HEADLINES
Remarks by Chairman Terry McAuliffe on Gas Prices
We're here today to talk about one more example of the Middle Class Squeeze that the Bush Administration is putting on America's families. Wages are down. College tuition has jumped by record amounts. We've had the largest increase in health care premiums in a generation. And gasoline prices are going through the roof.
With gas prices breaking record high after record high, the American people are starting to wonder why this is happening. Today, we're gathered here to say: the facts are in. The Bush Administration is in the pocket of big oil. And it's hurting Americans in their pocketbook.
When George Bush took office, gas prices averaged $1.51 and now nationally they're at $2.03. And in some places they're as high as $3. It's time to can Bush!
George Bush's failed energy policies have already cost $500 a year for the average American household. But that doesn't begin to count all the costs to America's families. It means higher costs for family summer travel plans. And higher gas prices mean higher fuel costs for trucks and airplanes and that means higher prices for groceries, for clothes, and for the everyday items on the family shopping list.
You'd think that given this threat to America's prosperity, our President would be doing everything he could think of in his power to save America's families from getting hit with higher prices at the pump and at the checkout counter. But George Bush hasn't lifted a finger.
In 2000, then-Governor Bush said he would "jawbone" his buddies in the oil business to get them to lower prices instead of profiting off of Americans' pain at the pump.
Four years later, they haven't heard a peep from the President. George Bush admitted he hasn't bothered to pick up the phone to call the Saudi's to stop squeezing the American economy.
However his press secretary said that other members of his Administration had been in contact with foreign officials on the issue of gas prices. He refused to identify who those foreign officials were.
Well last month a Saudi official said they weren't being contacted by the Bush Administration. So you have to wonder who exactly the Bush Administration is trying to get to stop running up American gas prices? Who are these unnamed foreign leaders the Bush Administration is jawboning? It doesn't seem like they're having much luck.
Its probably because this President, this Vice President, and their Administration aren't trying that hard. George Bush, Dick Cheney, Don Evans, Gale Norton and many other Administration officials have longstanding ties to the oil industry. They're so deep in the pocket of big oil we'll need to drill down to find them.
And with the amount of money the Bush-Cheney campaign has received from oil and gas interests its no wonder they're more interested in lining the pockets of their corporate friends than in looking out for Americans' pocketbooks.
While big oil companies are awash in profits - and Americans are paying more than ever - the Bush Administration has slashed funding for the clean, renewable energy sources that create jobs at home and keep us out of danger in the Middle East.
Clean, renewable energy makes sense for Americans struggling to pay at the gas pump. It makes sense for jobs. It makes sense for our environment. It makes sense for our national security. The only thing it doesn't make sense for is oil industry profits. And that's why George Bush and renewable energy mix like big oil and water.
We learned from Bob Woodward, that apparently George W. Bush struck a secret deal with Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia, to lower gas prices shortly before the 2004 election. George W. Bush needs to stop thinking about his own selfish political interests, and think about the real pressures facing American families today. If he can persuade Saudi Arabia to lower gas prices in the fall, he can persuade them to lower them TODAY.
This is a major issue in the election and Democrats are going to be talking about through Memorial Day - and beyond. Later today, governors will be holding a conference call to talk about how rising gas prices are affecting their states. Later this week, state AG's will be doing the same. And later this week, the DNC will launch a website to educate visitors on the details of President Bush's broken promises, his failure to act on high gas prices, and his close ties to the oil industry. I pledge we're not going to let go of this issue because the problem won't go away until George Bush goes away.
After tens of millions of dollars in donations, after years of you-scratch-my-back-I'll-scratch yours-favors, this Administration isn't just bought and paid for by the oil industry, it's owned - lock, stock, and oil barrel.
If we went beyond bowl games and stadiums, in the Bush White House you'd have the Exxon Cabinet Room, the Mobil West Wing, and the Halliburton Oval Office.
It's time we gave America back to the people that should really be running this country: the everyday folks who are trying to drive to work and get back home to their families. They're stuck in traffic and sick of seeing gas prices go through the roof. They've had enough of a Bush Administration that is in the pocket of big oil instead of looking out for American pocketbooks. They want relief from gas prices that are much higher than they need to be. And they're going to get it when we elect John Kerry this November.