-
Neighborhood Watch, Anyone?
May 14, 2013 | 19 comments
-
We’re Still Going Backward
April 18, 2013 | 30 comments
-
Street Level Anti-Capitalism
April 8, 2013 | 71 comments
-
Snazzy Sequestered Screeners
March 8, 2013 | 13 comments
-
Welfare’s Failure Amid Red Ink
February 7, 2013 | 23 comments
The Obama Watch
Obama’s Gas Line
Alas for him, the hikes in gasoline prices are eclipsing his vaunted payroll tax cut.
The Washington politicians were in full self-congratulatory form recently when the Republicans and Democrats in Congress finally displayed a moment of bipartisanship and passed the payroll tax cut extension that keeps in place the two percentage point cut in the tax that funds Social Security.
It’s probably the dumbest tax to cut, given that Social Security ran $100 billion in the hole over just the past two years and the official projection from the Social Security and Medicare boards of trustees shows an ever-rising level of red ink: “After 2014, cash deficits are expected to grow rapidly as the number of beneficiaries continues to grow at a substantially faster rate than the number of covered workers.”
The White House said the two point cut in the payroll tax will put an extra $80 a month in the take-home pay of people making $50,000 a year, leaving out the part about the level of federal red ink subsequently rising by an extra $93 billion over the next decade.
To the people who responded to President Obama’s request and emailed their stories to the White House about how not getting the $80 a month (or $40 per month if you’re making $25,000 — $1.33 a day) would impact their lives, Obama senior adviser David Plouffe, following the enactment of the extension, sent an email to each, saying “We still have a lot of work to do” and attaching a photograph of Obama.
The president said the payroll tax extension would especially help families who are struggling to fill their gas tanks: “It means $40 extra in their paycheck, and that $40 helps to pay the rent, the groceries, the rising cost of gas — which is on a lot of people’s minds right now.”
Well, forget about this cut paying the landlord or the food bill.
Just the price increase at the pumps since Obama took office, up from $1.85 per gallon in January 2009 to nearly $4 today, costs an extra $40 on every 20 gallon fill-up.
And as an indication of what might be next, gas prices hit $5.89 for regular in Florida last week and $6.34 in Alaska.
Add a shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran and we’ll be back taking a bus to work, except the buses are being mothballed across the country because of money shortages.
State-run Iranian news agency Mehr said last week that “no country” could cope with the shock to oil prices if the strait is closed.
“If the strait was shut, we estimate a $40 to $50 per barrel rise,” said Gary Hornby, energy market analyst at Inenco, one of the UK’s longest established energy consultancies.
That’s nearly a 50 percent jump over the current price. Transferred to the pump, it’s a gas price of $6 to $8 per gallon.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration says the average U.S. household purchases 1,100 gallons of gasoline per year. That means the $2 per gallon increase since Obama took office is costing the average family an extra $2,200 a year.
At $6 or $8 per gallon, it’s an increase, respectively, of $4,400 or $6,600 per household per year over the cost in January 2009.
And major cutbacks in usage aren’t realistic, given that much of our driving is mandatory and there aren’t any easy substitutes for gasoline. It’s not like switching to tomato juice when a Florida freeze triples the price of orange juice.
Clearly, it’s time for Obama to reverse himself on his drilling and pipeline delays and to drop his State of the Union proposal for a $40 billion tax hike on America’s oil and gas companies over the next decade.
A Chevy Volt that explodes three days after it’s bumped isn’t going to do the job.
About the Author
Ralph R. Reiland is the B. Kenneth Simon professor of free enterprise and an associate professor of economics at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (117) | Leave a comment
More Articles by Ralph R. Reiland
More Articles From The Obama Watch
http://spectator.org/archives/2012/03/01/obamas-gas-line
Follow us:
ADVERTISEMENT
Current Issue
- Of Wizards and Weapons
- Self-Righteous Republic
- Ailes: A Voice for the Silent Majority
SPONSORED LINKS
FLASHBACK TO: 1995
-
Pope Culture
A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
-
Why the GOP Does Not, Like, Totally Suck
Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
-
Dames at Sea
-
In the Absence of Guns
In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
-
The Metaphysical Martini
-
Counting the Costs of Clintonism
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
-
Chuck McHagel
It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
-
The Legacy of Old John and Mother Fresh-Roasted
-
It’s the Best Time of the Year
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
-
The Bush Crack-Up
Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy?
Clip of the Day
ADVERTISEMENT
Frank Drackman| 3.1.12 @ 6:46AM
Ironicly, the overall Income/FICA rate is 2% lower than the Supposedy disastrous Bush Tax Cuts...
Coupled with the Afghanistan Surge, Git-Mo Expansion-Bin-Laden-Dead, its almost like I woke up after 3 years to a Dick Chaney Presidency...
And how bout a Dick Chaney Favorite Son Candidacy? I still think he could have won in 08'.
And I know, he needs a Heart transplant, he's probably a lower risk of dropping dead suddenly(he's got the implantable De-fib) than our secretly smoking Peas-Eater-in-Cheese...
And howcome no-ones talking about the potential dissaster a Biden Presidency would be?
He's like Claudius, without the stutter.
Frank
Timothy L. Pennell| 3.1.12 @ 8:37AM
It is Ironic, isn't it?
He Cuts Medicare by what? $500 Billion? Then he does it, again, in the Deal to prevent the Credit Rating Downgrade that got Downgraded, anyway.
His Signature "Tax Cut", eliminates the ONLY Revenue Stream to Social Security. And, since we're on the subject? Has anyone heard ANYTHING about the Solvency of Social Security, lately? What about Medicare? Have we seen or heard ANYTHING about these programs since Paul Ryan came up with his PLAN to save Medicare, and was summarily DEMONIZED as the Angel of Death for Grandma and Grandpa.
President Muslim once said, himself: "We're never gonna get anything Fixed, around here, if every time someone puts out an Idea, they get beat in to the ground for it". (I'm paraphrasing.
In recent hearings, a week or so ago, when asked by a Republican House Rep. what HIS Plan was to right our Economic Ship? The guy who said that he didn't know how to do his Taxes on line - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner responded: "We don't have a Plan. We just don't like yours."
Isn't he Great?
You know what else is Ironic? It's all of the Democrats that want to Open the Strategic Oil Reserves up, so that the INCREASE IN SUPPLY will LOWER THE PRICE. Democrats like Fck You Schumer. Why, I believe that President Vacation has already opened the Strategic Reserves once before, when the prices went up.
Who would have ever guessed that having MORE of something, would make it cost less? Is that why Diamonds cost so much and Trap Rock costs so little?
