Pres. Obama Looking for a ‘PetroVillain’

26 Apr, 2011 by Kathleen McKinley

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Once again, when gas prices get high, administrations go looking for “petrovillains.” Clinton did it, Bush did it, and now Obama is doing it. It’s a farce. They never find anything in their investigations except for the basic fact that gas and oil prices are determined by one thing, and one thing only-Supply and Demand. Pres. Obama knows this, but it sounds good to have to some sort of investigation.

An intelligent administration, or one at least less hostile toward profit-making businesses, would be looking for a more robust market, with more market participants, rather than hunting for villains.

We all know that Pres. Obama has no problem with high gas prices. He likes them. How do we know this? He told us:

Behind the doublespeak, the reality is that President Obama’s favored policies do nothing to ease fuel prices, and more damning still, he doesn’t care. In 2008, when the national average was last peaking above $4 per gallon, candidate Obama made it clear that while he would have preferred a “gradual” increase, he saw ever-higher petroleum prices as a necessary antecedent and augur of our immaculate, green-energy future. And even now, as oil in the Gulf of Mexico sits and waits for new permits and the EPA scuttles the latest effort to tap the estimated 27 billion barrels of crude sitting below Alaska’s north Arctic coast, the president assures us that “what’s driving oil prices up right now is not the lack of supply. There’s enough supply.” We agree, there is enough supply to meet current demand: at $4 dollars a gallon, and beyond.

Don’t you love how people like Obama and Al Gore preach to us about driving less and decreasing our carbon foot print while they fly around in private jets and travel in hordes of gas guzzling SUV’s? Obama flies off to any fundraiser anywhere that gives him campaign money. So please. They love that gas as long as they have unlimited access to it. They just don’t want us to have unlimited access to it. This is called ‘The ruling class.’

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: We know what the president’s energy policy is — drill in Brazil and windmills. He was over in Latin America a couple of weeks ago and all enthusiastic for the offshore drilling in Brazil. He is against it here and he has bureaucratic obstacles stopping the permits. He had oil drillers who left the gulf and headed to West Africa. And he says we’re going to be a great customer of Brazilian oil, which will be a wonderful addition to our balance of payments deficit. [Fox News, Special Report, 4/6/11, via Nexis]

So, drill there, just not here.

Gas prices have gone up 67 percent since President Obama took office two years ago. Pres. Obama did not take the opportunity that he was given to explore offshore drilling leases in the Gulf of Mexico. In addition oil companies trying to get leases cannot get them because of red tape in this administration.

But Pres. Obama would rather find a “petrovillian” than put blame on red tape, and refusing to drill here at home. He is now calling for an end to tax subsides for oil and gas companies. Does he really think this will LOWER prices?

The ignorance of the oil industry of this administration is mind boggling.

This is the truth: “Oil companies are not owned by space aliens, as some people would argue in Washington,” said API’s chief economist, John Felmy. “They’re owned by tens of millions of Americans who have their IRAs, 401(k)s and pension funds invested in the companies.”

When you attack oil companies, you attack the stocks that are doing well in people’s 401 (k)s even in these hard economic times.