Rising Gas Prices Could Have Political Ramifications
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Rising gas costs as a presidential campaign issue. Will one candidate pay a price on Election Day?</s>WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): It's not all that obvious in this year's presidential race, not when one candidate is part of the incumbent administration and the other candidate used to be an oilman.</s>BERNARD SHAW, CNN ANCHOR: Bill Schneider on the political gray area at the pump. Also ahead...</s>AL GORE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My plan is Social Security plus, not Social Security minus; it's the best of both worlds, not the worst of both worlds.</s>WOODRUFF: How does the new Gore retirement savings plan compare to the Bush proposal? We'll check the facts. Plus...</s>GOV. GEORGE W. BUSH (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're in a usual spot to be able to....</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stop the execution of Gary Graham! Don't kill an innocent man! Don't kill an innocent man!</s>SHAW: The death penalty debate dogging George W. Bush more intensely on the trail.</s>ANNOUNCER: From Washington, this is INSIDE POLITICS, with Judy Woodruff and Bernard Shaw.</s>SHAW: Thanks for joining us. We begin with high gas prices and the potential fallout for Al Gore. Today, the administration continues stepping up its bid to be seen as leading the charge against possible price gouging. This as Republicans press their claim that the president and vice president share some of the blame for the problem.</s>SHAW (voice-over): White House spokesman Joe Lockhart criticized the oil industry, saying its contention that federal clean air regulations drove prices up just doesn't wash.</s>JOE LOCKHART, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: None of this adds up, as far as we can see, to the kind of dramatic price rise that we saw over a very quick period.</s>SHAW: Lockhart urged the industry to cooperate with a federal investigation into possible price gouging. Across town, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson asked the OPEC ministers, who are preparing to meet in Vienna, to consider raising production to ease the price pressure.</s>BILL RICHARDSON, U.S. ENERGY SECRETARY: Right now, our immediate task is to try to get more gasoline in the market, try to find out the reasons for this price differential and then act.</s>SHAW: Behind the urgency, a hard political reality: rising gas prices may be costing consumers a few extra dollars at the pump, but they could cost Al Gore on Election Day. Gas prices are up all over the U.S., but they're highest in two states that have the power to swing the fall election: Illinois and Michigan. According to the AAA daily survey of gas prices, a gallon of regular unleaded costs an average of $1.98 in Illinois, $2.13 in Chicago. Michigan is close behind, averaging $1.96 statewide, and $2.00 in Detroit -- a 50 cent increase since May. Illinois and Michigan are among the most competitive states this fall, and they hold a combined 40 electoral votes, 15 percent of the total needed to win. The fear among some Democrats: that the gas hike will take the luster off Gore's "never had it so good" campaign message.</s>STUART ROTHENBERG, "ROTHENBERG POLITICAL REPORT": A couple of percentage points could easily cost him Michigan and even Illinois. And this -- if this election is as close as many people think it will be, something like gas prices, high gas prices -- which won't fundamentally change the lay of the land, but could tip the scales slightly -- could really hurt the vice president.</s>SHAW: While the danger for Al Gore from the Midwest price spike is clear, just what caused prices to leap remains a mystery. Oil companies say two pipeline problems cut off supply to the region for several days, and so drove up local prices. But the pipeline firm says the most serious problem was fixed months ago, time enough for the market to adjust. The industry also blames regulations mandating cleaner-burning gas made with ethanol, which is more expensive to produce. But several cities outside the Midwest, including New York, also require the more expensive fuel, and prices in those cities haven't jumped nearly as much.</s>SHAW: And from Indiana today, a new effort to ease the high price of gasoline. Democratic Governor Frank O'Bannon says he is using his constitutional authority to place a 60-day moratorium on the state's 5 cents-a-gallon tax. The moratorium will go into effect on July 1, the height of the summer travel season. For the record, O'Bannon is up for re-election this year.</s>WOODRUFF: For more on the political ramifications of higher gas prices, we're joined now by our senior political analyst Bill Schneider -- Bill.</s>SCHNEIDER: Judy, what is the political fallout of soaring gasoline prices? Well, it's not all that obvious in this year's presidential race, not when one candidate is part of the incumbent administration and the other candidate used to be an oilman.</s>SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Who do voters blame? Government or business? The answer: both. About equal numbers blame the U.S. government and oil producers like OPEC, followed by the oil companies. Very few blame environmentalists who demand cleaner fuel, or drivers who insist on driving gigantic gas guzzlers. Gore is vulnerable on this issue because he is the government. Just when Gore starts his prosperity and progress tour to tout all the good news, he gets hit in the face with this. The gas issue also reinforces an impression created by the Los Alamos fiasco: Does this administration know what it's doing?</s>BUSH: There is no plan, it seems like to me, in Washington to increase the supply of crude oil or natural gas. There is no national energy plan.</s>SCHNEIDER: Bush says it's a problem of supply and demand. His answer: increase supply, internationally...</s>BUSH: I don't understand why the administration can't get cooperation from countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Mexico who -- to open up the spigots to increase the supply of crude oil which would drop the price of crude. These are countries with which we should have enormous amount of capital. These are countries where it wasn't all that long ago that a President Bush helped Kuwait, or United States helped Mexico.</s>SCHNEIDER: ... and domestically.</s>BUSH: ... recognize that our country better become less dependent on foreign crude. That's why I'm for the exploration of Anwar, that's why I'm for the exploration of natural gas which is hemispheric, it's not subject to price.</s>SCHNEIDER: Sure enough, Bush voters tend to blame the government while Gore voters tend to blame oil producers.</s>GORE: ... because I just learned that the big oil companies' profits for the first part of this year have just gone up 500 percent.