Jawbone of an Ass: Bush's Utter Failure with OPEC

[Lasher]

March 06, 2008

In the pantheon of his presidential failures, the utter inability of former Texas oilman George W. Bush to influence OPEC and the price of oil stands out as the most predictable - and ironic. Just one day after OPEC members rejected President Bush's call to boost crude production, oil jumped to the stratospheric level of $105 a barrel. This latest indignity caps seven years without results for the man who once boasted he would "jawbone" his friends in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia into opening the spigots.

<snip>

By June 2000, the Bush jawbone pledge became a standard on the stump. As the New York Times reported, Bush foreshadowed future expenditures of political capital he would fail to accumulate:

"I would work with our friends in OPEC to convince them to open up the spigot, to increase the supply," Mr. Bush, the presumptive Republican candidate for president, told reporters here today. "Use the capital that my administration will earn, with the Kuwaitis or the Saudis, and convince them to open up the spigot."

<snip>

Meanwhile in Washington, White House press secretary Dana Perino admitted yesterday that the President is "disappointed that they decided not to increase production." President Bush himself whined of OPEC's intransigence that "I think it's a mistake to have your biggest customer's economy to slow down." Powerless now as throughout his presidency, Bush feebly concluded "Until we change our habits, there's going to be more dependency on oil."

Which just goes to show the American people what happens when they place their trust in the jawbone of an ass.



http://www.perrspectives.com/blog/archives/000968.htm

This is a very good article, with links to document every claim and quote.

According to the Energy Information Administration, the average US price of regular gasoline was $1.46 a gallon when Bush 43 assumed the presidency. Gas Buddy reports today's average at $3.23.