Posted on 28-5-2004

Bush Clashes with Democrats over Oil Politics
by Roddy Scheer

In a curious turn of political events, President Bush has been lambasting Democrats for playing politics over oil. The issue in question is whether or not to open America's Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help offset skyrocketing prices at the gas pump for consumers.

"The idea of emptying the Strategic Petroleum Reserve … would put America in a dangerous position in the war on terror," Bush told reporters last week. "We must not put ourselves in a worse position in this war. And playing politics with the Strategic Petroleum Reserve would do just that."

Bush went on to say that releasing oil from the reserve, which President Clinton did in the summer and fall of 2000 in order to ease soaring gas prices then, would only serve to make Americans more vulnerable in the event of another homeland terrorist attack. The President also cited frustration with Congressional Democrats who have routinely blocked the Bush Energy Plan, and more specifically, opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to drilling.

In response to the brouhaha, Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry accused Bush of making excuses instead of coming up with a plan to help lower gas prices.