In March of 2000, gas prices had spiked to an unheard-of $1.27. Here’s what Governor Bush had to say about it:
“What I think the president ought to do [when gas prices spike] is he ought to get on the phone with the OPEC cartel and say we expect you to open your spigots…And the president of the United States must jawbone OPEC members to lower the price.” [January 26, New Hampshire GOP Debate]
Rep. Terry Everett: “The Clinton Administration has failed in its duty to develop a policy to deal with our national energy supply and is therefore directly accountable for the higher prices Americans are now paying at the gas pumps.”
Rep. Wally Herger: “Congressman Wally Herger recently denounced the Clinton-Gore Administration’s complacency during the current gas price crisis. ‘Northern Californians are being held hostage at the gas pump,’ Herger said. ‘The Clinton-Gore Administration has demonstrated a complete and total lack of leadership in preventing this problem. It is a clear failure of domestic and foreign policy.’”
Larry Kudlow: “The Clinton-Gore administration’s hapless and incoherent management of foreign policy is nowhere as evident as in their bungling on OPEC’s oil-price hike. … While crude oil prices could drop to $25 per barrel, they will stay well above the average $20 real price of oil registered over the past ten years. And way above the $10 worldwide average marginal cost of producing new oil. Meanwhile gas prices at the pump are likely to be upwards of $2 per gallon well into the summer.”
Clinton’s energy plan was “threatening the economy,” “crazy.” Media outlets picked up on the Republican talking points, repeatedly blasting the administration as the direct cause of oil prices.
So, naturally, if Bush (who makes low gas prices one of his campaign promises and has unprecedented ties to the oil industry) presides over prices more than double the 2000 level, Americans and the media will be all over him, right?
Right?
Well, I guess we’re still working on weaning ourselves off foreign oil.
In four (FOUR) State Of The Union addresses in a row now, Bush has claimed a move towards “less dependence on foreign energy.” So why has our dependence on it jumped 12% during this period?
Today: Exxon Mobil recorded the highest quarterly profit ever for a publicly traded U.S. company, raking in $10.71 billion in the fourth quarter of 2005.
Summary: Americans get high prices, oil execs get huge bonuses, and the President still gets to go up there, claim that we’re working towards independence, and receive thunderous applause. Fantastic.
—–
Wikipedia as a political tool.
This IP has been previously blocked. It’s currently unblocked as feedback from users by this IP is expected at the request for comment page. It belongs to Information Systems, U.S. House of Representatives and is responsible for a large amount of vandalism. Please see the talk page, the news reports, and, the admin noticeboard for a more detailed explanation.
- Richard Pombo (Removing referenced to possible ties to Jack Abramoff and many other npov yet politically damaging items)
- Trent Lott (editing references to his rumored actions…)
- Phil Gramm (removing quotes I wouldn’t want anyone to see if I had to run for re-election)
- Rick Renzi (removing a section titled “Ethical Questions”)
- Jim Ramstad (removing reference to his “moderate\ liberal” tendencies)
- Trent Franks (replacing article with official House bio)
- Darrell Issa (removing references to pro-palestinian actions)
- Talk:Jim Nussle (removing talk section titles ‘Republican conspiracy’)
- Jim Nussle (removing references to his divorce)
- Darrell Issa (removing quotes supporting Hezbollah)
- Rick Renzi (replacing article with official House bio)
- Rodney Frelinghuysen (removing information about financial contributions)
- Sam Johnson (removing unflattering quotes)
- Mark Green (removing references to “unethical campaign finance practices, “references to his ties with Tom DeLay, and other unflattering details)
- David Dreier (removing unflattering information about his 2004 campaign)
- Jerry Weller (adding self promoting crap and removing questions of a conflict of interest)
- Bob Taft (removing ties to Abramoff)
- Ward Connerly (adding libelous comment)
- Ralph Neas (attempting to categorize him as “socialist”)
- MoveOn (changing liberal to “left-wing”)
- 2003 Invasion of Iraq (Suggesting a link between Iraq and al Qaeda),
- Eric Burns (political strategist) (blanking article)
- Randy Kuhl (removing scandal-related information)
- Jim Sensenbrenner (removing information in “Controversy” section)
- Nancy Pelosi (entering libelous statements)
A little more here.
