Well even I agree for once with Howard Dean
"Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, seized on that comment. He said that while Bush was "asking ordinary Americans to do more, he ought to show some real leadership, and call on his friends in Big Oil to join in the sacrifice and stop gouging American families at the gas pump.""
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Bush warns looters, urges Americans conserve gas
Sep 01 4:25 PM US/Eastern
By Steve Holland
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush said on Thursday looters in New Orleans and elsewhere in the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina should be treated with "zero tolerance" and urged Americans not to buy gasoline if they do not need it because of looming shortages.
"It's going to be hard to get gasoline to some markets," Bush said.
As the crisis along the U.S. Gulf Coast intensified and the federal government came under fire from frantic storm victims, Bush pleaded for time in the struggle to rescue the stranded and get them food, water and shelter.
"We all know this is an agonizing time for the people of the Gulf coast," Bush said. "I ask their continued patience as recovery operations unfold."
He announced his father, former President George Bush, and former President Bill Clinton, will lead a fund-raising effort in the United States for hurricane relief, as they did for the December 26, 2004, Asian tsunami.
With gas prices soaring above $3 a gallon and threatening the U.S. economy, Bush met with Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and his economic advisers about Katrina's economic impact.
Bush said they all agreed the storm's damage to the gas supply was a "temporary disruption" and urged Americans to use prudence in filling up over the next few weeks.
"Don't buy gas if you don't need it," he said in Oval Office remarks with his father and Clinton at his side.
Gasoline sellers have been fast to raise prices, to more than $3 a gallon and in some places far higher, because of a sudden drop in supplies, prompting accusations they are artificially setting high prices to profit from the disaster.
Asked in an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America" if U.S. oil companies should forfeit profits during the crisis, Bush said instead American corporations should contribute cash to hurricane relief funds.
Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, seized on that comment. He said that while Bush was "asking ordinary Americans to do more, he ought to show some real leadership, and call on his friends in Big Oil to join in the sacrifice and stop gouging American families at the gas pump."
On Capitol Hill, members of the U.S. Congress cut short their summer break and were expected soon to approve an initial emergency aid package for Katrina victims likely to total about $10 billion.
The hurricane and its aftermath have handed Bush his greatest emergency since the September 11, 2001, attacks. They come as he struggles with the Iraq war, a leading reason his public approval ratings have dropped to among the lowest of his presidency.
Bush will travel to the coastal area on Friday for an aerial tour of the disaster and make a couple of stops on the ground. He will see New Orleans as well as the battered coast of Alabama and Mississippi.
In the ABC's interview, Bush drew no line between those looting stores for survival supplies like food and water and those stealing television sets that are of no use with electricity out in New Orleans.
"I think there ought to be zero tolerance of people breaking the law during an emergency such as this, whether it be looting, or price-gouging at the gasoline pump or taking advantage of charitable giving, or insurance fraud," Bush said.
Looting has run rampant in New Orleans as stranded victims of Hurricane Katrina await emergency assistance.
To combat lawlessness, the military is increasing the National Guard force on the storm-ravaged Gulf coast to 30,000, and 3,000 regular Army soldiers may also be sent to help in New Orleans.
The boost would bring to nearly 50,000 the number of part-time Guard and active-duty military personnel committed to the biggest domestic relief and security effort in U.S. history after Monday's onslaught by killer Hurricane Katrina.
Bush temporarily waived the Jones Act, which will allow foreign tankers to deliver oil to U.S. ports to ease disruptions in oil supplies. He said the government was working with energy companies to repair and reactivate major refineries and pipelines.
Bush acknowledged these steps would not solve the problem of getting enough gasoline to market.
Bush also said he expected Saudi Arabia to do "everything they can" to provide more oil, although he noted the Saudis had "limited capacity" to do so.
He said the United States could take care of itself and did not expect to tap contributions from foreign countries. White House spokesman Scott McClellan, however, said foreign offers of assistance were welcomed and Washington would pursue them.
In the interview, Bush defended his own decision to wait until Wednesday to return to Washington and cut short by a couple of days a four-week working vacation at his Texas ranch. Now is not a time to play politics, he said to Democratic critics.
(Additional reporting by Caren Bohan and Adam Entous)
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