GOP chairman distorted, confused gas-price issue

Robert Simpson, Alamance Republican Party chairman, in a letter published June 22, entitled "Democrats create wreckage and we foot the bill", made an incoherent effort to blame high gasoline prices on congressional Democrats. He stated that gasoline prices rose after Democrats assumed control of congress in January 2007.  He didn't mention that from 1999 to present, during George Bush and the "Oil Company Republicans'" reign, gasoline prices rose from $1.35 per gallon to over $4. Democrats have tried again and again to mandate fuel efficiency requirements for vehicles:  Oil Company Republicans showed little interest in solutions other than increased drilling and tax giveaways for oil companies.

Between 1999 and 2007, drilling permits increased more than 361 percent, yet gasoline prices continued up; not down. We have less than 2 percent of the world's known oil reserves, yet use 25 percent of its oil.  We could drill on every beach and inside every national park, but still fall short of enough oil production to satisfy our demands.  Oil companies haven't utilized nearly all their leases. Why issue more?  They appear uninterested in reducing prices. Increased drilling today wouldn't increase production for decades and much of that production would be sold to other countries. Alternative energy and conservation is the real solution, which is why Republicans like George H.W. Bush and former Gov. Jeb Bush oppose increased offshore drilling.

Mr. Simpson then reverted to typical Republican form: Forgetting about issues and only attacking Democrats; name-calling the "Democrat Party" by descriptions he made up. In his bitterness, he ignored the main body of the Democratic Party, the hard-working, dedicated people playing by the rules, making our country work, who should have a decent living standard and health care for their families; a dream becoming increasingly elusive under President Bush and the Oil Company Republicans.   

Those Republicans who are following the lead of their mentors in the Bush Administration that are incessantly seeking to distort and confuse are like the little boy who cried "wolf" repeatedly - no one believes them. Their values and ideas for governing are bankrupt.

 JIM STILES
Graham