—–
And now, an obligatory rhetorical question that no one answers, discusses, or learns from, but that make me feel smarter:
WILL OPEN-SOURCE MEDIUMS BE CONTROLLED BY PARTIES WITH VESTED INTERESTS?
HMMMM.
Jenn: hey, g and i may go to the VCU french film festival.
Jenn: would you and Mele be interested at all?
Jenn: it’s in april i htink
Doug: that sounds fun
Doug: i know we’re out of town for a bit in april
Jenn: ok
Jenn: the directors and actors are there, too. i mean, they’re all indie, so no big stars, but it sounds fun. g’s been before.
Doug: hmmMMM.
Jenn: and we could go do other funstuff down there too. i dunno.
Doug: oh, it’s the end of march
Doug: that’d be great
Doug: we could do it
Doug: as far as i know.
Jenn: yay. there are lots of cheap hotels down there. everything is cheaper. it’s unnerving.
Jenn: giahn is wondering if we can all stay at the alexandrian embassy down there
(pause)
Doug: i just googled that, you jerks
Jenn: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Doug: IT’S NOT REAL
Doug: HATE YOU
Jenn: you are foolish. we are laughing.
Doug: me: “Gee, that sounds nice, but like it might be a little expensive”
Jenn: hahahahahahahaha
Take out trash.
Cut hair.
Shave.
Clean litterbox.
Vacuum.
Clean sink.
Get airline tickets.
Call parents.
Send checks.
Send invoices.
Do AFAC illustration.
Do Flash presentation.
Make a new portfolio site.
Fix all the doorknobs.
Do laundry.
Do sheets.
Clean room.
Finish two books.
Finish two movies.
This is not a TO DO list: It is a pile of the insurmountable. I got home, I worked until 1 am (just like last night!), I’ll be doing it for the next two days, so my relative slowness on these tasks is understandable….but….it sure is stressful to have all that stuff sitting there. Rrrrrrrrrgh.
On the plus side: Monday is Dia De Los Dollars, when paychecks and (finally) cashed freelance checks provide me with a mystical, all-at-once sum roughly more valuable than my car, a nice “told you so!” to my nights of holding off on the stabbing of clients and co-workers. Plus, my car insurance went down (drastically. Maybe they found out how boring I am). Plus, I spent (almost) within personal budget this month. Plus, old clients want to give me more valuable and lenient work, while new clients are turning into much, much better associates than I thought. Wooooo.
Sorry to talk so happily/grossly about money. It is the only nice thing you can discuss when you’re working 15 hours a day, aside from girlystuff, and believe you me, that’s even grosser.
Other news:
The movie I’ve spent so much time workin’ (standin’) in has been temporarily cancelled, but it sounds like the director needed a break. Last time I saw him, he hadn’t slept in a day or so, and seemed stressed out of his mind. After he gets wellish, we’re all discussing how to move it forward. At this point, sadly, I gots an INVESTMENT: I would like to see my glorious, 20-second death scene (picture me flailing around with a four-foot geyser of blood spraying from my sternum) on film and in public, at some point, if for no other reason than to figure out what face I must make should such a death actually befall me. “Hmm. It looks like the mouth should be turned down more.”
I’ve turned into a sportsfan for politics. I check and recheck blogs and newspapers, looking for more evidence and marks against Our Rivals, and get all happy when Something Really Big hits. Which only turns depressing when said big thing emerges into the mainsteam as A Minor CNN Headline Under “When It Comes To Bats, Size Matters.”
Undeterred! At this point, I’m basically blasting Google and Technorati servers with the word “impeachment” and its related activities. It’s distracted me from my failures at Fastr and Klueless, at least.
Recent Comments