Political pundit Robert Novak observed earlier this week that, “When House Republican leaders left Washington for their Fourth of July break, they felt good about outwitting the Democratic majority.”
If that’s the case, and we have no reason to doubt that it is, House Republican leaders have been drinking too deeply from the intoxicating waters of the Potomac River. In short, they are pixilated. And that doesn’t augur too well for their chances of success—some would say, mere survival—in the upcoming fall elections.
The fact is, the GOP is in deep trouble. And, the sad truth is: it’s their own fault. Not since 1932 when Herbert Hoover hastened the Depression by signing into law the disastrous Smoot-Hawley Tariff has a party been handed a more devastating election issue than the Democrats have handed the Republicans in the summer of 2008. The difference is: in 1932, the Democrats were savvy enough to use it.
With gasoline prices at $4.00 a gallon—and rising—the American people are livid. And rightly so. According to a just-released poll from the Civil Society Institute and Citizens Lead for Energy Action Now:
- 76 percent of Americans are “very angry,” or “somewhat angry” about high gas prices and expect to pay $5 a gallon at the pump by Labor Day.
- 90 percent of Americans believe the federal government (including, one would suppose, the feeling groovy House Republican leaders) is “not doing enough” about high energy prices and U.S. dependence on Middle East energy sources.
- 90 percent of Americans said that “energy related issues”—including gasoline prices—will be “very important,” or “somewhat important” when they vote this fall.
Now, couple that with a new Zogby poll showing that 74 percent of Americans support drilling offshore for American oil, and 59 percent support drilling in ANWR—and maybe, just maybe, one might get the idea that the obstinate refusal by the Democrats to let Americans drill for their own soil on their own land might be a good issue for the GOP in the upcoming campaign.
In late May, Rep. Don Young (R-AL) introduced a bill, HR 6107, that would allow “an environmentally sound program for the exploration, development, and production of the oil and gas resources of the Coastal Plain of Alaska.” The bill now has 167 co-sponsors—very few of whom are Democrats. And the House Democratic leadership, in direct defiance of the express will of the American people, has consigned the bill to the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment, where they clearly intend to let it die a certain death.
That may be understandable. After all, the Democrats for decades have blocked every effort by the American people to drill for their own oil on their own land; thereby tragically—and foolishly—deepening U.S. dependence on Middle East energy sources.
What is not understandable is the equally tragic—and foolish—reluctance of the Republicans to make such incalcitrant obstructionism a vital issue in the fall election. The American people have a right to know who has plunged they into the energy abyss. And the Republican Party has a responsibility to tell them.
The fact is, never—ever—should a Republican politician appear on any network TV show or radio talk show without beginning the interview by flatly stating: “First, let me say that the reason gasoline prices are as high as they are and getting higher is that the Democrat Party will not allow us to drill for our own oil on our own land.”
If the interviewer asks about the War in Iraq, the Republican guest should respond, “I’ll get to that in a second, but first let me say that the reason gasoline prices are as high as they are and getting higher is that the Democrat Party will not allow us to drill for our own oil on our own land.”
If the interviewer asks about national health care, the Republican guest should respond, “I’ll get to that in a second, but first, let me say that the reason gasoline prices are as high as they are and getting higher is that the Democrat Party will not allow us to drill for our own oil on our own land.”
If the interviewer asks about the price of milk in China, Republican guest should respond, “I’ll get to that in a second, but first, let me say that the reason gasoline prices are as high as they are and getting higher is that the Democrat Party will not allow us to drill for our own oil on our own land.”
And then, the Republican guest should tell the American people all about HR 6107 and why the Democrats are determined to strangle it at birth.
With a critical election only months away, the GOP lagging badly behind in the polls, and the American people livid over gasoline prices, it’s time for the Republicans to get their heads out of the sand—and their tails out from between their legs—and place the blame for the energy crisis precisely where it belongs: on a House Democratic leadership whose hearts are as frozen in the ice of their own indifference as the tundra in the nether reaches of the ANWR preserves.
In short, it’s time for the House Republican leadership to sober up, get serious, and get the message from the American people are desperately trying to send them: It’s the domestic drilling, stupid!
