June 11, 2008
Why do they hate poor people?
GOP House Whip Roy Blunt put together a chart comparing and contrasting the effect Democratic and Republican proposals had on the price of gas. Guess which one puts -- and leaves -- more money back in your pockets?
Blunt's office offers this explanation of how they got here from there:
Methodology: Retail gasoline prices are the result of literally hundreds of factors including crude oil supply, global demand, refinery capacity, regulation, taxes, weather, the value of the dollar, etc. Therefore it is impossible to say with certainty what one individual action will do to the overall price. However, based on what we know about the impact of crude oil supply and prices it is possible to develop some potential ranges of impact on gasoline prices for certain policy changes.
For example, using the methodology employed by Speaker Pelosi and House Democrats that suspending shipments into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (between 40-77,000 barrels of oil a day) would reduce gas prices by at least 5 cents, bringing ANWR online (at least one million barrels of oil a day) could impact gasoline prices by between 70 cents and $1.60.
Given that gas prices, like sales taxes, are considered regressive (i.e., they hurt those with little money first), I have to ask a question: Why do Congressional Democrats hate poor people? And the middle class, too?
Okay, maybe I'm being a bit facetious, but not unreasonably so. As I pointed out Sunday -- not withstanding their carping, whining and whingeing about the GOP's supposed inability to do something, anything about oil prices -- the Congressional Democrats have done nothing about the price of gas ... other than vote against a series of Republican proposals that would, in fact, make oil cheaper.
And, as much as it pains me to admit it, the GOP is actually right about something, probably because the votes on the energy bills didn't include any limitations on pork-barrel spending.
Still, there is a clear difference between the political parties: The Democrats want to blame the GOP for doing nothing -- and making sure nothing gets done.
Via Power Line.
Posted by Mike Lief at June 11, 2008 07:08 AM
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