Bush ‘open to any ideas’ to lower gas prices

He said he is ‘open to any ideas,’ including a proposal backed by presidential contenders John McCain and Hillary Clinton to suspend gas and diesel taxes this summer

But Bush quickly said that he favors longer-term fixes, such as encouraging new oil production in the United States and building new refineries at home. He renewed his call for opening areas of Alaska wilderness to oil exploration and production.

‘If there was a magic wand to wave, I’d be waving it, of course,’ he told reporters at a Rose Garden news conference called on short notice. ‘But there is no magic wand to wave right now. It took us a while to get to this fix.’

The president’s hour-long question-and-answer session under sunny skies came on the eve of a government report on the state of the economy in the first three months of the year.

‘It’s a tough time for our economy,’ Bush said.

Many business analysts believe the economy already has slipped into recession, but the president ‘ as in the past ‘ declined to use that term.

‘You know, the words on how to define the economy don’t reflect the anxiety the American people feel,’ the president said. ‘You know, the average person doesn’t really care what we call it.’

Bush was asked about a proposal to suspend fuel taxes for the summer travel season, first made by Republican McCain and later endorsed by Democrat Clinton but not by her rival, Barack Obama. The tax is 18.4 cents per gallon of gasoline and 24.4 cents on diesel fuel. The average price of a gallon of gas has reached $3.60 nationwide.

‘I’m open to any ideas and we’ll analyze anything that comes up,’ he said. But Bush also said he didn’t want to inject himself into the ongoing presidential race and favored longer term alternatives.

Bush renewed his objection to calls that the government discontinue keeping up the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve supply while oil prices are so high. ‘If I thought it would affect the price of oil significantly, I would seriously consider it,’ he said of an idea embraced by many Democrats and some Republicans.

Bush also said it is important to keep filling the reserve, in underground salt domes in Texas and Louisiana, in case there is a terror attack on the nation’s oil supplies. He also once again called for Congress to permit drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a proposal he has made repeatedly since he first took office in 2001, and to pave the way for the building of new refineries.

The president revived an earlier proposal that shuttered military bases be used as sites for new refineries. In the past, oil and energy experts have expressed little interest in that, saying military bases often aren’t situated where the oil pipelines are anyhow.

He sidestepped a question on whether there should be a second stimulus package. Rebates started to go out this week as part of a $168 billion stimulus package enacted in February.