Pelosi's Cartoonish Comments on Gas Prices

Townhall.com ^ | February 26, 2012 | Chris Edwards

[Kaslin]

The congresswomen’s comments are so cartoonish, I don’t even have to comment on them. But I thought Cato readers would like to know what the minority leader of the U.S. House is saying about rising gas prices. From a Nancy Pelosi press release today:

Independent reports confirm that speculators are driving up the cost of oil, hurting consumers and potentially damaging the economic recovery. Wall Street profiteering, not oil shortages, is the cause of the price spike.

We need to take strong action to protect consumers from this speculation. Unfortunately, Republicans have chosen to protect the interests of Wall Street speculators and oil companies instead of the interests of working Americans by obstructing the agencies with the responsibility of enforcing consumer protection laws.

We call on the Republican leadership to act on behalf of American consumers and join our efforts to crack down on speculators who care more about their profits than the price at the pump even if these spikes harm the American consumer and our economy.

For a rational discussion on energy policy, see Downsizing the Department of Energy.

Department of Energy

The Department of Energy oversees nuclear weapons sites and subsidizes conventional and alternative fuels. The department has a history of fiscal and environmental mismanagement. Further, misguided energy regulations have caused large loses to consumers and the economy over the decades.

The department will spend about $45 billion in 2011, or about $380 for every U.S. household. It employs about 17,000 workers directly and oversees 100,000 contract workers at 21 national laboratories and other facilities across the nation. The department operates 37 different subsidy programs.

---

Recent Blog Posts on Energy

• Franken to Chu: Doggone It, Like My State’s Company
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• Solyndra: A Political-Energy Company

Timeline of Government Growth

• See this timeline for key events in the department’s growth.

Reading Room

• Here are background studies that examine the department's activities.

Cato Experts

• Jerry Taylor, Senior Fellow
• Peter Van Doren, Editor, Regulation
• Chris Edwards, Director, Tax Policy Studies
• Tad DeHaven, Budget Policy Analyst

Spending Cuts Summary

• Here are proposed spending cuts to the department to save taxpayers about $18 billion annually.

Downsize This!

• Energy Subsidies. The department has spent billions of dollars over the decades on dead-end schemes and dubious projects that have often had large cost overruns.
• A Brief History of Energy Regulations. Most federal intrusions into energy markets have been serious mistakes. They have destabilized markets, reduced domestic output, and decreased consumer welfare.

• Energy Intervention Today. The current arguments for energy intervention and energy subsidies fall short.

"All Americans are involved in making energy policy. When individual choices are made with a maximum of personal understanding and a minimum of government restraints, the result is the most appropriate energy policy."

- Reagan administration energy plan, 1981

[blackdog]

Pelosi's Cartoonish Comments

There. Fixed it.

[muir_redwoods]

Pelosie is wrong; it’s not speculators who are driving up the cost of oil, it’s evil spirits or gremlins. I know this is so because my cat told me so.

Leftist generally and Bill O’Reilly in particular lack the brains to understand the vital role played by speculators in all realms of a working economy. They are the mechanism by which demand and supply can anticipate and inform each other.

[Former Proud Canadian]

It is easier for people to believe that "speculators and oil traders" are responsible for high gas prices than to figure out who the real culprits are.

Who defines the regulatory environment for gas and oil production and distribution? Hint: government.

Which country has the greatest energy resources on earth? Hint: It is in North America and it IS NOT Canada or Mexico.

Which country's regulatory environment (read government, see above) is not allowing private companies to search for, produce, import, refine and sell energy products, specifically oil, at will? No hints. If you haven't gotten it by now, you don't belong on Free Republic.

[smith288]

“The price of oil is at the doorstep — 4 dollars plus per gallon for oil, is attributed to two oil men in the White House,” Pelosi said in a CNN interview on July 17th, 2008.

[AD from SpringBay]

Pelosi sees an opportunity to expand government. I am sure she is not the only one in Washington to see this. National Socialism takes another step forward each day.

[From The Deer Stand]

It has gotten to a point where anything Pelosi says about anything is disregarded.

