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B.O. More Damaging Than BP
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.
I hope your right, but I still think America doesn't get it. People only read papers and take them for the honest truth. Same with all the MSM.
“If you wanted to destroy America, you’d do everything Obama is doing. It’s being done ON PURPOSE.”
Cloward Pivens...collapse the economy...collapse America. This man is pure evil and disgusts me. What is even more disturbing are the morons who defend this azzclown.
What kind of trouble would you get in for putting small stickers on gas pumps stating “0bama wants $8 gas”.
“Obammy is after all a “magic negro”.
Let’s not forget he is a Magic Muslim as well....
Obama’s brillaint idea? Fund a union to build ANOTHER failed rail system.
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B.O. More Damaging Than BP
Obama isn’t going to do crap to lower the oil price.
He’s an ideologue who believes in Global Warming.
Get used to it.
And get used to his followers blaming everyone else for the high price of oil.
No, it would ake little difference in SUPPLY, not price. The trading price on the futures market would see an immediate drop as soon as the Obama administration started REALLY issuing permits, not just the token one just issued in an attempt to beat the contempt of court charge.
He knows exactly what he´s doing. It´s jihad.
>Another billion or so from the US would have very little impact on prices.
I’m tempted to laugh, but it would be counter productive and you might take it the wrong way.
To correct you, it would have an IMMEDIATE impact on prices here in this country.
A change in current policy would be the dynamic that would drive down prices for a decade.
There is only one price for a barrel of oil, and that is the world price.
How much an additional 3% production would impact the world price depends on demand elasticity. Oil is typically low-elasticity, so in theory a 3% increase in supply would have a considerable effect. However, this is in the absence of other factors, such as a corresponding Saudi cutback to maintain price levels.
You ought to consider how large a change OPEC typically makes to effect oil prices over the decades.
(hint, it is usually smaller than a billion barrels a year)
http://www.opec.org/opec_web/static_files_project/media/downloads/data_graphs/ProductionLevels.pdf
if you were alive during the Carter Administration, it’s like deja-vu all over again
Bush/Rush/Sarah Palin’s fault.
/sarc
BO and Soros love it when their plan come together. Mark Mr. Soros as the enemy of free people anywhere in the universe. This guy is a killer and a tyrant. Offer this pig of a man no quarter.
P.O.S. belongs at the bottom of a ceptic tank.
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..””
I have stated on numerous occasions, all we need are 3 good generals to step forward and take over the 3 branches of the federal empire. Remove and prosecute all violators of the Constitution and if treason is the conviction, let them suffer execution. If the Soros funded tyranny is not stopped soon, our kids will suffer for a lifetime. Ask yourself; would you rather have 3 honorable generals step forward for a period of a year or two, or continue down the road coerced by an abusive central power?
If it was, it was done by BP's "company man" on the rig.
More likely it was greed and disregard for normal safety procedures. BP was cutting corners they shouldn't have cut.
So to protect the constitution we need to ignore the constitution?
No thanks.
What we need are voters to value the constitution and elect politicians who will uphold it. If that will not happen, it will never be a binding document.
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