Tags

, , , , , , , ,

This really is not rocket science. Our American way of life is petroleum based whether you like it or not and it will stay that way for the foreseeable future–to suggest otherwise is foolish. As a corollary to that let it be known that there is nobody in this country (over-generalization alert), regardless of political affiliation,  that likes the idea that we are dependent on foreign sources for that oil to the level that we are.

It is at this point that the paths begin to diverge. For instance, the whole argument about man-made global warming. Unfortunately, what tends to happen is that liberals are held hostage to environmental extremism while Conservatives can often treat the environment as if it just does not matter–both of which are equally errant. So while one group of Americans supports developing our own sources of fossil fuels here in this country while attempting to develop some clean energy sources such as nuclear, another group seems to spend more in opposition than in anything productive.

As part of this process the oil company executives are regularly called before Congress for some political grandstanding. I always find this a bit infuriating since oil companies make approximately $0.02 profit for every gallon of gas they refine, ship, and sell while the government receives on average $0.48 per gallon of gas in tax revenue for doing nothing. Talk about unmitigated gall!

And now we come to the political football of gas prices. There are two reports making the rounds right now. One about the gas station in Los Angeles where gas prices went up ten cents during a two minute story and then the station right outside Orlando where people were paying $5.99 a gallon.

Whenever this starts happening people do start getting angry and find themselves looking for someone to blame. Wall Street usually gets a fair part of the blame, along with international politics, natural disasters, and depending on who is in office, the President. This is where I would like to focus for a moment. I am of the opinion, and I certainly could be wrong, that there is very little that President Obama could do to affect the price of gas in the short run. Sure there are things that need to be done (exploration, drilling leases, permits, etc.) that will make the difference down the road. But placing the blame on him is simply electioneering tactics.

However, the same thing was true four years ago when President Bush was in office. There was just as little he could do about it. But that did not prevent the Democrats and the vast majority of the media from placing the full blame upon him. You might be interested in reading a piece written by Heritage well over a year ago on this very issue (http://blog.heritage.org/2010/12/29/morning-bell-obama-wants-you-to-pay-more-at-the-pump/).

These high gas prices now are no more the fault of President Obama than they were of President Bush back in 2008. There are circumstances far outside of their control. But this is a story line which will be exploited in favor of the current President–we will have another ringside seat as the media continues to coddle their favorite son.