The Public Figure Of the Moment: OilAugust 5, 2008 7:03 a.m.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1217925282...=googlenews_wsjAmerica these days is a great petro-focused nation, from the midsummer political theater targeting an audience strained by high gas prices to oil's prolonged star turn in the spotlight of economic debates.
Oil prices traded lower in the U.S. yesterday and in Asia this morning, following the recent trend in petroleum prices. Yesterday's movement in particular was attributed to the latest economic worries in the U.S. The Commerce Department reported an increase in consumer spending in June, thanks to the economic stimulus of spring tax rebates. But an inflation index for consumer spending -- one closely watched by the Federal Reserve -- showed prices were rising at an unhealthy pace, and the government noted that Americans' disposable income when adjusted for inflation was down 2.6% for the month. (In the Fed's deliberations, oil enjoys the dual role of threat to economic growth and catalyst for inflation.) The Financial Times blames the prospect of slowing economic growth for light sweet crude's dip below $120 a barrel yesterday in trading on the NYMEX, and price at the close of regular trading of $121.41 a barrel, the lowest since early May. Of course, in the past couple months there has been a wider slide in commodity prices for metals and other some natural resources, including oil, as Bloomberg notes.
But commodities traders also must surely be keeping an eye on the role oil is playing in politics. On the darkened floor of the officially recessed House of Representatives, Republicans yesterday resumed a vigil all about the perception of oil prices in the mind of voters -- and what they depict as Congress's failure to pass an energy bill before lawmakers left town. The movement that began Friday with what Politico calls "the passion of a revival meeting" yesterday "was more like a prayer circle," with Republican lawmakers invoking John Quincy Adams' views on slavery and even Moses. "Madam Speaker, let my people vote!" said Rep. Tim Walberg, in reference to Speaker Nancy Pelosi's rejection of their pleas for a special session on the matter. Acknowledging the political resonance of the issue, Minority Leader John Boehner and Minority Whip Roy Blunt urged fellow Republicans to stay at the Capitol and protest, though as Roll Call notes, they themselves didn't show up.
House Democrats dismiss the protests as a "political stunt," as The Hill notes. If so, it is surely not the only political move playing to voters' energy concerns just now. Barack Obama gave a major speech on the subject yesterday, and in his latest tack away from opposition to more oil consumption he called for the government to put 70 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve on the market as an immediate salve for high gas prices. He had argued against such a move during the primaries, The Wall Street Journal notes, though he has previously said the reserves could be tapped during an emergency and he declared that "we are in an energy crisis." But it followed another Obama reversal -- relaxing his opposition to offshore oil drilling -- by just a couple days, and Republicans were quick to cry flip-flop. John McCain, who reversed his own opposition to offshore drilling earlier this year, opposes a tapping of the reserve.
Additional offshore drilling, by all accounts, would take years to translate into additional oil and gas supply. While the Obama campaign didn't predict how much gas prices would be affected by tapping the oil reserve, the Washington Post reports, it did note that prices fell by more than 19% within two weeks of President Clinton's decision to make a similar move, which happened to take place amid the 2000 election. In yesterday's speech, Mr. Obama also reiterated his call for a $1,000 "energy rebate" aimed at helping low- and middle-income families to cope with pricey gas. And to pay for it, he seeks a windfall-profits tax on oil companies, as the New York Times reports.
The Times notes that "at the heart of Mr. Obama's proposals is a focus on fostering alternative energy development by investing $150 billion in emerging technologies and renewable fuels." This includes tax credits for car buyers aimed at putting a million fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles on the road. The offer amounts to $4 billion in federal aid, though auto experts tell the Detroit News it would be much more expensive than that. But Mr. Obama was making the speech in Michigan, home to the U.S. car industry as well as a key state come November. And there, the paper says, the biggest impact from Mr. Obama's energy plans may come from the promise of help they bring to a struggling auto sector more than any immediate effect they have on energy prices.
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Is it time to clean house? Get rid of every last one of these dirt bags?
If something needs to be done, they do nothing. If they do something, it is the wrong thing and is basically handouts for the folks who helped them get elected.
For Reaganite:
Acknowledging the political resonance of the issue, Minority Leader John Boehner and Minority Whip Roy Blunt urged fellow Republicans to stay at the Capitol and protest, though as Roll Call notes, they themselves didn't show up.
