It looks like Bush is the one willing to negotiate with a terrorist state as he goes begging to the Saudis. And as the republican party gears up to fight gay marriage in California, Bush will just walk off into the sunset holding hands with the Saudi Prince. (http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/images/blbushabdullahhands.htm)

Seems Bush is neither feared or respected by Abdullah and his Clan.

"Saudi officials said they will only pump more oil when the market demands it."

Isn't that the same BS the Republican party tells us? So why is Bush asking for something he knows full well can't happen?

Or, is this market demand oil pricing BS in the first place?

Victor Davis Hanson gives some very compelling reasons why we should proceed with drilling ANWR and off our own coasts. If you follow the Bee links under "Opinion," you'll be able to read more, but in summary, the Saudis have us under their thumb as long as we rely on them for so much oil.

Before we complain about the impact on our environment, note this: Hanson makes a strong argument that with all the hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, there have been few oil disasters, if any at all. Also, when the Alaskan pipeline went in, there was great concern for the migratory habits of the caribou; a couple decades later, the caribou remain unaffected. Another positive side effect would be the lesser demand in Siberia, China, and Venezuela, who are pumping oil with old technology and absolutely no regard for the environment (if you don't believe the claim about technology & concern, just look at the news report showing Chinese earthquake victims carrying each other out of a valley because the government won't--or can't--provide helicopters for airlifts).

Hanson also says that while we use our own oil, we should be working on energy sources besides corn ethanol. Ethanol production uses up corn that otherwise is used to feed cattle, poultry, and pigs. This effectively creates a shortage of corn for food, thereby driving the price up, impacting prices of everything else related to corn, including beef, poultry, and pork. He also points out that as more farmers turn to corn, other crops are not planted/harvested, which creates less supply of those crops--which leads to higher prices on everything.

As long as we rely on foreign oil, we will always pay more than it's worth, and every attempt to remedy the problem will affect another sector of our economy.

We need to tell the Saudis, "Adios, it's been real," then take care of ourselves while developing new energy sources. If the Saudis can produce their own gas that costs 50 cents per gallon at the pump, we should be able to produce our own for much less than 4 bucks a gallon. And the profits would go to our own American companies, not a Saudi sheik. This would, as Hanson also states, dramatically reduce laundered funding for terrorist groups that wish to wipe us off the face of the planet. We should also tell them, "Next time an aggressive neighbor threatens to invade your country, you can fend for yourself, pal."

He was just greasing the skids for a massive arms deal with the Saudi's.

I'm really sick of Bush getting blamed for the high price of oil. Prices didn't start to skyrocket until the dems took back Congress. And they're going to go even higher if they succeed in enacting some of their lamebrain schemes.

It is the fault of congressional democrats, and gutless wonder republicans, for the failure of America to harvest its own resources. That supreme stupidity has led to the current problem and the need for the President of the United States, Leader of the Free World, to go begging.

Democrats, environmentalists, and global warmists are to blame, and they need to grow up and accept the consequences of their actions and stop trying to blame everyone else.

Blaming high gas prices on either Bush or the Congressional Democrats is just silly. The price of oil is going up worldwide, not just the U.S. That is due to a number of factors, including demand from China and India, and our weak dollar (you can blame Bush for that, at least in part).

Before we throw out all the hard-won environmental protections and start drilling off our coasts and in the ANWR, can someone provide an estimate of how much difference that will make? Will that give us a few more years at our present rate of consumption? Months? As for refineries, if the oil companies really wanted to build more, they would have. They seem more interested in using their record profits to buy up their own stock and further enrich their major shareholders.

Finally, one thing that seems missing from Mr. McIntyre's list of proposed solutions is the cheapest and simplest - conserve. It is frankly pathetic to have the leader of the mightiest nation on earth go begging, hat in hand, for the Saudis to pump more oil, when we Americans seem little interested in changing our wasteful habits, and keep on burning it like there's no tomorrow.