Bush Talks King Dollar and Drill, Drill, Drill (But Where’s John McCain?)

President Bush led his Rose Garden news conference today with this statement: “We’re strong-dollar people in this administration.” Perfect. It’s a true King Dollar message, and hopefully he’ll carry it to the G8 meeting next week.

It’s unfortunate the administration doesn’t seem ready to back this strong rhetoric with some old-fashioned intervention. The Treasury has the authority to buy dollars and sell euros in the open market. Better yet, it can coordinate these efforts with Jean Claude Trichet of the European Central Bank. President Bush and Treasury man Paulson also are forgetting the key word: “appreciate.” As in appreciate the dollar. That would be a head turner on Wall Street and on global foreign-exchange markets.

But the strong-dollar message is very welcome.

And so is the president’s continued drill, drill, drill offensive. He made it front and center in the Rose Garden, too -- which has me wondering. Where in the world is John McCain on this? Why isn’t the senator saying drill, drill, drill, and pummeling Barack Obama with this message every single day?

That’s the thrust of my latest column. You can read it here.