If there was money to be made simply by burning down whole forests…

Bush says no magic wand to lower fuel prices

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush said on Tuesday there was no “magic wand“ to bring down record-high fuel prices but would consider a proposal to suspend federal gasoline taxes this summer — an idea that has divided the 2008 presidential candidates.

Trying to calm anxious Americans facing $3.60 a gallon gasoline and soaring grocery bills, Bush again prodded Congress to open an Alaska wildlife refuge to oil drilling and allow construction of more nuclear and coal plants.

“I firmly believe that, you know, if there was a magic wand to wave, I’d be waving it, of course,” he said during a news conference. “I’ve repeatedly submitted proposals to help address these problems, yet time after time Congress chose to block them.”

Unlike Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain both have gotten behind the idea of suspending taxes on gasoline this summer. From what I’ve read, this proposal will not be of much help at the pump, will bring to a halt much needed road work, and will send even more money in the direction of big oil execs.

So, why do it? Because republicans (and republican-lites) take care of the wealthy. That is, and has always been, their number-one priority.

Another thing about this story that bothers me. I hadn’t even contemplated it, but I should have. It’s about Bush prodding Congress to open up the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge for oil exploration. Something republicans have wanted for a long time now, and will probably finally get their wish… seeing as how our democratic leaders lack chutzpahs and spines.

The people will be told, incorrectly, that prices will fall dramatically if oil can be brought up out of Alaska, and they’ll all be for it of course.

More coal plants? Great! Tell me again why I quit smoking?

This is so sad. Are there no boundaries republicans will cross, no wildlife sanctuary they will destroy, no endangered species they will erase from existence, to get to what they want?

John Cole, of Balloon-Juice, has a post up regarding a meritless search warrant and a kicked down door. Instead of the expected meth lab, Brooklyn Park police found chemicals required to maintain a fish tank.

Many comments to this post dealt with the absurdity and waste brought about by the War On Drugs™. Balloon-Juice commenter, “NR”, posted a link, along with the following quote from that site:

If asked to serve on a jury deliberating a violation of state or federal drug laws, we will vote to acquit, regardless of the evidence presented. Save for a prosecution in which acts of violence or intended violence are alleged, we will - to borrow Justice Harry Blackmun’s manifesto against the death penalty - no longer tinker with the machinery of the drug war. No longer can we collaborate with a government that uses nonviolent drug offenses to fill prisons with its poorest, most damaged and most desperate citizens.

From The Democratic Party website: “Expose the Real McCain”

[kml_flashembed movie="http://blueherald.com/BH_player.swf" height="274" width="320" fvars="sr_url=http://flash.blueherald.com/McCain.flv" /]

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** UPDATE **

Via Kevin Drum, Steve Benen (The Carpetbagger Report), has an interesting and relevant piece up, titled: “McCain was against a long-term presence in Iraq before he was for it (more than once)“

Why are we in such bad shape, economic-wise? Why is gas so high? Why does food cost so much? Why am I overweight? Why do the breaks on my car make a squealing sound when applied? What is the reason for all of my woes? That’s easy. Democrats took control of Congress back in 2006. That’s why!

The old republican deflection ploy. Squat, take a big shit, then point a finger at someone else.

Bush pushes Congress to move on farm legislation, housing

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush said Tuesday that Congress is blocking his proposals to deal with high gas prices and dragging its feet on other issues to address the nation’s sagging economy. He said he was open to any idea in terms of energy, including a proposal backed by John McCain and Hillary Clinton to suspend gas and diesel taxes this summer.

But, he said, he favored longer-term fixes, such as encouraging new oil production in the United States and the building of new refineries.

“It’s a tough time for our economy,” Bush said at a Rose Garden news conference. “Across our country, many Americans are understandably anxious about issues affecting their pocketbook, from gas and food prices to mortgage and tuition bills. They’re looking to their elected leaders in Congress for action.

“Unfortunately, on many of these issues, all they’re getting is delay,” he said.

Bush: “They’re looking to their elected leaders in Congress for action.”

Yes, we are! So get the hell out of the way, and tell your fellow republican goons to knock it off with the threats of filibuster, and maybe democrats can then start cleaning up the seven-and-a-half years of GOP poop that’s been smeared upon us.

Big fucking deal. More threats. And if they show up and testify, then what? Is someone going to be charged with human rights violations? War crimes? I think not. Yesterday there were hearings with former KBR employees testifying to the waste and theft. Others have testified. What’s happened? N O T H I N G. Oh wait, I take that back. What happened was KBR was given another huge contract. I’m sick to death of these hearings. You should have started impeachment proceedings when you took control John Conyers. But you did an about face and took it off the table.

The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee on Monday threatened to serve subpoenas on former Attorney General John Ashcroft and two others associated with the Bush administration’s interrogation policies if they don’t agree to testify.

If the three - including John C. Yoo, the former assistant deputy attorney general, and David Addington, Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff - do not reply by Friday, “I will have no choice but to consider the use of compulsory process,” Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., wrote in letters to them.

That’s Washington’speak for issuing congressional subpoenas, tough talk that Conyers has leveled at the White House before. A previous dispute is being hashed out in federal court, with Conyers’ committee suing White House Chief of Staff Josh Bolten and former presidential counsel Harriet Miers for refusing to comply with subpoenas on the firings of federal prosecutors. The White House maintains that their testimony is off-limits from congressional oversight under executive privilege.

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