Presidential Politics, Gas Prices Overtake Congress

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Presidential Politics, Gas Prices Overtake Congress

June 17, 2008 4:45 PM

ABC's Z. Byron Wolf reports from Capitol Hill: We may have reached the point where everything that happens in Congress will be predicated by what's happening in the presidential campaign.

Speaking to reporters today, both Republican and Democratic leaders invoked the candidates to attack the other side on gas prices.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain's plan for offshore drilling "basically is nothing" and assailed McCain's independent mantle by accusing him of changing his opinion to suit the political mood.

"Right now, we have 58 million acres that have been leased offshore, and there's nothing being done on those 58 million acres," Reid told reporters after a closed door weekly planning session for Democratic Senators.

"And it's astounding that John McCain, whenever there's an issue that comes up that bites a little bit, because he knows he's wrong on it, he tries to change the subject. When we're here trying to extend the tax credits on alternative energy, when we're trying to do something about gas prices or we're trying to do something with global warming, he came up with the idea that he previously disagreed with, and that is offshore drilling," Reid said.

"In one of his other political lives, he said he was opposed to more offshore drilling. Today, he came out and said he's in favor of it," Reid said.

David Axelrod, Obama's chief strategist, was seen going into the weekly briefing and afterwards, Reid said he invited the campaign strategist inside the halls of Congress because, "we now have approximately four-and-a-half months to go before...we'll have a new president. We believe that president will be Barack Obama, for the reasons I have laid out previously, that McCain, of course, has the wrong temperament to be president, he's wrong on the war, he's wrong on the economy."

Reid said "Axelrod is Senator Obama's chief consultant, and I thought it was very important that he come so people know who he is."

Seemingly a reference to McCain's temper, it has become Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's talking point on John McCain: he doesn't have the "temperament to be President."

On the other side, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has stopped using the word Obama altogether. He's taken to assailing "the Democratic nominee."

After the concurrent GOP strategy meeting today, McConnell said, "I think we all certainly know that gas prices are the number one issue in the country. The Democratic nominee for president says that he's not so troubled by $4 a gallon gas, but concerned about how quickly we got there. I think most Americans believe that $4 gas is too much, whether we got there quickly or slowly. The gas price are too high. Senate Republicans intend to continue to continue to discuss this and to advocate policies that we think would have -- make an extraordinary difference, in not only, some of it, in the short term, but certainly in the near future."

"That is the question that divides us and the Democrat majority, along with Senator Obama," he said, arguing that voters will vote in line with who has the best plan to lower gas prices in the short term.

"That is the question really that Senator Obama and the majority need to answer and one of the big divisions that separates us," he said.

Meanwhile the two sides continue to spar over legislative measures.

Democrats killed a Republican plan last month to drill for more oil. Republicans killed a Democratic plan last week to encourage more alternative energy and hit oil companies with a windfall profits tax. And for the second time in two weeks Republicans in the Senate today killed a slate of popular energy-related tax credits for companies that pursue alternative energy. They cannot agree with Democrats over how (or whether) to offset the tax credits by raising taxes elsewhere and were angry that unrelated measures had been slipped into the bill.

June 17, 2008 in Bush, George W., Kucinich, Dennis, Tancredo, Tom, Thompson, Fred, Veepstakes | Permalink | User Comments (9)

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Sen. John Cornyn, R-Tex, painted his criticism of Democrats asking "Why does Senator Obama refuse to allow us to develop our own domestic energy resources in a way that would reduce this dangerous dependency?" Cornyn asked. - Hell if the republicans of the 70's had NOT sold us out to OPEC, we would have been self suffient now.......
wankers

Posted by: jc | Jun 17, 2008 5:05:12 PM

Why should Americans believe that Obama can solve our economic crisis since he has no experience or proven record on economy?

Democrat is not equal to economy expert and no Democratic govenment has been good at economy except Clinton admistration..

Posted by: True Truth | Jun 17, 2008 5:40:32 PM

The reason gas prices are up is because enviromental groups won't allow us to drill on our own soil (like the north slope of Alaska which has enough proven oil reserves that SURPASS the whole middle east!!!) So we have to pay to secure oil from dangerous countries that decide how much we will be allowed to take from them at an unfair advantage. If we built refineries HERE we wouldn't need to be in the middle east, propping up corrupt regimes that oppress their own people, and foster up resentment that those same countries direct their people to direct against us. While at the same time bankroll with their oil profits groups like al-Quaeda, Muslim Brotherhood, and Hamas, that threaten the peace of the middle east and the United States. But because you won't pressure your congressmen to take appropriate action, you are reaping the whirlwind of what you have enabled. The blame lies with no one but yourself until you come to see the unwitting role YOU play in your own demise. Take action, get involved, get informed, and for God's sake tell those in power what you want, otherwise NOTHING will change. And that's a promise.

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Posted by: papillion | Jun 17, 2008 10:08:49 PM

I can see we are all falling into the master plan of Marxist Division. If everyone would understand this and realize we have nothing in common with the congress, we would find more in common with each other. It is us against them. The govt always does this. What on earth do very wealthy people in power concern their selves with? Not your economy! Maybe over population, maybe money from big corps, maybe more power. Definitely not eternal torment in Hell. Unite now and fire all these greedy gluttons in Nov. No incumbents 2008!!!!!!!!

Posted by: John | Jun 17, 2008 11:04:57 PM

Hell if the republicans of the 70's had NOT sold us out to OPEC, we would have been self suffient now.......
wankers
JC...
Why can't the dems vote for self sufficiency now? Oh, thats right its the lefts turn to screw us. Come on now. Wake up and try to look at this logically. One question, one right answer. Drill here, drill now, save our economy from the do nothing, promise everything congress. They are all wankers. Deceitful and deadly, though.

Posted by: John | Jun 17, 2008 11:16:08 PM

Windfall profits taxes will only raise the price of oil. That's what happened before and it would happen again.

It's economics.

And what will Congress do with the money?

Waste it, like usual, on bridges to nowhere and paving West Virginia.

Posted by: drjohn | Jun 18, 2008 9:48:50 AM

A little less talk and a lot more action. Harry Reid is an incompetant obstructionist just like his friend Tom Daschle and we all know what happened to Tom. Where's your plan, Harry? Tax the oil companies? Get Real!! Take an economics class and learn something.

Posted by: evsimon | Jun 23, 2008 7:04:52 PM

To True Truth,

1. There is NOT more oil in the northern slopes than in all the middle east.
2. opening up ALL the land in Alaska STILL won't bring down prices at the pump.

Here are facts that lead to environmentalists opposing drilling in the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge.

http://www.arcticwildlife.org/oil10myths.htm

http://www.sierraclub.org/arctic/justthefacts/prices.asp

Posted by: Mike | Jul 22, 2008 3:10:05 PM

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