Bush lied to Congress about the cost of his prescription pill plan. Bush doctors science papers, denies facts and generally avoids reality based thinking whenever possible. Bush lied to Congress in his State of the Union -- and caved practically the day he was called on it. And now Bush has lied again.
He strong-armed Republicans into passing a (lack of) energy bill that will do nothing to make our country stronger and safer and less dependent on foreign powers for our energy needs. God forbid we try to reduce consumption of oil or anything nutty and liberal like that.
But it wasn't easy, so Bush had to conveniently delay an EPA report that makes abundantly clear that our country's automotive fleet is desperately falling behind -- fuel consumption is getting worse and worse. Hey, it's just our national security we're talking about.
The contents of the report show that loopholes in American fuel economy regulations have allowed automakers to produce cars and trucks that are significantly less fuel-efficient, on average, than they were in the late 1980's.That's right, one of the easiest and simplest ways to improve our national security -- push automakers to build cars that are more fuel efficient -- and Bush can't even be bothered. Sadly, as hybrid cars are proving, it would be good for business, too.
Releasing the report [on time] would have been inopportune for the Bush administration, its critics said, because it would have come on the eve of a final vote in Congress on energy legislation six years in the making. The bill, as it stands, largely ignores auto mileage regulations.
The executive summary of the copy of the report obtained by The Times acknowledges that "fuel economy is directly related to energy security," because consumer cars and trucks account for about 40 percent of the nation's oil consumption. But trends highlighted in the report show that carmakers are not making progress in improving fuel economy, and environmentalists say the energy bill will do little to prod them.
