Red-faced irate Republicans and a new Iraq battle
I can't turn the TV on today without hearing people bitch about the cost of gas.
I get a kick out of watching Republican leaders. They have been in charge of both houses these past years. Cheney took the issue of holding secret energy policy meetings with oil companies to the Supreme Court. Those Republican faces turn red with indignation as they rant about gas prices, even though they have pushed huge tax cuts for oil companies just last year.
House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) was just on TV urging you "to direct the U.S. Attorney General and the Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission to investigate any potential gasoline price gouging or energy market speculation that could be contributing to high gasoline prices." They were just so animated as they stood together.
But today, behind the scenes those red-faced-indignant republicans decided to remove conditions, from a tax bill, that would force the oil companies to pay billions of dollars more in taxes on their profits.
Senate Republicans also killed an earlier Democratic proposal to make gas price gouging a federal crime. [S. 2020, Vote #334, 11/17/05; Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 11/18/05]
Republican leadership will only go so far in punishing an industry enjoying record-breaking profits, especially when a lot of those profits are going into republican re-election efforts.
It's just plain stupid to shoot the guys who bankroll your elections.
You just have to figure out how to spin it for the average working stiff who just filled up his car.
Welcome to Iraq's new flash point.
Turkish Troops are massing at one of Iraq's border while Iran has thousands of troops at their border with Iraq, yet that's not the story.
Turkish Troops at the border
Turkey has moved thousands of troops to the border region. They say the maneuvers are meant to deal with Turkish Kurd guerrillas called Kurdistan Freedom Falcons. The group based in the remote mountain areas in northern Iraq, has been responsible for eight bombings in Turkish cities in the past three months,
The Turkish-Kurd conflict has gone on for decades but these guerrilla attacks have escalated since you invaded Iraq.
You gave the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons rebels hope when you removed Saddam, hope for a separate Kurdish state.
Iranian Troops at the border
Meanwhile, Iran is amassing troops on Iraq's border 'to discourage Iraq Sunnis' from trying to infiltrate into Iran, they say.
Each of these issues adds to the instability in Iraq but Kirkuk may be the real flash point.
Shiite Militia moving into Kirkuk
Oil-rich Kirkuk has become an attractive target for Moqtada al-Sadr and he recently ordered Shiites to take control of the city away from Kurds.
A Washington Post article said hundreds of Shiite Muslim militiamen were deployed in recent weeks.Thousands of Shiite militias have reportedly vowed to fight for Moqtada al-Sadr's cause in Kirkuk.
Kurds won't go without a fight
Kurdish leaders have no intention of loosing control of the city they consider the historical capital of a Kurdish nation. They will not surrender those oil fields without a fight.
So what are you going to do?
Let them fight it out and step in when the smoke
clears? Or will you support the Kurds piss off the
Turks and give the Turks an excuse to attack Northern
Iraq?
Condi
to the rescue?
Turkey is quite anti-American. Rice's visit was
originally planned for Thursday, but it had to be
changed after receiving threats of major
demonstrations against your wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan.
When she finally got
here this week, she was greeted with crowds of
demonstrators carrying signs of "Condoleezza
killer go home, hands off Iran." She met with
Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis and Prime
Minister Costas Caramanlis.
Riot squads fired tear gas at demonstrators throwing
gasoline bombs after they tried to reach the building
where Condi was meeting with the Greek foreign
minister.
She will be asked to help out militarily with the
Iraq-Kurdish rebel situation in return for support in
Iran.
Hell, U.S. commanders can't even keep up with the
civil unrest and insurgent attacks in other parts of
Iraq. So Condi more-than-likely, return home empty
handed ... again.
None of this is unexpected. Even the talking heads on
cable predicted the rise of the insurgency, the civil
war, the border issues and the fight for oil-rich
area within Iraq like Kirkuk, before you dropped the
first bomb in Iraq.
I like people like you because you make millions of
people feel smart in comparison.
From:
comments@whitehouse.gov
Date:
April 26, 2006 12:27:11
PM CDT
To:
guzmatom@mac.com
On behalf
of President Bush, thank you for your correspondence.
We appreciate hearing your views and welcome your
suggestions.
Due to the large volume of e-mail received, the White
House is
unable to respond to every message, and therefore
this response
is an autoreply.
Thank you again for taking the time to
write.