$5 Gas Predicted Under Obama -- What, No Pitchforks?

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."

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.

"Make sure you have a good pair of gloves. Hay hurts!"

Thanks. I finished high school in an agricultural area and did vocational agriculture and residential building there. ...even put up hay for a living for a custom bailer/hauler one slow summer (about 10 hours per day, six days per week).

Conditions are tougher here, at this altitude, but we've studied more ag, greenhouse tech. and thermal energy stuff for several years. We won't save money for years, but readiness might be worth something in the future. ...and maybe a business while we're at it: selling produce where the prices are higher. Temp is going well below zero tonight.

There's no real summer here, so we keep all kinds of gloves and goggles around.

"I've been doing that for a while now. The past few years. The price of fuel, gas, taxes is what is hitting me hard. I've cut down, gone without a lot of things. I don't have anything else to cut down. I'm living practically Amish-like. I was hoping that one day I'll be able to afford cable but now that's an impossible dream."

You're not missing anything good from cable. I dumped a satellite television feed several years ago. It was hideous. We get news and whatever other video programs we want to watch from a cheap, high speed Internet hookup (wireless). If that fails, well, we're also building a ham rig and will be looking for a club for licensing.

We didn't come to this remote place with survivalism in mind. Peace, quiet and health were the objectives. But the future economic prospects for the poor folks in cities are looking dim, and it's wise to prepare for disasters.

Preparing can take a lot of work and patient saving, though. Imagine trying to raise chickens, where temps go below freezing year 'round. The dogs' water was freezing some mornings in July (Malamute/shepherd mixes that have good survivability up here).

It is not so much that gas prices are going up - it is that the dollar is going down, and fast. All sorts of commodity prices in dollars signal this fact. The only lifeboat available to the average joe is to hold lots of real assets that the new capitalists need (Chinese, Indians, Brazilians, Russians, etc.) to support their torrid growth and productive activity.

Thanks to our idiotic, wasteful and corrupt government, and a blissfully ignorant populace imbued with the gimme ethic, we have consumed our capital to produce a consumption economy. Our economy does not produce enough stuff of value to the world (see the many eras of deficit). The inexorable result will be a dollar that shrinks ever faster. And I think few of us will navigate the next few years to a happy outcome.

The problem with the US economy is far beyond a partisan political split. Our leadership is insane, abysmally stupid and corrupt, and intentionally or not, destined to fashion the utter destruction of the USA. Unbridled regulation prevent any efficient exploitation of resources to develop wealth, taxes sweep away any motivation to trouble oneself to the task, and bureaucrats and trillions of 15 minute forms infest the life of any entrepreneur daring to try. And a plethora of elected, ignorant twits rule the roost to provide for the suffering masses. These $hits have to be flushed.

I whole heartedly agree!

The problem lies with a Government that is so completely out of touch, that they honestly believe that the nation as a whole is booming and gladly accepting all that they have done to us recently in Washington.

They see the country as they see Washington D.C., which because of all the artificial Trillions being printed and pumped back into growing Washington and the Government it supports, the results have to be working as they see it!

These ridiculous “renewable energy” projects have raised electrical costs, fuel costs, food costs and will eventually contribute to runaway inflation. But these idiots have no ability what so ever of understanding these basic economic principles.

They see themselves as being above the rules and that fundamental economic principles will never argue with them. That's because they see themselves as the chosen elite and that they and everything they do or decide is right, will guarantee their success.

Why else would they not read their several thousand page bills, pass them in the dead of night and make the claim that once the public learns what is in these bills, they will love everything that CONgress has done for them.

Their pomposity and arrogance is astounding!

That’s a part of the story but only a part. The other part is our failure to come up with alternate energy sources, our failure to allow drilling ANYWHERE in the U.S. or offshore where reserves exists, our failure to use nuclear power for electric energy production, our failure to effectively utilize our vast coal reserves, our failure to pressure our “friends” (sarcasm) the Wahhabi Saudis and Gulf States to raise oil production, our failure to do something about commodity dealers driving up petroleum prices, and, of course, the idiot and anti-American Kenyan Muslim Marxist sitting the in the Oval Office.

When you elect a third worlder racist suck up who thinks Americans are too hot in winter, too cool in summer, too well fed, too well medicated, you are placing a NATIONAL ENEMY in charge of your country. And he IS.

Their ~~pomposity and arrogance~~ blatant corruption is astounding!

Gore, Mr. "No controlling legal authority!" (and scads of others) - profiteering on phony "AGW", and even admittedly, providing ethanol subsidies for political advantage; notorious serial scoundrel Clinton declaring our low sulfur coal off limits to reward the Riady/Lippo group; and who knows how many deals made with the Saudis to keep our oil exploration and coal exploitation at bay.

The unending money laundering through unions and political donations; of course from the political class and entrenched bureaucracy, all the pandering and transfer payments to the "poor" masses for votes, and now facilitating the obvious, gargantuan, fascist, epic theft of wealth from the middle class taxpayers, and their progeny, to the wealthy financiers, corporate magnates, bankers, scammers and bloodsucking plunderers infesting this nation.

These corrupt people have to be dealt with immediately, en masse dismissed from office, indited, held in confinement, replaced by lottery and volunteer patriots at first, until we can form a just government that will be under the strict control of the vast middle class of this country. "Laws" and regulations passed by their usurped powers revoked, commitments made under their fiat rule repudiated, and claw-backs from the beneficiaries begun post-haste.

Otherwise we are dead.

And then what? Huh?

The very next time a charismatic Marxist runs for office the voting Useless Idiots in our nation will give him and his minions 54% of the vote.

What's needed here are both short term and long term strategies. The long term strategy must include a plan for eventual conservative domination of our cultural institutions: the media, churches, arts, philanthropy, courts, legislatures, colleges and universities, theater, film, science, industry, finance, etc.

Ultimately the fundamental problem underlying this nation is spiritual decay. Spiritual renewal MUST MUST MUST be part of the long term strategy.

An important part of long term spiritual renewal must include shutting down our collectivist, godless, socialist-funded, compulsory government indoctrination camps. ( oops! "schools"). Conservatives must work to see that every child in this nation has access to a **PRIVATE** education that is thoroughly and completely grounded in the specific Judeo Christian faith of the child's family and our nation's founding principles.

In a mere 10 years our nation's college classrooms would be filled to the brim with young adults fully prepared to defend their faith and our nation's founding principles. Their Marxist professors would wither before their righteousness. Judeo Christian based clubs, ministries, fraternities, and sororities would flourish on campus. In another 10 years these youth would be sitting on boards of of our cultural institutions of our nation.

Otherwise we are dead.

The Marxists laugh at our puny legislative flailings. The Marxists control the culture and then have a head lock on the children, our next generation of voters. If we don't close down the godless government schools, raze them to the ground, dig up and pulverize the foundations, and salt the earth, and get our nation's children into **private** Judeo Christian based educational settings, WE ARE DEAD! ( Yeah! I am shouting.)

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