All Bark, No Bite

Oilman Bush barks about high gas prices but remains Big Oil's lap dog to the last. I trust that the American people will see through this political stunt straight to the unchanged (or increased) prices at the pump.

Bush Calls For Probe Of Rising Gas Prices

With gas prices expected to hover at record highs through summer, President Bush yesterday called for price-fixing investigations and several measures aimed at holding down the fast-rising costs of driving.

Amid growing Republican unrest about the politics of $3-plus gasoline, Bush told the Renewable Fuels Association he will take the unusual step of suspending shipments to the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve to boost supply and help hold down oil prices. The president also said he will temporarily ease environmental regulations that require the use of cleaner-burning fuel additives to cut down on summertime pollution.

Still, according to industry experts and administration officials, Bush's efforts at best are likely to shave a few cents per gallon off the cost of gasoline.

[snip]

Despite yesterday's tough rhetoric, neither the White House nor Congress is rushing to hit the oil industry in the pocketbook.

Republicans negotiating a major tax bill have agreed to strike Senate-passed
measures that would raise taxes on the major oil companies by nearly $5
billion over five years. And Bush's statement that Congress should roll
back tax breaks for the industry is less dramatic than it sounds. His
proposal merely stretches out a tax write-off from oil exploration from
two years to five years, a plan that industry officials do not oppose.

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