Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes
April 24, 2008
On May 20, 2006, the Democrats called for “change”.
The Washington Post wrote that the Democrats, “Seeking to gain advantage on a potent election-year issue...are promoting ambitious ideas to lower gasoline prices.”
At a kickoff event in Cleveland, Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said that, “Wherever you live, your gas prices are out of control, and you want to hold someone accountable for it.”
And he did...
Standing in front of a wind turbine, Reid cajoled that, “We have to change Congress. If you want change – change Congress.” Reid even said that the way to stop global warming was to elect a Democrat majority to Congress.
Apparently he forgot to consult with Teddy “Time-For-A-Change” Kennedy. Kennedy’s undermining of the Cape Wind project is based on solid elite liberal logic, “the sight of wind turbines bothers me...That's also where I sail, and I don't want to see them.”
The only “Going Green” project Kennedy truly supports is his morning hangover.
By blaming the Republicans for all of the world’s ills, including their direct responsibility for high gas prices, Reid got his way with Democrat majorities elected to both the House and Senate in November 2006...and now, as Reid once believed, you should “hold someone accountable for it”.
When President Bush took office in January 2001, the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline was $1.40. As of today, it is $3.51.
How did this happen?
From January 2001 to January 2007, gasoline went from $1.40 per gallon to $2.16 (a 54% increase over 6 years).
Then the Democrats took control of the Congress and, according to Harry Reid, you got “change”.
From January 2007 through April 2008, gasoline went from $2.16 per gallon to $3.51 (a 63% increase in just one and a half years of Democrat control).
Now...I call that “change”.
And another Ch-ch-change occurring under the brief Democrat Congressional watch saw the rate of inflation for average food prices increase by over 60% during the scant one and a half years of Reid-Pelosi led “change”.
In the last year, the rate of inflation for the price of food is the worst increase in the past 17 years.
From USA Today, “Consumer food inflation has been running at a 5.3% annual rate in the past three months...The largest price increases are white bread, up 16.3% in the past 12 months; milk, which has risen 13.3%; eggs, up 34.8%; and bananas, which are 17% higher.”
And, even worse, the NY Sun reports that, “Major retailers in New York, in areas of New England, and on the West Coast are limiting purchases of flour, rice, and cooking oil as demand outstrips supply.”
In 2006, when the Democrats decided to blame the Republicans for the rising cost of gasoline as an election year strategy, Nancy Pelosi touted the Democrats House energy bill which focused almost exclusively on biofuels, “From corn in the Midwest, to soybeans in North Carolina, to sugar beets in Minnesota, we grow the crops that can be converted into the biofuels that power our cars.”
And, now, much of the blame for: rising American food prices; domestic food shortages and world hunger riots is directed at the diversion of American agricultural resources to corn production.
Immediately after assuming majority control of Congress in 2006, the Democrats mandated a 500% increase in the use of biofuel.
As reported in the NY Times, “The idea of turning farms into fuel plants seemed...like one of the answers to high global oil prices and supply worries...But now a reaction is building against policies...to promote ethanol and similar fuels, with political leaders from poor countries contending that these fuels are driving up food prices and starving poor people.”
Playing by the Democrat rulebook of “Blame the Party in Power”, let’s recap the last one and a half years.
Gasoline prices skyrocketed more in the past year and a half under the Democrat Congressional watch than they did in the previous 6 years.
Food prices skyrocketed more in the last year and a half under the Democrat Congressional watch than they did in the last 17 years.
And, legislation sponsored, and passed, by the Democrat controlled Congress has created domestic food shortages and world starvation.
And what is the Democrat response?
Democratic Rep. John Dingell, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee (as of the 2006 election) wants to raise your gas tax an additional 50 cents per gallon.
Not a bad record of Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes for Reid, Pelosi et al.
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