Republicans have "answers" to rising gas prices

In a press conference regarding gas prices, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY.) said that the Republican Party is committed to creating more American energy in order to lower gas prices. He criticized Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama and his stance on gas prices. He said that apparently Senator Obama is not concerned about the rising gas prices, only the fact that they rose so abruptly. McConnell said that lowering gas prices in the America is a top priority for the Republican Party.

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH.) said that the U.S. must produce more oil in an environmentally friendly way. He said that the Democrats who run the Senate are not allowing sensible bills to be brought to the floor. He said that Democratic Majority Leader Senator Harry Reid (D-NY.) is taking partisan advantage in the Senate and it is making it impossible for Republicans to introduce legislation.

Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tex.) said that the Republican Party is prepared to act on lower gas prices, with an understanding that the issue involves supply, demand, and conservation. He said that most Republican senators voted for higher fuel efficiency standards, which according to Alexander, is essential to lowering gas prices.

Rice would meet Iranian counterpart

Emphatic US support for the State of Israel was reiterated by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Conference. Secretary Rice declared that the United States’ special relationship with Israel stems from a mutual appreciation of ideals like a free press, democracy, and tolerance, saying that conspiracy arguments concerning the US, Israel, and AIPAC are entirely inaccurate. Rice firmly said that Israel has no better friend than the United States.

Though she admitted it to be an ambitious goal, Rice said the she hopes agreements reached at the peace summit held in Annapolis, Md. will lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state by the end of the year. For this to occur, Rice said that Hamas must relinquish its fundamentalist actions while the US and Israel support the growing number of Palestinians that, according to Rice, are acting in the true interests of the Palestinian people. Rice added that a sovereign, peaceful Palestine is in the policy interests of both the United States and Israel.

Rice spoke at length about the need to engage in productive diplomacy , a gathering with means and incentives, with Iran. Rice restated the Bush administration’s stance that no effective diplomacy can take place until Iran disbands its nuclear research program. Rice said a state that denies the Holocaust and sponsors fundamentalist organizations cannot have access to a nuclear arsenal. Rice said she would be willing to meet with Iranian officials, including her Iranian counterpart, if this occured and questioned Tehran’s resistance to act.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) preceeded Secretary Rice’s statements. Sen. McConnell said that Iran must cut its ties with “murderous non-state actors” if it wants to be respected within the international community. Eli Amir spoke via satellite from Jerusalem about his experience as a Jewish refugee from Baghdad and urged AIPAC to consider in greater detail the experience of Jewish refugees from Arab countries. Amir said that after Israel’s independence, nearly the same number of Palestinians left Israel for Arab countries as the number of Jews who came to Israel from Arab countries, adding that both sides of refugee crises must be considered

Senate leadership on both sides pushes energy for gas price relief

The overwhelming topic at today's stakeout was energy legislation. The Senate Republican Conference after leaving their weekly policy lunch was very clear about their message: increase supply. They explained through Senate Energy Committee Ranking Member Sen. Pete Domenici (R-MN) a five point plan to reduce crude oil prices by increasing supply. The Republican legislation calls for 2,000 acres of Alaskan plain know as ANWR to be opened for drilling, remove the moratorium on off-shore natural gas drilling and reward the states that abut offshore drilling coasts for doing so, to utilize and stop filling the strategic oil reserve, dedicate money to construct more refineries, and to borrow technology from South Africa to substitute liquid coal for oil. Senator John Ensign (R-NV) said that a principal problem with the price of oil is speculation in the futures market. He said that a strong commitment by the Congress in future investment in building America's supply would stop speculation and immediately bring oil prices down.

The Republican statements were immediately followed by statements form the Senate Democratic leadership on their energy proposals. The Democrats began with Energy Committee Chairman Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) who explained the Democratic legislation. He said that they too have provision in the bill to stop filling the strategic oil reserve as well as anti-price gouging provisions. Sen. Schumer (D-NY) said that their bill reevaluates the windfall profits tax on "Big Oil" reestablishing the definition of "windfall" and taxing those profits at 25 percent. Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) said that the Democratic legislation also attempts to regulate margins in the futures market as a solution to the "orgy of speculation" over oil prices. Majority leader Reid said that they are going to "try and take a whack" at "Big Oil" in their bill.