Obama: “Lower Gas Prices? Who Cares? I Don’t”

02 Mar, 2012 by William Teach

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At least Jimmy Carter attempted to sorta say he cared about high gas prices. Obama can’t even work up a bit of empathy

(NY Times) With his re-election fate increasingly tied to the price Americans are paying at the gas pump, President Obama asked Congress on Thursday to end $4 billion in subsidies for oil and gas companies and vowed to tackle the country’s long-term energy issues while shunning “phony election-year promises about lower gas prices.”

In other words, you’re on your own, chumps. King Obama has spoken, and has no intention of doing a damned thing that would attempt to decrease, or even stop, the ever higher prices we, His subjects, pay at the pump.

That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if he changed his tune sometime around mid-September, when he sees the pain at the pump moving people over into the Romney or Santorum camp (whichever gets the GOP nod) and his re-coronation prospects decreasing. But, as we’ve seen from Obama, what he will offer will be empty promises.

Mr. Obama, in a (taxpayer funded) appearance at Nashua Community College here, took a page out of his jobs strategy of last year, calling on Americans to contact their Congressional representatives and demand a vote on the oil subsidies in the next few weeks.

“You can either stand up for the oil companies, or you can stand up for the American people,” Mr. Obama said. “You can keep subsidizing a fossil fuel that’s been getting taxpayer dollars for a century, or you can place your bets on a clean-energy future.”

How about the massive funding for failing “green” energy companies wasted by the government? Could have saved $4 billion there. The taxpayer subsidized ethanol industry, which even the NY Times thinks is a bad idea? It’s about $6-7 billion a year. And, remember, Obama wants the subsidies for purchasing a Chevy Volt to go up to $10k per purchase, which helps out those in the $170k a year and higher earnings bracket.

The president criticized Republicans who have called for the country to increase its own oil production, declaring that “anyone who tells you we can drill our way out of this problem doesn’t know what they’re talking about.” With the United States consuming more than 20 percent of the world’s oil while having only 2 percent of the world’s oil reserves, Mr. Obama said “we can’t rely on fossil fuels from the last century.”

I’ve always taken the position that (NMP) Obama was simply clueless and hyper-partisan. Now I simply think he’s an idiot, about 5 steps beyond clueless. If the demand is up, and the supply is low, causing prices to rise, then you….increase the supply! That’s 1st grade economics. In countries that have large supplies over their own oil, prices at the pump are low. They pay about .98 cents American in Bahrain. Many countries are moving away from subsidizing the “green” energy industry, ones like Germany, who realize they are dumping enormous amounts of money into a sector that is providing little to no return on the investment, and is providing little usable energy.

One day the alternative energy sector will be viable enough from cost and production standpoints to do away with most use of fossil fuels/energy sources. Could be in 10 years, could be in a hundred or more. Personally, I’m hoping for sooner rather than later. But, we cannot ignore our energy needs now. But, why should Obama care? The taxpayer provides it all to Obama for free. He’s not pulling out his wallet and paying.

Crossed at Pirate’s Cove. Follow me on Twitter @WilliamTeach.