Politics at the pump

Gasoline at nearly $4 a gallon dominated politics at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue on Tuesday.

President Bush pointedly declined in a Rose Garden press conference to support the gas-tax holiday proposed by his would-be Republican successor, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), while on Capitol Hill Democratic leaders discussed plans for a wide-ranging measure to bring relief at the pump.

{mosads}With the driving season looming and oil knocking against $120 a barrel, the issue of energy prices finally burst to the top of the Washington agenda.

Bush also said outright he opposed McCain’s suggestion that prices be alleviated by halting purchases to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). And, asked twice about the proposed three-month tax break on gasoline and diesel, the president responded only that he would “take a look.”

“I’m going to take a look at everything they propose,” Bush said of Congress, adding later, “I’m open to any ideas, and we’ll analyze everything that comes our way.”

Bush maintained his opposition to halting supplies to the SPR despite recent calls from several Republicans to do so because the move would not add to supplies sufficiently to make it worth draining a potentially crucial stockpile.

Prices would not dip because of a measure affecting “one-tenth of 1 percent,” Bush said, adding, “I do believe it is in our national interests to get the SPR filled in case there’s a major disruption of crude oil around the world.”

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) supports a gas-tax holiday while Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) does not.

They are not the only senators concerned with rising gasoline prices. Their Democratic colleagues discussed the issue at a Tuesday morning press conference and at an afternoon lunch.

Senate Democrats are preparing to unveil a broad array of measures to stem rising gas prices as early as Wednesday. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) asked committee chairmen last week to come up with a list of proposals.

The package might include items such as energy efficiency measures, measures to attack alleged price gouging by oil companies, a proposal to rein in speculation in markets and halting oil shipments to the SPR.

Democrats say they will attach those items to the supplemental Iraq war spending bill. Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), an appropriator, said this would be “easier and quicker.” He plans to offer an amendment to halt shipments to the SPR when the bill comes to a committee markup next month.

Democrats say they aren’t willing to bend to Bush’s insistence that the supplemental stay at $108 billion.

“It shows you how out of touch the president is,” Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said after Bush’s press conference. “The American people realize that everything — our resources, our focus, our energy — is going to Iraq. And nothing much is happening to help them at home.

“Anyone who believes that stability in Iraq is the No. 1 goal that this nation has over the next five to 10 years, which the president does and John McCain does, but very few others do, is just out of touch.”

Bush said during his press conference that he would not accept any extra spending beyond his Iraq war funding request.

“$108 billion is $108 billion,” the president said. “I made my position very clear to Congress and I will not accept a supplemental over $108 billion or a supplemental that micro-manages the war [or] ties the hands of our commanders.”

Both sides of the aisle are pushing measures that have failed in previous Congresses. Republicans want to open more areas to oil drilling, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which McCain opposes but Bush supports.

Democrats want to add more energy efficiency measures and repeal tax subsidies for oil and gas companies.

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said that even though most of these proposals are not new, voter pressure over high gas prices and a looming recession could yield a deal between the two parties.
“Hope springs eternal,” Durbin said. “In this economy, facing recession with voter anger with gasoline prices, there may be a motivation.”

But he acknowledged the political realities affecting Congress’s ability to achieve “anything substantive this close to the election.”

“It’s very hard, you know — there’s a lot of posturing and positioning to impact the vote in November,” Durbin said. “It’s really hard to come up with something that is truly bipartisan.”

With gas prices a frequent topic on the campaign trail, Obama criticized McCain and Clinton for proposing the three-month tax break on gasoline and diesel, calling the idea a “Washington con game.”

Speaking in Winston-Salem, N.C. — North Carolina is the next big primary — Obama said a tax holiday would save taxpayers only “half a tank of gas over the course of the entire summer,” or about $28. He noted that the cost would come out of the highway fund and would thus be paid for by lost construction jobs.

“Well, let me tell you — this isn’t an idea designed to get you through the summer, it’s designed to get them through an election,” Obama said. “The easiest thing in the world for a politician to do is to tell you exactly what you want to hear. But if we want to finally solve the challenges we’re facing right now, we need to tell the American people what they need to hear. We need to tell the truth.”

McCain responded by hitting both of his Democratic rivals, repeating his assertion that his gas tax holiday proposal would in no way cause job losses because it “fully compensates” the Highway Trust Fund.

“Barack Obama doesn’t understand the effect of high gas prices on the American economy,” McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said in a statement. “Sen. Obama voted for a gas tax reduction before he opposed it, he has no plan for relief from record-high gas prices for Americans this summer and he’s the empty-tank candidate in this race.”