Hill finds time to talk about gas prices-- instead of acting to fix them or debating them

When Baron made his excuses for not wanting to debate me on gas prices, his spokeswoman said he "is worried about acting on the problems, not debating them".

There are many problems with this claim:

-Hill repeatedly demanded debates from then-Rep. Mike Sodrel in May 2006, insisting that debates were quite important-- and presumably more important than Mike "acting on the problems". It seems (odd and convenient) that action is now preferred to debate.

-Hill made time on Saturday to talk about gas prices-- with people in a grocery store. He showed up at the Jay-C Food Store in Sellersburg to talk about gas prices for an hour. While I appreciate Baron's desire to be in touch with his constituency, the District would have been far better served by an hour of talking with me publicly about the issues.

-Hill will not take any significant and useful actions on this issue.

From Mary Jane Maytum in the Jeff/NA News-Tribune, we read that Baron is considering "re-regulating the commodities markets as a short-term solution". Huh? I guess that's why he doesn't want to debate. You can say that sort of thing to someone in a grocery store-- in what could have been a private discussion. But try saying something like that on camera in a debate with an economist nearby!

Then again, that may the best card Baron has to play on this issue (aside from reducing the Strategic Petroleum Reserve--a good but modest idea). The Dems like to restrict supply a lot, so that's a big problem. Baron, like most of our reps in Congress, votes for big spending and debt, so he likes to weaken the dollar and drive up the price of imported oil.

Baron is in a catch-22 on this issue: he ought to debate, but it'd be quite painful for him to do so...