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The Gas Price Kerfuffle: Obama's Achilles Heel?
The American Thinker ^ | March 28, 2012 | S. Fred Singer

Posted on 03/28/2012 1:54:15 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife

Newt Gingrich seemed to be shooting from the hip when he promised, if elected, to bring us gasoline at $2.50 a gallon. Yet cheaper gas is not out of question once the price of crude oil is brought down to about $60 a barrel. And I readily agree with Gingrich's policy prescriptions -- primarily among them increasing domestic production of oil. But it may also take conservation (or substitution ) to cut, by 40%, the world price of the raw material for motor fuels. As gas prices rise to $5 during the summer driving season, Obama is feeling the heat but has not produced new ideas. On the contrary; all his policies tend to make gas more costly -- opening the door for GOP initiatives.

We have to be on guard, however, against populists who claim we could have one-dollar gas if not for speculators, world-government-Trilateralists, and Big-Oil conspiracies. They make rational discourse difficult and devalue valid criticism of current White-House policies.

[BIG SNIP]

.... In modeling the "optimum price path for world oil" (i.e., one that would maximize the profit stream for Saudi Arabia), I found that the most sensitive parameter is discount rate -- not its normal value, but the one viewed by Saudi decision-makers. Put more colloquially, if Saudis fear loss of control over oil revenues in the near future (for a variety of political reasons), they will be tempted to increase their production to a maximum (even though it would lower the world price) -- in order to maximize immediate profits.

It is important to stress that oil conservation can achieve similar results as increasing production; either method will reduce oil imports, with attendant benefits. One especially promising method of oil conservation is substitution -- using our plentiful supply of natural gas......

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Editorial; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: economy; energy; jobs; oil

1 posted on 03/28/2012 1:54:19 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

ONLY if the media stops deflecting.


2 posted on 03/28/2012 1:56:17 AM PDT by Doogle (((USAF.68-73..8th TFW Ubon Thailand..never store a threat you should have eliminated)))
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
All the evil this man has perpetrated, and the only thing that people care about, and what might bring him down, is the price of gasoline? Really? Maybe we deserve to have him win another term.
3 posted on 03/28/2012 1:56:53 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (Ich habe keinen Konig aber Gott)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Obama knows that by cutting our access to energy he can bring the country to its knees.

The EPA just initiated new coal plant dictates and is writing up more dictates on natural gas.

There are many facets to the Obama Administration and access to energy (and energy independence) is a big one, which also ties into national security.


4 posted on 03/28/2012 2:00:58 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

I can run my 1984 Mercedes 300D turbo diesel on used cooking oil if I have to.


5 posted on 03/28/2012 2:03:15 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (Ich habe keinen Konig aber Gott)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

It really doesn’t matter one iota how and/or why he loses this election as long as he does. If gas prices help do it, who cares?


6 posted on 03/28/2012 2:11:52 AM PDT by John W (Viva Cristo Rey!)
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To: Doogle
The Society of Environmental Journalists: "Your source for environment, energy, science, health and climate reporting." "EPA To Impose First Greenhouse Gas Limits on Power Plants" [March 27, 2012]

National Council of Churches "2012: The Year of Ethics of Energy - We thought the best way to tackle this and other questions would be to devote this year (2012) to exploring the Ethics of Energy." Eco-Justice Campaigns

Romney’s Troubling Appointments (Mitt's environmental policy team now works for Obama) …………….“"EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson has taken most of the fire from Republicans as her agency rolls out a slew of controversial new climate and clean air rules. But [Gina] McCarthy, the EPA assistant administrator of the Office of Air and Radiation, has taken on much of the heavy lifting of writing, structuring, and implementing the rules.

“Lisa’s the coach and Gina’s the quarterback” in the work of rolling out new clean air regulations, said Daniel Weiss, an energy and climate policy expert at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank with close ties to the Obama administration. “She’s running the plays, improvising on the line.”

Another Romney environmental adviser in the effort to regulate “greenhouse gases” is now Obama’s Director of Science and Technology Policy, John Holdren. Dr. Holdren has some exotic views: …………..

Mitt Romney: YouTubeVideo That plant kills people! Under Romney, Massachusetts was first state to set CO2 Emissions on power plants.

7 posted on 03/28/2012 2:14:52 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
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To: John W

Go back and read my post. That wasn’t my point...


8 posted on 03/28/2012 2:23:11 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet (Ich habe keinen Konig aber Gott)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
With the EPA cutiing back on coal which produces 40% of our electricity. People's bills up, jobs down. Food prices highers.

Raise the power bills now so we can vote on Obama's polices in November.

9 posted on 03/28/2012 3:50:22 AM PDT by scooby321
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

“All the evil this man has perpetrated, and the only thing that people care about, and what might bring him down, is the price of gasoline?”

The gasoline IS part of the larger picture of devaluing the dollar through massive spending; that plot is to reduce the REAL cost of Social Security, pensions, etc. by constantly understating inflation, and it reduces the value of anyone’s savings/reserves. To me the gasoline price is part of the worst evil he has perpetrated; it gets more coverage than the other consequences because it is the most visible.

This government has declared war on our retirees; if they can’t pay into his pot for wealth redistribution, he’ll get them out of the picture.


10 posted on 03/28/2012 4:01:56 AM PDT by kearnyirish2
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

“The Gas Price Kerfuffle: Obama’s Achilles Heel?”
Gee ya think so?


11 posted on 03/28/2012 4:19:11 AM PDT by jmaroneps37 (Conservatism is truth. Liberalism is lies.)
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To: jmaroneps37

A couple of polls show a majority do not blame 0bama. No surprise there. Media bias works for him. They called Reagan the teflon president. He did manage to succeed thanks to his personal dynamism. Unfortunately his Democrat successors manage to get through despite being liars, lefties, and dividers thanks to the tremendous double standards in the news and entertainment media.


12 posted on 03/28/2012 5:21:30 AM PDT by TNCMAXQ
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
Obama raises gas pricesNewt debates Obama


Obama fingers crossed

Obama keeps on saying that high energy prices are good!

13 posted on 03/28/2012 5:26:11 AM PDT by Bon mots ("When seconds count, the police are just minutes away...")
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To: TNCMAXQ
...Democrat successors manage to get through despite being liars, lefties, and dividers thanks to the tremendous double standards in the news and entertainment media.

... and academia, education and among public sector employees, entitlements beneficiaries and other useless parasites corrupted by lucre from the left...

14 posted on 03/28/2012 5:29:00 AM PDT by Bon mots ("When seconds count, the police are just minutes away...")
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To: Doogle

The media can deflect all they want. Every American feels this when they fill up or go to the grocery store.

And pretty soon it is going to shut down the anemic faux-recovery and layoffs will start increasing.

At that point Barry up there screeching like Baghdad Bob
is not gonna impress anybody.


15 posted on 03/28/2012 6:37:41 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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