By Ross Balano, Midwest Voices columnist 2008

Today President Bush, speaking in the Rose Garden, put forth a four-point plan to lower gas prices but predictably the Democrats basically told him (and us) to take a hike.

The president’s speech was way overdue but his four point plan was right on! It reminded me of my own four point plan as set forth in the Midwest Voices column of The Star on May 5th of this year, genius!

The president encouraged the Democratic- controlled Congress to lift restrictions on drilling in ANWAR, the Gulf of Mexico and the Continental Shelf and to allow drilling for shale oil in the Dakotas and other places.

I know that it would take time to get to this oil and bring it to market but just the fact that we are taking action will result in lower oil prices in the near term. The latest Rasmussen poll shows that 67% of Americans favor more drilling.

The Democratic reply was basically that the only places they will allow new drilling are in our (yours and mine) pockets. It will take increased supply to bring the price of gas down and Democrats have not come up with one idea that will result in one additional gallon of gas.

The president then went on to ask for new refineries in this country. He asked for congress to speed up the approval process. It is worth repeating that there hasn’t been a new refinery built in this country on over 30 years. One has been recently, although tentatively, approved but construction hasn’t started yet.

Some Democrats now want to nationalize this country’s refineries. Can you say Hugo Chavez? Is that what we want in this country?

Finally Bush asked for increased use of nuclear power and the building of new plants. This is a highly productive way to generate electricity and is non-polluting.

I would like to have seen Bush add a bonus for new technology as well; say something like a $5 billion prize for the viable alternative to the internal combustion engine that would burn an abundant and non-polluting fuel yet would be priced so that the average person could afford to buy one. We’re nowhere near having such technology in the near future however, so for now we need more oil.

The Star should print a list of all running for office in the fall and it should detail who favors more drilling and who doesn’t. It’s something we all need to consider when voting.