After Eight Years In The White House, No "Quick Fix" On Oil

Bush's Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is on a Middle East tour. Apparently, it's a comedy tour.

Yetsterday, the Associated Press [1] reported from Qatar:

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. said Sunday that there was no quick fix to high oil prices...

No quick fix! Paulson's boss President Bush has only been running the White House for eight years. Cut the guy some slack!

And today in Abu Dhabi [2], Paulson lays out a road map for what needs to be done:

Successfully alleviating the pressures in oil markets will require matching supply to demand. On the demand side, we need to allow market forces to work, to avoid subsidies and other potentially distorting policies. We also need to invest in renewable fuels and alternative technologies, and to reduce oil dependency through improved energy efficiency.

Perhaps so he wouldn't be in on the joke, no one told Paulson that President Bush and his conservative allies have fought tooth and nail to protect "distorting" tax subsidies for Big Oil, instead of repealing them [3] and using the revenue "to invest in renewable fuels and alternative technologies, and to reduce oil dependency through improved energy efficiency."

After you're done laughing, take solace in that at least the growing consensus regarding our energy policy extends to Bush's Treasury Secretary.

Now we only need fewer filibustering conservatives in the Senate so we can turn the public will into real policy.