The price of Gas is High, because THEY want it high, and it's not just because they love Mother Earth. They do it because they love Benjamin Franklin. Think: Cigarettes. They want us to quit smoking so bad. They care about us. Smoking kills more people than WAR. Its' second hand smoke can Kill Kids. It's a burden on the Health Care System.
It's Legal.
If they really Cared, they would BAN it. But, it's a Cash Cow, and who doesn't love a Cash Cow?
The same is true with Expensive Gasoline. The Govt. gets a Cut. The States get a Cut. Lots of money to Buy things that will get them Re-elected.
High prices also push people to do the things that the Pharaoh wishes them to do. More Mass Transit. More Cars that nobody wants. More Control.
The higher Fuel prices also hit the Middle Class the hardest. The Rich can afford it. The poor get a subsidy. The Middle Class gets its ass kicked. And, if you are building a Dictatorship? That's exactly what you want. There's no other explanation.
"I'm not an Ideologue. I'm not."
I don't think I believe him.
vtwin| 3.1.12 @ 9:14AM
I don't want YOU to quit smoking. Go ahead enjoy your cigarettes and you don't need your fruits and veggies either.
Anthony| 3.1.12 @ 9:25AM
Not to worry vtwin, there are no fruits and veggies coming out of Calf, thanks to the radical enviro-nazis that have cut off the water to central Calf. NO WATER NO FARMS, DUH!!!!
Oh, and isn't Calf bankrupt starting today?
Not much to enjoy in Calf, is there vtwin, especially with your $6.00 a gal gas?
Toke on that moron.
vtwin| 3.1.12 @ 9:31AM
Filled my bike yesterday, $4.29/gallon.
Anthony| 3.1.12 @ 11:06AM
Wow, lucky you!! Let's give Obozo another Nobel Prize for $4.29 /gallon gas. Yeah Obozo, thank you god!!!!
My, my vtwin, you and the rest of the lefty trolls will willingly subject yourselves to anything your lord and master shoves down your throats.
Don't trip over the barbed wire as you trapse into Obozo's internment camps.
I've said it before, you and your ilk are truly pathetic.
Dmac | 3.1.12 @ 9:23AM
Timothy,
I love your common sense rants. You mention the cash cows like cigarrettes and oil. Both are bad for us. Cigarrettes kill and everything oil touches becomes contaminated.
We should all ask ourselves why, 10 years after 9-11 we are still using oil the way we do. If we had leadership in this country all automobiles produced in this country by now should be running on hydrogen by now.
A real leader within days of 9-11 would have called the CEO's of the American auto and oil industries to the White House for a meeting and told them in no un-certain terms what THEY were going to do in the interest of the nation. Hydrogen is easily produced, just run an electrical current through water(more to it than that of course, but still cheaper than refining oil and putting up with the pollution of the process).
A President with leadership would have said to the oil companies, "with the infrastructure you have in place now with gas stations all across America, I want you to start producing hydrogen as fast as you can and at the same time start converting your stations with the equipment to put it into the new automobiles the auto industry will be making. Be prepared to see 20% of all automobiles sold in the United States to run on hydrogen within a year. You and the CEO's of the auto industry are to have regular meeting to orchestrate the chang over from gasoline to hydrogen and present a plan to my office in 90 days for the complete transformation to hydrogen power in 10 years". Thats what a real leader would have done. Instead, we are still fighting wars in the middle east and Asia.
By the way, there is no pullution from hydrogen powed cars, the exhaust is water vapor.
The earth is 70% water, why aren't we doing this? Are we waiting on the Japanese or Chinese to beat us to this? We have no fricken leadership in this country.
Timothy L. Pennell| 3.1.12 @ 9:43AM
Orrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. We could just DRILL OUR OWN OIL.
Everything you wanna do, is cool. I like Solar and Wind. I like Geo Thermal and Tidal. But they are DECADES away.
We need Oil, NOW. We need Fossil Fuels to run things until the Alternatives become Available. And, by "Available" I mean: Able to bring on line WITHOUT a Government Subsidy.
Let me let you in on a little secret. It's not US, who keep the Alternatives locked in a Room, up on a Shelf. It's THEM. It's Robert Kennedy, and Steven Spielberg. It's the folks in The Hamptons, and the ones in Sag Harbour. It's the Tree Huggers, and the Environmentalists. It's the Bird Lovers and the Bug Lovers. It's the people who would Halt Construction on a much needed Children's Hospital, because the land is home to a Kangaroo Rat, or an Owl.
That's why this sh*t doesn't get done. CAPE WIND, in Cape Cod Bay. No Solar Farms in the Mojave. No Water, for Farmers, out West. No Mining for Minerals and Metals, that we NEED.
They DEMAND these things be made. Just not where they live, or where they have to look at it.
It's what's known as: A Constant in the Universe.
And, it ain't never gonna change.
Dmac | 3.1.12 @ 10:01AM
I totally agree we need oil and we need it yesterday. What I was saying is we should have developed a plan to get off of it, at least off of it for powering our automobiles.
As for who is blocking the other forms of energy, it's not just the liberals and liberal groups you mention. Their are a lot of very rich and influential people and corporations that have huge investments in oil, oil exploration, drilling, pipelines and production.
Here's a little secret for you, many of the enviromental regulations put on refiners were actually introduced by established refiners so that it would be too expensive for any Johnny come lately's to join the refining game. Not everything is as one sided as one might think.
Are you aware that we actually have a glut of refining capacity in this country? That right now, as you and I type away there are tankers filled with gasoline leaving the Port of Houston filled with gasoline. Thats righ, gasolione leaving the country, when you and I are being gouged for it. Why the hell is that happening? I guess now we'll hear from the folks that will say they can sell it for whatever prive they want. To those folks I say this, the price of gasoline has a direct affect on our economy as a whole. The less money the middle class has to spend on things other than gasoline the smaller our economy will become. It's a national security issue. Our security as a nation is directly affected by the strength or weakness of our national economy.
Al Adab| 3.1.12 @ 10:46AM
Again you make the mistake of falling back on social engineering to "solve" a problem. Domestic prodiuction needs to be sold in the domestic market. That requires new refineries for product production. Our capicity, production and reserves are more than enough for the long term future. Forcing "new technology" through government financing is chimerical at best.
This administration desires that we do less well with less. They prefer am America of less prosperity, less Liberty and one in which citizens become subjects whose "rights" are simply privileges given by a benevolent central power. Such a vision in inimicable tho the American philosophy.
