Democrats have a commonsense plan to help bring down skyrocketing gas prices by cracking down on price gouging, rolling back the billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies, tax breaks and royalty relief given to big oil and gas companies, and increasing production of alternative fuels."
I may be accused of nitpicking, but since winning control of the House and Senate, Pelosi's Democrats haven't implemented anything in that "commonsense plan." Maybe this is an apropos time for those crack reporters at the New York Times to leak it.
Meanwhile, the national average for a gallon of gasoline two years later is almost $4-per-gallon, and as a nation, we aren't any closer to energy independence than we were under those bad ol' Bush Republican big oil and gas company crony days.
I have a few questions: why are foreign oil companies drilling mere miles off our shorelines? Why are some of our international enemies setting the price we have to pay for a barrel of oil? Why can they harvest the fuel they'll eventually sell back to us, while we curl up into a vulnerable fetal position after we spent $60 to fill up our tanks?
It's not enough to blame scraggly-haired environmentalists. We need to blame those politicians who ran on some "commonsense plan" they have (two years later) yet to unveil, let alone implement.
Nancy Pelosi (and those held hostage by the high-pitched squealing far Left) are relatively unaffected by higher gas prices. Some of our politicians are millionaires, and probably have someone fill up their tanks for them. They also, courtesy of the taxpayers, probably have a transportation allowance, thus if gas prices go up, they'll increase that allowance.
The bottom line is they couldn't care less about higher gas prices. What they care about is a campaign issue. Fixing problems before an election isn't good politics, and if you can stretch the "issue" out over the course of a few elections, better yet.
We could have cheaper gas prices tomorrow, that is, if that's what Democrats really wanted. If they lifted the restrictions on building new gas refineries, and allowed unfettered oil drilling within our borders, those evil Wall Street and Chicago speculators would see a light at the end of our energy dependence tunnel. With domestic retrieval of oil products on the horizon, those speculators would drop the price of crude, and the Sheiks would be pooping in their robes.
But since the environmental cronies have a chokehold on public servants who # themselves out for the almighty campaign dollar, we will not see a reduction in gasoline prices, at least until after the first week in November. That, albeit long term, may have been the "commonsense plan" all along.
So stop the whining about the price at the pump. We get the government we pay for. The American people keeps voting these liars back into office, we'll continue to pay for all the wonderful new taxes and programs they come up with, and we'll have the privilege of paying more to get to work, so Democrats can take more out of our paychecks before we even see them.
When people have to choose between gassing up to go to work, and paying rents or mortgages (which they need to go to work to earn) or even eating, maybe only then will the American people have enough of Grandma Pelosi's stubborn attitude.
Maybe.
