Of course, any political failure gives the other party a chance to pounce, and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., was ready as always. “The president seems to value his friendship with the Saudis more than his obligation to help the American people with gas prices,” he declared. Nice soundbite, but it would be difficult to find an attack more disconnected from reality.
What, after all, does Schumer think Bush should have done?
The president asked, politely, for more production and was turned down. Now, some might advocate invading Saudi Arabia, annexing the oil fields and taking all the crude we want. But that’s certainly not what Schumer’s calling for.
As an alternative, our country could increase domestic production by drilling in Alaska and off the coast. Yet it’s Schumer’s party that defeats drilling every time the idea comes up. So what’s their plan?
“We’ve been pushing for a long time for energy efficiency,” Schumer told reporters in April. “We believe in a price-gouging bill so that the big oil companies can’t collude. We believe that there’s too much speculation in the markets, and we believe that ought to be reined in.” Again, nice soundbites, but nothing there to “help the American people with gas prices.”
The same thing happens from the other side. Republican House leader John Boehner recently wrote in the Washington Times that, “Americans are paying nearly $1.50 more per gallon at the pump than when Mrs. Pelosi became speaker.”
But it’s not Democratic control of Congress that’s the problem; it’s that Congress refuses to, say, eliminate ethanol mandates, drill for oil off our coasts or make it easier for companies to build refineries. These steps might, indeed, lower prices.
Barack Obama seems to understand that people are fed up with empty attacks, which is why he champions “change.” But his record as a liberal legislator certainly hints he’d be as divisive from the left as President Bush has supposedly been from the right these last seven years. The non-partisan National Journal ranked Obama “the most liberal senator in 2007” based on his congressional votes.
We’ve had enough attacks. It’s time for plans. Let’s hope this year some politicians surprise us by designing approaches to fix Social Security, education and energy. If they think they were “born to run” -- for office, anyway -- they ought to at least try.