Dmac | 3.1.12 @ 11:35AM
Where's my mistake Abad? I said the same thing you just said. Domestic production should be sold in the U.S.. We agree on that. What we all need to understand is that the price of gasoline in this country is manipulated. If we have enough to be exporting it, then that means domestic demand is down, and by using oil company logic, if the demand is down the price should also be down. I have no probelm with oil companies making a profit, until it gets to where their profit margin puts the countries economy in danger, and thats what we are seeing now. This isn't just Obama's fault(although blaming him for anything I can is fun and usually truthful), this goes much deeper than that. This has to do with our country having no energy policy what so ever. Nor do we have control of our natural resources. As it stands today, the government could open the whole country up for drilling today and it would have no affect on the price of a gallon of gas, not today and not in ten years. The government does not control the price of a gallon of gas other than the taxes put on it at the pump.
We keep hearing how we are using less gasoline in this country. We know we have more than we need domestically and the refiners are now exporting it. So why then is the cost of a gallon of gasoline going through the roof once again? Surely someone knows the answer.
THKrupp| 3.1.12 @ 12:07PM
So you want the government to decide on what the price of gas should be? What next? How about food, housing and salaries. Its a disastor anytime government gets involved with this sort of thing. Let the market decide. It doesnt matter where the gasoline is sold, the world price determines how much it is worth. Obviously the oil companies have found people who will pay more for our gasoline than we will. This is how it should be.
Al Adab| 3.1.12 @ 12:57PM
Correct Dmac, we are not arguing. It is simply error to expect some type of government action to "get us off oil". More nuclear plants? Of course. More natural gas? Again, of course. Those require de-regulation not additional positive actions. Any central planning carries unintended consequences and usually works against the purpose for which it is attempted.
Dmac | 3.1.12 @ 2:41PM
Not all planning necassarily works against society. All I'm talking about is power our vehicles. And it does not take large amounts of electricity to seperate the hydrogen molecule from the oxygen molecule. It takes less energy to do that than it does to build an oil rig, transport the rig, feed house and clothe the workers on the rig, the production and pipeline cost, the refining cost, the transportation cost of trucking the fuel , blah , blah blah. The reason we are in this mess is because too many of us have closed minds. It's called progress.
So lets say we never ever ger off oil, then what? I'll tell you waht, we will run out of it. Then what? We'll all be saying why the hell didn't we see that coming? You might, I won't. This country should make an effort to get our vehicles to run on something other than gasoline and preferrably not a fossile fuel at all. The country should be world leader. I guess we'll wait for the Chinese to do it for us.
Too many of you hear are so damn negative and lack the imagination or will power to do anything different. I want the country back that "put a man on the moon in this decade and return him safely to Earth". Where is that country and why are'nt more of us demanding the kind of leadership it takes to have a country that isn't afraid to do things.
Al Adab| 3.1.12 @ 5:43PM
Dmac:
I once had a propane powered vehicle. Worked great and ran fine. Natural gas conversion would be the same. Simply a matter of economics and cost benefit analysis.
SUBVET| 3.1.12 @ 11:51AM
TLP.......try google earth. Last friday went on a motorcycle ride for cancer in Mojave. On the way out to the ride at the train spur on RR flat beds there were many GE wind machines. In fact at the Mojave airport in a vacant area as far as the eye can see new wind machines are waiting to be installed. The areas are fenced off so you can't ride anywhere near them. The town of Tehachapi has been the wind center for years. As of late (1-2 years) the push to install wind generators has been on a rapid pace.
The town of Yermo has been the center of solar and is growing by leaps and bounds.
In the last 2 years on the way to the town of Wendover to see the annual attempt to be the fastest man at Bonneville, along hwy 318 to Ely many areas are fenced off along the hwy and stock piled are 100's of wind machines waiting to be erected. These guys are working overtime while we are worried about gas at $5 a gal.
Dmac | 3.1.12 @ 12:10PM
Wind farms are great, or they will be if they are ever allowed to hook up to the grid. Texas leads the nation in wind energy, problem is, most of it is not even hooked up to the grid. Corruption once again.
You know why solar power has never been fully developed? Because the local power company hasn't figured out a way to charge you for sunlight. I know, solar energy does have cost, but you get my drift.
Corporations and the government protection of them are screwing all of us. It doesn't allow for true competition or capitalism.
Timothy L. Pennell| 3.1.12 @ 1:03PM
Let's be honest, here. I said SOLAR FARMS.
No less a personage than Dianne Feinstein, put the kibosh on a proposed solar Farm in the Mojave. Turtles, Snakes, and scorpions, don'tcha know.
Al Adab| 3.1.12 @ 2:40PM
As I recall the study, it would take a wind farm about the size of Utah to replace the production of Hoover dam. Now that is a viable alternative!?
We each already have it in our power (pun intended) to take our homes off the grid should we choose to invest the money in solar, wind or others.
TrueBlue | 3.2.12 @ 11:29AM
Using Solar to power your home depends on the region you live in. In the Pacific Northwest if you accont for the initial cost alone (no maintenance costs) the panels will not provide enough of a drop in your power bill to make them worth it over their lifetime.
It may come at some point in the future, but wind and solar just aren't viable in all places. Nuclear or hydroelectric are the way to go anyway. Overall cost is less than mounting panels on every house or taking huge areas for use as wind farms and neither rely on good weather.
As for hydrogen engines, the cost is way too high for most people right now. On top of that you're talking about driving around in the ground equivalent of the Hindenburg. Hydrogen goes boom VERY easily.
Tim the Enchanter| 3.1.12 @ 12:31PM
DMac- one small correction. The Earth is not 70% water. The Surface Area of the earth is 70% water, not the volume.
THKrupp| 3.1.12 @ 12:36PM
I dont know the exact amount of electricity that it takes to separate a water molecule but its a considerable amount. Its not cheap by any stretch of the imagination. I highly doubt that its cheaper than refining oil. If it was as cheap as you say it is then companies would be doing it already. I dont know any of this for a fact but its what I would suspect. Its either a very high upfront capital cost or the operating cost is prohibitive.
Stan Redmond| 3.1.12 @ 2:20PM
Or we could harvest unicorn farts too. Then everything will be rainbow bright.
