By Adam Entous
APPLETON, Wis., March 30 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush accused Democrat John Kerry on Tuesday of trying to increase gasoline taxes and warned of "damaging" consequences to the economy with prices already at a record high.
With an election-year battle brewing over prices at the gas pump, Bush launched a preemptive strike against Kerry's plan to reduce fuel costs, while defending his trade policies and warning, "Tax and spend is the enemy of job creation."
"We don't need to be raising the federal gas tax.... It would be damaging to the economy not positive to the economy," Bush said during his ninth visit to Wisconsin, a battleground state that has lost about 80,000 manufacturing jobs since he took office.
Outside, hundreds of protesters chanted, "Bush go home," and "Down with Bush."
The U.S. Energy Information Administration on Monday announced the average nationwide price of regular unleaded gasoline had set a new high of $1.758 per gallon. The agency has predicted prices will march higher in April and May due to tight supplies.
Bush made no direct mention of record high gas prices, but aides said he was concerned about them and that his administration was reaching out to OPEC ministers, who will meet on Wednesday in Vienna to decide whether to go ahead with a planned output reduction of 1 million barrels a day in April.
In a new television advertisement, the Republican president delivered a similar message accusing Kerry of wanting to increase gasoline taxes.
"WACKY IDEAS"
"Some people have wacky ideas, like taxing gasoline more so people drive less. That's John Kerry," said the Bush ad, which began airing on Wednesday in 18 battleground states and nationally on cable television.
The Bush campaign claimed Kerry voted 11 times for gasoline tax increases and was quoted in a 1994 interview as supporting a 50-cent a gallon increase. But Kerry says he never favored such a move and would not support one now.
His campaign aides blamed the gasoline price increase on the "failed policies" of Bush -- a former Texas oilman -- and said Kerry would pressure oil-producing nations to increase production and temporarily suspend filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
The White House, in turn, blamed Congress for failing to pass Bush's energy legislation, but he offered no short-term measures to help consumers at the pump.
"What we need are comprehensive solutions, not patchwork crisis management," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters.
He said the administration continues "to engage with major (oil) producers around the world about the importance of letting the market determine the prices."
But he brushed aside suggestions that the administration suspend filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
"It's important that we have the necessary resources in the event of a severe disruption of supply," McClellan said.
He cited unnamed "independent analysts" as saying "doing anything there would have a negligible impact (on prices) ... and recent history kind of confirms that as well." (Additional reporting by Steve Holland)