Steve Benson for May 01, 2011

He seems to have an endless supply of gas.

So? Quit frowning and take some action against the speculators.

“Then when you put Energy Czars in place that think 10$ would be a good thing and Europe’s price is just great well what do you expect.”

Europe’s gas prices were mostly tax that pays for mass transit systems. American gas prices do little more than line the pockets of oil company executives.

“But no lib lie #12 it is always someone else fault.”

That would be bi-partisan. Bush blamed most of the stuff that went wrong on Clinton.

“Let not we foreget the oil company has a profit margin even if they are taking in a record profit the margin is the same when they were charging 2$ when Obama came into Office.” I work with a Republican who admitted to me she thought that was suspicious.

Did you notice in 2008 that as it got closer to November and it was becoming more obvious the Democrats were going to win, gas prices started dropping? Did you notice that when the Republicans regained their Congressional majority, the price started rising back up towards the W era highs?

“And where are all the crys of how Obama is a big bad oil man wanting to line the pockets of his friends”

Ummmm…. The Bush family are actually friends with oil executives. That isn’t an accusation, it’s a fact that was known long before they took office. They have personal friends and ties in the industry. W was made executive of his own oil company (before he somehow managed to bankrupt it). To my knowledge, the Obama’s have never demonstrated any personal friendships with any people in the oil industry.

“oh wait he has a D next to his name..move along..nothing to cry about..”

Not that you would notice, but we’ve done plenty of complaining that Obama didn’t go after BP, that he doesn’t stand up to Republicans, that most of his tough talk turns to capitulation. We’re not giving him the free pass you gave Bush.

Run along before your late for the next birther meeting. Shouldn’t you be demanding Obama’s elementary school transcripts by now?

In my opinion, Presidents can’t do much about gas prices.

Even if you price-fix, you may end up with empty gas tanks in the ground, making lower prices moot.

^And tapping the Strategic Oil Reserves won’t help either. It’s been tried at least once, and didn’t work.

What can be done, and I’ll admit it’s no cure-all, is to start re-regulating the oil-futures markets. I personally believe that not a little of what’s going on at the gas pump has to do with unchecked speculation on the price of petroleum.

At least the President realizes that the high gasoline prices are stalling our economic recovery. That is something the last president didn’t admit to. Notice thelarge jump in gasoline prices after the tornado devastation in the South??

“Poor little oil companies”- WHO do you think is raking in that price per barrel at over $100? Who’s modifying old refineries to increase production, without meeting new standards? Who’s controlling the pump price with distribution? Who’s speculating? In my state, the total gas tax is 47 cents (fed + state)- so where does the other $3.57 go? Simple fact is that supply still meets demand. International nature of supply is NOT dependent on “domestic” production, and will not change even if domestic leases existing ARE developed.

Oil and water don’t mix. Oil and intelligent consumers don’t either. The oil game is three card monty, with three jokers.

No harley…we didn’t notice any of that. For the simple reason it didn’t happen….not to the degree it’s happening now anyway.

And WHAT oil fields did Bush open up? Be specific here

The CEO of Exxon-Mobile testified before Congress that approximately 2% of their domestic product is used in the U.S. The rest is exported. He also said that approximately the same would be true of production in ANWAR if drilling were allowed there. The Dems said they would approve drilling there if assured that 100% of the product were used domestically.

put heavy reg on futures market in USA and singapore market will grow

“Did you notice old Fashion supply and demand?”

It can’t possibly be supply & demand right now, it must be Obama’s fault.

“Oh, I Obama killed Osama, Re elect me-re elect me”

Is that the same Osama bin Laden Bush wanted “dead or alive” and then swept under the rug in preparation of his unnecessary invasion of Iraq based on “evidence” he knew was fake?

Job well done. Now Obama just needs to /finally/ get us out those two wars Bush started.

Partisan snipping and bickering aside, killing bin Laden isn’t going to stop terrorism. It’s like killing a CEO of a major corporation. Someone will take his place, just as others took the place of the key members of bin Laden’s staff that were killed during the Bush Administration. If this is a victory, it’s highly empirical.

^I thought he didn’t spend much time looking for him.

Regarding the toon Harleykinns, did you know that Mobil is sitting on land that has oil, yet refuse to drill on it? I wonder if they LIKE the price of oil being that high that they don’t put more in the market. After all if supply increases and demand remains the same, the price of the product goes down.

WRONG harley…the price of gas went through the roof in 2008. No new wars and no new disasters required.

Also, that little war in Iraq wasn’t some unforseen event, it was started at the behest of Bush. And DON’T give me that, ‘the Dems voted for it’ BS either. They voted for military action yes…but that does not automatically mean a full scale INVASION. ( Google, ‘Operation Desert Fox’ for an example. )

Besides, that’s like a cop pulling over speeder and holding the passengers as culpable as the driver…and as I recall, the righties were more than happy to have Bush OWN the Iraq war, the day he made his ‘Mission Accomplished’ speech.

Lastly…why do all your posts of late read like movie dialogue, written for a guy playing a tweaker?

I say it’s a mixed bag. Speculators found an easy way to get rich by screwing us. Obama wanted higher gas prices to push his “green” agenda and push the cap & tax plan which would further add a carbon tax on our driving.

Now some would say, great idea. But as someone who can better empathize with the lower paid Americans, I can say that this is an egregious act… that if it were Reps doing it, the Reps would be demonized as haters of the average and poor Americans for destroying their ability to own and drive their own car. After all, we can’t afford the super expensive Volt (let alone be able to plug it up), nor can we afford any new car.

Or would they now create a sub-prime car loan problem too?

So there is a bit of supply & demand and some of that is Obama’s fault… but there is a hefty amount of speculator involvement as well.

I just think, and maybe cynically so, that Obama just doesn’t really care because his ideology trumps all.

If so, that would be another case of poorly thought out ideology from the Left, where in a decision is followed for good intentions (making a greener planet) but resulting in horrible consequences that the Right foresaw but the Left wouldn’t listen too… (impoverishing avg Americans and being even more cruel to the already impoverished, and possibly ruining the economy overall).

I will say this… I hope I am wrong and that, instead, Obama’s desire to be re-elected outweighs his ideology… and that he doesn’t make decisions with blinders on.

“the price went sky high when China bought up every drop they could for the Olympics”

I recall reading several newspaper articles on how Chinese shuddered several industries and a took sh*t load of cars off the road before the Olympics started in order to lessen the massive smog and pollution problem around Beijing. One would think their consumption went down or stayed the same during the Olympics. Do you have an news sources that give some kind of estimate on the rise of Chinese oil consumption during said time period?

That’s a no.

Why is it that even the gas that stays domestic is sold at world commidity prices? I am sorry, but there is something a little fishy about how oil is bought and traded.