SAN FRANCISCO — Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kerry will announce a plan today in San Diego for reining in skyrocketing gas prices, saying President Bush has done nothing to stop increases that are hurting average Americans.
Kerry's campaign said Monday night that the candidate would use a rally at UC San Diego this morning to propose increasing pressure on OPEC to produce more crude oil and to suggest that the United States should temporarily let supplies in its Strategic Petroleum Reserve be depleted, making more gasoline available for consumers.
The presumptive Democratic nominee will introduce the issue a day after Vice President Dick Cheney accused him of supporting some 350 tax increases during his time in the Senate, including gasoline tax hikes.
"After voting three times to increase the gas tax and once proposing to increase it by 50 cents a gallon, he now says he doesn't support it," Cheney said Monday before the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington.
Kerry's camp fired back at the Bush administration.
"While candidate Bush promised to address gas prices, he has simply let the problem fester," said a statement from the Kerry campaign Monday.
"Increased gas prices are costing a typical family $289 more a year. Higher gas prices is just the latest example of how the Bush economy is hurting American families."
Kerry's argument will be supported by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who has scheduled a conference call with reporters today to suggest that rising gasoline prices under Bush have cost consumers $24 billion.
The issue is likely to remain at the forefront of the campaign in coming days, as the Bush camp responds to Kerry's proposal and both sides try to persuade consumers that they would do more to bring down prices.
Most of Kerry's day Monday centered not on gas prices but on meeting voters and financial donors in Sacramento and San Francisco, a trip that will continue today in Southern California.
Kerry will then fly tonight to Boston, where he will undergo surgery Wednesday to repair a shoulder injury. He will spend four days away from the campaign trail.
The highlight of the Massachusetts senator's day was a fundraiser for 1,200 people at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco that raised nearly $3 million, organizers said.
