How To Respond To The Republican and Big Oil Lies About Gas Prices

The Republicans and their shady front groups are trying to shirk responsibility for high gas prices and trying to blame Democrats. The Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming has a point by point rebuttal to the GOP lies and obfuscations. The Republican "plan" is more of the same-- more of exactly what has gotten us into the current mess-- and based on the same exact "reasoning:" kowtowing to the GOP paymasters at Big Oil. Do you think I'm exaggerating? Big Oil has "donated" $220,438,183 to federal politicians (75% to Republicans and most of the rest to hacks and shills from the Republican wing of the Democratic Party). Believe me, Big Oil isn't shelling out that kind of money because they feel "patriotic." Those are, by any definition except a Congress' that is permitted to make their own definitions, bribes. And Republicans have responded-- and it costs us every time we fill up our cars. This year, Big Oil's biggest recipient is, surprise: John McCain, a slimy political hack who first came on the national scene as part of the Keating Five, taking massive bribes from a wealthy banker friend, bribes that wound up costing taxpayers several billion dollars when the bank McCain was covering up for went belly up.

But McCain isn't the only politician Big Oil is bankrolling. They are spending tens of millions of dollars trying to get subservient Republicans elected across the country. One right-wing hack who dances to their tune is Ohio's Kirk Schuring. Big Oil is his 4th biggest source of campaign contributions. And, predictably, he has come up with an energy "plan" which looks suspiciously like it was written by the same Big Oil lobbyists who are writing his campaign checks.

The 6-page pdf from the Select Committee on Energy Independence, linked above, has all the thorough answers to Big Oil and their GOP puppets like Schuring. But Schuring's Democratic opponent, state Rep. John Boccieri, knows that few people are going to wade through this document. His response to Schuring and ExxonMobil's lobbyists is my favorite campaign ad so far this week. Take a look:



And John Boccieri isn't the only honest man explaining that there is no chance America can drill its way to lower gas prices. An OpEd in today's NY Times gives it to you from T. Boone Pickens point of view. He implies that fellow Texan George Bush is a "fraud" or at least offering fraudulent energy policies.

This is a political parable for the ages: the guy who was behind one of the knockout punches to John Kerry four years ago is now doing Democrats the biggest favor of the election by calling Republicans on their phony energy campaign.

“Totally misleading” is the way Pickens describes Republican attempts to convince the public that if we just opened up all these forbidden areas to oil drilling then gas prices would fall. He’s not against new drilling, but he is honest enough to say it wouldn’t do anything.

Republicans are furious at their longtime benefactor. Senator John McCain is currently running an ad in which he directly blames Barack Obama for $4-a-gallon gas at the pump-- as bogus a claim as anything yet made in 2008.

Then along comes Pickens, Texas oilman and billionaire corporate raider, overwhelming the McCain attack with a saturation message that has the added value of being true, as Henry Kissinger once said about another matter.

Pickens was a geologist before he found a deep pool of money, so when he says “the geology just isn’t there” to reduce oil imports through new drilling in offshore areas, he has some cred.

But, more importantly, Pickens is betting $10 billion in constructing what he says will be the world’s largest wind farm in the gusts of West Texas. If the mighty winds of the American midsection were harnessed, it could free up plentiful natural gas for vehicles-- a relatively quick step away from foreign oil.