Bubba T. | 3.1.12 @ 10:15AM
THE AMERICAN ECONOMY:
"Soaring Fuel Prices, Collapsing Home Values, Government Green Energy Fraud, Buy or Go To Prison Healthcare Mandate, Fast And Furious, Free Condoms and Abortions." - Critical Issues
THE FEDERAL EXPLANATION:
"It'snotmyfaultididn'tdonothin'itwasn'tmeyoucan'tproveanything." - Barart Osimpson
THE NIGHTLY NEWS:
(crickets) - Mainstream Media
MAYBERRY TAVERN:
"Pour me a double, Otis." - Joe Taxpayer
Bobloblaw| 3.1.12 @ 9:07AM
Whats really ironic is that we now have partially privitized social security. Bush's 2005 plan was to allow voluntarily for people to put 1% into a private account. Obama has cut the rate 2% points. Now, bambam wants me to spend it, but lets say instead I put that money into an IRA, a ROTH or increase my 401K by 2%. Guess what?? We've doubled the Bush SS privitization.
Mike Hawk| 3.1.12 @ 6:58AM
It's about more than gas prices, it's about the price of fuek oils, lubricating oils, asphalt and chemicals for plastics as well as other petroleum derived essentails. THe idea by that dimbulb Chu that we are 'addicted' to oil and making the issue gasoline is a straw man. Petroleum is our life blood of the economy.
Pecos Pete| 3.1.12 @ 10:32AM
Mike: You point out an inescapable fact. Most of our modern life is a result of petroleum based products. We "maybe" could produce enough green electricity to power our homes, but how about the enormous power requirements of a manufacturing plant?
But, forget about electricity (and transportation) for a moment and think about all of the products we use everyday that require petroleum. Damn near everything is petroleum based. If you like sleeping on the floor, get rid of petroleum. Don't like eating, get rid of petroleum. If you like living life naked with no clothes, get rid of petroleum. Don't like computers, get rid of petroleum. The list could go on forever.
The stupidities of the anti-petroleum ding-bats is beyond comprehension.
Dmac | 3.1.12 @ 11:46AM
Living on the gulf coast of Texas I get to see firsthand some of the stupidity that goes on with regard to energy.
Most refiners and chemical companies use steam for some part of their process. Some of these refiners use that steam to produce/generate their own elctricity. If you drive by many of these facilities you'll see massive amounts of steam allowed to freely flow into the atmosphere. Why isn't it captured as well and is it that the refiners are not allowed to generate even more electricity and compete with the electric utility companies? We waste so much energy in this country protecting the energy providers. Here in the Houston area, the largest provider of electricity, Reliant also owns the gas company. Gee, talk about a conflict of interest and a monopoly at the same time. For those of you that don't know, the cheapest way to make electricity on a large scale is to use/burn natural gas to heat the water that produces the steam that turns the turbines that make the electricity. How is it that Texas and probably other states as well would allow such an assinide policy? I don't need to say why, we all know the answer. Corruption is all over when it comes to energy.
THKrupp| 3.1.12 @ 12:30PM
Any steam generating plant can have a cogen unit installed on it. Many of them do. Its not an uncommon situation although there is more expense to do this. You have to balance out the extra money needed for this and the increased operating and interest expenses to determine if it is economically feasible. The steam generated also has to be at a high enough pressure in order to be able to step it down from the boiler to the turbine and finally to the process. If your boilers are generating 80 pound steam theres probably not enough pressure to be able to stick a turbine in the process. I have worked at facilities that have done this and it works fairly well but the infrustructure has to be designed for it.
Are you sure that the steam you are seeing is steam that has been generated? Perhaps it could be water vapor from a vent or stack? Companies usually dont vent generated steam as condensate is fairly expensive to replace with treated water.
Dmac | 3.1.12 @ 2:26PM
I'm probably seeing mostly vapor.
Mike Hawk| 3.1.12 @ 2:51PM
You are seeing water vapor condensing. Steam is over 212 degrees F and is invisible. Steam generators revover heated condensate and recycle it back into the system. It is a somewhat complicated process but not to bad if gummint regulators aren't trying to tell you how to do it and f**k up the system.
POST American| 3.1.12 @ 7:02AM
--Great piece!
NOW ---again, an illuminating blast from the past---
"--her modernistic dwellings,
her great planetariums,
her gymnasiums, her swimming pools,
her fine public highways, her perfect factories
---The Federal Reserve has pumped
so many BILLIONS into [--NAZI--] Germany
that they dare NOT name the total."
-Rep Charles McFadden
1935
(the height of the WS engineered
'Great' Depression)
---And so, back to the trifling matter of
Warren Buffett's transporting, and exporting,
at great profit, 80% of our Alaska oil
----to the US taxpayer underwritten
and empowered Globalist 'mere--ICK--CULL'
---RED China.
Appleby| 3.1.12 @ 7:06AM
The Hippie Scum still cherish dreams of America On Bicycles; forcing people out of their cars (but not, of course the movie stars and millionaire senators and congressmen out of their federally-financed rides) is a fever dream of theirs born of never having to stand outside in weather like we are having today -- freezing rain, snow and sleet -- and watch crammed-full bus after crammed-full bus, streetcar and subway train pass us by (Tuesday I waited as five trains passed me before I could cram myself on board, supervised by union employees being paid $40 an hour plus benefits to tell me to stand away from the doors so the train could leave without me.)
I begin to get the idea that Obama and his gang are really hoping the Mayans were right and the world will end in December.
That, or they are doing what Premier Dalton "Pinocchio" McSquinty did here in Ontario: they are strewing the road with cluster bombs in hopes that the opposition will be elected and therefore stuck with the tar baby of austerity. It has backfired big time on McGuinty as he has been elected (by the socialists from Toronto) and the tar baby is growing....
Slacker| 3.1.12 @ 11:56AM
This doesn’t have anything to do with hippie scum, or bikes, or busses.
Central banker scums are enabling Obama by monetizing the gigantic deficits. Drilling and refining don’t mean shit without sound money and real interest rates. The cost of gas (and all global commodities) will go up as a hidden way to service our debt. Sooner or later we will be griping about the price of food and everything else.
Nancy in NC| 3.1.12 @ 2:52PM
Sooner just got here. I can't believe how much food has gone up within the year. I'm a careful shopper and watch prices, and it's amazing.
But of course food has gone up. It doesn't grow in the grocery store! The farmer uses petroleum products too. The price of gas affects every aspect of American life.
Has anyone wondered what will happen when the gas cartels stop using the dollar as its currency?
Slacker| 3.1.12 @ 6:46PM
How long they will accept our IOU’s is anybody’s guess but, we have bigger problems. We are not even borrowing money anymore. The Federal Reserve simply prints money. Worthless money created out of thin air. The monetary policy of desperation.
