Thursday, March 22, 2012

Obama Goes Full Shizoid On Gas Prices

Our beloved energy and jobs President is embarking on a tour to explain how the anger over rapidly rising and crippling gasoline prices is misplaced. As we have come to expect, he is blaming everybody but himself for the skyrocketing costs of fuel. I keep waiting for him to blame the prehistoric plants for not dying fast enough and in sufficient numbers to make oil more readily available today.

His explanations are quickly becoming more ridiculous than ever. You see, the President has a message that is completely self-contradictory. He cites huge international forces over which he has no control as the real reason behind rising gas prices. At the same time, he is telling us about all the wonderful things he has done to reduce gas prices. He tells us that we can’t drill our way out of this problem, and says that anyone who disagrees is lying or ignorant. Then he tells us how he is working to reduce gas prices by allowing more drilling (an outright lie).

In fact, most of the drilling now being done is the result of actions taking during the Bush administration, and are the rare survivors of Obama regulations that greatly reduced the number of drilling sites which would have been created had his administration not intervened. Yes, some additional drilling is being done, but no, Obama did nothing to encourage it. Had the Bush-era approvals all been left intact, there would have been a great many more new drilling sites today.

Another way that Obama has proposed to increase oil production is to wait for a big oil company to announce it has produced more oil, and therefore more profits, then call it a “windfall” and tax the company to death. Using this method, which he is touting during his tour, he gets to have it both ways. “Look, I’ve increased oil production, but I’m not letting those greedy oil barons get away with making too much money.” What kind of suckers are going to fall for that? Answer: liberals. And let's not forget those evil Wall Street speculators who drive the price of oil up (the same ones who drive it down when economic conditions are better). They didn't invest in Solydra, so they must be demonized.

And then, as the piece de resitance, he blames the increased demand in China and India and unrest in the Middle East for the explosion in gas prices. But he does nothing except babble about democracy in the Middle East while diverting Canadian oil to China by nixing the Keystone XL pipeline. He’s even talking about raising tariffs to punish China and India for making those demands. Apparently he has never read anything about how the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act turned the Depression into the Great Depression.

He also fails to explain how increased domestic oil production would not alleviate the problem of oil from the Middle East going elsewhere. I guess a simple fact like that is not sufficiently “nuanced” for his great mind. He also fails to understand that increased domestic production would have a positive effect on world prices, not just American prices. The more oil that is being produced to meet the demand means greater profits from selling more oil at a lower price than selling less oil at a higher price. And domestic oil has the benefit of being determined by the market, not by the greed of Middle Eastern dictators and terrorists. Obama’s reply: “What’s the market?”

In fact, Obama has done a great deal more for oil production in Brazil than he has for production in America. But he would have you believe otherwise. Based on Bush-era actions, the Department of Energy predicted that oil production from federal land and offshore locations would be a minimum of sixteen percent higher than they have actually been under the Obama anti-oil administration. Conversely, the DOE’s information agency reports that Obama’s policies reversing the Bush-era actions resulted in fifteen percent less domestic oil production in 2011 and will reduce it by another twenty-six percent in 2012 from the 2010 highs.

What few increases have occurred during the Obama years have been accomplished on privately-owned land. Exploration and production on federal or federally-controlled lands have gone down precipitously. In the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve, the protection of mosquito hordes is more important to the energy President than exploiting the postage-stamp sized proposed drilling site which would release billions of barrels of oil. In the Gulf of Mexico, Obama uses the BP spill as his excuse to cripple oil exploration and production. And when it comes to importing Canadian shale oil, he has neutered that by phony environmental concerns which were fully addressed and solved with the Keystone XL pipeline.

Obama’s Secretary of Energy is appearing before Congressional committees to answer questions about why the Obama administration thinks that domestic production has no effect on prices at the pump. Even though Secretary Chu has back-pedaled on his radical views about raising gas prices artificially to European levels, his other answers have been totally inadequate. How less production means higher prices is a total mystery to him. Ditto for higher gasoline taxes meaning higher prices at the pump.

It will be interesting to follow Obama on his “Ain’t I Great on Gasoline?” tour. Americans tend to be very good BS detectors, and I suspect this will be no exception.

42 comments:

tryanmax said...

Something my grandpa used to say: "Oh, for dumb!"

T-Rav said...

And let's not forget how Obama just authorized the construction of the southern half of the Keystone Pipeline....that, er, was going to be built anyway, with or without his approval, and doesn't do anything on its own to get us that Canadian oil.

AndrewPrice said...

I find it amazing both how the MSM is working so hard to come up with any reason for the increased gas prices other than Obama and how Obama can do everything he can to make gas more expensive and then runs around talking about how he's working to make gas cheaper. Stunning.

Unknown said...

tryanmax: My grandpa said something else: "Scheisse." LOL

Unknown said...

