Posted on 03/01/2011 3:15:30 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Media reports blame rising gasoline prices on Mideast turmoil, but industry analysts say the real reasons are closer to home -- at the White House and the Federal Reserve.
President Barack Obama's moratorium on drilling and his anti-oil policies continue to rattle energy markets and fuel ongoing price hikes at the pump. And no one -- least of all Obama -- is surprised.
On the campaign trail in 2008, then-candidate Obama called for cap-and-tax policies under which energy prices would "necessarily skyrocket." Studies have since questioned the environmental and economic value of such policies.
Undaunted, the Obama administration canceled hundreds of gas- and oil-drilling leases in Western states. Obama then slapped a series of bans on offshore drilling.
Two federal courts have struck down portions of these moratoriums, but, as with the ongoing implementation of Obamacare (declared unconstitutional by a U.S. district judge), the administration flouts the courts and continues to choke off domestic oil production.
American Solutions, a conservative Washington, D.C., think tank chaired by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, says Obama's actions have "ultimately led drillers to relocate their rigs (and hundreds or even thousands of good-paying jobs) to other parts of the world, and the long-term impact on domestic production will no doubt be devastating for consumers."
By contrast, the University of Alaska at Anchorage estimates that drilling for oil and gas off Alaska's coast could create more than 50,000 new jobs per year, in addition to producing more than 10 billion barrels of oil and 15 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
There are another 86 billion barrels of oil in America's Outer Continental Shelf, yet the Obama administration has banned most production there. Not a single new drilling permit has been issued in the United States since last October.
Still, Obama's Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the government feels "no pressure to hurry its permitting process.”
Ironically, administration policies that drive higher gas prices are helping the very industry that Obama tries to demonize. While rising petroleum costs threaten to tank the U.S. economy, Exxon Mobil's fourth-quarter profits soared 53 percent.
Then there's the Federal Reserve, whose "reflation" policies are driving down the value of the dollar.
In an analysis of recent oil prices, the Wall Street Journal noted, "It's important to keep in mind that oil was already trading in the $85 to $90 a barrel range before the recent irruption in the Arab world. The run-up to that price territory began in earnest last year after the Federal Reserve embarked on its QE2 strategy of further monetary easing."
"QE2" is "quantitative easing, which, in effect, pumps more money into the economy. But in doing so, the Fed devalues the greenback and triggers speculation on things like oil.
The Fed claims that rising oil prices are simply a reflection of higher demand. But, the Journal found that demand is "not enough to explain what has been a nearly across-the-board spike in prices for dollar-traded commodities."
"The Fed will use the Libya turmoil as another alibi, but there's no doubt that oil prices include a substantial [Fed Chairman] Ben Bernanke premium."
Obama's Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner seems nonchalant. "The world's got a lot of experience in managing the tensions that could come with short-term impact on commodity prices," Geithner told reporters last week. He added, "It's not rocket science."
But since the U.S. consumes about 7.5 billion barrels of oil a year, every $10 a barrel increase costs the U.S. economy about $75 billion. And, notes the Journal, "Since over half of that oil is imported, the benefit flows to foreign producers."
Industry analysts argue that the Fed's monetary policy and the Obama administration's energy policy are the two biggest factors in the rising price of gasoline.
Obama maintains that his "green" polices that impose higher fees and charges on the petroleum industry will "break our dependence on oil."
Energy economists say such a strategy is ultimately counterproductive.
"If the president is truly serious about raising revenue, then he should eliminate all energy-related tax preferences and let all sources compete," said Robert Bryce, a senior fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute.
With all of his experience as an executive, I guess, Mr. Obama knows exactly what he is doing. I sure can imagine his self esteem has plummeted. Heck, I feel bad when I screw up and purchase a plane ticket on the wrong day. How would you feel if you knew you were the one who screwed up a an entire country?
You apparently don't get it.
Obama is there to destroy as much of America as he can.
No Drilling
Open borders, flood the hospitals, schools, welfare, ....
Let all the "peaceful" Muslims in
ETC.
If you wanted to destroy America, you'd do everything Obama is doing. It's being done ON PURPOSE.
All the more reason why Obama will be a one-term President just like Jimmy Carter was.
But he has a nice smile,
And by electing obammy it will wipe away all that white guilt for American slavery (which ended over 150 years ago.
Obammy is after all a “magic negro”.
Obammy is an unAmerican marxist p.o.s.
Pump
World oil production is about 32 billion barrels a year. Another billion or so from the US would have very little impact on prices. The high prices are largely driven by higher consumption in developing countries; many people in China and India are now able to buy cars.
I think it would be more accurate to say; all signs point to the current administration
Ageed, we are under attack by our federal government, we the people need to strip them of their power to raise money and declare martial law, should be handled by the states..
Dont be so sure a Billion dollars buys a Lot of Propaganda. Case in Point the Front Page of the NY Tomes TODAY,Americans By a 60 to 33 Percent Favor Government Union Employees keeping thier Collective Bargaining Rights to Screw Tax Payers. Explain that to Me and say Obama Wont be Reelected
If you were Obama, PROUD.
Obama is there to destroy as much of America as he can.
No Drilling
Open borders, flood the hospitals, schools, welfare, ....
Let all the "peaceful" Muslims in
Both parties as well as the media have had a hand in this. I guess treason and sedition just don't really mean what they used to in this country.
All these problems could be fixed, the thing is, no one on either side really wants them fixed.
Socialists/communists on one side and globalists on the other side and your typical hard-working patriotic American stuck in between. What to do?
I know, let's vote Republican next time and everything will be ok. You might as well be watching WWF.
Gas prices (((ping))).
It will affect his own children one way or another. He is working to diminish the future of even his own family!
What a sick, twisted freak.
Yes, they have. :(
American Idol president
LLS
Actually... that is just what the left wants you to believe. There is corruption and manipulation going on and it is worldwide and in every government.
LLS
BINGO!
LLS
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