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 Bush’s Gas GaffePosted on Mar 3, 2008By Marie Cocco WASHINGTON—Of all the reasons to be hopping mad, helplessly shaking your head or hoping beyond reasonable hope that somehow the Bush presidency will get better before it ends, blaming the president for failure to know the price of gas at the pump isn’t one of them. Blaming President Bush for failing to implement anything close to a rational economic policy—dithering as the American economy sinks toward crisis—is. You have to feel a bit sorry for Bush. At his news conference last week, the president revealed that he had no idea that some analysts are projecting that gas prices will soon hit $4 a gallon. “That’s interesting,” the president mused aloud. “I hadn’t heard that.” Now, reporters always get excited when a politician doesn’t know the price of gas (or milk, or bread, or eggs—you get the picture). Such lapses inevitably become metaphors for out-of-touch politicians who don’t give a hoot for the everyday struggles of average people. But really, on this one, even I’m willing to give Bush a break. He hasn’t driven himself around for at least seven years and certainly doesn’t frequent the self-serve pumps to fill his own tank. No, Bush’s gas-price gaffe is better seen as a speck on the broader canvas of the president’s detached approach to the economy. Generally, he believes that everything is hunky-dory so long as he can point to his tax cuts as an all-purpose panacea. He did it again at the very same news conference where he seemed to be mystified by $4-a-gallon gas: “If you’re out there wondering whether or not—you know, what your life is going to be like and you’re looking at $4 a gallon, that’s uncertain,” Bush said. “And when you couple that with the idea that their taxes may be going up in a couple of years, that’s double uncertainty. And therefore, one way to deal with uncertainty is for Congress to make the tax cuts permanent.” Got that? Tax cuts that do not expire for two years, and which overwhelmingly flow toward those who are most able to afford expensive gas, are supposed to provide some kind of economic lift now, if only Bush could win the ideological fight over them with the Democratic Congress. Meanwhile, the subprime mortgage mess is transforming itself into what amounts to an overall credit crunch; even state and municipal governments are now having more difficulty borrowing. The dollar has fallen so much that at this point, its weakness is contributing in part to the recent run-up on international oil prices as speculators look to oil as a safer place to put their money. Wages, stagnant through nearly all of Bush’s tenure, have long since stopped keeping pace with the costs of such necessities as energy, health insurance and food. The financial pages warn almost daily of an economy that may be downshifting into a real crisis. But if past performance is to be a guide, Bush himself won’t go into crisis mode until it is way too late. His White House all but ignored the threats of a looming terrorist attack in the months before 9/11. The president’s response to the urgent entreaties from weather forecasters that a killer storm of potentially historic proportion was approaching the Gulf Coast was a shrug—and even after Katrina hit, Bush seemed to be clueless about the depth of devastation and human suffering. Terrorists and hurricanes strike quickly. Not so economic catastrophes that are months in the making, are foretold with reams of data from private markets and the government, and can even be seen in such prosaic symbols as the proliferation of foreclosure and auction signs along the roadways. The economic stimulus package the White House and Congress already agreed upon is fine as far as it goes. Millions of Americans who receive quick tax rebates undoubtedly will spend at least some money in ways that prop up the economy. But for at least seven years, the evidence of structural problems in the economy—wage stagnation and the rapid erosion of worker benefits such as health insurance and pension coverage—has been on full view. I don’t really want Bush driving around to gas stations or grocery stores just so that he can always have a ready answer to what-is-the-price-of questions. I want him to finally show he’s ready for the next crisis—the broad economic crisis—that is brewing on his watch. Marie Cocco’s e-mail address is mariecocco(at)washpost.com. © 2008, Washington Post Writers Group Previous item: What John McCain Should Know Next item: A Royal Blunder Elsewhere: . CommentsAre you a Truthdig member yet? Login now, or register with Truthdig.
By guntotinganglion, March 8 at 10:36 pm # I guess, to my mind, a policy can be a crime, but not the other way around. That said, I could be wrong. There’s just too much “lightening” of the words surrounding the crimes of this regime. Failed policy presumes possible good intent...as in, we tried it, and it failed, but we really thought it would achieve an honorable goal. This was never the case with the Bushemada regime. This has been a very carefully, very tightly controlled fraud, from the getgo. I tend to think, even the incompetence, while not exactly what you’d call planned, was twisted to their advantage...like the “disappearance” of tens of billions of dollars, which has been smokescreened by charges of incompetence. No...not incompetence in that particular incidence, more like taking advantage of the chaos that their incompetence has caused, which they say is what happens in war, like the term fog of war. But, it’s all fraud. Elizabeth de la Vega has written about this, and she’s an expert on fraud, and it is her opinion that the entirety of this administrations actions, especially in, but not exclusive to, Iraq, are fraud, on an previously unrealized scale. This is what I feel after much reading and cross-referencing in my own mind. On a related subject, I think, considering the bewildering inaction of the Congress in this regard, across the board, a lot of that “missing” money has gone to buy off virtually the entire Congress, and the Supreme Court and Justice Department. This may sound paranoid, but there’s been enough money disappeared to do this. 10 billion dollars would be enough to buy off everyone in the Congress. And that’s chicken feed compared to how much has been “spent” in Iraq...as in, even the moneys that weren’t “disappeared”, went into pockets that could be helpful in payoffs/bribes of this level. I also think, the possibility exists there may have been a handful that couldn’t be bought (I know...unlikely!). Those could easily have had the lives of themselves and their families threatened. Simply put, this regime is awash in hundreds of billions of dollars, and there are a lot of uses that money could be put to, that can be hidden behind “war costs”. Call me paranoid. Just because you think they’re out to get you, doesn’t mean they’re not!
