NYC Letter: Left Hand/Right Hand Messaging -- Oil

Day 1,131 of CHOPE

The Democrats never make bad policy. They just do bad messaging.

Left Hand.

Wall Street profiteering, not oil shortages, is the cause of the price spike. Unfortunately, Republicans have chosen to protect the interests of Wall Street speculators and oil companies instead of the interests of working Americans by obstructing the agencies with the responsibility of enforcing consumer protection laws.

Nancy "Speaker No More" Pelosi (D-CA, 8th),
blaming gas prices on the wickedness of the market
for market pricing
February 22, 2012 (The Hill)

Message: No supply shortage. Market manipulated by Wall Street.

Right Hand.

SEN. SCHUMER TELLS CLINTON TO PRESSURE
SAUDI ARABIA TO PUMP MORE OIL

February 26, 2012 (The Hill) - Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) wants Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to press Saudi Arabia, OPEC’s dominant oil producer, to boost output as rising prices are hitting consumers at the gasoline pump.

A letter to Clinton on Sunday from Schumer, a top political strategist for Senate Democrats, comes as Democrats are trying to blunt constant GOP attacks over soaring gasoline prices.

These skyrocketing fuel prices are directly linked to the global energy market, particularly Iran’s recent efforts to manipulate oil prices and the worry of impacts on supply from an escalation of regional hostilities. ... To address this situation, I urge the State Department to work with the government of Saudi Arabia to increase its oil production, as they are currently producing well under their capacity.

Message: Supply shortage. Market manipulated by Iran.

Message dialectic: There both is and isn't an oil shortage.

Meanwhile the Grand Panjandrum of the Democrats gives his all-of-the-above shrug.

You know there are no quick fixes to this problem. You know we can’t just drill our way to lower gas prices. If we’re going to take control of our energy future and can start avoiding these annual gas price spikes that happen every year -- when the economy starts getting better, world demand starts increasing, turmoil in the Middle East or some other parts of the world -- if we’re going to avoid being at the mercy of these world events, we’ve got to have a sustained, all-of-the-above strategy that develops every available source of American energy. Yes, oil and gas, but also wind and solar and nuclear and biofuels, and more. (Applause.)

... We’re making new investments in the development of gasoline and diesel and jet fuel that’s actually made from a plant-like substance -- algae. You’ve got a bunch of algae out here, right? (Laughter.) If we can figure out how to make energy out of that, we’ll be doing all right.

... We’re not going to, overnight, solve the problem of world oil markets. There is no silver bullet. There never has been.

Mr. Obama,
counseling America to wait on the algae future
MIAMI February 23, 2012 (White House)

New message: Algae.

CHOPE.

No algae shortages.