Congressional GOP leaders hammer Obama on gas

The Republican leaders in the Senate and House on Wednesday seized on remarks by presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), who said this week that he would have preferred a “gradual adjustment” in oil prices.

“Yesterday we heard the Democrat nominee for president suggest that rising gas prices aren’t the problem,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) said in a floor speech.

{mosads}“The position outlined by the Democratic nominee shouldn’t be a surprise to most Americans, given that Washington Democrats have repeatedly refused to allow increased energy production here at home — even though, as we all know, increased supply leads to lower prices,” he added.

Obama, in an interview with CNBC, had criticized the current administration’s energy policy.

“The president frankly hasn’t had an energy policy, and as a consequence, we’ve been consuming energy as if it’s infinite,” Obama said earlier this week. “We now know that our demand is badly outstripping supply, with China and India growing as rapidly as they are.”

Then, when asked if oil prices could help the U.S., Obama answered: “I think that I would have preferred a gradual adjustment. The fact that this is such a shock to American pocketbooks is not a good thing.”

Republicans, who hope that voters will blame Democrats for the record gas prices, hit back hard.

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) also used Obama’s comments to blast the presumptive Democratic nominee and his party.

“If Obama really thinks consumers ought to shoulder higher energy costs while we make the transition to alternative fuels, he should answer a simple question: how high should gas prices go? $5? $6? $10 a gallon?” Boehner said Wednesday.

“Obama admits that demand for energy ‘is badly outstripping supply’ but he has yet to come out in support of measures to increase American energy production,” Boehner added.

Republicans advocate opening up new domestic areas for oil exploration, a plan Democrats reject as ineffective.

“There’s a groundswell of grassroots support for new American energy production and it’s time Obama and Democrats in Congress paid attention,” Boehner stated.