Posted on 08/19/2005 7:31:12 AM PDT by Sybeck1
WASHINGTON - (KRT) - Americans are mad as heck about soaring gas prices, and Democrats hope they'll take it out on the Republicans who control the federal government in next year's midterm elections. "Bush does nothing to combat rising prices," the Democratic National Committee said this week in a new attack seeking to link President Bush, his party, gas prices and oil-company profits in the public mind. "Republicans are in the oil companies' pockets and Bush is in the oil companies' pockets." The White House responds that no one can turn around gas prices instantly, that Bush fought for years to enact an energy bill and that the new plan, signed into law earlier this month, will take years to produce results. "This is a problem that took decades to develop; it's not going to be solved overnight," Deputy White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said. Polls suggest that most Americans tend to blame oil companies and foreign oil producers more than Bush or other politicians. But if gas prices inflame inflation enough to drag down the economy, that could be the straw that breaks the Republican grip on Congress. Polls show voters are already deeply unhappy with their lawmakers. Approval ratings for Congress now rival the lows that preceded the 1994 voter revolt, which ended a 40-year Democratic House majority. The news from Iraq isn't brightening the public mood. Throw in resentment of high gasoline prices, topped perhaps by a resulting weak economy, and it could be a rough election year for incumbents of the governing party. That's exactly what Democrats want. (Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
I represented Mobil (pre-merger). They were trying like all hell to upgrade their existing refineries(Southern NJ) as well as build a new one. What kept them from doing it was the State environmental laws and strong opposition from the environmental lobby. Perhaps they were just going through the motions, but it sure didn't seem that way.
Most likely the threat of a new refinery was to make the upgrades seem like the lesser of two evils.
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