Happy Earth Day, From W

Better late than never, BushCo has delivered a present to this oil-addicted country of ours, a temporary suspension of environmental rules for gasoline! Yaaaaayyyyyy!

Surely this will bring down those gasoline prices, right? Prices are just about at $3 for regular here in Philadelphia.

From the AP:

Easing the environment rules will allow refiners greater flexibility in providing oil supplies since they will not have to use certain additives such as ethanol to meet clean air standards. The suspension of oil purchases for the federal emergency oil reserve is likely to have only modest impact since relative little extra oil will be involved.
...
The president said Democrats in the past have urged higher taxes on fuel and price caps to control fuel expenses, but he said neither approach works. Instead, he called for increased conservation, an expansion of domestic production and increased use of alternative fuels like ethanol.

Did you just do a double take too? Ethanol good? Ethanol bad? Grrrr. Hulk smash!

But for real, we have some ridiculous problems here. And Bush has his take on them:

Bush said that high gasoline prices are like a hidden tax on consumers and businesses, although he said the nation's economy was strong. He urged Congress to take back some of the billions of dollars in tax incentives it gave energy companies, saying that with record profits, they don't need the breaks. He urged lawmakers to expand tax breaks for the purchase of fuel-efficient hybrid automobiles.

A hidden tax on the community, indeedy. That tax is being collected in the Veep's pockets. The economy is strong like steamd bok choi [hint hint]. Urged Congress to take back tax incentives he and his Veep pushed through?! Expand tax breaks for hybrids? How about taking away tax breaks for Hummers too.

What are your suggestions taking a longer term look at things than this myopic BushCo?

Comments

[Rep. Mark B. Cohen]

Just when we would think the Bush Administration can't go any lower, it does.

Doing long-term environmental damage to ease a short-term pricing problem is outrageous. A more realistic foreign policy, greater enforcement of price gouging laws, and more significant regulation of retail gas prices would be far better solutions than this.

Bush's latest gambit indicates the problems faced by Billionaires for Bush. No matter how hard this group tries to satirize the Bush Administration, some people believe that they are really Bush supporters and that their hilarious exaggerations are actually favorable descriptions of Bush's policies.