Blaming the Democrats for high gasoline prices

The latest nonsense coming from the GOP is a lame attempt to blame Democrats for high gasoline prices. The GOP controlled the presidency and the congress from 2001 to 2007. What did they do about energy supplies besides give the oil companies more and more tax breaks? And what was the result? Retail gasoline prices tripled. How exactly is that the Democrat's fault? I challenge anyone to name one proposal that Bushco has put forward that will actually make a damned bit of difference. Sadly, there isn't one. The nonsense being spewed about offshore drilling and ANWR won't do anything about retail prices. From this week's Time magazine:

A 2004 study by the government's Energy Information Administration (EIA) found that drilling in ANWR would trim the price of gas by 3.5 cents a gallon by 2027. (If oil prices continue to skyrocket, the savings would be greater, but not by much.) Opening up offshore areas to oil exploration - currently all coastal areas save a section of the Gulf of Mexico are off-limits, thanks to a congressional ban enacted in 1982 and supplemented by an executive order from the first President Bush - might cut the price of gas by 3 to 4 cents a gallon at most, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. And the relief at the pump, such as it is, wouldn't be immediate - it would take several years, at least, for the oil to begin to flow, which is time enough for increased demand from China, India and the rest of the world to outpace those relatively meager savings. "Right now the price of oil is set on the global market," says Kevin Lindemer, executive managing director of the energy markets group for the research firm Global Insight. President Bush's move "would not have an impact."

Wrecking the environment will at best cut gas prices by seven cents a gallon in 20 years. So, explain to me how that solves our problems, and how exactly the Democrats caused this mess in the first place. I'm pretty good at arithmetic but I can't figure that one out.

My conclusion is that those preaching this nonsense are shills for big oil, liars, or idiots. In any event, they should do us a favor and shut the hell up.