From The Daily Mislead

APRIL 02, 2004

Reversing Pledge, Bush Lets OPEC Bilk Americans
As a presidential candidate in 2000, George Bush pledged to use his
"political capital" to influence OPEC when gas prices soared, saying that
during a crisis, a president, "ought to get on the phone with the OPEC
cartel and say, 'We expect you to open your spigots” (1). But with gas
prices soaring in the United States (2), newspapers report the White House
now says the president refuses to "personally lobby oil cartel leaders to
change their minds” (3).

With the president refusing to do anything about the situation, OPEC opted
this week to cut supply to further inflate gas prices and bilk American
consumers (4). While Saudi Arabia's ambassador told the White House
yesterday that his country supposedly opposed higher oil prices, the
president's refusal to use his close relations with the Saudi government
gave the Saudis a pass to support the OPEC production cut (5). Despite the
Saudi effort to keep American energy prices high – and despite their ties to
terror groups (6) – the President continues to insist that the Saudi Arabia
is "our friend” (7).

During his term, the president has pursued other policies that help enrich
the oil industry, which has given him more than $3 million since 2000 (8).
For instance, his tax legislation actually created a massive tax incentive
for consumers to purchase gas-guzzling SUVs over fuel efficient hybrid cars
(9). Meanwhile, the first budget President Bush introduced after taking
office tried to cut 37%, (almost $200 million), out of federal research on
renewable energy and energy efficiency programs (10).