Jim Inhofe: “First, gas prices, that somehow gas prices are not going to be going up as a result of this, and blaming that on the…”

“First, gas prices, that somehow gas prices are not going to be going up as a result of this, and blaming that on the President, the administration, whether it is Cheney-Bush or whoever it is. Let's keep in mind that gas prices went up when the Democrats controlled the House and Democrats controlled the Senate. Now, if anyone doubts who is at fault for this, go to the Web site for Environment and Public Works, epw.senate.gov, and look it up. What I have done is document the votes all the way back to 1995. Every time we tried to increase the supply of energy in America and every time we tried to increase our refining capacity, it was killed by the Democrats, right down party lines. Look it up. It is there. I have provided it for you so you don't have to find it yourself. It is there. Now, I don't know how many times I can refute this; the distinguished Senator talks about the fact that she doesn't believe this is a tax increase and it is going to be a tax decrease by almost $1 trillion. It is $800 billion. But let us remember, as I said before, this bill takes $6.7 trillion from Americans in the form of a consumption tax on consumable goods and on energy.”