UPDATE: Sen. Bayh: Nation's debt partly to blame for high gas prices

by Leanne Tokars (ltokars@wsbt.com)

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Indiana Senator Evan Bayh visited South Bend

Indiana Senator Evan Bayh visited South Bend on Tuesday, March 18, 2008. (WSBT photo)

By Beth Boehne

Story Created: Mar 18, 2008 at 11:18 AM EST

Story Updated: Mar 18, 2008 at 4:38 PM EST

SOUTH BEND — Indiana Senator Evan Bayh stopped in South Bend Tuesday and went on the attack over the nation's debt.

Bayh calls Washington fiscally irresponsible, and says one of the results of being in so much debt is it makes the dollar worth less, and in return we see high gas prices.

"Running up these debts means the dollar will be cheaper, gasoline will be more expensive, interest rates will be higher and our economy will be more sluggish," said Bayh.

He says the new federal budget will add at least $2 trillion to the country's debt in the next 5 years. Already the U.S. is more than $9 million in debt.

"You can't spend beyond your means year after year after year without it coming back to bite you, and that's what we have going on right now, " exclaimed Bayh.

WSBT asked Senator Bayh how we can get some relief at the pump.

He says there's no easy answer, but he offered some ways to at least stabilize the prices over the next year.

He says we should diversify our fuel sources and produce more ethanol here at home. He also says we need to give more incentives to build high mileage vehicles here.

He also focused on the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, where millions of barrels of oil are stored in case of a crisis.

"That's very important. I'm all for maintaining it; I’m actually for adding to it,” Sen. Bayh said. “But one of things we can do right now is to stop buying oil to put into our strategic reserve. That will bring demand down and maybe a few pennies here or there and get the cost at the pump down. So the government shouldn't be buying oil that it doesn't need today, right now, with prices so high. That's one thing we can do."

The idea of making more high mileage vehicles sounds good to Sarah Donohue at Jordan Toyota. She says when the gas prices jumped, so too did the demand for vehicles that get more miles per gallon.

"The Prius, about two to three weeks ago, we had 15 to 18 on our lot. Now, we are down to three," said Donohue.

Along with a struggling economy also comes concerns over jobs. Hundreds of local employees have been laid off in the last month.

WSBT asked Senator Bayh what he can do to protect jobs.

He pointed the finger at China. Bayh says the most important thing the U.S. can do is strengthen its stance with China to create a more level playing field.

Senator Bayh will accompany Senator Hillary Clinton as she campaigns in Indiana on Thursday.

He says he supports Clinton because he's known her for 20 years and feels her strengths and experience is what's needed now.

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