T-Rav: And which doesn't affect crony capitalist Warren Buffett's Burlington Northern/Santa Fe railroad's ability to make "windfall" profits transporting the oil from the Canadian border to the southern end of the Keysone pipeline.

Unknown said...

Andrew: He could cut his speech time in half by simply adding a second head. Both heads would talk at the same time, one giving all the reasons why he can't do anything and the other extolling everything he has done. And since his statements are self-contradictory anyway, who cares if you can't understand a word the two heads are saying while talking over each other?

BevfromNYC said...

By all that is holy, LawHawk, how can you even imagine Obama having TWO heads??? That is the most frightening thought ever. Please stop before you make my head explode.

Of course the simple rules of "supply and demand" do not reach that heavenly place in which Obama resides. And remember, he is not responsible for any of the bad stuff like high gas prices or unemployment. He's only responsible for the good stuff like...well, he's just not responsible for the bad stuff.

T-Rav said...

Now, Bev, that's just not good enough. Your comment implies the possibility that Obama could ever be responsible for something bad happening. A man with two heads is simply too wise ever to make such a mistake. You still have much to learn.

Unknown said...

Bev: He already has two faces, why not two heads?

Unknown said...

T-Rav: I see you've read up on two-headed monsters. Two heads are better than one, even when they're both on an Obamatron.

rlaWTX said...

can a teleprompter run 2 speeches at once? cuz without that tech, neither head would be sayin' much of anything...

as for TOTUS taking too much credit where it is undeserved and none of the deserved credit, what's new?

Joel Farnham said...

LawHawk,

I really wonder where he gets the chutzpah. I know he is lying. I know the MSM will do it's best to promulgate his lies. Too many people can and will call him on it.

If he told me it was raining, I would actually check out side.

Unknown said...

rlaWTX: Two heads, two TelePrompters, but only one microphone. Otherwise there's the chance that somebody might hear only the "look what I've done" head without hearing the other talking over it.

What's new is just a revision of what's old. He now does both in the same speech, and that's on one topic only. Before, he took credit for one thing and no responsibility for a different thing. Now he takes both credit and denies responsibility on a single subject in a single speech.

Unknown said...

Joel: Apparently he never took ethics or logic courses at Columbia, Harvard, or wherever the hell he went to school. He believes he can say two contradictory things at the same time, and yet both must be true, because he is The One.

Tennessee Jed said...

Nice post, Hawk. I happened to catch some of Limbaugh today and he was on the very same topic. Obama completely contradicting himself and "pushing through the red tape" {his own, of course} to get the lower portion of the pipeline approved. Ruh's other point was how AP and Obama realize the incredible severity of their problem politically. AP seems to have totally gone over the cliff in terms of spinning stories B.O.'s way. Yesterday, it was the Ryan budget. To hear them tell it, Ryan wants to kick old people out in the snow, and SuperBama is keeping them "safe." Today, it's the pipeline.

I think 2010 showed people have about had it up to here with this bullshit and CAN fight there way past a little problem like a supposed objective press that is completely in wagon circle mode. Maybe it is some other kind of circle?

BevfromNYC said...

"He believes he can say two contradictory things at the same time, and yet both must be true, because he is The One."

LawHawk - That's because Obama is the "Alpha and the Omega"...

T-Rav said...

Jed, I was having a long Facebook fight with a friend of mine all of yesterday and into this morning, because he posted some left-wing link and said of Republicans and Paul Ryan in particular, "they want the old people to die." It was like arguing with a five-year-old. Why are liberals so hard to deal with?

tryanmax said...

More lame photoplasty: LINK

tryanmax said...

No. It's not my best.

BevfromNYC said...

Tryanmax - That is just disturbing and is going to give me nightmares...or should I say MORE nightmares.

rlaWTX said...

AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! what were the dogs with 2 heads? Janus had 2 faces.

liberals are hard to deal with because they are navel-gazing, wanna-do-gooders with little grasp on the reality that surrounds us... or so I've heard.

Tennessee Jed said...

I have a couple different thoughts on why libs are so hard to deal with:

1) They know exactly what they are doing and believe the end justifies the means. Look, we can stay away from Goebbels, Nietzche, et. al. and just run with Alinsky. Propaganda is the word.

2) Others really don't have a clue. See Jesse Waters interview with the spring break babes.

Unknown said...

Tennessee: Today, I saw a preview of a RNC ad that also shows Obama saying two different things at the same time. It essentially showed him arguing with himself. The Republicans are going to need to do a lot of this between now and November.

Unknown said...

Bev: Anybody who can walk on water like Obama must be The One. He can do that, can't he?

Unknown said...