They tell us long as unemployment remains high, the Fed can print money without worrying about inflation. These are the same people who told use the stimulus would work, green energy would work, food stamps are stimulus, and the economy would be booming by now.
oldfart| 3.1.12 @ 7:33AM
Time and time again this administration demonstrates through word and deed that are are totally clueless about how a real economy works. The Marxist/Alinsky economic model, legal tender might as well be Monopoly money.
If one understands this key point then everything they are doing is perfectly logical.
numbatdog| 3.1.12 @ 7:50AM
Oldfart
They understand very well how the economy works but see it through different eyes from yours. You see a tragedy developing, they see more opportunity for holding power. You see rising poverty, they see dependency on government and therefore, power. You see rising debt, they see an excuse for ever higher taxes.
Timothy L. Pennell| 3.1.12 @ 8:38AM
Thank you.
David W| 3.1.12 @ 9:16AM
I think they really wish to see the "current" America destroyed so that they can rebuild it in their image. I can see Obama as a new Rev. Moon-like savior.
Fredrick Ward| 3.2.12 @ 2:50PM
Unfortunately, I cannot say what I would love to see him as. For Kennedy we wept, and for Obama we would cheer. The problem with that scenario is that most of the wacko liberals out there would make a martyr of him, and it might only serve to screw us over even more. I wouldn't ever do it myself, but I would definitely be happy on the day I heard the news. Whether by natural or unnatural causes Obama's death will be a cause for having a HUGE party.
Dick Nome| 3.1.12 @ 8:27AM
They are not clueless. They want to transform this country and everything they are doing is intentional. Obozo has stated such.
Timothy L. Pennell| 3.1.12 @ 8:38AM
Thank you.
Teaghan| 3.1.12 @ 8:17AM
Again, I see obama and his henchmen knowing exactly what they are doing.
Joe Arpio at 3pm EST today, will give the report of his investigation into the elegibility of obama to be on the ballot in Az. or to be president. WND will live stream it. Apparently, affiliates from all the big news corps except FOX will be there to hear the news.
I hope he has something to upset this tyrants applecart.
Timothy L. Pennell| 3.1.12 @ 8:39AM
Obama has a CONNECTICUT Social Security Number.
DRed| 3.1.12 @ 10:49AM
OH MY GOD! HE WAS BORN IN CONNECTICUT! IT'S JUST LIKE THE BOOK OF REVELATIONS FORETOLD!
or
Maybe your social security number doesn't necessarily correspond to where you were born. The truth is out there, Timmy.
Dmac | 3.1.12 @ 11:48AM
Yes, and the truth is Obam has NEVER resided in Connecticut. When his SS # is run through the federal system to varify a legal status his comes back as not legal.
DRed| 3.1.12 @ 11:53AM
You've cracked it. How can I run his SS # through the federal system to verify his legal status myself? It's amazing to me that none of his political opponents have ever figured this out, despite spending millions of dollars opposing Obama. Are they all part of the conspiracy too??
Dmac | 3.1.12 @ 12:12PM
Go to WND, they had a story on it not too long ago. Sherriff Joe Arpaio is going to have a live news comference today about the whole Obama is he legal or not thing .
Timothy L. Pennell| 3.1.12 @ 2:09PM
Don't waste your time.
His Boy, Barack, cut take a sh*t on the stage, pull out a fork, and proceed to eat. on live television, and this Dumbf*ck would pull down his pants and grab the hand lotion.
It's like trying to talk to any Cult follower.
It can't be done.
Al Adab| 3.1.12 @ 2:34PM
Dmac, the question follows, would Arpaio have made a big production of it if the investigation showed nothing? We will learn in about a half hour.
Dmac | 3.1.12 @ 4:13PM
Honestly I don't know. What I do know is that a lot of people have concerns about this and for some reason or another it keeps getting swept under the rug. I was brought up believing that the light exposes the truth. So how come Obama will not make his college records, immigration records or any record at all public?
The two things we have seen have been shown to belong to someone else(his SS card) or called a fake by expert after expert(his short form birth certificate with multiple forms of print). I just want the truth to come out.
DRed| 3.1.12 @ 4:35PM
Um, because he's a shameless publicity hound attempting to draw attention away from the federal grand jury investigating him?
SUBVET| 3.1.12 @ 12:06PM
Hey Joe..........don't forget about "his gum carrying asst." Reggie Love....wonder if they both were members of the same SPA.
John Daniel| 3.1.12 @ 8:24AM
This summer gas spikes - for reasons obvious to all except the narcissist-in-chief - precipitating hyperinflation followed by collapse of the currency. We are doomed.
Timothy L. Pennell| 3.1.12 @ 8:42AM
I hope you're right, cause it's gonna take a MELTDOWN to wake some of these people (BLACKS) up.
And they wonder why every other Group has left them in the Dust.
Dmac | 3.1.12 @ 9:34AM
Sorry Tim,
But even a complete melt down will not change what many in the black community feel. They're hatred for anything they perceive as white or American will continue no matter what. Too many are filled with hate to ever even attampt to live the life that America offers them. Their hatred blinds them to the fact that God put their forefathers through hell so their descendants might have a life in a country as wonderful as The United States of America. Some people can't see the forest through the trees. Obama and his followers fit that description.
Timothy L. Pennell| 3.1.12 @ 9:45AM
Indeed.
Frank Drackman | 3.1.12 @ 10:42AM
If God put Pubic hair on your haid' you'd be sullen and pissed too...
Anthony| 3.1.12 @ 11:34AM
Frank, You are too damn funny!!!
Are you a decendant of Henny Youngman??
Frank Drackman | 3.1.12 @ 12:16PM
Andrew Dice Youngman thank you very little..
My Wife......I Fucke* her.
My Wife says she wants to go somewhere she's never been, so I took her to a Whorehouse and Fucke* her.
Take my Wife and Fuc*her, please.
Frank
Anthony| 3.1.12 @ 2:52PM
Better hope Mrs. Drackman with her Beemer doesn't read this post or it's John Wayne Bobbit time for you pal.
Thomas F. Williams | 3.1.12 @ 12:45PM
Would God make a comment like that? Men should act as men. I'm as far right wing politically as they come, and a Christian, but comments like that are what make us look like fools. I read your responses, you're better than that Frank. Just a man to man comment.
Frank Drackman | 3.1.12 @ 2:22PM
your a Far Right Wing Christian
Well THATS your problem
I'm a Middle of the Right Wing Jew(non-practicing)
and you used the word "Come" in your post, Clean up your Act Dude,
Frank
Thomas F. Williams | 3.1.12 @ 4:25PM
Clever. You win. Thank you for my vocab lesson.
Yard| 3.1.12 @ 11:45PM
Frank and Thomas, you're both nerds.
