The Rising Influence of Rising Affluence

[haysaw]

big differences between tobacco and oil: oil ain't addictive

Well, I know a former US Prez that disagrees with you :) From the New York Times archives (Ps., I highlighted the last two sections because of its fitting relationship to a current Prez candidate's agenda, with the final sentence suitably representing the likely outcome should his victory come to fruition):

Bush: 'America is addicted to oil'
By ELISABETH BUMILLER and ADAM NAGOURNEY FEB. 1, 2006

WASHINGTON — President Bush offered the United States a modest menu of energy, health and education proposals and warned against the "false comfort of isolationism" in a State of the Union address on Tuesday that sought to reassert his control over the nation's agenda heading into a pivotal midterm election campaign.

In one of his most striking declarations, Mr. Bush said that "America is addicted to oil" and set a goal of replacing 75 percent of the nation's Mideast oil imports by 2025 with ethanol and other energy sources.

But even that goal was more modest than it might have appeared— the United States gets less than 20 percent of its oil from the Persian Gulf —and the speech was notable largely for a lack of big new proposals from a president who for five years has not shied away from provocative and politically risky initiatives.

To his familiar call about ending"tyranny in our world," Mr. Bush added a new framework that sought to address the anxieties created by a rapidly changing economy and an aging society. The answer, Mr. Bush, was not to turn inward.

"In a complex and challenging time, the road of isolationism and protectionism may seem broad and inviting, yet it ends in danger and decline," Mr. Bush said, his voice forceful and steady after days of practicing his delivery and editing and re-editing his words. "The only way to protect our people, the only way to secure the peace, the only way to control our destiny is by our leadership, so the United States of America will continue to lead."

The only alternative to American leadership, he said, "is a dramatically more dangerous and anxious world."