That’s the only explanation for grading himself higher than A-minus when asked to grade his policies effects on gas prices.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu told a House panel Tuesday that he’d give himself top marks when asked to grade his policies’ effects on energy prices. Rep. Darrell Issa, the chairman of the House committee on Oversight and Government Reform, asked President Obama’s top energy official if he’d grade himself with an “A minus” on “controlling the cost of gasoline at the pump.”
Chu responded by saying he’d give himself a better grade than that.
“The tools we have at our disposal are limited, but I would I say I would give myself a little higher in that since I became Secretary of Energy, I’ve been doing everything I can to get long-term solutions,” Chu said.
Chu would give himself the top grade on gas prices despite that fact that the average price for a gallon of gas just hit $3.87 – the highest ever recorded in the month of March, according to ABC News.
Maybe he misunderstood the question.
It was Dr. Chu who held the position that America needed to see gasoline prices reach European levels. It was Chu who stated that his goal was to decrease American dependence on oil, not lower prices. And, it was Chu who had to backpedal these positions when Obama’s poll numbers started to plummet due to these policies.
Of course, it was his boss who held the belief that energy prices would have to “necessarily skyrocket” under his policies. He also expressed disappointment in a 2008 interview about high gas prices – not that they were high, but that they were just climbing too quickly.
So I guess that if he was thinking about his grade in light of these objectives, he probably does deserve a higher grade. However, if he was taking the question at face value, he was clearly grading himself on a curve.
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