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Al Barger and MoreThings - getting people's goats since 1998.
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March 27, 2004
Gas prices and the presidential election
Mr. Richard Fetter from Fort Lee, NJ writes in again with a bitter fantasy:
Hey! I'm really enjoying that "peace dividend" that you told me a year ago we'd be getting after the War: That cheap gas!
If gas is even close to being this high, come election time, I guarantee that the peasants will revolt, and vote against Bush, Cheney, and their "rich fat oil company" friends.
Or: Maybe it was that we were going to get that "peace dividend", only after we find Saddam's stash of WMD's. Was that it?
My reply:
Yes, I was just wrong in my guess that gas prices would be coming down, but so what? That's not why we went to Iraq. That's not how it was sold, that's not why I supported it, nor was that an argument made by any supporter of the war. I don't recall ever using the term "peace dividend" in this context, so I don't know why you're putting that in quotes.
In fact, we really went in DESPITE oil issues. The common and more legitimate looking rap has been exactly the opposite- that we had for years avoided getting tough in the Middle East (particularly with the Saudis) because of our dependence on their oil. This would be part of the premise, for example, for Bill Maher's book When You Ride Alone You Ride With Bin Laden. It does NOT help Bin Laden nearly so much if we're willing to take the hit in oil prices.
We risked de-stabilizing oil prices and supplies to go into Iraq. If it was REALLY about oil, Dubya could have negotiated all kinds of cheap preferential deals with Hussein- as did, for example, the French. Since we're the ones with an army, we could have done a lot better than they did.
There are a number of things apparently contributing to the high gas prices. One is that production has been held down in Iraq specifically by sabotage. That seems to be coming somewhat under control, but we'll see.
Also, and probably far more significant, there seems to be a big economic recovery worldwide pushing up DEMAND for oil. That is a very good thing overall.
Again, the whole tone of your note suggests bitter, irrational personal hatred of Dubya rather than any rational analysis of the situation.
I see no sign that the American public wants to turn Bush out because gas prices are too high at the pump. They're not that stupid. If part of the cost of stopping terrorists from KILLING US is that we pay a little more for gas at the pump, then so be it. There are lots of good reasons to crappy about Bush, but gas prices aren't among them.
Further, Kerry would certainly be FAR worse on this count. Mostly, the president doesn't have much control over oil prices. As you well know, there is a thing called the market- supply and demand- that plays the biggest role. The one big part of gas prices the president and congress DO have direct control of is taxes, and Kerry has been on record wanting HUGE increases in federal gas taxes.
Do you intend to argue that the voters will be mad about gas prices, and then respond by voting for the candidate who wants to directly slap on an extra 50 cents or more in taxes? I don't see it.
And if the American public turns out the guy who is actually doing something to protect them and hands the reins over to a pinko hack who's all over the map because they're paying a little extra for gas, then they deserve whatever they get.
posted by Al at 3/27/2004 01:36:00 AM
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