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Monday July 4, 2005
NEWS ANALYSIS: Rahall Says Bush Promised in 2000 to Keep Gasoline Prices Low; Calls for Opening Strategic Reserves
by Tony Rutherford
Huntington News Network Writer
Huntington, WV (HNN) - While drumming up support for support of a shortfall in Veterans Administration funding, Rep. Nick J. Rahall, D-WV, tackled a subject on the mind's of every West Virginian and American as they vacation, travel to work, or head for a shopping center: When will gasoline prices stabilize?
"It's difficult to intervene in private market forces," Rahall explained Sunday afternoon, July 3, 2005 at the VA Medical Center. Noting that oil prices are at record highs, he recalled that President Bush campaigned against Al Gore by promising "that the United States has vast persuasive abilities because of its vast public attention gathering ability" and the President should be more aggressive in "persuading our allies who produce oil to lowering the price or increase productivity." Obviously, you already know the outcome. In Rahall's words, "The President has not done that. [In fact,] he has refrained from it openly."
Rahall advocates "tapping our Strategic Petroleum Reserves on a temporary basis in order to increase the supplies."
New supply pressures affect demand: China. "China's demand for oil is a problem that's not going to go away," Rahall said. "It's only going to grow worse."
Americans in major metropolitan cities have dependable, frequent alternatives, such as subways and high-speed rail. A Los Angeles TV station interviewed driver's filling up their SUV's and asked at what price per gallon would they park or have to severely alter their driving styles. A Los Angeles man said $3.00 a gallon. In Chicago and New York, where mass transit runs every seven to ten minutes and automobiles are more of a weekend luxury, the prohibitive price per gallon reached $4 or $5 from some motorists.
But even they may have neglected that subways run on fuel and the fares have gone from fifty cents to two dollars.
Canadians have also expressed outrage about gasoline prices. Many of them have indicated that they have dipped into their discretionary income spending to pay for rising fuel costs.
The northern nation has more rural areas such as the Mountain State. But changing discretionary spending patterns could be why movie attendance and DVD sales have slid. The box office has been below 2004 for 19 weeks in a row. Two big DVD's releases --- "Shrek II" and "The Incredibles" --- sold less copies than predicted.
Rahall admitted that West Virginia's gas prices are higher than some of those nearby due to "having stepped up to the plate and increased the state gas tax in the last ten years in order to leverage more federal dollars" which Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-WV, and Rahall have secured for W.Va. In other words, "We've secured more federal dollars, but it has meant our state has a higher price of gas than neighboring states," Rahall said.
So, if you live on the border, Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, Pennsylvania or Maryland might grant some relief. Huntingtonians can generally cross the Big Sandy and save twenty cents a gallon. However, Ohio recently upped their taxes. Prices there seem close to those in Huntington.
And, West Virginia has economic demographics that render a much, much lower median income than those in New York, Chicago or L.A. In fact, Mountain State residents might find it costing more to drive to their part time minimum wage service industry job than if they stayed home and applied for welfare.
Rahall has certainly reiterated the promise of the current administration; however, with his party controlling Congress, who's going to hold him to the promise to keep gasoline prices low?
