Gas prices are up! Where's the outrage?

Again, what does that have to do with high speed rail, windmills, solar energy, bio-fuels, etc? Are you saying that all green technology is just a socialist plot?

 

You know I really miss the days where you could get gas for .69 a gallon. That seems like forever ago though. THat is the lowest I remember it being. I know it has been lower. But when I got my license at 16, that was the price.

 

Nope, just that there are socialists intertwined with the Green movement.

 

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. I find it interesting that then-Sen. Obama had this to say (as I've stated in the OP): OBAMA demanded that the Federal Trade Commission investigate Big Oil for "price manipulation." In 2008, 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."

At the time, according to Obama, it didn't seem that anything but "price manipulation" or "energy traders engaged in illegal activities" had anything to do with the price of oil in 2008. However, now that the shoe is on the other foot, well, it's because of unrest in the Middle East. Or it's because of this. Or it's because of that. Gimme a break... Oh, no, it certainly couldn't be because of "price manipulation", etc. They hypocrisy is overwhelming. I think the FTC needs to begin an investigation just like Obama requested!!

 

Not that I wouldn't like to see him do exactly that but you can bet that your side would paint him as anti-business, socialist, Kenyan anti-colonialist, and the like if he ever did. I find that interesting. Just sayin' that maybe there is a down side to hypercriticism.

 

I really don't know how "intertwined" Socialists are in the Green movement but I do know that industries like big oil have a definite financial interest in creating that appearance. It is simply a case of the 800 pound gorilla stomping on innovative technologies that would replace them one day. It's what happens when monopolies are allowed to dominate a business sector. Painting the Green movement as "Socialist" is just the propaganda needed to make gullible people suspicious when in reality Green technology would actually benefit us, the planet, and our economy.

 

Wouldn't that be wonderful? What do you think the chances are of that happening?

I never though those words would part your lips. Amazing.

 

Then you've obviously taken my words the wrong way. I was referring to the hypercriticism of the fringe Right.

 

I guess you just "accidentally" failed to include 2008 in your little gas chart. (just 8 months outside your spin graph there). The average price of gas in June 2008 was 4.09 per gallon, with the highest being 4.79 a gallon in California. YOUR party was in the White House then. Sean Hannity would be proud of your spin attempt.
"Looks like" we're still 1-2 bucks under the highest prices than since the last time REPUBLICANS occupied the White House (where 5 bucks a gallon was almost the reality). Thankfully....that party got voted out and gas prices recovered. (I'd draw a chart but I like text better). We report. You decide.

 

Oh, no.. you're back.... I thought you were gone forever... damn!

 

How did I know tomc would rear his ugly head again?

Seriously, no matter what is happening in the country or the world, it seems that rising gas prices is the straw that breaks the camels back. We can have a housing bubble burst, stock market correction...whatever...and we can overcome it but when the gas prices go up everyone & everything suffers- and I fear it is happening again right now. History has proven that all the talk about alternative fuel sources & "going green" is nothing more than lip service. What are we, 30 years into this discussion and nothing has happened? We depend on fossil fuel & will continue to depend on it therefore we need to harvest it everywhere we can. As long as the oil producing countries believe the have us over the barrell (pun intended) they will continue to control exports & use every little hiccup as an excuse to raise our prices and affect our economy. Remember what happened a few years ago when Gingrich was promoting "Drill baby, drill"? Oil prices dropped virtually over night.

 

Ouch! Oil reached its highest point since Sept 2008! Gasoline is up an average of 35 cents per gallon since mid-Feb.

Oil prices hit highest level since Sept. 2008 - Yahoo! News

View attachment 145
March 4, 2011 - San Francisco, CA

 

It's "just the markets" adjusting. Nothing to be concerned about as it doesn't affect the wealthy.

 

When the Repos were in office and the gas surged to $5 a gallon, oil was at $148 a barrell, now it is $105 and were poised to hit $4.....whats going on ? Can't blame the repos for this one Tom.....

 

What is going on is that the oil companies are increasing their profits. My guess is that we are probably paying for the Gulf Oil Spill. You didn't think they were just going to absorb those tens of billions of dollars worth of cleanup costs, did you?

 

I haven't read the rest of this thread because it seemed too obvious of an answer and just aimed at a partisan conclusion before the question was even asked. However, has nobody mentioned the fact that unrest has broken out all over the Middle East and uncertainty drives up speculation which drives up prices? Unlike in 2008, there is actually something tangible to point to as a reason for the high price of crude.

 

Nah... I bet it's that BP raised its prices after giving so much to Obama's campaign.. they have to make up the difference somehow..

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/36783.html

Obama biggest recipient of BP cash
05/05/10

While the BP oil geyser pumps millions of gallons of petroleum into the Gulf of Mexico, President Barack Obama and members of Congress may have to answer for the millions in campaign contributions they’ve taken from the oil and gas giant over the years.

BP and its employees have given more than $3.5 million to federal candidates over the past 20 years, with the largest chunk of their money going to Obama, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Donations come from a mix of employees and the company’s political action committees — $2.89 million flowed to campaigns from BP-related PACs and about $638,000 came from individuals.

On top of that, the oil giant has spent millions each year on lobbying — including $15.9 million last year alone — as it has tried to influence energy policy. During his time in the Senate and while running for president, Obama received a total of $77,051 from the oil giant and is the top recipient of BP PAC and individual money over the past 20 years, according to financial disclosure records.

 

You know what flips my boat? We have banned oil drilling in the gulf for enviormental reasons, YET, we loaned Mexico $50 BILLION to drill in the same gulf..........can anybody explain that?

 

Oh, some liberal will try to "explain" it, but they won't be able to "justify" it. It's just another example of their twisted logic.

And I wish someone would explain this to me. In the OP, I quoted then-Sen Hillary Clinton during the campaign saying, "Elect Democrats in November, if you don't like these outrageous gas prices, if you feel that the oil companies have been given a free ride by the president and the vice president, vote for Democrats who will vote for changes in our energy policy." Well, obviously the democrats didn't do a damned thing about the energy policy as is evidenced by the rising gasoline prices (which have steadily risen long before the recent unrest in the Mideast, by the way). Democrats try to spin this crap the best they can, but they just wind up with spun crap.

 

And yet which party was it that just blocked cutting off the subsudizies for the oils companies? Oh yeah, every single Republican over the objections of the Democrats. Keep digging until you go all the way through to the truth.