Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, Members all know that when our local news stations report that a pipeline has burst or refinery has caught fire, we need to get ready for angry constituent phone calls and letters about gas prices. It has become almost an article of faith in most of America that practically any problem with the gasoline distribution system will cause the retail price of gas to spike, often dramatically. We all know that price spikes follow supply disruptions, just as summer follows spring. This first sequence of events is followed almost certainly by a second equally predictable series of events: We fire off letters to the EPA, the Department of Energy, the FTC, the American Petroleum Institute, anybody we can think of who might be able to help. And even their responses are fairly predictable. The Department of Energy assures us they are monitoring the situation closely. The EPA assures us environmental regulations do not account for the price spikes. The FTC assures us that a market without overt collusion must be working perfectly, and the API says everything would be okay if only Congress would repeal the Clean Air Act and let them drill for oil about anywhere, even under the Lincoln Memorial. Any Members who have had this experience know how frustrating it is. Constituents face a real problem, the industry tells us it is our fault, the government agencies tell us either there is nothing wrong or there is nothing they can do about it.”