Posted on 12/29/2010 10:30:35 PM PST by Kaslin
Five dollars per gallon of gas by 2012! A former president of Shell Oil considers this likely. The average price on Christmas Day for a gallon of regular gas reached $3.28 in Los Angeles County, the highest price since October 2008. In one month, the price rose 13 cents, up 35 cents year to year.
Where are the calls to sic Obama's Justice Department on Big Oil to hold the oil companies accountable for "market manipulation"? Why aren't we hunting down the amoral "oil speculators" responsible for repealing the law of supply-and-demand in order to line their pockets?
During President George W. Bush's administration, we constantly heard demands to hold the President accountable for "Big Oil's price gouging." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., just two years ago, knew exactly whom to blame for "skyrocketing" oil prices: "The price of oil is at the doorstep; $4-plus per gallon for oil is attributed to two oilmen in the White House and their protectors in the United States Senate."
In 2007, when the average national price ranged from $2.17 to $3.22, then-Sen. Barack Obama demanded that the Federal Trade Commission investigate Big Oil for "price manipulation." In 2008, presidential candidate Obama urged the Justice Department "to open an investigation into whether energy traders have been engaged in illegal activities that have helped drive up the price of oil and food."
Obama also called for "a windfall profits penalty on oil selling at or over $80 per barrel." As of Christmas 2010, a barrel of oil sold at slightly above $90. What happened to the windfall profits tax?
Yes, back then the average price per gallon was four bucks. But blaming "oilman" Bush for high prices began when the average price was well below today's $3.05 national average.
The average price was $1.72 on March 5, 2003, when CBS News posted a story online with this headline: "Dems Blame Bush For High Oil Prices." It referred to an investigative report by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. Levin blamed Bush's post-9/11 decision to increase the amount of oil in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve by 40 million barrels in 2002 -- bringing the total to 600 million. Levin said, "We're confident this had a significant impact on the price of oil in 2002." Never mind that the Bush administration called the amount of oil diverted too small to matter.
The average price was $2.80 on April 22, 2006, when USAToday.com posted an article with the headline "Democrats blame Bush for high gas prices": "Consumer gasoline prices continue to soar as the Bush administration places too much emphasis on drilling reserves and not enough on alternative fuels, Democrats said." The article quoted Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., who praised Brazil's "energy independence." "In Brazil," Nelson said, "drivers are filling up their cars with ethanol instead of gasoline."
Not exactly, Sen. Nelson.
Brazil may be "energy independent" in that it imports only a small percentage -- 649,000 barrels per day in 2009 -- of the oil it consumes. But that makes Brazil the 19th-highest oil-importing country in the world. Its economy relies heavily on oil that is domestically produced and consumed. Brazil is the seventh-largest consumer of oil in the world and the ninth-largest producer. Its famous -- and heavily government-subsidized -- sugar cane-based ethanol fuel is actually a blend that uses approximately 75 percent gasoline.
As for U.S. ethanol, which is made from corn, Nobel laureate environmentalist Al Gore recently called it a bad deal: "It is not a good policy to have these massive subsidies for first-generation ethanol. First-generation ethanol, I think, was a mistake. The energy conversion ratios are at best very small. ... The size, the percentage of corn particularly, which is now being (used for) first-generation ethanol definitely has an impact on food prices. The competition with food prices is real." Why did he once support ethanol? He admitted that he'd wanted to help farmers in Iowa, site of the nation's first caucus, since he "was about to run for president."
The silence over the recent price run-up is yet the latest example of left-wing hypocrisy. It was always about bludgeoning Bush rather than a sincere conviction that Big Oil was cheating. How else to explain the absence of demands for investigations?
America could achieve "energy independence" if producers were allowed to drill in Alaska, the lower 48 and offshore, where substantial amounts of untapped oil remain off-limits. Obama, who currently squanders hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars by "investing" in alternative energy, possesses no more control over the law of supply-and-demand than did "evil" Oilman Bush.
In Order for Obama to secure his place as the worst president in history he must top the Jimmy Carter Gas Lines and Hostage Crisis. Under the Carter plan you were allowed to get in the Gas Lines if your tag ended in a certain number on certain days. Inflation was about 20%. Looks like he is really going to try.
I guess Gov. Ed Rendell is right.
Well, he’s already declared the Republicans ‘hostage takers’ so he’s on the right track. He’s giving it his all.
The marxists do not plan on leaving.
However, if you had bought a few hundred shares of OXY or MRO or XOM in the summer, you would have been covered for this price increase by the increase in value of your holdings. = GET SMART, buy stock in the things you need in the economy, and you are rewarded by, or protected from, price increases in the marketplace. Food - get some AG stocks. Dollar - get some gold/silver stocks. Gas/Oil - get some energy stocks. It is easy and smart to protect yourself.
Fine. We’ve done civil war before, we can do it again.
What Good Can a Handgun Do Against An Army?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-backroom/2312894/posts
Sadly, most Americans lack the passion and cojones to actually take control of their government, boot the politicians' butts out of office and start over.
As poverty and tyranny loom on the horizon, we'd rather sit back and take it, than take a chance we might mess up our hair or break a nail!!
The big run up to around $140 per barrel started in Jan. 2007 when very large positions in oil were made possible by new instruments. The universities, foundations, and pension funds started buying like crazy. Does anyone know if this situation was ever corrected?
Currently, futures prices on oil are hovering around $90. The futures price during 2012 is currently around $93, and drops back to $92 after that. See link:
http://futures.tradingcharts.com/marketquotes/index.php3?market=CL
Then the gap seems to have closed significantly since the Bush years and it's because the cost of our gas is rising to meet its cost in Europe.
I think that since the Gulf Oil spill disaster, I have noticed less enthusiasm here at FR for Drill Baby Drill. How do people here feel relative to before the spill?
During the Carter gas crisis, caused by OPEC if I remember rightly, it was necessary to have different numbers go on different days. I lived across from a gas station. The first few days the lines were so long that people ran out of gas before they could buy it. Then it was determined that by having different numbers use different days, the lines would be a lot shorter and quicker. I started making money by selling sandwiches to long waiting drivers. Then with the change to the number system, my little business fizzled. ;-)
The good old days :-). Today that would be soooooo illegal! got a permit?
I remember those long lines. The smell of the exhaust on the waiting lines made me nauseous.
>Prayer changes things, but one must act also in order for God create His miracle.
******************************
yEAH, fast, pray, repent, love, forgive, give, respect and honor all.
repeat, in the name of Jesus.
It’s called a Christian revival. It’s happened in the USA many times, it can happen again.
Patience Larry, wait ‘til it actually gets to $5/gallon.
Right now all is worked on paper, passing laws, plans to steal from us. Guns can't stop that.
I must have missed something.
It’s not $5 yet but Republicans better have a strategy to make Democrats own it this time.
Remember in 2006 Schumer out in front of gas stations pointing at the price signs saying that the ‘people’ are suffering due to oil company profits? Pelosi:”We have two oil men in the White House”. Republicans are in a great position to start talking about this (future prices) now so when it happens everyone knows Obama owns it.
Pitchfork demonstrations would cost us another $1 per gallon. ;-)
This time Obama must be made to own it, because he does.
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