McCain: Give Bush credit for oil price drop
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/07/19/art.mccainsat.ap.jpg caption="McCain said Pres. Bush deserves more credit for oil price drop Wednesday."]
(CNN) - John McCain — whose campaign launched an ad this week blaming Barack Obama for high prices at the pump — said Wednesday President Bush's new push for offshore oil drilling deserves the credit for the recent drop in crude oil prices.
"In case you missed it, soon as the President announced that we were going to end the moratorium on offshore drilling the price of a barrel of oil went down $10," the presumptive Republican nominee said at a Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania town hall.
Crude oil prices are down about $20 a barrel from their record-setting intra-day high of $147.27 a barrel back on July 11.
President Bush announced on July 14 he was lifting executive ban on offshore drilling, although Congress has yet to act on his call to lift its own drilling ban.
Asked about McCain's comments today, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino replied, "I don't know that we fully deserve the credit, but I do think in was important to send a signal to the market that we are serious about moving forward."
Earlier this week, McCain's campaign released a new television spot blaming Barack Obama's opposition to offshore drilling for the nation’s rising gas prices.
For more on McCain's town hall event, tune into Campbell Brown: Election Center tonight at 8 pm ET.
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OMG, he's completely delusional. Remember this is the "experienced" world leader that actually thinks Iraq and Pakistan border each other. Grandpa Simpson...er McCain, has clearly flopped from maverick to politician and will say anything that will help him appeal to his partisan base.
He's preaching to the those 27%'ers that actually think Bush is a smart, sophisticated man of integrity. So it doesn't matter if what he says is actually close to the truth, as long as he is propping up Bush or trash talking about Obama, the GOP will eat it up.
If you righties are so pro-drilling, how about making those international oil corporations start drilling on the millions of areas of off-shore land they already lease before moving on to the only land they don't already have access to!
Only the completely brain dead think that more offshore drilling is a short term solution. It would not affect speculators nor supply as it takes so long to go from the ground to the market.
And as a long-term solution, its just as stupid. If you are addicted to a limited resource, grabbing more and more is not a feasible strategy. You need to wean yourself off of your addictions, not ingest more!
We need to take the first steps toward oil independence. We don't have to be completely off of it. But it needs to be supplemented with other options – wind, solar, hydro etc. Whining that they all have temporary imperfections doesn't help anything. The sooner we start the movement toward these alternative energy sources, the sooner we can hammer out the minor problems and lower the costs. But it will never happen if we don't start.
The journey starts with one small step.
The stock market is based on the country's emotional response.
Offshore drilling would scare speculators because it would seem that the United States would not rely on as much foreign oil...hence, the oil futures would not change hands 5 or 6 times before hitting the market, instead it might only be 3 or 4, which results in lower pricing. If Congress ACTUALLY would approve a bill to regulate oil speculation, then the price of oil would drop drastically.
Cuba and China are going to drill off the US coastline (50 miles off FL), so why shouldn't we?
Why should we give Bush credit???? I'm confused-Bush hasn't done ANYTHING, except send this country down the toilet.
Shut up McCain!
No no, you silly goose. It's Nancy Pelosi who's made the oil price drop. She, who's done absolutely nothing productive since taking the helm as Speaker, has truly been a marvelous example of a "success," no? The way the Democrats talk, they have single-handedly saved the world, created rainbows, and saved Santa Claus from getting eaten by some Republican. Far be it for Dems. to ever say a Republican has ever done anything constructive. Even a GOP'er can credit a Dem. with doing something noteworthy. Who else but Bill Clinton would have helped us discover the amount of space under the Oval Office desk????
What can a reasonable person answer to such a claim without using words not fit for print?
Humbug is one of the words suited I guess. Bush gets credit for driving down theoilprice but no blame for the prices going up, the loss of value on the dollar, the messed up economy etc. etc.
McCain has his arm so very far up a certain dark place it is really starting to stink. How dumb does he think the people really are?
Anyone that votes for this guy is a complete MORON!!!!!!!!!!!!
YES, you read it right!
This guy is delusional.
(So is your average BO supporter, but we're not talking about them right now.)
McCain is crediting Bush's push for offshore drilling for the drop in oil prices?
I seem to recall McCain saying that he didn't know that much about the economy. This certainly confirms it!
