OPEC
Carter: And this is one of the most vivid statements: “Our neck is stretched over the fence and OPEC has a knife.”
Economic warfare via the gasline? A tit for tat, I suppose.
Flashback to the 2000 election. (and do read the entire article, because it’s quite hilarious.)
Gov. George W. Bush of Texas said today that if he was president, he would bring down gasoline prices through sheer force of personality, by creating enough political good will with oil-producing nations that they would increase their supply of crude.
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Asked why the Clinton administration had not been able to use the power of personal persuasion, Mr. Bush said: “The fundamental question is, ‘Will I be a successful president when it comes to foreign policy?’ ”
He went on to suggest, as he did in answer to other questions, that voters should simply trust him.
“I will be,” he said in answer to his own question about whether he would be a successful president. “But until I’m the president, it’s going to be hard for me to verify that I think I’ll be more effective.”
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Flashback to an earlier story:
“Our country better become less dependent on foreign crude,” Bush said during the last Republican debate before a pivotal primary vote here next week.
“What I think the president ought to do is he ought to get on the phone with the OPEC cartel and say we expect you to open your spigots,” the Texas governor said when questioned about rising fuel oil prices as cold weather gripped the state.
“OPEC has gotten its supply act together and it’s driving the price like it did in the past. The president of the United States must jawbone OPEC members to lower the price,” he insisted.
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Well, flash forward to your gas price of the moment.
An explanation from someone more radical than I.
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Conspiracy theories of the partisan type suggest that this is a set-up of sorts. Get the oil drilling going up in ANWR, blocked by the Democrats for the past few years to protect the pristine environment. Then chuck a deal, get the oil prices down in time for the election… two birds with one stone.
Better still, We’re running around in circles getting more desparate by the minute… “Peak Oil”, “Peak Oil”, “Peak Oil.”