By Noz, March 6 at 11:01 am # Absolute Rubbish ColumnYou give Bush a break because he hasn’t driven for 7 years? Even my dad at 78 before he died - unable to walk, unable to see - knew what the price of fuel was. What Bull are you feeding people? Bush is a complete pile of fecal matter who knows EXACTLY what is going on. Even after all this, you Americans are too freakin dumb to see he’s making fun of your collective asses. Either you journalists/column writes are really stupid or you’re in on it with him...which is it? Neither is flattering but one of them is true.
By guntotinganglion, March 6 at 9:22 am # I have to take exception to the term “failed policies”. When it’s a well planned, fully implemented CRIME, it doesn’t qualify as a policy when it fails. When it’s a crime from word GO, the term “policy” was used as a ruse to cover the fraud and homicide that was used to achieve the crime. Failed CRIME is more the proper term...although, since it is ongoing, even that is not accurate. It is, simply, a CRIME.
By rob, March 5 at 8:42 pm # pond scum is more proactive
By Bluestocking, March 5 at 6:58 pm # I for one don’t see the fact that Bush hasn’t driven himself around for seven years or more to be enough of an excuse for not knowing about the rising costs of gasoline. Even though I have a valid driver’s license, I haven’t been behind the wheel of a car either in over ten years (it’s easy to do without a car here in New York City) yet I still manage to have a rough idea of the cost of gasoline—and I’m not someone upon whom the American people depend for leadership the way Bush is (or rather, who he is supposed to be). Granted, my schedule is not as full nor as stressful as Bush’s is and I have no doubt that he has a lot of balls in the air—but when the President of the United States shows that he has little or no concept of what the American people are paying for a basic necessity such as gasoline, it doesn’t put him in a good light. It makes him appear either ignorant or indifferent (or possibly even both) to the issues which are facing the American people—and if that’s the case, he’s not doing his job. If nothing else, is there no one on his staff who can keep him up-to-date with information such as this?
By guntotinganglion, March 4 at 9:18 pm # Come onBush first said he didn’t know, then 4 minutes later, said he’d been too busy working on gas prices. How many times does he have to directly lie, to be called a liar? This wasn’t about his being complacent about record high oil prices, that’s a big duhh. This is about his endless dissembling, shifting blame to others, and out and out lying. Lying is of course, one of his truly inconsequential crimes, although it was his dependence on lying that got the Rape Of Iraq started. And that rape continues, because, as he likes to say, can’t “pull out” before we’re through. We haven’t cum yet… This is the sickest bunch of miscreant proto-humans to ever walk the Earth. Lord High Inquisitor Bushemada is just the figurehead for a far more significant infection of the body politic, and the so called American “culture” as a whole. They are a virus. And as with so many virus’s, the victim often denies the problem till it’s too late, and the infection spreads to vital organs, like say, the Supreme Court, or the Legislature. And as is also typical of the virus, it kills itself in the end, out of it’s rapacious hunger for more...more or more...that’s it’s only goal, to get more. Say your prayers children, maybe God is listening. If so, perhaps the fever will break, and the sun will come up again. We can always hope, even when it seems darkest...sometimes it’s darkest just before the end comes. Sometimes not. Good luck to us all.
By Sang Ze, March 4 at 3:16 pm # Let them eat cake!
By Jim Yell, March 4 at 7:15 am # no forgivenessMany people want to excuse Bush for his lack of concern and the consequences of the gangsterism he and Cheney have brought to the American government. One might give him a pass for not knowing the cost of milk, but for crying out loud the mans fortune is in the petroleum industry and you are trying to tell me he doesn’t understand the consequences of this? Let us be honest Bush/Cheney have feathered their nests, that were already quite comfortable when they intruded themselves into the national scene and their apparent incompetence has greatly enlarged their personal fortunes. Don’t give Bush a pass on anything.
By Larry Rainer, March 4 at 4:50 am # Am I the only one who remembers......the 2000 Bush commercial that showed gas prices spinning toward $4, and the ominous-voiced announcer telling us this is what would happen if Gore was elected? Maybe Gore -did- win after all. No, I wouldn’t blame the President normally for rising gas prices. But when it’s one who advertised that HE would keep them low, I will. Add Your Comment |
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