T-Rav: I have a former associate who keeps sending me the HuffPo daily e-mail. I don't get it. She knows I'm a conservative, and she has sent me some rather damning stuff about Obama. Why she thinks I'd be interested in reading left wing propaganda is beyond me. She's white, her husband is black, and even that's not enough to get her to be civil about Obama. I'm beginning to think she has cracked up and thinks the HuffPo is a real news source.

Unknown said...

tryanmax: I thought the picture is excellent. I may just save it as the photo caption for a future article. LOL

Unknown said...

tryanmax: I'm guessing it isn't your worst either.

Unknown said...

Bev: Are you saying that you dream about Obama?

Unknown said...

rlaWTX: Cerberus has more than one head, but I think he had three. But it would be appropriate, since he guarded the gates to hell (aka the current White House). Cerberus's brother Orthus had two heads, and was referred to as "the hound of hell."

Unknown said...

Tennessee: Or we could just go with liberalism being a mental disorder (which is curable--I'm living proof). The cure is getting mugged by reality.

T-Rav said...

Cerberus had three heads. And Hades was the god of the underworld, and Charon forded you across the River Styx. My knowledge of the Greek afterlife gets a little hazy after that.

BevfromNYC said...

LawHawk - "Dream" no, "night terrors", yes!

Unknown said...

Bev: Now I feel better.

Unknown said...

T-Rav: And if he gets impeached and removed from office in my dreams, does that happen for real too (I hope)?

StanH said...

As asshole…I mean the president told Joe the Plumber, he’s spreading the wealth, in this case to the rest of the world. You see, a Kenyan bushman who hasn’t figured out that pissing in your drinking water is not a good idea, has a better use of gasoline than we Americans. That by Americans using less oil, there will be more for the rest of the world. Now this is sweet, but absurd to the point of hilarity. The good news, we’ll get to thank this lying dumb bastard on 11/6/12.

Excuse the French.

Unknown said...

Stan: Now tell us what you really think. LOL Now I understand why he says he is increasing oil production while reducing it. I think. Maybe.

Individualist said...

Remeber when we did not have an energy policy and we let wild catters drill whereever they found the oil... and the government did not tax it

Ah the days of 10 cents a gallon of gas

Unknown said...

T-Rav: Thee and me both.

Unknown said...

Indi: I don't remember 10 cent a gallon, but I do remember gas wars. The companies would start putting up signs that actually said "gas war," and 29 cent a gallon gas would go down as low as 19 cents. When there wasn't a gas war, there were incentives. Fill your tank, get a set of dishes or a set of drinking glasses. And all of this included full service--you never had to get out of the car. They filled your tank, washed your windshield, checked your oil and water, and checked your tire inflation. And the attendants didn't even expect a tip. It was a great first job for teenagers, and many of them learned a useful trade from it.

USArtguy said...

I like to post this link on my facebook page from time to time just to tweak my friends on the Left. It's Obama on the campaign trail in 2008 at an Indianapolis gas station. The camera opens on a tight shot of BHO with the gas prices prominently displayed over his shoulder.

Some things to note: 1) gas prices were falling when this video was made and I believe were down to $1.81 or so before Bush left office; 2) the first 2 minutes are all you need to waste your time with where he points out Dick Cheney "only met with environmental groups once, he met with renewable energy groups once, he met with the oil and gas companies 40 times"... (how many times did Obama/Biden meet with Solyndra?), 3) the price of gas in my little corner of the Hoosier state this morning was $3.99 for regular... almost 4 years after this video was made and 3-1/2 years of Obama who said in this video "Washington politicians didn't deal with the challenge.."

Unknown said...

USArtguy: Thanks for the link. Funny and tragic at the same time. We will be paying $4.39 for unleaded regular tomorrow. I'm waiting for the dumbass to blame it on the oil gnomes while at the same time claiming his plans (what plans?) are the only thing keeping the price that low.

Individualist said...

I was watching Fox News the other day and they had a politico figure (i forget who) that had "clout" because he was tied to Washington talking about speculators raising gas prices. I believe it was O'Reilly.

The idea was that since speculators speculated that prices would rise why then prices would rise. The argument was completely ludicrous and would be just monty python skit if it were not being made to justify the government taxing the buying of futures.

What really irked me is that this same guy then starts to explain how airlines would be hurt because it would increase the cost of hedging their fuel costs. They purchase futures in order to control their costs.

The individual then started to complain that the speculators were gambling. At that point I got really angry.

Don't be fooled by this Orwellian nonsense. If there is someone selling a futures contract based on the idea that they will make money if prices rise there is someone else buying a contract based on the hope prices will fall. Neither of these individuals will do anything to the price of the commodity no matter how many contracts they engage in.

If the government adds a tax to executing a futures contrat then this tax will be added in to ther overall cost of buying fuel and your gas price will rise at the convenience store. These people touting this are trying to use a crisis for a Washington power grab and they should be shot.... but luckily I don't have a strong opinion on the subject...

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