You really think that God does not hold us accountable for every thought?
No wonder the country stinks. Grown men that are like 19 year old starry eyed frat boys.
Thomas, you want to call him "clever?"
TAS's dirty old men.
Drew| 3.1.12 @ 1:03PM
LOL... you made me spit up my coffee!
Dmac | 3.1.12 @ 2:32PM
Frank, my original comment was not meant as anything racial, it was an observation of my perception of the things I've seen and read over the last 45 years of my life.
I don't care where you stand politically, nor do I care what religion you are or are not, but your use of the english language is not civil nor needed in this thread. You wanna contribute something then feel free, but please keep it clean.
And FYI, if God had put me on this Earth with curly black hair, and dark skin I would only hope and pray that I would have a mother and father who brought me up to beleive in myself and never doubt that God loves me. A man's color has nothing to do with his character. This is the United States of America, and the sooner our governmenr stops looking at color the sooner this country might fulfill its promises to all of its people.
Frank Drackman | 3.1.12 @ 3:06PM
@ DMAC
and didn't you sell me a car once?
So who died and left you in charge?
and I'm not talkn bout Hey-Zeuss, Willis. I've read the Bible, he, I mean HE said "live and let die, I mean Live"
and he also cried, which Surpreme Beings could do back then.
and I'm 49, so respect your Elders, Hey-Zeuss said that too...
Frank
Dmac | 3.1.12 @ 4:28PM
Forty-nine, you behave like a fifteen year old. By the way, i'm older than you, so why don't you respect your elders, and if you can't respect your elders, respect you betters.
Nancy in NC| 3.1.12 @ 3:08PM
At least you didn't call them African Americans...which I find extremely distasteful. Most Africans would shun the majority of blacks in this country, and God knows the "African Americans" wouldn't last two days in Africa. In fact, I met an individual from Africa last summer and what he had to say about "African Americans" can't be posted here. A small minority refuse to participate in the victim mentality and are getting ahead even in this awful economy, but those who remain slaves of the DNC are doomed to eternal poverty and loser-hood.
Frank Drackman | 3.1.12 @ 3:54PM
That "Individual from Africa"...
was his name JohannesVonKKK-something, faint german accent, and he looks suspiciously like the South African Villain from "Lethal Weapon 2"???
Frank
Indy| 3.1.12 @ 8:47AM
Anyone notice the silence from the Left AARP on the payroll tax cut? No TV ads to call Congress to prevent the payroll tax cut from passing? Social Security is now paying out more than it is taking in, this tax cut was a direct hit to SSI and not one word from AARP?
Also, with the initial 2 month extension, what did we get? A 10 year fee baked into all new mortgages / refinanced mortgages to pay for the extension a sneaky 15 per month, great for a struggling housing market...
Timothy L. Pennell| 3.1.12 @ 10:30AM
Ya notice we never hear about HOMELESSNESS, anymore? We don't hear stories about FORECLOSURES, any more. The Media doesn't run those numbers 24/7 like they used to, a few years back. They don't lead off the Evening News with THE PRICE OF GAS, like they used to, a few years ago.
They don't talk about GUN RUNNING and the Hundreds of Deaths it has caused. They don't talk about the BILLION$ handed over to this President's Biggest Campaign Bundlers Companies. They never spoke of him NOT getting Congress' Authority to go in to Libya.
He can pretty much do whatever he wants to, as far as the Media is concerned.
What did John Edwards say about 2 AMERICAS?
One for Democrat Presidents, and one for Republican Presidents.
I really recommend everyone to GET READY for the worst. Prices are getting ready to go Nova. The Israelis WILL attack Iran, or Iran's proxies will attack Israel, who will retaliate with Full Force, and then hit Iran.
Even a Blind Man can see that.
With the Media in the Muslim's pocket, an Army of Loyal Sycophants eager take to the streets at their Dark Lord's bidding, and an Opposition Party populated by EUNICHS, I see little chance of stopping him.
We are a Minority Majority Country, now. We have more Takers than we do, Makers. We are not the people we once were. "Ask not what your Country can do for you....." has been turned on its head. The Church and our Freedoms, are under assault. Our Children are Corrupted in the Muslim's Schools. Our Livelihoods are being displaced, by a steady onslaught of UNION demanded "Free Everything". The Companies are leaving en masse . and who can blame them. Our Founding Fathers are besmirched. Our Founding Documents are IGNORED. And our Way of Life will be gone with the winds of Hope and Change.
Dmac | 3.1.12 @ 11:56AM
"The Church and our Freedoms, are under assault", you said it right Tim. So what does one do when they are assaulted? We should be in the streets! We should be the ones doing the assulting. It's because we have not been defending ourselves or being the aggressors against this tyrrany that it is happening. Bad things happen when good men do nothing. We are good men, yet we do nothing. We take it right up the _ss and do nothing but type and comment on sites like this, when what we should be doing is conspiring in our homes, our garages, the VFW hall and anywhere else with our fellow Americans of how we are going to take our country back. We all know now that the establishement, the two corrupt parties have no intent of ever letting "we the epole" have any say in who our nominees for office are. They after one hundred years of absolute rule have so corrupted our election process we will never get who we want as a nominee. We will have to fight for what is righ, they are not going to give us anything. They will only take. So we must become takers as well, and take what it ours back from them. Our right to life,,liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. If a rag tag group of farmers and merchants could take down the greatest power on earth 240 years ago, surely intelligent people like us can do the same.
Tim the Enchanter| 3.1.12 @ 12:44PM
Hope you're not including Clint, Jack, vtwin, and the other trolls in that assessment.
Dmac | 3.1.12 @ 2:59PM
Of course not, those three will be the ones that wonder where the help is when they cry out for it, forgetting that they themselves refused to help others when they cried out first. No one will be left to help them.
The flip side of that is, when the revolution does happen, which of those three will be hung first?
Frank Drackman | 3.1.12 @ 3:33PM
who will be hung first?
I've got dibbs on that "Manny" character from Pep Boys...
Basterd said he'd put Synthetic in the ZO6, but it was Synthetic BLEND.!!!!!!!!!!
totally voided the Warranty...
Frank
SUBVET| 3.1.12 @ 7:16PM
Yor first problem was to trust Manny......that's what you get when you trust an illegal.
vtwin| 3.1.12 @ 9:00AM
Domestic oil drilling is at an eight year high. It's speculation over a possible Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities that is driving the price of crude oil around the world.
http://patdollard.com/2012/02/.....-drilling/
Dick Nome| 3.1.12 @ 10:19AM
Not due to anthing Der Schwartzfuhrer has done. These are leases let out by the Bush Administration and/or on private land. We still lack refining and Transport capacity that the EPA and State Dept are obstructing.
