WP: Cost of Gas Puts Pressure On GOP

[Pirate Smile]

Cost of Gas Puts Pressure On GOP

By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum and Steven Mufson
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, April 25, 2006; Page A01

President Bush and congressional Republicans are under mounting public pressure to reduce gasoline prices, but they have few if any policy choices that would cut them over the next few months as family driving reaches its annual peak and as the midterm elections near.

Energy experts agree that almost everything that the president and Congress can do to increase gasoline supplies or trim demand would take years to implement. The few short-term options they have would do little to prevent the price of gasoline from reaching a national average of about $3.25 a gallon this summer.

"This is a long-lead-time business; the investment horizon is five, 10 or 20 years," said Daniel Yergin, chairman of the consulting firm Cambridge Energy Research Associates. "There's no switch to pull."

This year, Republicans, who are traditionally more sympathetic to the pleas of Big Oil, are lambasting the oil companies, with some calling for the consideration of a windfall-profits tax on the firms. Aides expect President Bush to say in a speech today that last year he pushed through an energy bill that was designed to increase domestic oil and gasoline production, and that this year he recommended a slew of incentives for alternative-energy production.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/24/AR2006042401243.html

[villager]

1. hoisted on their own motherf*ckin' petards!

high time!

[YDogg]

2. Two words. Jaw. Bone.

[truthisfreedom]

3. d'ya suppose they're mad at bush over the "addicted to oil" comment?

d'ya think they're a little upset that he pulled out the alternative energy theme in a key speech?

d'ya think they probably feel that Democratic control of Congress is not going to change anything for them?