Bush warns looters, urges Americans conserve gas

[derby378]

President George W. Bush said on Thursday looters in New Orleans and elsewhere in the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina should be treated with "zero tolerance" and urged Americans not to buy gasoline if they do not need it because of looming shortages.

"It's going to be hard to get gasoline to some markets," Bush said.

...

Asked in an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America" if U.S. oil companies should forfeit profits during the crisis, Bush said instead American corporations should contribute cash to hurricane relief funds.

Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, seized on that comment. He said that while Bush was "asking ordinary Americans to do more, he ought to show some real leadership, and call on his friends in Big Oil to join in the sacrifice and stop gouging American families at the gas pump."

http://today.reuters.com/News/newsArticle.aspx?type=domesticNews&storyID=2005-09-01T203341Z_01_DIT140857_RTRIDST_0_USREPORT-WEATHER-BUSH-DC.XML

[MindPilot]

1. But Cheney said "conservation is a nice idea, but not effective"

back when CA had a "shortage" of power. Evidently gasoline must respond to conservation differently than electricity.

[LeftyElvis]

12. Cheap bastard

I read he's asking for only 10 billion; that won't do shit.

[DrDan]

27. he also said we had a god-given right to our life style

if we want to drive gas-guzzlin' SUV's, then we have that right

[brooklynite]

2. Conserve Gas? What was it Cheney said???

Conservation may be a sign of personal virtue but it is not a sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/white_house/july-dec01/cheney_7-18.html

[MADem]

4. How long before those hummer driving pals of his suggest that the chimp

take his personal virtue and stick it up his ass?

Funny how this crap works--if it affects the poor, the struggling middle class, or anyone other than them, they could give a rat's ass. But I cannot see the GOP SUV crowd going along with this situation for too long without some serious backlash.

All politics is local, and nothing is more local than the cash you pay to keep your vehicle running...sacrifice, per that bunch, is for OTHERS.

[lebkuchen]

3. How does one conserve gas driving a 4 x 4?

Ride Greyhound? The Southern Pacific?

[OhioBlue]

6. i know what you mean

we can take small steps to conserve - share a ride, consolidate trips to the market, etc. but our Country should have been planning for gasoline shortages for years - public transit, higher mpg standards, controlling urban sprawl etc. as far as the 4x4s - those that have them for recreation or image may be able to conserve, those that need the big trucks for work are pretty much screwed.

[amandabeech]

24. Drive 55. It's a '70s thing.

I did it last night, driving from D.C. to Harrisburg, PA. My older vehicle, due for replacement, doesn't get great gas mileage at 65+, and I can really tell the difference by driving more slowly.

Needless to say, I was passed time and time again by SUVs doing 70+ in 55 and 65 mph zones. Only one other sole was driving more slowly--he better than I at 45--and I tailed him as far as he went.

An emergency 55 would help, especially if the cops enforced it.

[LizMoonstar]

28. any info on how much difference this could make per person?

I'm driving to see my parents this weekend (no way around it, before anyone bitches me out for gasp using my car) and i want to know before i do it if the savings are going to be worth the chunk of my time and sanity i'll be giving up by extending my travel time another 2 hours or so.

[amandabeech]

30. Reports I've seen indicate 5-10% for each 10 mph dropped.

That's what I remember from the '70s, too. My old clunker does even better at slow speeds. I'd say I save 15% by driving 55 instead of 65.

If you're afraid to drive the interstates at 55-60 (and I would be on many of them), consider mapping out an alternate route using two-lane highways through rural areas. I have a truly scenic route through the Pennsylvania and Maryland countryside from Harrisburg to DC over lightly traveled state roads. There are a few towns and a very small city (Hanover, PA), but that doesn't add up to much stop and go, which really hurts your mileage.

Good luck with your weekend trip.

[OhioBlue]

5. When you read between the lines of what * says

he said we should conserve b/c it will be hard to get gasoline to some markets...... He doesn't usually level with the public or ask for common sense efforts to collectively help our nation.....

IMO - He must be getting very very serious warnings about shortages. He always downplays any bad news.

[BeFree]

8. He's an oil man

He KNOWS there are shortages. The shortages are DESIGNED and REFINED by his oil buddies to scare us. The only shortage there is, is because of a pipeline in LA is short of electricity. You mean to tell me they don't have back-up generators on that pipeline? Of course they do.

This pipeline shutdown was designed and engineered by b**h's oil buddies, and they told him all about it. It's good news, to them. He was bragging.

