April 27, 2006
Oil and Hypocrisy on the Hill
Important stories such as the influx of illegal aliens and what's going on in Iraq have taken a back seat to the price of gas, which is around $3 a gallon at the pump (a little more, a little less, depending on where you live).
Okay, I'll bite.
What really gets me in the finger pointing that is Congress' favorite game to play, is that they ignore some of the larger issues behind the price of gas: the fact that we aren't allowing oil companies to drill closer to home, the fact that increases in demand in China and India contribute to the higher demand (therefore higher cost) of oil...and the fact that many of us like to drive big cars.
Case in point: the legislators themselves. In this piece over at WaPo, we get an idea as to why those oil prices are so important:
"Since George Bush and Dick Cheney took over as president and vice president, gas prices have doubled!" charged Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), standing at an Exxon station on Capitol Hill where regular unleaded hit $3.10. "They are too cozy with the oil industry."
She then hopped in a waiting Chrysler LHS (18 mpg) -- even though her Senate office was only a block away.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) used a Hyundai Elantra to take the one-block journey to and from the gas-station news conference. He posed in front of the fuel prices and gave them a thumbs-down. "Get tough on big oil!" he demanded of the Bush administration.
Republicans don't get off easily either:
At about the same time, House Republicans were meeting in the Capitol for their weekly caucus (Topic A: gas). The House driveway was jammed with cars, many idling, including eight Chevrolet Suburbans (14 mpg).
More:
Sen. John Sununu (R-N.H.) hopped in a GMC Yukon (14 mpg). Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) climbed aboard a Nissan Pathfinder (15). Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) stepped into an eight-cylinder Ford Explorer (14). Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) disappeared into a Lincoln Town Car (17). Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) met up with an idling Chrysler minivan (18).
Next came Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), greeted by a Ford Explorer XLT. On the Senate floor Tuesday, Menendez had complained that Bush "remains opposed to higher fuel-efficiency standards."
So our Congressional blowhards moan and groan about high oil prices, but continue to tool about our nation's capitol in gas guzzlers. Shouldn't these folks be setting an example to the American people? Aren't they supposed to be leaders?
Then again, we shouldn't be surprised, considering the perks our elected lawmakers are used to. Why should they have to conserve? Such a thing is obviously beneath them, the self-anointed patricians of American society.
Until they begin looking at the real causes behind rising oil prices, and until they decide to set a positive example for the people who look to them for answers, I have no interest in their blustering and lecturing.
This is the sort of nonsense that contributes to the poor approval rating of our Congress these days.
Technorati: gas prices oil prices congress
As they say, great minds...Here's Brainster's take on it.
Show Comments »
I think you would enjoy reading this post from The Oil Drum: The Politics of Oil: The Discourse Must Change.
leaders of both political parties are not only headed in the wrong direction with respect to gas prices, but we also worry that they fundamentally misunderstand the factors behind the current situation at gasoline stations around the US. Public statements by political figures over the past several days would seem to suggest that oil companies and their record profits are the sole factor determining the price of gasoline. Not only is this untrue, but it is dangerous to give the American people the impression that only oil companies are to blame. The American people need to understand that the phenomenon of high gas prices cannot be attributed to a single source. They also need to understand that no one political party will be able to fix our current woes.
You'd think that one of those congressmen would be smart enough to be seen in a Ford Escape Hybrd.
Posted by: john at April 27, 2006 08:44 PM
