MAUI AT $4.20 A GALLON, THANKS IN PART TO CONGRESSMEMBERS HIRONO AND ABERCROMBIE
By Andrew Walden
Hawaii Reporter, HI
Nov 27 2007
Hawaii fuel prices have increased sharply since early November. On
Maui, diesel is selling for as much as $4.20 per gallon and premium
unleaded is $4.05. The increases come after Congressional Democrats,
with the co-sponsorship of Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and Neil Abercrombie
(D-HI) in late October spooked the crude oil market by provoking
Turkey to threaten Iraq by advancing their Armenian Genocide Resolution
in Congress.
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Having staked everything of an American defeat in Iraq, Congressional
Democrats are in deep trouble. General Petraeus’ surge put al-Qaeda
on the ropes in Iraq. Petraeus’ long-awaited report delivered to
Congress Sept. 10 and 11 showed strong progress. U.S. casualties
dropped sharply and Move-On.org called Petraeus "General Betray-us."
After Petraeus betrayed Democrats by pushing al-Qaeda back,
Congressional leaders had a problem: How could Democrats snatch defeat
from the jaws of victory in Iraq? If al-Qaeda, Syria and Iran wouldn’t
make Iraq into a mess, who would?
As Turkey complained in September and October of cross-border raids
by Kurdish guerillas, Democrats spotted an opening. They suddenly
advanced debate the "Armenian Genocide Resolution" (HR106) co-sponsored
by Neil Abercrombie and Mazie Hirono.
Ninety years after the 1917 slaughter of 1.5 million Armenians by the
Ottoman Empire, Turkey’s predecessor state, on Oct. 11, 2007, House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) suddenly decided, "…so as long as there
is genocide there is need to speak out against it …" and pledged
to bring the resolution to a vote. Turkey is a NATO ally instrumental
in routing 70 percent of all airborne supplies to U.S. forces in Iraq.
After the Democrats acted, Turkey withdrew its ambassador and cancelled
diplomatic visits to Washington, DC. Worse yet, Turkish troops massed
on the Iraq border threatening an invasion.
Oil markets reacted sharply to the possibility of Middle-East unrest
from a new and unexpected direction. Oil prices shot up from early
October’s already high $79-per-barrel level.
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The Oct. 20 Wall Street Journal wrote "How Turkey could undermine
Iraq." The Democrats last ditch attempt to enlist Turkish troops in
defeating the surge was such an obvious attack on U.S. soldiers in
the field of combat that by Oct. 14 even ex-President Jimmy Carter
and his former national security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski argued
against consideration of HR106.
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On Oct. 15 and 16 eleven HR 106 co-sponsors withdrew their support-but
not Hirono or Abercrombie.
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By October 26 four key sponsors of the Resolution wrote to Pelosi
asking her to postpone consideration. The resolution was dead.
Turkish troops never invaded Iraq, settling instead for a few
cross-border helicopter attacks on empty Kurdish villages thought to
be guerilla hideouts. Once again Hirono and Abercrombie had failed
to defeat the U.S. military.
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But in the oil markets, the damage was done. By Oct. 25 "U.S. light
crude" trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange closed at a new
record high of $90.20 per barrel. By Nov. 20 it was $99.29 — an
increase of more than 25 percent from the early October levels.
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Hirono and Abercrombie haven’t given up on trying to defeat America.
On Nov. 14, they both supported House Bill 4156 predicating Iraq war
spending on a U.S. surrender date of Dec. 15, 2008. This slap in the
face to U.S. troops and their Iraqi allies is mostly a show for the
Democrat base. Previous Democrat attempts to surrender proved helpful
in inspiring al-Qaeda to fight on in Iraq, but now that the surge
has wrecked their operations that motivation is less important.
As expected, the Senate rejected the bill in a series of votes Nov.
16. President Bush has promised a veto of any bill setting an
artificial date for an American surrender in Iraq. If this year’s
40 failed Democrat attempts to force America out of Iraq are any
indication, House Democrats will again vote for Iraq war funding
without strings after they return from their vacation.
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Aimed at Iraq, Hirono and Abercrombie’s Turkey has come home to
roost in Hawaii. After months of relative price stability, gasoline
and diesel fuel prices soared in November. On Maui prices now reach
$4.20 for diesel and $4.05 for premium unleaded gasoline. On Molokai
regular unleaded is $4.04 — the highest price in the USA according
to autos.MSN.com. On Maui, regular ranges from $3.65 to $3.85. On
Kauai regular ranges from $3.49 to $3.65. On the Big Island prices
for regular range from $3.35 in Hilo to $3.64 in Kailua-Kona. And on
Oahu prices for regular unleaded range from $3.28 to $3.36.
Hirono and Abercrombie failed to defeat our troops in Iraq, but they
did manage to stab consumers in the back in Hawaii. That’s something
to think about during the next $100 fill-up.
Molokai: =96748
Andrew Walden is the publisher and editor of Hawaii Free Press,
a Big Island-based newspaper. He can be reached via email at
mailto:[email protected]
ireporter.com/story.aspx?3c135847-6525-4610-9c09-1 16bc2f7fa48