no mention of the boy printing money like it's going out of style...
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.
He laughs at people like you... and people that think like you do have enabled him... some even voted for him.
LLS
Only if you fall for the old Clinton ruse that the executive branch members are just out there on their own pursuing their own agenda in their respective departments. The headline is correct.
LLS
Double BINGO!
LLS
The sad thing is... Obama thinks he's winning!
I disagree. I think that whoever is in office will have the signs pointt to them.
Since Libya only produces ~650 million barrels a year, their complete shutdown would have little impact on prices as well???
no mention of the boy printing money like it's going out of style...
By whom? Hopefully not you and certainly not me. Maybe the MSM. But, we have the big bad oil men out of the White House and as the headline and the article clearly state, this president’s policies are driving up the cost of fuel.
Interesting, because BP was "Bad People" in the Gulf of Mexico spill last year and why Obama was able to issue the moratorium on drilling. Zero hates the Brits for their "colonial occupation" of his birth country (Kenya tell where I'm going here?). No wonder he supports the "revolution" in Libya. (The fact that Libyans want their Islamic freedom---heard that in an interview last night---is icing on the cake for him.)
I'm going way tinfoil here: was the BP oil rig explosion sabotage?
The question is how long will the term be? Until the remainder of the 4 year cycle is over or a try for a lifetime term as lord 0, the wun, of the failed states of America?
I believe by the general public.
Barack Obama: “I think that I would have preferred a gradual adjustment.”
It will affect his own children one way or another. He is working to diminish the future of even his own family!
###
Oh, don’t worry about his kids, they will be privately taught and grow up in an liberal environment where they will continue to be worshiped as icons. Heck, I bet someday they will be encouraged to run for political office.
It is hie end game high gas prices will move America to
Green Energy more windmills, solar panels
High Speed rail
Electric cars
he is utilizing the assumption that Social engineering will work.
He tried through ligislation and executive orders and bullying the American public through bailouts and stimulus packages - he is thrown out everything including the kitchen sink.
Nothing has worked, utilize the perceived crisis in the Middle East and the perceived limited attepts to end the Oil Moratarium (he psined something to allow some Houston based company to drill beyond 13,000 feet, real limited but it is his way of saying the Moratarium is lifted - Blame the Oil Companies again.
End Game the federal Government is the only one whom can fix the problem. Yes Oil will rise, gas prices will rise and Obama will masterfully manipulate everything to get his Game Plan he will win. That is his goal the x’s and o’s mean love and kisses and He will supply everything to achieve the love and adoration from the public.
Our toothless Congress and Supreme Court are too scared to say anything as this punk rules like a king. George Washington graciously refused the authority, though he was certainly worthy of it, but this wet-nosed Chicago Communist has the typical affirmative action attitude that our country owes him this, and no one stands up to him but the grandmothers and grandfathers in the TEA Party. Shameful.
The Messiah is closer to being half Arab than half black. The Messiah is basically an anti American Arab witha somewhat milder disposition than those Egyptians who raped Lara Logan, calling her a dirty Jew and American bitch.
And let’s not forget that high gas prices are supposed to drive the public to buy the union-made Volt. There’s a lot the Obama stash invested in that modern Edsel...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.