Anthony| 3.1.12 @ 11:21AM
You have both Obozo and his energy Sec Chou, on the record, multiple times, stating that high gas and energy prices are the desired outcome of this administration, in order to ween Americans off of the internal combustion engine.
The Muslim Marxist's master plan has Americans paying European energy prices, driving electric lightbulbs on wheels, and all living in urban housing projects taking mass transportation.
Yes, Hope and Change!!!
Timothy L. Pennell| 3.1.12 @ 10:41AM
Which had NOTHING to do with Him.
Same sh*t lies that we get all the time. HE killed Bin Laden. The guy who had to be dragged in off the Golf Course, killed Bin Laden. The guy "Leading from behind" killed Khaddafi.
All this MFer's done is take one sh*t after another, on the Constitution. He's run up more DEBT than all of his predecessors COMBINED. Record Foreclosures, Bankruptcies, Bank Failures, Americans on Food Stamps, Americans Unemployed (The REAL Numbers) Americans living at or BELOW the Poverty Rate, Illegal Drilling Moratoriums, Forged Documents. Illegal Gun Running to Mexican Drug Cartels, and the 1st Credit Downgrade in our Nation's History.
Nothing good.
That's what HE's done.
Thomas F. Williams | 3.1.12 @ 12:34PM
Crazy how close Atlus Shrugged is, huh?
Timothy L. Pennell| 3.1.12 @ 1:07PM
"And I saw the BEAST rise from the Sea. And he was given a MOUTH to speak Haughty and Blasphemous words. And he was allowed to exercise authority for forty two months."
Crazy how close Revelation is, huh?
Frank Drackman | 3.1.12 @ 2:24PM
Its "Atlas" dummy.
OK, shouldn't expect someone who uses "Huh?" to be literate.
Man up, and get some Hooked-on-Phonics ...
Frank
Thomas F. Williams | 3.1.12 @ 4:27PM
Similar to your use of, "talkn"
purp| 3.1.12 @ 1:53PM
Poor Timmy, he really don't like the black man.
Dmac | 3.1.12 @ 3:02PM
The mans color has NOTHING to do with why Tim dislikes him, lest you forget, the man is half white.
Tim dislikes him for the same reasons most Americans dislike him. He's a traitor, dictator wannabe who uses the Constitution of the United States for toilet paper. Now do you understand why Tim, myself and so many others here dislike him? It has nothing to do with his color and everything to do with his character.
Purp| 3.1.12 @ 5:56PM
Then you must have hated GW Bush who trampled on the Constitution, spent the 5 Trillion surplus from Clinton, and led us into 2 wars and crashed the economy. So do you hate W?
From the Desk of Media Matters| 3.1.12 @ 8:18PM
Pierre "Purp" Pelosi,
Stop embarrassing us.
Cite your source for a Clinton surplus even if it is $5 not $5 trillion.
And $5 trillion? We are trying to fool people to pay our way. How is a ridiculous number like that remotely believeable? Are you retarded?
Bush cut taxes in 2001 and 2002 and 2003.
Federal revenue was up over 44% in 2007 from 2003.
Do you hate our cause? How is you being a monstrous moron help our cause?
Stop embarrassing us.
- MM staff
Timothy L. Pennell| 3.1.12 @ 5:06PM
You're absolutely right.
I don't like THIS Black man.
Last I looked, that's still legal.
Thomas F. Williams | 3.1.12 @ 5:11PM
Not for long...Anti-Hate Implying is next up.
Purp| 3.1.12 @ 5:56PM
Since you don't really know him, it's legal, but stupid.
Bobloblaw| 3.1.12 @ 9:04AM
""State-run Iranian news agency Mehr said last week that "no country" could cope with the shock to oil prices if the strait is closed.""
Least of all Iran. When will the world realize that oil producing nations need to sell their oil more than oil consumers need to buy it.
Dmac | 3.1.12 @ 9:35AM
BINGO!
kwan| 3.1.12 @ 10:05AM
Da community organizer knows all and sees all. Obama's thin if not anorexic resume indicated that he was not qualified to be President and 3+ years into his presidency has proven this evaluation to be correct. Since taking office his radical leftist policies have proven that he is not just a shuck-n-jive street hustler but a Hugo Chavez wannabe.
martin j smith| 3.1.12 @ 10:39AM
The price of Gas is one of many winning issues if the Republican Leadershit were serious which they are not. But voters have to be and the hell with Romney has his crowd. But a real leader would have an add with high prices and people complaining about the effects. But lets see what our brilliant Romney does. Oh and gas lines would add insult to injury.
purp| 3.1.12 @ 1:48PM
Not really - since Americans realize that since we are exporting gasoline, the price has nothing to do with supply. It's Wall Street again screwing with our economy to make their millions. Wall Street speculators are the problem here.
Dmac | 3.1.12 @ 3:03PM
Purp is accurate with that statement.
THKrupp| 3.1.12 @ 12:22PM
Using the average consumer, driving a car that gets 20 miles to the gallon and driving 12000 miles per year. The total annual difference to the consumer between $3.50 gas and $4.50 gas is $600 annually. While for some people Im sure this is a burden. Its not that much money in the grand scheme of things. The real cost comes from increased transportation costs for goods that we buy. Im very shocked at some of the comments here from people who are supposed to be conservative. I now realise how few people actually understand commodity markets and how these prices are determined. Also how few people understand how speculation can drive prices and also the role of speculators in the market.
purp| 3.1.12 @ 1:50PM
Excellent analysis!
Mike Hawk| 3.1.12 @ 2:45PM
$600 would cover my current heating oil bill about 75%. If it goes up another $1.00, so does my heating bill by about another $350. Add in oil changes to my vehicle . If I had two cars as many do we'd be approaching the $2000 figure.
As for Heavy trucks, filling up both tanks now costs well over $1200 per fillup. Transportation costs are added into the cost of goods at the end of the chain.
THKrupp| 3.1.12 @ 5:08PM
I do understand this Mike and I understand how an extra $600-$800 per vehicle per year as well as the extra costs for shipping goods has an effect on the economy. What can you as an individual do about it? None of us individually can change the price of fuel. Electing a republican president is not going to bring back $2 gasoline. The only thing we can do is react or anticipate what the market is telling us. When the price of gas is going up the market is telling us that rationing is needed and we need to use less. High prices cure high prices.
