Barack Obama, Oil Prices and Reality

[Guest]

Is there anything worse than this president? I mean, maybe having worms is worse, but I never spent the night at an Occupy Wall Street camp, so I don’t know for sure. But I have had Barack Obama as my president for more than three years, and it’s been a disaster.

Seriously, if I wanted to be lied to regularly, I’d rather do a daily affirmation in the bathroom mirror than watch him tour community college gymnasiums to claim credit for what he hasn’t done and blame all his problems on someone else.

When he was running for president, then-Sen. Obama basically told people President George W. Bush owned Exxon/Mobil and Vice-President Dick Cheney’s pacemaker was a secret implant from Halliburton that contained a hidden valve to control the world’s oil supply. Now that prices have gone through the roof and he needs to hide, the president presents himself as a helpless observer at the mercy of evil oil speculators.

He’ll tell you the United States is producing more oil than ever before, but he fails to add that’s because of the drilling leases approved by the previous administrations (both Clinton and Bush), or how most of that is on private lands because he’s rejected new drilling leases on public lands at a record pace. He’s had as much to do with the oil production in this country as the number of jobs created by his rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline – zero.

He’s said several times we have only 2 percent of the world’s oil reserves but use 20 percent of the world’s oil.

First, who cares? We use the oil we need. We don’t buy it to set it on fire so we can make s’mores and roast weenies on a stick while telling ghost stories about “saved or created” jobs.

Second, the line is designed to mislead. Aside from being untrue (he’s talking about the oil his government will allow companies to drill, which isn’t anywhere close to all we have in this country, which he won’t let us drill), it’s like comparing apples to lobotomized Kennedy children (Google it). The first one is all the oil in the world still under ground (which, as I said, is a lie), the other is all the oil the population of the world uses. He’s carving a tiny chip off a huge number and presenting them as if they’re one in the same.

What does it matter how much of “the world’s oil” we use? There aren’t countries around the world with cars sitting idle because we’ve used up their share of oil. That’s like saying people who work out use more than their share of oxygen because they breathe heavier. And if only they’d take a few days off every now and then, fat people on couches eating Doritos would be able to exercise, too.

President Obama seems to think it’s “unfair” we use so much oil compared to the rest of the world. This is insane. Nobody is sitting around thinking they could cure cancer if only the United States used less oil, but the damned United States just keeps sucking it up like it’s a fat kid trying desperately to get that first sip of milkshake up the straw.”

Oil prices are so high because we have amateurs running the show. Being a professional rabble-rouser, which was about the extent of the president’s resume when he was hired, doesn’t exactly translate well into managing the world’s problems or its biggest economy.

His government has been printing money like it’s an Olympic event and he’s going for the gold. By the way, this is why gold prices have gone through the roof and is not unrelated to why gas prices are so high.

He also has stirred up a hornet’s nest in the Middle East – cheering and encouraging protesters while an ally in Egypt was toppled, but remaining silent when Iran, the biggest threat to a gigantic portion of the current supply of oil, faced a similar uprising.

If you wrote a movie script about how horribly Barack Obama has handled energy policy, nobody would believe it. It’s simply too crazy. But if you did write that script, changed the name of the president and put an R behind his name, Steven Spielberg would sign on to direct Tom Hanks in it.

It would, of course, tank, but I’m sure the money could be more than made up for by some sort of “green energy” grant from the EPA. Considering how Obama is paying off his friends through that money laundering scam, it might actually be the least wasteful grant they make this year.

http://townhall.com/columnists/derekhunter/2012/03/18/barack_obama_oil_prices_and_reality/page/full/

[Dr. Shane]

That’s like saying people who work out use more than their share of oxygen because they breathe heavier. And if only they’d take a few days off every now and then, fat people on couches eating Doritos would be able to exercise, too.

[Bravus]

Quote:

Seriously, if I wanted to be lied to regularly, I’d rather do a daily affirmation in the bathroom mirror than watch him tour community college gymnasiums to claim credit for what he hasn’t done and blame all his problems on someone else.

When he was running for president, then-Sen. Obama basically told people President George W. Bush owned Exxon/Mobil and Vice-President Dick Cheney’s pacemaker was a secret implant from Halliburton that contained a hidden valve to control the world’s oil supply.

Uhuh. References please, for the two bald lies in the second paragraph. And no 'it's just a joke' nonsense: an article that claims someone lies, then gives examples that are lies about lies, has no leg to stand on.

