Saturday, April 23, 2005
WASHINGTON — Running for president five years ago, George W. Bush (search) pledged to jawbone energy-exporting nations to keep oil prices low and to win passage of legislation to spur more domestic energy production. <snip>
At a meeting Monday at his Texas ranch, Bush is promising to press Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Abdullah (search), to do more to help ease global oil prices.
Still, the president acknowledges that there is little that he or Congress can do to quickly lower gasoline prices, which have climbed past $2.20 a gallon nationwide.
<snip>
Bush criticized President Clinton for tapping into the reserve in 2000, suggesting it was a political gesture to help Vice President Al Gore, then Bush's Democratic rival for the White House.
Bush also criticized the Clinton administration for not lobbying the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, saying Clinton "must jawbone OPEC (search) members to lower prices." Yet as president, Bush mostly has emphasized that market forces should set world oil prices.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,154423,00.htmlThe above is from Faux Snooze, so your right wing victims won't be able to complain that the source isn't 'Mein Kempf' enough for them. The whole article is worth checking out, as it contains more criticism of Dubya's failed energy policies.
I think you must already be aware of the now-infamous 'jawbone' quote, but this one lays it out quite well.
I've never heard of anyone collecting rotary phones, that's interesting. I worked for a phone company for 33 years, and have seen huge bins on them being sent off to the recycling factory.