Purp| 3.1.12 @ 6:00PM
And, manufacturing will come back to the U.S. because shipping from China is so much higher, it pays to locate here. Oil prices are going nowhere but up as the rest of the world industrializes. It may not be a straight line up, but the trend is up nonetheless. the sooner the ill-educated and Fixed News crowd get with the sooner we can correct the problem and tell the OPECs of the world to keep their oil.
Dmac | 3.1.12 @ 3:08PM
THKrupp, you started too high. When Obama took office gasoline was under $3.00 a gallon, I beleive around $2.85 a gallon. Also, many people, especially west of the Mississippi river drive wll over 12,000 mile a year. Don't forget that everything and I mean everything is transported by truck. If the fuel cost for the truckers goes up, so does the cost of the product that is being hauled by truck. Another assumption you are making in just one car per family. Most families have two cars, if there are teenagers add another car or two. Now add all the products made from oil, its a damn long list. The rising price of gasoline is breaking many people, especially those that can least afford it, young couple, low income families, the very people this President says he is trying to help.
THKrupp| 3.1.12 @ 4:41PM
Im not arguing against most of what you have said. Re-read my comment. I was talking in averages. Insurance companies use the 12000 miles per year for the average amount of miles driven by the average person. This is just average of course there are people above and below that. I used 20 mpg as a pure guess, I would say that average fuel efficiency is slightly higher but I didnt take the time to look it up. Yes I realize that people have more than one car.
People tend to go ballistic when they see the price of fuel but when you look at it from a big picture stand point it isnt that much money. When I hear of people buying a new car based on high gas prices I cringe. The only way it pays to buy a car to get better fuel efficiency is if you get the car very cheap. If you want to save money. Run your current vehicle till the wheels fall off and pay cash for a decent used fuel efficient car.
Using the price of gasoline for when Obama was elected is misleading as well. The economy was collapsing here and around the world. Demand was dropping very fast. We had been above $3.00 a gallon for a significant portion of George Bush's second term. The idea that Obama or any other president has very much control over the price of any given commodity directly is simply not true. Speculators, demand, rumors, crack spread and refiner profitablility have a much more direct effect. Yesterday oil was $107 and the RBOB was $3.25. Interestingly ethanol blend stock is almost a full dollar cheaper than RBOB (unblended gasoline).
I do understand that by not allowing sources of energy to be developed this leads to higher prices over time. Those are long term considerations. To be honest the biggest effect on oil and commodity prices in the short term is the value of the dollar. As the dollar becomes stronger the value of these commodities goes down to the American consumer. The converse is also true. Oil and other commodities values are in effect a reflection of the value of the dollar in relation to other currencies. I would go so far to say that speculators or anyone that has a large supply of dollars use oil as a hedge against a falling dollar. At least this is the way it appears to me.
purp| 3.1.12 @ 1:52PM
Excellent Analysis - theKrupp! that is.... you are right on the money!
Nancy in NC| 3.1.12 @ 3:16PM
Just goes to show how statistics can be manipulated. The problem (one of many) with liberals is they can't see that far, and never understand unintended consequences.The price of petroleum affects almost everything.
purp| 3.1.12 @ 4:00PM
So tell Mitt Romney to ask his Wall Street buddies to drop the price of oil - oh that's right, they need the money so they can donate millions to try to buy the election... i get it.
From the Desk of Media Matters| 3.1.12 @ 8:48PM
Pierre "Purp" Pelosi,
Stop embarrassing us.
Anyone can find the Obama quote:
"I'd like higher gas prices"
Anyone can find Obama's secretary of energy nobel prize winner Steven Chu's quote:
"Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe."
Are you retarded?
Stop embarrassing us.
- MM staff
Pat| 3.1.12 @ 5:55PM
With their perpetual inferiority complex to nurse, the Brits are once again telling Americans to quit complaining about high gas prices – or at least a famous Brit automotive expert, James Foxall, is (yeah, I never heard of him either). But Foxall spins a cute sermon today about “petrol” and the far higher price of petrol in his hometown of London – every Brit actually knows what the word gas refers to but they insist on flaunting their self-imposed separateness by referring to it as petrol whenever Americans might be listening. And, after 200 years, you’d think the Brits would realize we Americans don’t care anymore what they believe we should bicker about over here in the colonies.
Do Europeans ever tire of reciting this same tedious sermon – it seems not when you recall how many times they’ve given it. The punch line is always the same – Americans love their big pick-up trucks which get only 15 mpg. You see far more Rolls-Royce and Bentley gas hogs in London than in Akron Ohio but apparently pick-up trucks really tick Brits off for some bizarre reason, unlike 6,000 lb luxury sedans. The cure for our addiction is to give up our pick-up trucks – or “lorries” as Foxall would call them. And the medicine which will cure that addiction is high gas (oops, petrol) prices. Simple logic for simple minds – and it’s not because they’re envious they hasten to assure us.
$10 per gallon gas will drive Ford F150’s, Dodge Rams and tricked out Silverados off our roads – to be replaced by little bitty cars which get 55 mpg or consume no petrol whatsoever. Our resulting prize is we collectively save the planet, we thoroughly bankrupt those snooty Saudi princes who lord it over British bellhops and we keep that precious oil in the ground where it belongs. No one, including Foxall, has yet to explain why it is better to keep unrefined petrol under the ground rather than in our gas tanks – there must be a good reason but even J. K. Rowlings has yet to discover what that magical reason might be.
Richard Baker| 3.1.12 @ 6:50PM
And the Fool on the Hill at 1600 Pennsylvania says that more supply via more drilling will not reduce prices. Obviously, he must not have had an economics course at Occidental, Harvard, or Columbia. Of course, we can't really sure of his CV since its all been, in essence, classified by the Kenyan. A first or second year undergrad would have had that, at least.
Bob Grant| 3.1.12 @ 8:00PM
What we need to lay blame on obama for high gas prices is some equivalent to gas lines of the 70's.
Gas lines = Misery = 70's = Carter.
Sure, gas prices are high but to date haven't caused major disruptions for average Americans like the gas lines represented in the 70's.
We need some symbol placed around barry's neck that ties the horrible economy to him.
Should we bring back the Misery Index?
Nite| 3.1.12 @ 8:18PM
Well one tank of gas will exceed the so called tax cut.
kwan| 3.1.12 @ 9:12PM
Obama's Secretary of Energy Chu believes gasoline should be at $8.00 a gallon. It appears that Obama and the leftist goons that surround him want the populace to use skateboards, bicycles, bullock carts, and collectivist mass transit for their mode of transportation. In other words we are being "fundamentally transformed" into a third world Totalitarian Socialist State.