[Venturer]

If there is money in speculation I would bet Pelosi has a monetary interest in it as well.

It is funny to hear a rich woman like Pelosi knocking someone else for being rich.

[Savage Beast]

Nancy Pelosi is always cartoonish. It’s hard to imagine what people are like who would vote for someone like that.

[bigbob]

Forget Pelosi, she’s not the issue. DOE IS.

That’s a good list of cuts and restructuring. As you doubtless know, most of what DOE does is “spread the wealth around”, providing grants for R&D and all kinds of things to cronies and universities. Having worked on such projects I’ve seen firsthand what the ratio of waste vs. actual productivity is. Virtually NONE of this work would have ever been done had it been necessary for companies to write the check themselves to pay for it, and virtually NONE of it ever led to commercial success.

But ALL of it created more dependency on the DoE for continuing the handouts. You may as well call it “food stamps for PhDs”...

[trebb]

Leftist generally and Bill O’Reilly in particular lack the brains to understand the vital role played by speculators in all realms of a working economy. They are the mechanism by which demand and supply can anticipate and inform each other.

Yep - the more copious and stable the supply, the less effect the "evil" speculators have as they "work hand-in-hand with the evil oil companies to screw us".

[VRW Conspirator]

Forget Pelosi, she’s not the issue. DOE IS.

Whatever noble intents there were for creating the DOE, these have been overshadowed by corruption to the point of this Department being unredeemable. And, to think that Pelosi was in such a powerful position as Speaker of the House and two heartbeats away from the Presidency!

[ETL]

Come on, Nancy, don't you think you're "stretching" the truth a bit?

[bray]

You are a speculator every time you fill your tank in anticipation of higher prices tomorrow. They vilify anybody in the distribution system as a speculator when in fact no speculator is big enough to move the market, the market moves the market.

Pray for America

[Kaslin]

I believe speculators are responsible in some way driving up the price of oil, but not as much as Bill O'Reilly claims.

You are correct the real culprit is the government with their regulations, especially on the the different blends of as. I remember when I bought my car in 2006 it took quite a while before the gauge went down to the next. Now it only takes about 3 trips, of about 4 miles I don't drive my car much. Everyone knows that we have the greatest energy source but the environmental idiots and the rats want to keep us dependent on foreign oil.

I noticed you have attacked several Freepers and say they don't belong on FR. I got some news for you. My signup date shows Apr 26, 2000, but my original signup date was April 18, 1998 years earlier. It was exactly on the day of the big Rally in DC. I had unfortunately not saved my password. So when I changed my Internet provider my password could not be retrieved because my previous email address did not work anymore. I chose a different name, which btw are the last 3 initials of my maiden name and the last 3 initials of my last name.

Your signup date was 04/04/1999

[duckworth]

you write: It’s hard to imagine what people are like who would vote for someone like that (pelosi).

Dude, ever been to San Francisco? http://www.flickr.com/photos/agrinberg/3674783086/

[Beowulf9]

That’s ironic, considering the Democrats told us there were gas shortages in the 70s. Remember? The world’s oil supply was running out...

I thought that was why we waited on line to fill the tank for a half hour.

[Tex-Con-Man]

[Popman]

Poor Queen Nancy....since losing the house gavel, she has gone over the deep end....of course she was always on the edge of the cliff before...but the rush of power keep her on the razor edge of sane

As of late she has said some really bizarre things...

Me thinks she needs to be institutionalized...

[tcrlaf]

“I believe speculators are responsible in some way driving up the price of oil”

Goldman-Sach’s (Owners Of Obama) was calling for $148 Oil back in December, by June.

Speculators have NOTHING to do with gas prices, this time. It’s the debasement of the currency, especially against Oil-based currencies like the Canadian Dollar, thanks to Obama’s ridiculous policies.

$1 Canadian now equals $1.001 US Dollars.
In 2008, it was around $.79 US Dollars.
We get around 24% of ALL of our oil from Canada.

But hey, as long as the Ponzi Scheme lasts past the Novenber election, it’s all good. Right? It’s not like the Democrats are using THEIR money to buy votes with, after all.