Tester: Republicans to Blame For High Gas Prices
Sen. Jon Tester, (D-MT), weighed in Thursday on the gas crisis. According to this article, Republicans are to blame for the high gas prices. Here’s his explanation for his opinion:
Tester said Senate Republicans blocked a number of bills in the weeks leading up to the recess that would have helped ease the sting of high energy costs.
One bill would have reined in oil market speculators, another would have extended tax breaks for those who produce wind, solar and geothermal energy and a third would have doubled funding for a program that helps those with low incomes pay their home heating and cooling bills.
It doesn’t make sense for lawmakers to return to Washington when Republicans are not willing to play ball, Tester said.
This is pure Democratic spin and utter nonsense.
The CFTC has already issue a detailed report saying that speculators aren’t driving prices up. Their report blames rising demand as the ‘culprit’.
Sen. Tester should also blame Sen. Salazar for obstructing a GOP amendment that would open up the OCS. Sen. Salazar object to opening up the OCS even if gas hit $10/gallon.
There’s a time for partisanship. This isn’t one of those times. With people struggling, even hurting, now should be when Democrats should allow for real debate on balanced legislation, legislation that includes alternative forms of energy, increasing oil exploration and conservation.
Majority Leader Reid steadfastly refuses to allow real exploration amendments become part of the debate. That’s unacceptable.
“If I thought we could get some work done when we went back there, absolutely, I’d go back tomorrow,” Tester said. “The truth is, it’s going to take a lot more than just the (Republicans’) simple message of ‘drill more.’ It is not really going to get us to where we need to be.”
Sen. Tester, there’s a reason why Republicans have insisted on drilling more. It’s the only way to increase supply and lower prices. If Democrats insist on preventing drilling, they’ll pay a price this November.
Sen. Tester recently put out this statement on the gas crisis:
I believe that oil speculation and hedging has gotten way out of hand. Some folks on Wall Street are trading oil they never intend to actually use in order to make a quick buck. That creates artificial supply and demand, resulting in artificially high gas prices. That’s why I support smart legislation cracking down on out-of-control manipulation of the oil market.
Again, I’d ask Sen. Tester if he has anything more to go on than just belief that speculators are to blame. I’d ask him if he’s read the CFTC’s report. If he hasn’t, why hasn’t he? It’s insulting to think that it’s possible bloggers across the nation know more about the CFTC report than does a sitting U.S. senator.
Unfortunately, a few White House allies in Congress shot down important legislation like extending tax credits for renewable energy, cracking down on speculators and hedgers, and getting tough on OPEC. They pay lip service to the need for renewable energy, then insist on voting only for legislation that gives big oil bigger profits.
What an idiot. Democrats like Tester refuse to acknowledge the fact that the best way to reduce Big Oil’s profits is to increase supply. We’ve seen that keeping supplies low created big profits. Why won’t the Democrats learn from recent history? At the end of Bill Clinton’s administration, supplies were high. Oil profits were far from breaking records.
It’s time that the American people told Democrats like Sen. Tester that it’s time to stop their obstructionism. It’s time we told Democrats that we won’t put up with their cavalier attitude towards taking real steps in increasing oil production.
Technorati Tags: Jon Tester, Speculators, Gas Crisis, Ken Salazar, Obstruictionism, Drilling, Election 2008
Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog
August 9th, 2008 at 4:54 am
Jon Tester is an idiot. I know this. I am from Havre, Montana which is 35 miles NE of Big Sandy, Jon Tester’s hometown. He has never been the sharpest knife in the drawer, OK. Example: his strategy for withdrawal from Iraq, The idiot never served a day in his life. His understanding of tactics, operations and logistics could be stuck in a flea’s butt and it woould rattle around like a BB in a boxcar.