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GOP Worries Gas Prices Could Add to Woes NewsMax.com Wires WASHINGTON -- Add soaring gasoline prices to the list of Republican woes.
The high cost of filling up has become a political issue, and Democratic and GOP lawmakers were blaming each other Monday for a problem that is largely out of Congress' control.
Republicans said they were worried that voters paying more than $3 per gallon would punish the party in power. Democrats hatched plans to make that happen. Story Continues Below
President Bush, trying to calm Americans' outrage over the sky-high prices, has asked the Energy and Justice departments to investigate whether the price has been illegally manipulated, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Monday. Bush plans to announce the action Tuesday during a speech in Washington.
The fingerpointing came as lawmakers returned to Washington after two weeks in their home states, where they heard complaints from voters suffering from pump shock.
"After immigration, it was the most mentioned issue," said Rep. Tom Cole, an Oklahoma Republican who conducted several town halls during the recess.
"I think gas prices are symbolic of something deeper - a concern about the competitiveness of the economy and questions about whether or not people in Washington are in touch with the average person," Cole said.
High gas prices seem to be a rite of spring and summer, when demand is the highest, but fuel costs are rarely a defining issue on Election Day.
Republicans worry that this year may be different. Some said high gas prices could feed the public's sour mood about the direction of the country, underscore perceptions that the GOP is too cozy with big business and reflect voters' belief that nothing gets fixed in Washington - all grim signs for the party controlling both the White House and Congress.
"If it becomes a metaphor for a lot of things, it could be dangerous in the fall," Cole said.
In a new CNN poll, 69 percent of respondents said gasoline price increases had caused them personal hardship. Other polls suggest that voters favor Democrats over Republicans on the issue, and President Bush gets low marks for handling gas prices.
With few options at his disposal, Bush's best defense may be empathy. "I know the folks here are suffering at the gas pump," he told a California audience last week.
Gas prices are driven by a variety of events including instability in the Middle East, a shortage of U.S. refineries and a rise in demand caused by the growing economies of China and India.
"For the short run, gasoline prices are going to be the dominant element in defining the economy," said GOP pollster David Winston.
"If Republicans can resolve this, because we're in power, it will be a positive, if they can't, people are going to question why not," he said.
Kevin Spillane, a GOP strategist in Sacramento, Calif., said he suspects that voters understand that the oil market is too complicated to blame on a single party.
But he said both sides need to compromise - Democrats on their objections to new drilling sites and Republicans on their opposition to high fuel standards.
"What Congress really needs to be doing is working on comprehensive energy solutions and not engaging in these gimmicks," he said. "It is politics at its dumbest and most desperate."
As if on cue, Democratic and Republican lawmakers returned to Washington on the attack.
"These prices are taking an enormous toll on the pocketbooks of hardworking Americans," said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
"And they are even more difficult for families to swallow given the headlines about how Exxon sent their CEO into retirement with a $400 million golden parachute."
He urged the Republican leaders to give federal agencies more authority to crack down on price gougers.
Feeling the political pinch, House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., urged Bush in a letter to order a probe into any gas price gouging or market speculation.
"Anyone who is trying to take advantage of this situation while American families are forced into making tough choices over whether to fill up their cars or severely cut back their budgets should be investigated and prosecuted," read the letter.
The Democratic Senate campaign committee accused Republicans of allowing "oil and gas companies to line their campaign accounts with cash."
Rahm Emanuel, chairman of the Democratic House campaign committee, tried to raise money off the issue. In an e-mail to potential donors, he suggested that Republicans pumped "tax dollars into the coffers of oil companies enjoying record profits."
It wasn't just an issue in Washington. Pennsylvania's Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell urged Congress to impose a tax on oil companies to curb profiteering. Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, a Republican, has made a similar proposal.
The GOP-led House Energy and Commerce Committee scheduled hearings on gas prices.
Sen. Elizabeth Dole, chairwoman of the Republican Senate campaign committee, issued a statement that said, "Democrats have decided to play partisan politics with gas prices in a flailing attempt to distract from the growing economy."
Several Republicans suggested that oil prices would be lower had Democrats not blocked plans to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
The Republican National Committee accused Reid of "killing (energy) reform for years."
© 2006 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Editor's note: Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
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