VIDEO: President Bush flip flops on oil company tax breaks, unaware of $4/gallon gas predictions

This morning in a press conference, President Bush was asked about statements he made on tax breaks for oil companies (see video below the fold). Yesterday, in support of the Energy tax bill (which the President threatened veto), Rep. Steny Hoyer quoted Bush as having said that oil companies do not need incentives when oil is at $55 a barrel (again, see video below). Bush says he talked about taking back "some" tax breaks from oil companies, or at least "certain aspects."

Did Rep. Hoyer misquote The President? Here is exactly what he said in 2005: "And so one of the initiatives that I will push, again, is to get an energy bill out. I will tell you with $55 oil we don't need incentives to oil and gas companies to explore. There are plenty of incentives. What we need is to put a strategy in place that will help this country over time become less dependent. It's really important. It's an important part of our economic security, and it's an important part of our national security."

President Bush also took a few questions on gas prices and said he was unaware analysts were predicting $4 for a gallon of gas (video after the jump). W must not be a regular AutoblogGreen reader, because we first wrote about predictions of $4 for a gallon for gas last October. We wonder if the Commander-in-Chief knows that oil hit a new high of $102.74/barrel today, which tops the inflation-adjusted high of $102.53? Dana Perino spin-control mode in 3...2...1...

[Source: White House, C-SPAN]

The video meant to be presented here is no longer available. Sorry for the inconvenience.

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