Gas Prices

Today during a committee hearing on the Department of Energy's use of stimulus funding the topic of conversation kept returning to the rising gas prices. Republicans were hammering secretary Steven Chu over this. This topic put the partisan divide in Washington on full display. Republicans were the ones hammering the secretary over the gas prices. Democrats were asking the secretary questions that provided him the chance to defend administration policies. When the secretary noted the investments to boost the use of electric cars Republican representative Patrick McHenry of North Carolina said that the use of electric cars mean nothing to his constituents who have long commutes by car every day. McHenry complained that he can't just tell everyone in his district to buy a new electric vehicle. Obama has argued that there is no single step to lower gas prices in the short term. With the presidential election just around the corner, Republican leaders have started targeting Obama's energy policies blaming him for high energy costs.