[bonnie]

Quote:

Seriously, if I wanted to be lied to regularly, I’d rather do a daily affirmation in the bathroom mirror than watch him tour community college gymnasiums to claim credit for what he hasn’t done and blame all his problems on someone else.

When he was running for president, then-Sen. Obama basically told people President George W. Bush owned Exxon/Mobil and Vice-President Dick Cheney’s pacemaker was a secret implant from Halliburton that contained a hidden valve to control the world’s oil supply.

Uhuh. References please, for the two bald lies in the second paragraph. And no 'it's just a joke' nonsense: an article that claims someone lies, then gives examples that are lies about lies, has no leg to stand on.

Instead of condemning or defending Obama how about some credit.

He said he wanted prices comparable to European prices. Finally something looks like it could work out as he planned

[Guest]

Instead of condemning or defending Obama how about some credit.

He said he wanted prices comparable to European prices. Finally something looks like it could work out as he planned

Sure looks that way...

[Dr. Shane]

He said he wanted prices comparable to European prices. Finally something looks like it could work out as he planned

This is basically what Rush Limbaugh was talking about when he said he hoped Obama would fail. Limbaugh believed that Obama wanted America to be more like Europe and he hoped Obama would fail in his effort to make America more like Europe.

Obama certainly is being disingenuous when he touts the fact that the US is producing more oil now than it was when he took office. That is true but it is because of the advancement of technology not because of any Obama Administration policy. In fact, if Obama was more energy friendly, the US would be producing much more oil than it now is. Many environmental groups would like to stop the fracking operations that are producing so much oil and creating so many jobs.

Obama misses the point when he talks about the % of oil the US has and the % we use. The point is that the US uses enough oil that it creates a market for all the oil produced here. In other words, the US market will purchase all the oil that oil companies here can produce. That means there is a direct relationship between producing more oil and creating more jobs.

[Neil D]

Quote:

Obama misses the point when he talks about the % of oil the US has and the % we use. The point is that the US uses enough oil that it creates a market for all the oil produced here. In other words, the US market will purchase all the oil that oil companies here can produce. That means there is a direct relationship between producing more oil and creating more jobs.

Hmmmmm.....So, when US Oil companies offer thier product on the open and global market, and when China's demand for oil goes up, your saying that doesn't have an effect on the market? What's to prevent the US Oil companies from selling at a higher price to those countries that are willing to pay for it? Sure, everyone wants to pay $95 per barrel in a $105 per barrel market, but is that realistic? if you were some oil barron, where would you sell your oil?

[Dr. Shane]

Oil is a commodity. The seller doesn't set the price. It is just like corn or soybeans. The farmer doesn't get to set the price.

If China would increase their demand, then supply would increase to meet that demand. China is already making gasoline out of coal in order to meet their demand. There is plenty of fuel in the world. The US is not using it all up. Market speculators are among the greatest culprits for increasing gas prices - not any feared shortage.

[phkrause]

Market speculators are among the greatest culprits for increasing gas prices - not any feared shortage.

Exactly! To blame any single person is not saying the truth. The funny thing about speculations increasing the price, its seems to go up much faster than down! :)

[Neil D]

Oil is a commodity. The seller doesn't set the price. It is just like corn or soybeans. The farmer doesn't get to set the price.

If China would increase their demand, then supply would increase to meet that demand. China is already making gasoline out of coal in order to meet their demand. There is plenty of fuel in the world. The US is not using it all up. Market speculators are among the greatest culprits for increasing gas prices - not any feared shortage.

The US is using 25% of the global oil currently...And you are correct in that the seller doesn't get to set the price on the global market. However, if demand goes up, and for china, it has increased , global markets have a hard enough time keeping up with demand...regardless if china makes polluting gas from coal.in the last 3 years, chinas demand has gone up from 6.5 bil barrels to 8.2 billion,,,a sizable jump....of pollutants....

[Bravus]

25% of the world's fuel, 5% of the world's population.

Sounds just to me... not.

NB Australia has the exact same kinds of figures on a smaller scale: three fingers pointing back at me and I know it.

[Dr. Shane]

if demand goes up, and for china, it has increased , global markets have a hard enough time keeping up with demand...regardless if china makes polluting gas from coal.

Now that is a different argument. Now we are not talking about if the US is using an unfair share, but rather if the market can increase supply as fast that the demand is increasing due to China's economic growth.

Is it being suggested that the US should scale back on its gasoline usage so that China can use more until supply is increased? If that is the argument, than one must be in favor of increasing domestic oil production so that more of the world's supply of oil is available for China.