When asked by CNBC yesterday if record oil prices could actually help the U.S., Obama replied, “I think that I would have preferred a gradual adjustment. The fact that this is such a shock to American pocketbooks is not a good thing.”
Republicans took note of this and responded as top Party leaders spoke out in Washington today.
“Yesterday we heard the Democrat nominee for president suggest that rising gas prices aren’t the problem,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a speech on the Senate floor. “The position outlined by the Democratic nominee shouldn’t be a surprise to most Americans, given that Washington Democrats have repeatedly refused to allow increased energy production here at home — even though, as we all know, increased supply leads to lower prices,” he continued.
On the House side, Minority Leader John Boehner dramatically added, “If Obama really thinks consumers ought to shoulder higher energy costs while we make the transition to alternative fuels, he should answer a simple question: how high should gas prices go? $5? $6? $10 a gallon?”
The Obama campaign calls the attack “ridiculous.” Said spokesperson Jen Psaki on the attacks, “It shows is how John McCain’s allies in Washington are trying to distract voters from the fact that just yesterday, they voted again to protect Big Oil’s profits—while we’re paying record prices. Senator McConnell knows exactly what Barack Obama meant: the huge strain caused by high gas prices is made even worse when they climb so quickly. No amount of partisan political attacks will change the fact that George Bush, John McCain, and their congressional allies have repeatedly stood with the oil and gas companies and against American consumers.”
Candidate Obama did not support the oft debated gas tax holiday that McCain proposed and told voters the “gimmick” would save drivers just a few cents a day. Rather, Obama has said on the stump that a quick fix won’t do. Back on the primary trail in Pennsylvania, Obama told voters “the only way we are going to deal with this long term is to reduce our consumption of oil.”
To do that, Obama would encourage and invest in green technologies and alternative fuels and increase fuel efficiency standards. “If we increase fuel efficiency standards on cars to 40 miles per gallon, we would save the equivalent of all the oil we import from the Persian Gulf. And imagine what that would do to gas prices if we reduced our consumption by that much. That’s something we can accomplish right here and right now,” he said at an April town hall in Wilkes Barre, PA.