</s>SCHNEIDER: And which candidate does the oil industry favor? Just look at the campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry: $1.5 million to Bush, less than $100,000 to Gore. So, Gore sees a convenient target.</s>GORE: I think the -- that all adds up to a need for investigation of collusion, antitrust violations and price gouging.</s>SCHNEIDER: People blame government and business about equally. So, who gets hurt? If people get mad at business, all they can do is complain. If they get mad at government, they can vote, and that's something for Gore to think about -- Judy.</s>WOODRUFF: All right, Bill Schneider, thanks very much -- Bernie.</s>SHAW: Al Gore has more on his mind this day than high gas prices, or even his announcement of his retirement savings plan. He rushed back here to Washington on the chance he may have to serve in his role as president of the Senate. Our Chris Black joins us with details from the Hill -- Chris.</s>CHRIS BLACK, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Bernie, Vice President Al Gore took a detour from the second week of his prosperity and progress tour to leave Kentucky, moving his speech up by 40 minutes, to fly back here and break what they think is a dead-even vote on expanding federal jurisdiction for hate-crimes legislation, or hate-crimes prosecution. The bipartisan amendment to the spending bill would increase the categories for federal prosecutors of hate crimes from the current three -- race, religion, and national origin -- to six. The new categories are gender, sexual orientation, and disability. The roll-call vote is going on right now in the United States Senate. Gore as the vice president gets to break tie votes, it's his -- one of his few constitutional roles. He came back from the campaign trail just a month ago to do the same thing, but in the end his vote wasn't needed. Today, as he talked to reporters on Air Force 2 flying back from Kentucky, he told them why he thinks this legislation is important.</s>GORE: I personally don't understand why it's so difficult to see that these crimes are really different. They're fueled by a force of hatred that is unnatural, and can lead the perpetrator to do horrible things, and unless that's singled out for punishment and identified for what it is, then we're not being true to ourselves in saying that's inconsistent with the United States of America.</s>BLACK: The vice president has been pushing an expansion of hate crimes jurisdiction in his -- on the campaign trail and President Clinton has been pushing this for three years. The president made some phone calls to wavering senators yesterday from Houston, but Republicans say it's not necessary. In fact, the Senate just approved in a 50-49 roll-call vote an amendment sponsored by Senator Orrin Hatch, which would have the Justice Department conduct a study on hate crimes -- Judy.</s>WOODRUFF: All right, Chris Black reporting from the Capitol, thanks. And now to Gore's main event of this day, the formal unveiling of his retirement savings proposal. Our John King traveled with Gore to Kentucky.</s>JOHN KING, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With the rollout of the new plan came a clear contrast.</s>GORE: My plan is Social Security plus, not Social Security minus. It's the best of both worlds, not the worst of both worlds.</s>KING: The vice president calls his new program "retirement savings plus." It would cost $200 billion over 10 years and offer government subsidies to encourage workers to invest up to $2,000 a year in tax-free supplemental private retirement accounts. Couples making less than $30,000 a year would get $3 in government money for each $1 they contribute. Couples making $30,000 to $60,000 a year would get a one-for-one match from the government. And couples in the $60,000 to $100,000 income range would get 33 cents from the government for every $1 they invest in the 401(k)-style accounts. Income limits for individuals would be one-half the amount for couples.</s>GORE: If you believe that we shouldn't have to choose between the Social Security you have earned, and the savings and investments you deserve, then join with me and we will win this fight.</s>KING: Governor Bush takes a different approach. He favors allowing workers to divert a small percentage of their Social Security payroll taxes into private investment accounts. Those who choose this option would get slightly reduced Social Security benefits. But Bush argues earnings from the private account would more than make up the difference without creating the costly new government subsidy Gore proposes.</s>NEIL NEWHOUSE, GOP POLLSTER: It's those 45- to probably 60- years-olds who this is really geared toward. A big chunk of the electorate. They always -- they absolutely always vote. And right now, Gore has a significant deficit among those voters compared to where Bill Clinton was against Bob Dole.</s>KING: The vice president's first stop on week two of his Progress and Prosperity Tour was aimed at making up some of that lost ground. Kentucky has just eight electoral votes, but is considered a bellwether in presidential politics. Bill Clinton narrowly carried the state twice, but Kentucky was solidly in the Republican column in 1988.</s>GORE: If you believe that America can be better off still in terms of our affluence and in terms of our spirit four years from this day, then I want your vote.</s>KING: Gore advisers acknowledge Governor Bush got a head start in appealing to voters worried about retirement savings, but they predict the vice president's plan will have more appeal in the end. (on camera): And as that competition unfolds in the months ahead, both candidates are facing criticism that their plans do little to deal with the financial crisis facing Social Security in about 25 years as more of the baby boomers retire and the system begins paying out more than it's taking in. John King, CNN, Lexington, Kentucky.</s>SHAW: And we have an addition to our lead story about those high gas prices in certain Midwestern states, especially Illinois and Michigan. Vice President Gore this afternoon said that he is asking for a meeting of governors most affected. The vice president is asking the energy secretary, Bill Richardson, and EPA administrator Carol Browner to contact governors of states most affected by those high gas prices. The vice president wants a meeting so the federal government and the states can work together and come up with solutions. Still ahead here on</s>INSIDE POLITICS: Al Gore's plan to help retirees.</s>GORE: It does not come at the expense of Social Security. It comes in addition to Social Security. We will protect Social Security.</s>SHAW: The nuts, the bolts of Gore's plan and a look at how it differs from the Bush proposal.