Bush hammers Democrats on energy

President Bush said Saturday that, if Democrats refuse to hold a vote on offshore drilling when they return from the August recess, they will “owe families across America an explanation for why they’re ignoring their concerns.”

The president, in his weekly radio address, continued a theme Republicans have embraced all year in the hopes of tilting the electoral map to their favor in a year when many other factors seem to be benefitting the Democrats. The GOP is blaming Democrats for record-high gas prices and the party’s congressional leadership for its refusal to allow votes on the ban on offshore drilling, oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and increasing U.S. refinery capacity.

{mosads}“It appears that the Democratically-controlled Congress will let the entire summer pass without voting on any of these vital steps to help reduce pressure on gas prices,” Bush said. “This failure to act is unacceptable to me and unacceptable to the American people.”

In June, Bush called on Congress to lift its ban on drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), something he had to do as well. When Congress did not act, the president removed his ban, putting pressure on Democratic leaders to do the same.

In their weekly address, Democrats touted the passage of consumer safety legislation and a bill that would stop tobacco companies from targeting children.

“Government at its best can work. It was a very good week for the American public,” said House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (Calif.). “And best of all, it was a very good week for our kids.”

He touted a measure strengthening the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) while criticizing the Bush administration for not having done enough to protect public health.

“Over the last eight years, the key federal agencies responsible for protecting the public health have been muzzled,” Waxman said. “The CPSC became almost defunct. The Safety Commission failed to protect children against dangerous levels of lead in toys, and it did nothing to stop the use of dangerous chemicals in plastic toys.”

The lawmaker said the House-passed legislation would allow science to dictate the actions of the commission, “not politics or corporate interests.”