President Obama’s Energy Secretary Steven Chu famously told The Wall Street Journal in 2008, “Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe.” At the time, a gallon of gas cost about $8 there. Fast forward to Tuesday when Rep. Alan Nunnelee, R-Miss., questioned Chu about how he was going about achieving this policy goal.
“The people of north Mississippi can’t be here, so I have to be here and be their voice for them,” Nunnelee said. “I have to tell you that $8 a gallon gasoline makes them afraid. It’s a cruel tax on the people of north Mississippi as they try to go back and forth to work. It’s a cloud hanging over economic development and job creation. … Is the overall goal to get our price of gas down,” asked Nunnelee.
“No, the overall goal is to decrease our dependency on oil, to build and strengthen our economy,” Chu replied.
There you have it. Obama’ Energy Secretary has admitted, before Congress, that it is Obama administration policy to let gas prices rise as high as possible so that Americans consume less gasoline.
And it’s working. Under the headline, “Rising gas prices cause lower fuel use in California,” The Los Angeles Times reports today that gasoline consumption has fallen for the ninth month in a row in the Golden State.
While this may be music to environmental activist ears, real Americans are hurting. According to a CBS News poll released yesterday, two in three Americans say the hike in gas prices is causing them financial hardship at home. “Americans with lower household incomes are especially likely to feel pain at the pump. Forty-nine percent of those earning less than $50,000 say hikes in gas prices have caused them serious financial hardship,” CBS reports.
And what has the Obama administration’s response been? To plead ignorance. Questioned about Chu’s statement yesterday, White House spokesman Jay Carney replied, “I’m not aware of that statement or the characterization that you give it.”
Obama and Carney can only play dumb for so long. That same CBS poll also found that 54 percent of Americans believe a president “can do a lot about” gas prices. If Republicans are smart they’ll figure out how to get that 54 percent to the ballot box.
Campaign 2012
Wyoming: After Sweetwater County held the state’s last caucus Wednesday, CNN is projecting Mitt Romney as the winner of the Wyoming caucuses. Romney won 39 percent of the votes, Rick Santorum 33 percent, and Ron Paul 20 percent. Romney and Santorum will split the delegates evenly.
Romney: Romney came out in favor of Sen. Roy Blunt’s, R-Mo., freedom of conscience amendment yesterday. The Ohio News Network had reported falsely earlier in the day that Romney was against it.
Obama: Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will host a 200-person dinner to honor troops who served in Iraq and to mark the end of the Iraq war. Pentagon officials have said they believe it would be inappropriate to hold welcome-home parades until troops are brought home from Afghanistan as well as Iraq.
Massachusetts Senate: Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., leads Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren by 10 points, 52 percent to 42 percent, according to a new Opinion Dynamics poll of registered voters.
Around the Bigs
The Wall Street Journal, No-Child Law Faces Wave of Opt-Outs: Twenty-six more states have asked to be excused from key requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act. If Obama grants waivers to all the new applicants, three quarters of the states would be exempt.
The Washington Post, Ben Bernanke strikes cautious tone amid signs economic recovery accelerating: , Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke testified yesterday that there is a long list of factors that might hurt the “uneven and modest” recovery. Bernanke mentioned rising gas prices, local government job losses, tight bank lending, and the still unresolved mortgage crisis as threats to the economy.
Los Angeles Times, Shell launches preemptive legal strike: Royal Dutch Shell launched an extraordinary preemptive legal strike Wednesday against opponents of offshore oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean, filing suit against more than a dozen environmental organizations likely to challenge its plan for drilling exploratory wells in the Chukchi Sea this summer. Shell wants the U.S. District Court in Anchorage to issue declaratory judgment finding that the U.S. government complied with federal law when it approved the drilling plan.
The New York Times, Tensions Raise Specter of Gas at $5 a Gallon: With no clear end to tensions with Iran and Syria and rising demand from countries like China, gas prices could hit $5 a gallon this year.
Politico, Bill Clinton on Keystone XL pipeline, ‘Embrace’ it: Speaking at an Energy Department conference in Maryland on Wednesday, Bill Clinton says it’s time to build the Keystone XL pipeline
The Wall Street Journal, California Cities Hit the Wall: Confronted by declining tax revenue and the rising cost of government unions, the cities of Hercules and Lincoln are planning to join Stockton in a new wave of California municipal bankruptcies.
The Washington Post, ECB pumps a fresh $700 billion into euro banks: The European Central Bank announced Wednesday that it had bailed out some 800 banks in the euro region with more than $700 billion in three-year loans.
The New York Times, North Koreans Agree to Freeze Nuclear Work; U.S. to Give Aid: North Korea announced on Wednesday that it would suspend its nuclear weapons tests and uranium enrichment and allow international inspectors to monitor activities at its main nuclear complex. Obama pledged to ship tons of food aid to the isolated, impoverished nation in exchange.
Sunlight Foundation, Did lawsuit factor in Olympia Snowe’s departure?: Newspapers in Maine are speculating that a four-year-old civil lawsuit alleging fraud by an education company run by Sen. Olympia Snowe’s, R-Maine, husband may have had a role in Snowe’s sudden and surprising decision to retire.
Righty Playbook
The Washington Examiner‘s Tim Carney explains why moderates should be blamed for the current dysfunctional state of Washington.
Hot Air‘s Ed Morrissey notes that Obama has threatened to veto Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., Sacramento-San Joaquin Water Reliability Act.
The Corner‘s Kathryn Jean Lopez explains what the Blunt bill is – and what it isn’t.
Lefty Playbook
The Washington Post‘s Greg Sargent details how Obama will respond to rising gas prices: attack the Koch brothers.
In The New York Times, Richard Kahlenberg and Moshe Marvit argue that union organizing should be a civil right.
Slate‘s Carole Joffe says Democrats should stop “Crying Rape” over ultrasound mandate bills.
