Free Republic

FORTUNE -- President Obama may have a lot more to worry about than bombing the debate this week. Traders are starting to get particularly bullish over gasoline prices – and that is bad news for the average driver, who may also be looking to vent his spleen at the voting booth. Reports of gas shortages along the high-demand west and east coasts may be fleeting – although deeply concerning – but they highlight a problem that's expected to persist in the U.S.: our refineries are getting old. Given that a new refinery has not been built since 1976, commodities desks...

My mom out in California is elated -- gasoline prices in her neighborhood are below $4 a gallon for the first time in four months. Less so are the world's petro-rulers, who are watching the price of oil -- their life blood -- plunge at a rate they have not experienced since the dreaded year 2008. Industry analysts are using phrases such as "devastation" and "severe strain" to describe what is next for the petro-states should prices plummet as low as some fear. No one is as yet forecasting a fresh round of Arab Spring-like regime implosions. But that's the...

President Obama’s poll numbers are up and the country’s unemployment figures are down — but $4 gas poses a potent threat to the incumbent’s re-election bid, polls show. Voters are giving Mr. Obama an emphatic thumbs down for his handling of gas prices — 68 percent disapprove of his response to the problem in the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll. The White House and Mr. Obama’s re-election team are acutely aware of the political danger. The president has given seven speeches in March alone on energy and gas prices in an attempt to convince the public that there is no “silver bullet”...

What a difference a week makes for President Obama, as rising gas prices put more and more pressure on his administration. Last Tuesday at a news conference, the president insisted to Fox News that it was fallacy to think his team was in favor of higher gas prices to wean Americans off fossil fuels. "You think the president of the United States going into reelection wants gas prices to go up higher?" the president asked. "Is that -- is there anybody here who thinks that makes a lot of sense?" Fast forward to this week, when the president's Energy Secretary...

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney suggested Newt Gingrich is lying when he claims that he could reduce gasoline prices to $2.50 per gallon. Carney, who spoke during today’s White House briefing, did not specifically refer to Gingrich, saying instead that anybody who says that a strategy exists that can make the price at the pump $2.50 is “lying.” But Gingrich has made his claimed ability to reduce prices to $2.50 a gallon a major plank of his campaign, and the comment was clearly directed at the former speaker. Washington politicos rarely resort to the verb “to lie” when referring...

Gasoline prices could soar as high as $7 a gallon this summer thanks to supply threats stemming from Middle East unrest as well as OPEC policy, says real estate mogul Donald Trump. Iran has already cut off supply to France and to the U.K. to protest sanctions from the west, who accuse Tehran of developing a nuclear weapons program. U.S. military officials have said they feel they can ration with Iran, although fears are growing that Israel may consider a unilateral strike on Iran anyway, which is sending crude oil skyrocketing.

HOUSTON - A former Houston oil executive predicts drivers could be paying $5 for a gallon of gas by the end of the year, and says politicians in Washington D.C. are to blame. John Hofmeister is the retired president of Shell Oil. He currently runs the non-profit group Citizens for Affordable Energy. "It was actually December, 2010, when I predicted $5 gasoline by the end of 2012," said Hofmeister. "And, I said then, 'I hope I'm wrong.' My concern is I won't be wrong." Some energy price analysts have said Hofmeister's prediction is likely off by at least $1 --...

COMMENTARY | President Barack Obama has suffered the second embarrassment over oil imports within the space of a week. Brazil, whose offshore deposits of oil were sought by the Obama administration, has signed contracts with China for the product. According to the Washington Times, Brazilian offshore crude may number about 38 billion barrels. Obama went to Brazil last month to put in a bid for the oil, offering loans and other support to develop the oil in an "environmentally responsible matter," The Hill reported at the time. Republicans criticized that initiative, pointing out Obama has placed roadblocks in the way...

It's been 30 years since gasoline took such a big bite out of the family budget. When the gifts from Grandma are unloaded and holiday travel is over, the typical American household will have spent $4,155 filling up this year, a record. That is 8.4 percent of what the median family takes in, the highest share since 1981. Gas averaged more than $3.50 a gallon this year, another unfortunate record. And next year isn't likely to bring relief. In the past, high gas prices in the United States have gone hand-in-hand with economic good times, making them less damaging to...

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - A gas station on Columbia's North Main Street has been renamed and redecorated after President Obama.