Everybody knows that if we start off-shore drilling today, we would start seeing the oil within 7-10 years. But everybody knows that we're not about to start drilling today or tomorrow or next week. So everybody knows it will be a while, if ever, that we get to benefit from off-shore drilling. Everybody of course, except those dumb speculators who are operating in a cave somehwere. So, these cave-dweller speculators don't have a clue what's going on. But if you can somehow get word to them that "off-shore drilling" has been mentioned somewhere by someone. They imeediately just go into panic mode and the oil prices just come tumbling down!!
What a superb President McSurge is bound to make!!
the contrast between cnn comments and foxnews comments are such contrast. one liberal one conservative.
it's interesting.
As soon as oil drops below $27 a barrel, I will gladly give credit to W. He'd better get cranking 'though. His days are numbered!
McCain has absolutely no idea what he is talking about. He claims that he is for conserving the environment, yet he supports offshore oil drilling, which would destroy countless ecosystems and just perpetuate the cycle of our dependence on oil. As a longtime republican, I am losing faith with the party because they are simply proposing the worst ideas. I hate President Bush and I hate John McCain.
Given a chance I will slap this piece of scum. so that both his cheeks get to the same size.
He is tarnishing the image of republican party. I pray that he dies before the election.
Please people think about this.
If you a selling a product, would you lower your price because a cheaper product will come on the market in 8 or 9 years? Of course not. Isn't it strange that oil prices always seem to drop right before an election...
My question is so the gas prices will go down by 2030. I want to know (tony) what relief I will get now? Tony to tell you the truth, it doesn't make sense to me. By 2030, I will be 65 years old (I probably won't be traveling much), my children will be grown so I won't be running here and there, and when I look back at what the price was in 2008 and in 2030, it really won't matter to me because by then we will be paying a lot more for gas anyway (the time and money factor).
In fact, by then I hope that we wouldn't need to depend on oil. We should have an electric/battery car by then. I
So I think the best solution is to continue to find other "green" resources and get away from oil drilling. If we keep talking about this drilling, it will never end. We are distroying our earth.
And why did it take so long for anyone to do something about the gas prices. McCain is giving praise – but I want to know why so long? Why now when the election is going on does it matter? No one cared when the price was rising a year ago.
Yes, the price of oil went down. Did the price at the pump? Nope. thanks again Bush.
It's basic economics, folks. When producers expect prices to rise in the future, they limit current production and keep more oil in the ground to sell later at a higher price. That's what's been happening for the past couple of years. On the flip side, if producers expect prices to decline in the future, they produce more now to bank the higher price.
You can argue whether offshore drilling will increase domestic production in 2 years, 5 years, or 15 years. It doesn't really matter, because if producers around the globe think that supply will increase, and prices fall, in the future, then producers will start pumping more, now, to take advantage of today's high prices. So, yes, efforts to increase supply today, such as offshore drilling, will reduce prices today. Just watch...
What idiots! It just shows how short sited the Republicans are. They obviously think so little of the American people, that they are making stupid stupid decisions that they think will pacify people long enough to vote for them, but these are bandaids. Tony, you need to do some reading to educate yourself because clearly you aren't really educated on alternative options, of which there are many. And alternatives are what make the most sense not more dependence on oil. We need to stop all of our dependence on oil period, foreign or otherwise. Anyone who buys this "drilling now" nonsense is a fool and kidding themselves, and certainly they can't care much about their childrens future either.....or the future of our planet. Tony, open your eyes, you sound so incredibly narrow. This is an issue of what is right to do and what isn't right to do over the long run.. You think your comment makes sense? It doesn't. It sounds like the ranting of someone who doesn't think on his own and backs his party and swallows their nonsense no matter how foolish and stupid it is. Drilling now does not solve ANYTHING.
can we credit Bush for the $20 to $146 oil price increase since he took office too?
Nice stretch McCain......................the price of oil is going down because Congress want s to rein SPECULATORS and those speculators want to get out of their positions before it's too late for them.
Grandpa, come inside now and have some soup.
Oh! So I guess President Bush DOES have a magic wand to lower gas prices!
I DON'Y THINK SO.....
Yes Bush is the reason the oil is dropping. It has nothing to do with the investigation in to oil speculation going on. It couldn't possibly be due to that at all, it's all the brilliance of the Bush and his magic wand.
Tony & Enlightened voter
Please tell me why we should give the oil companies more land to drill on when they haven't drilled on the land we've already given them?
Get Informed!!! They already have land to drill on and they're not using it. If you want more oil complain to the oil companies and tell them to start drilling on the land they ALREADY HAVE.