As gasoline prices climb, President Obama's poll numbers plummet. In February, a Washington Post/ABC poll had Obama up 6 points against Mitt Romney. Monday's poll has him down 2. Posted on 03/14/2012 5:04:55 AM PDT by Kaslin
As gasoline prices climb, President Obama's poll numbers plummet. In February, a Washington Post/ABC poll had Obama up 6 points against Mitt Romney. Monday's poll has him down 2.
According to the polls, gas prices are a huge part of the story, particularly given how the last 30 days or so have not exactly been great for the GOP.
No wonder Obama is desperate to get out in front of the issue. The dilemma is that he's invested so much of his prestige in his energy policies that he can't admit those policies have been an abject failure. But he also can't have people thinking his policies are responsible for the energy price Americans care about most: gasoline.
"Despite the gains we've made, today's high gas prices are a painful reminder that there's much more work to do to free ourselves from our dependence on foreign oil and take control of our energy future," the president declared Monday in a statement on the one-year anniversary of his "Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future."
Let's take the second proposition first. Obama often says, "Under my administration, America is producing more oil today than at any time in the last eight years." That's true: It's also true that under Obama's administration, Snooki from "Jersey Shore" got pregnant and Charlie Sheen lost his job. And he can take about as much credit for those developments too.
Never mind that if he'd gotten the cap-and-trade proposals he campaigned on, energy prices would be even worse. (He once acknowledged that under his plan, electricity prices would "skyrocket" and coal companies would go bankrupt. His Energy secretary, Steven Chu, admitted he wanted America to emulate European gas prices, when they were about $8 per gallon.)
The boom in oil production has taken place almost entirely on private and state lands, while on federal lands it's dropped (11 percent from 2010 to 2011 alone). The administration has also slowed the permitting of offshore oil and gas development to a trickle.
Another major factor is the development of new technologies that make it possible to extract ever more fuel from domestic sources. Instead of words of support, Obama keeps telling those companies they need to be taxed more and have their subsidies yanked, and he's touting the wonder-working power of algae (a possibly valuable fuel source by the middle of the century).
Ending subsidies to business entirely, including oil companies, is a good idea. But Obama's policy is completely different. He thinks he's smarter than the market and can pick winning industries and products.
It's an ugly record. Forget Solyndra -- and other solar and wind firms that have been going belly up like birds around a windmill -- that's old news. So is his decision to block the Keystone XL pipeline.
Last year, the Energy Department awarded a $10 million "L Prize" for development of an affordable and eco-friendly light bulb. Philips just put its winning model on the market, for $50 apiece. Meanwhile, GM has temporarily suspended production of the Volt because of lack of demand for the "affordable" electric car.
On the unaffordable end of the market, things are even worse. Consumer Reports tried to test drive the new $107,850 Fisker Karma, but it couldn't: "We buy about 80 cars a year, and this is the first time in memory that we have had a car that is undriveable before it has finished our check-in process."
There's actually plenty Obama could do to help with gas prices, but he's right not to do some of them. He shouldn't release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, nor should he appease Iran on its nuclear program. But he could, for instance, suspend the Jones Act, which requires that all ships carrying goods between American ports be U.S. flagged. Doing so would dramatically lower the cost to distribute oil and gas (and outrage his union base).
Obama was recently asked by Fox News' Ed Henry whether high gas prices are a deliberate result of White House policies. His response was telling. "From a political perspective, do you think the president of the United States going into re-election wants gas prices to go up higher? Is there anybody here who thinks that makes a lot of sense?"
In other words, Obama desperately wants people to think he's against higher gas prices -- at least until he gets re-elected.
I will have mixed feelings about high gas prices until the republican nominee is decided, if it’s Gingrich or Santorum, high prices between now and November will help them. If, God forbid, we get Bishop Romney, it doesn’t really matter to me, I won’t vote for evil or eviler. You decide which is which..
Obama’s energy policy has been to make gas prices high, and force Green on us.
It is partially working.
Gas is high, but the green things isn’t Working at all.
So far his promise of skyrocketing energy prices has only kicked in dramatically in gas prices, but as his war against coal companies and coal fired electrica lplants come to the fore, we will see another success for his energy plan .
Voting for Obama is voting for a suicidal path for America, and so many people are getting checks from the Government that they will continue the effort for more Obama.
Post-It Notes On Pumps Fueled By Obama’s High Gas Price Policies, Online Prompting
By Bill Hobbs
February 29, 2012
Could a combination of social media and Post-It notes help defeat President Barack Obama in the fall?
As gasoline prices continue to rise, setting new records for this early in the calendar year every day, the cost of filling up the tank is becoming a more common theme on social networks, with people increasingly tweeting photos of the high prices on gas pumps.
Maybe, it’s just in my little corner of the Twitter universe - but, I doubt it, since I’m seeing an increasing number of such tweets from people I don’t follow on Twitter, through the miracle of the “re-tweet.”
From coast to coast, people are no longer absent-mindedly staring into space as the gas pumps into their tank, or wandering into the convenience store for a bag of chips or a candy bar. They’re taking pictures of the price of gas, and tweeting about it. Their message: we are upset, and we blame Obama.
People like Chuck Biller, who works in IT security in California, and just paid $4.33 a gallon. He tweeted, “Obamanomics at work. *sigh*”.
http://cnsnews.com/node/518583
I bet this next Presidential Election will have a RECORD number of write in candidates. I think I’ll vote for Jimmy Carter! He is about as revelant as any of the candidates running.
It’s a setup.
Gas prices will be below $3.00 by November.
The MSM will give 0bama0 all the credit.
The mushy middle and “independents” will believe every word from the MSM.
Barry will be re-elected.
I disagree. I think the problem is the dollar is turning to crap. He borrowed 6,000,000,000,000.00 in four years and pissed it away.
It’s not the price of gas. It’s the value of the dollar. It’s going down the shitter.
He outright STOLE 6 trillion from future generations.
Agree that is a big part of this. As with much of the current bogus economy, no one really likes to talk about it because the end game is rather unappealing.
> It’s not the price of gas. It’s the value of the dollar.
Agree completely. That’s why everything is more expensive these days. A loaf of fresh baked bread that was $0.99 in 2008 is $1.89 today in the same bakery.
However, I believe that 0bama0 and his band of rabid communists and his billionaire overlords will artificially lower the price of gasoline in time for the elections. Of course, it will spring back up again, higher than ever, but the desired outcome will have been achieved.
I hope everyone is conducting their own “post-it campaign”.
Every time you get gas, “sticker” the pump.
Obama’s been pumpin the American citizenry since day one.
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