5-13-08, 9:38 am

Ypsilanti, Mich. – Gas prices have reached $4 per gallon here and for many communities across the country, fueling resentment at the Bush administration who most people view as at fault for the rise in prices.

'It's the war in Iraq,' said Ann Arbor, Mich. resident Guy Peichol, 39. 'Instead of bringing down prices, Bush's war has pushed them higher. And he's got no plan to turn things around.'

'Working people are fed up with policies that put corporate profits ahead of workers’ prosperity,' AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said in a press statement May 12. 'It’s time to fill the tank with affordable gas, make a complete U-turn from the policies of the past, and clear the road for working people to reach the American dream.'

Sweeney added, 'Congress must act because, as we have seen over and over again, the Bush-Cheney White House will never interfere with Big Oil's ability to turn record profits at the expense of the American public. '

During her campaign for the Democratic nomination for president, Sen. Hillary Clinton nearly touched on the anger and resentment many millions of Americans feel. In a presidential debate in mid-January, she conjured up an image of President Bush traveling to visit Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah to beg for lower prices.

“President Bush is over in the Gulf now begging the Saudis and others to drop the price of oil. How pathetic,” Clinton scolded. “We should have an energy policy right now putting people to work in green-collar jobs as a way to stave off the recession, moving us towards energy independence.”

But she fell flat these past few weeks by supporting a gas tax 'holiday' pushed by the White House and Republican nominee John McCain to end the 18 cent federal gas tax during the summer. Many saw the Clinton-McCain position on gas prices as failing to put forward a serious solution and as little more than pandering for votes.

Presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama opposed the gas tax holiday, citing economists who argued that it would do nothing to provide real relief (a handful of dollars at most), would mostly succeed in pushing up demand for gasoline, and with it, prices. In addition, Obama argued that we would come to regret losing billions in highway funds supported by the gas tax.

Obama insisted that a more far-reaching energy policy was needed. He called for tax relief targeted to middle-income families, redirection of investments into alternative energy sources and independence from oil, and more general economic stimulus that promotes job creation. Obama also called for a windfall profits tax increase on big oil companies that have seen fattened profit margins with the rising prices.

Much of what Obama is calling for was introduced in Congress last week. Democratic Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid introduced the Consumer-First Energy Act of 2008 with 20 co-sponsors.

Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) expressed strong support for the bill and laid into price-gougers, oil profiteers, and the Bush administration. 'Since President Bush took office,' Levin stated, 'crude oil prices have nearly quadrupled, natural gas prices to heat our homes have almost doubled, gasoline prices have more than doubled, and diesel fuel prices have nearly tripled.'

Levin went on to point out that the Bush administration's deregulation policies have allowed rampant speculation in oil prices and price gouging. 'The first step to take is to put a cop back on the beat in all our energy markets to prevent excessive speculation, price manipulation, and trading abuses,' he opined.

In a statement on the Senate floor May 12, Levin argued that the Consumer-First Energy Act would suspend hoarding oil in the strategic petroleum reserves in order to boost supply and would tax windfall profits of big oil. Along with a number of alternatives to fossil fuels, Levin appealed for 'a significant infusion of federal dollars into these efforts to make revolutionary breakthroughs in automotive technologies.'

'Such an investment,' he stated, 'will make technologies such as plug-in hybrid vehicles affordable to the American public, and reduce our dependence on oil and reduce prices at the pump.'

Linking a resolution for the problem of high gas prices to the need for economic revival, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney praised the latest congressional efforts. 'We are particularly encouraged by the provisions designed to encourage investment in new energy capacity,' he said. 'Not only will this put more Americans to work but it should also help keep future energy costs reasonable. '

'In this era of record corporate profits and stagnant workers’ wages, when hard-working people are already struggling, outrageous gas prices are the final straw,' Sweeney concluded. 'We are getting to the point where Americans with full-time jobs can’t afford to feed their families and keep a roof over their head.'