[OhioBlue]

11. I don't know - if that were the case

wouldn't he say buy, buy, buy - shop 'til you drop to keep the economy going - don't let the hurricane intimidate you, go on with your normal life? I could see him explaining away and making excuses for high prices - but actaully asking us not to buy gas if we don't need it????

[indigo]

23. Consider that

lack of electricity is not the only problem. There is no place to house employees.

[DoYouEverWonder]

7. Why do these stories all have to lead off

talking about looters.

This is crap. The human problems are more important. It seems that stuff is more important then people.

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[BrightKnight]

9. Blame the victim -- Looters don't have TV or Radio to hear him.

He is trying to distract attention from his appalling incompetence. The slow response and lack of resources have caused the situation to deteriorate. The desperate people in New Orleans did not cause this problem.

I guess we can't expect anything more from the people that managed the rebuilding of Iraq.

[katinmn]

10. I think we shouldn't wait till Sept 24. We should march on Washington NOW

Demand that * resign.

[LTR]

14. So what do Bush's pimps at the oil mafia think about all this?

Aren't they the ones pulling the strings?

[Union Thug]

15. Looters??? BushCo hates the people and loves the corporations

Doesn't it seem strange that in the aftermath of such a devastating human tragedy that ANYONE dare worry about looters? WTF is wrong with this pathetic, sick, materialist society?

I hate these people.

[keopeli]

16. ...and buy ducttape...and go to disneyland...

[Maggie_May]

17. He will give tax breaks to the oil companies

but he won't ask them to give us a break on prices. I just want to remind everyone that we are going to be the ones paying for the repairs on any pipe lines or any refinery damage.

[Triana]

18. Has he EVER HEARD of Gas Price Caps?

But, he's an oil tycoon so I guess that'd be expecting too much eh?

:mad:

[killbotfactory]

19. I'm having a fucking blast buying as much gas as I can!

At these prices, who can afford NOT to?!?

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

20. Why don't you put your money where your mouth is Chimpy?

Do something about it. Stop flapping your jaws.

New Orleans in Anarchy With Fights, Rapes

By ALLEN G. BREED, Associated Press Write

NEW ORLEANS - New Orleans descended into anarchy Thursday, as corpses lay abandoned in street medians, fights and fires broke out and storm survivors battled for seats on the buses that would carry them away from the chaos. The tired and hungry seethed, saying they had been forsaken.

"I'm not sure I'm going to get out of here alive," said Canadian tourist Larry Mitzel, who handed a reporter his business card in case he goes missing. "I'm scared of riots. I'm scared of the locals. We might get caught in the crossfire."

Four days after Hurricane Katrina roared in with a devastating blow that inflicted potentially thousands of deaths, the frustration, fear and anger mounted, despite the promise of 1,400 National Guardsmen a day to stop the looting, plans for a $10 billion recovery bill in Congress and a government relief effort President Bush called the biggest in U.S. history.

New Orleans' top emergency management official called that effort a "national disgrace" and questioned when reinforcements would actually reach the increasingly lawless city.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050902/ap_on_re_us/hurricane_katrina

[Voltaire99]

21. Conserve...except for you in the SUVs and Giant Pickup Trucks.

You carry on supporting the troops.

[ernstbass]

22. Conservation - what a novel idea!!

[Dervill Crow]

25. Well, duh.

I can't afford NOT to conserve. If I could afford to buy a gas efficient car, I would, but I'm driving the stupid-ass van my husband can't afford to drive to work.

I wonder if it's true that you never forget how to ride a bike. Guess I'll head to the internets and see if there's a bike recommended for obese 50-year-old women . . . I only see people biking to work who look like Lance Armstrong wannabes or neighborhood missionaries, but it's time for me to join the ranks of people bicycling to work. Great.

Doing my part to decrease greenhouse emissions and put food on my family . . .

[onager]

26. Bush The Oil Man?

On another board, we had a poster who had spent his career in the oil industry.

Mention of any Bu$h, Poopy or Junior, as an "oil man" always made him...

:rofl:

Summarizing his responses to this hokum, they always went something like this:

"No one named 'Bu$h' has ever brought a barrel of oil out of the ground. Their companies did not do oil exploration, no matter how much the idiot media fell for this Bush family P.R. campaign.

The Bu$h 'oil companies' only existed to sell tax breaks to their buddies on Wall Street...since FAILED oil companies can generate tax write-offs.

That family is a joke in the oil industry, even among the fools who vote for them."

[antonialee839]

29. Warns looters? What's he going to do? Leave them

there without food & water as punishment? Oh wait, he's already done that.