When oil was $28/barrel in 2000, Bush attacked the Clinton Administration

[Karmadillo]

for letting OPEC oil barons run amok. In four years, the Bush Administration has watched oil approach $70/barrel. If the Clinton Administration was responsible for the rise to $28/barrel, is it logical to assume the Bush Administration is responsible for the $40/barrel rise during its tenure? Should the Democrats be making more of an effort to make this an issue? After all, the Republicans control all branches of government.

http://www.evote.com/index.asp?Page=/news_section/2001-03/03202001OPEC.asp

<edit>

It's a far cry from the campaign rhetoric of a year ago when Bush, the candidate, lambasted the Clinton administration for letting OPEC oil barons run amok.

In January 2000, with oil prices at nearly $28 a barrel, Bush called on President Clinton to ``jawbone OPEC'' to get prices to retreat.

``What I think the president ought to do,'' he said while campaigning in New Hampshire where heating oil prices were soaring, ``is he ought to get on the phone with the OPEC cartel and say, `We expect you to open your spigots!'''

Two months later Bush was in Florida and suggested as president he would use his ``political capital'' with Mideast producers. ``These are countries where it wasn't all that long ago that a President Bush helped Kuwait,'' he reminded voters, alluding to his father and the Gulf War.

``I think Americans ought to be asking where's all the capital we earned overseas after defending some of our OPEC nation friends?'' Bush said in October during a campaign speech in Knoxville, Tenn.

more...

[wakeme2008]

1. i would love to have copies of a couple of those speaches to

play for the American ppl now.

[electron_blue]

2. wow, that is impressive

The really sorry thing is that from what I can tell, Bush & company are happy about the high price of oil. One might even get the impression that this was their goal.

[Tim4319]

3. It's all Clinton's fault!

He's the reason for the $40 jump!

[SammyWinstonJack]

4. Hypocrite!

But than we know that about bush**. Say one thing and mean another. So when is bush** gonna get on the phone to the OPEC cartel and say, "We expect you to open your spigots", right after he kisses and hold hands? bush** is so full of shit!

[msongs]

5. another opportunity being wasted by the dems....

comparing old bush quotes with the real world of today and how good it was under the dems and clinton/gore.

Msongs
www.msongs.com/political-shirts.htm

[The_Casual_Observer]

6. I guarantee that not a single republican is going to say anything

about the price of gasoline. They will continue to act like the problem doesn't exist. National security/terrorism/Iran is all we will hear from now on.

[Karmadillo]

8. I fear very few Democrats will say anything, either. This is an awfully

good opportunity to criticize the Bush Administration for failing to promote conservation and alternative energy sources. The Democrats aren't going to return to power until they show they are a genuine Opposition Party. I can't figure out why they pass up such easy targets.

[The_Casual_Observer]

9. I heard some Dem congressional committee wank today on KCRW

It was clear that they are frightened to death of karl rove. Every word is parsed to avoid the possibility of being controversial or saying anything that could be taken out of context to be made to sound like treason.

[Karmadillo]

15. It's bizarre. Imagine the Republicans letting a $40 increase in the

price of oil go unremarked.

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. But, but, but all changed on 9.11

:sarcasm:

[pstans]

13. I hear that one from my Republican mother-in-law all the time

That's because of 9/11, 9/11 changed that, that wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for 9/11.

[Old and In the Way]

10. $28BBL oil was the problem.

Exxon Mobil is making record profits. The House of Saud has never had it so good. The only losers are the Iraqi people, the American soldiers, and the American consumer.

I'd say that those that installed Bush as pResident are quite happy with his follow through.

[firefox]

11. Official policy: Higher prices will save fuel n/t

[Karmadillo]

16. It would be nice for the Dems to force Bush to make that argument.

n/t

[yasmina27]

12. Can we say...

...FLIP - FLOP!!!!

*%hole!

[matt819]

14. I honestly can't believe the statistics out of Washington

With oil prices as high as they are, they have to be crippling small business. Our business depends on travel - we put on some 65,000 miles a year - and the gas prices are devastating. I try to pass some of this on to the customers, but sometimes you just have to eat it. How can the US economy be showing the kind of growth they are claiming when fuel costs alone have to be crippling? When does it end?

[Greeby]

17. That is the way Bushco works

Accuse your opponent of doing it, then do it yourself