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| Want $2 Gas? Choose A New President, Not A New Recession | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Oct 22 2012, 08:19 AM (670 Views) | |
| Berton | Oct 22 2012, 08:19 AM Post #1 |
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Want $2 Gas? Choose A New President, Not A New Recession If we read President Obama right, he's telling us to get used to $4 gas unless we want a replay of the Great Recession. As his running mate might put it, that's pure malarkey. It took a lot of back and forth and a follow-up by moderator Candy Crowley, but the president finally did respond in Tuesday's debate to the question of whether his administration gives a hoot about the price of gasoline. Basically, the answer was no. Here's the key part of the transcript: Crowley: Mr. President, could you address, because we did finally get to gas prices here, could you address what the governor said, which is if your energy policy was working, the price of gasoline would not be $4 a gallon here. Is that true? Obama: Well, think about what the governor — think about what the governor just said. He said when I took office, the price of gasoline was $1.80, $1.86. Why is that? Because the economy was on the verge of collapse, because we were about to go through the worst recession since the Great Depression, as a consequence of some of the same policies that Governor Romney's now promoting. Notice what Obama asks us to assume — that the only way to get back to prices seen when he took office is to re-create the dismal economy of early 2009. As our chart here shows, he's simply wrong. There's no discernible link between prosperity and costly gas, or between cheap gas and slumps. Only at one point in the past 36 years — in late 2008 and early 2009 — did a drop in gas prices coincide with a recession. But even here the timing wasn't exact. Prices were spiking well into 2008 even as the economy was losing steam. And after they bottomed out in 2009, they rose sharply in spite of an abnormally weak recovery. In fact, gas prices are as likely to fall as to rise when the economy is booming. They dropped steadily during the 1980s, and they were consistently at or near $2 (adjusted for inflation) throughout the boom years of the 1990s. It wasn't until 2004 that they started climbing out of the two-buck range. They were responding then to a sharp rise in the price of crude oil, which typically makes up two-thirds of the retail gasoline price. Crude simply was not being produced fast enough to meet global needs. Oil demand collapsed late in 2008 and has not exactly come roaring back. But neither has supply. The energy boom of recent years has been mainly in natural gas. Oil has been slower to come on line to meet what demand there is for it. On that score, Mitt Romney made a strong point about the relation between federal energy policy and supply. He noted that production of oil on federal lands has fallen 14% in the Obama years, reflecting a general bias against fossil fuels and a cavalier attitude toward the average voter's pain at the pump. Romney's more oil-friendly policy might not deliver $2-a-gallon gas right away, but history shows that this price point is not at all an unreasonable target. For voters wondering if they should give him a chance, some math might help make up their minds. The $2 difference in today's prices from where they were at the start of Obama's term adds $800 a year to the cost of operating a car that gets 25 miles per gallon and racks up 10,000 miles a year. A two-commuter family with two such cars is paying $1,600 a year in what amounts to a green-energy tax. That's a real bite, more than negating all the real or imagined "middle-class tax cuts" that Obama has delivered. It's no wonder that an undecided voter at the latest debate was curious to see if the president had a problem with it. Apparently, he doesn't. LINK |
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| Neutral | Oct 22 2012, 08:57 AM Post #2 |
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Fire & Ice Senior Diplomat
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I don't know if Romney can give us $2 gas but I know for sure Obie won't. |
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| tomdrobin | Oct 22 2012, 09:36 AM Post #3 |
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Fire & Ice Senior Diplomat
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A president has very little control over gas prices. Maximizing drilling by opening up all available land and water would have a very small effect on world oil market prices. Now, blocking exports would flood us with NA oil and lower prices. But, that is socialism. Especially if you make companies continue to drill even though the price is to low for a profit. |
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| Neutral | Oct 22 2012, 09:38 AM Post #4 |
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Fire & Ice Senior Diplomat
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More oil, less cost to us. Supply and demand. Wait and see. |
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| Pat | Oct 22 2012, 09:51 AM Post #5 |
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Fire & Ice Senior Diplomat
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http://taxfoundation.org/article/state-gasoline-tax-rates-january-1-2012 You pay 17 cents a gallon state fuel tax Berton in Oklahoma and another 18 cents federal gas fuel tax. Federal diesel tax is 24 cents a gallon. In Washington, the state tax is 37 cents. Add transportation costs for delivering the fuel. Refinery cost from refining the oil. And the hefty mark up of the station owner. Which area could a new president impact, that would bring down gas $1.70 a gallon? |
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| Neutral | Oct 22 2012, 10:03 AM Post #6 |
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Fire & Ice Senior Diplomat
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You said Berton but I assume you meant me. just as I said; supply and demand. |
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| tomdrobin | Oct 22 2012, 10:27 AM Post #7 |
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Fire & Ice Senior Diplomat
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You remind me of the guy who was making widgets and selling them. He was losing money on each one, but figured he could make it up on volume. Now that makes about as much sense as Romney's tax plan.When supply goes up, prices do go down. But, then production goes back down and prices go up. In a capitalistic system you can't force companies to produce a product if they can't get the return they want. |
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| Neutral | Oct 22 2012, 10:34 AM Post #8 |
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Fire & Ice Senior Diplomat
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Your widget analogy is ridiculous but so is the rest of your post. |
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| Berton | Oct 22 2012, 11:00 AM Post #9 |
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Thunder Fan
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I don't know where you got that $1.70 price Pat but here is How to Lower Gas Prices and 10 Ways Obama Could Reduce Gasoline Prices Now. |
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| Deleted User | Oct 22 2012, 11:22 AM Post #10 |
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Oil is a world commodity and pump prices are based on the price per barrel which in turn is tied to world demand. Unless Romney plans to nationalize the oil companies, something I think is very unlikely, he has no control over pump prices other han lowering federal tax on it.. |
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Now that makes about as much sense as Romney's tax plan.
3:23 AM Jul 12
