By accident last night I watched a Foxnews commentator (Rush Limbaugh) railing against high gas prices and blaming them on Obama. He said: (1) Building the Keystone pipeline will solve the problem. (2) Drilling for oil offshore will solve the problem. (3) Obama is "allowing" oil companies to export "our" oil to China and India. This was comical in the extreme, especially the fake rage and hand waving as he answered the set up comments made by his foils. He really got worked up. Now here is the truth: The Keystone pipeline and drilling offshore aren't going to do anything for your gas prices right now. The keystone pipeline just moves oil. Drilling offshore will undoubtedly find more oil, but no one believes it will produce a "Whale" of a field that will solve everyones problems. Even if it did, it's Five years away at least. But even is there was more oil, it's going to be sold at world prices because oil is a commodity. Try telling American oil companies they can't do that. The consequences of making oil companies sell the oil for less than the world price are simple. American oil companies will simply invest in oil exploration elsewhere - where they can sell what they find at world prices. Don't try to dream up subsidies for exploration, rebates, etc. thats socialism right? Anyway the taxpayer still foots the bill. The truth is very simple. India and China are using the oil they buy for productive purposes. That is, for every dollars worth of oil they buy, they get Two dollars worth of benefit - like a farmer doubling his crop through using a gas powered irrigation pump. He can afford to pay a lot more for oil. Meanwhile Americans just use oil to drive down the road to a McDonalds. That's not productive. Get used to walking. It will be better for your health if you either walk to McDonalds or don't go at all. To put that in economic terms, the marginal productivity increase of using oil in China and India is much much more than in the USA. Those countries can afford to pay more than you can. Buy a Chevy Volt.
Maybe you spend your gas driving to McDonalds, but most people use the bulk of their gas to drive to WORK. And you can't walk or ride a bike on a regular basis. It isn't practical. How you gonna bring home a week's worth of groceries that way? In the rain, in the cold, in the dark....walking to work or the store... My God, the left really IS full of Luddites. Wanna live in a cave? Be my guest. It kinda reminds me of this guy...
The argument that nothing will help gas prices "right now" espoused by the Left is disingenuous as that is the SAME argument they used 10 to 15 years back. Had we NOT listened to them then, and Drilled Baby Drilled, and built refineries, etc. there would be little problem NOW. Yet another problem that can be blamed on the Left, and their Communist ANTI-Capitalist backers!
Considering that we are refining a great deal more than we use, here in the US, why do we need more refineries?
To refine all that oil the left won't allow to be drilled. Even if we don't use THAT oil if we produce it, it will decrease the price of all oil all over the world.
Supposedly, oil prices are going up because they are spooked Iran will cut off oil supply. Is that why Obama and company have stepped up on the war rhetoric in the past month with Iran?? Now we have a reason why our gas prices are high and will soon be 4.65 a gallon, because it's all Iran's fault. Yeah.....right. Don't worry, they will magically go down again right before the November election.
Are you one of the folks who believe that oil producers desire to sell more for less? Generally not the way the free market system works.
Good thing many oil producers HAVE to sell oil at largely whatever price since they are so heavily in debt, and/or oil is the primary driving force of their economy like Saudi Arabia and Iran, among many other places including Russia.
Awwwww,, those poor poor Americans. While the average Joe Blow in other parts of the world are scraping together their pennies to fill their tanks, Americans are driving around in the gas guzzling behemoths. Stiff sh!t and get over it.
Thats right. Many oil producing counties can't hold off production much if world oil availability suddenly became much more (drill baby drill), and the price drops. Many are heavily in debt and oil is the main driver of their economies. Not like many could afford to cut back as the US or other countries greatly added to the world oil supply. Therefore, since they largely would have to keep selling, the price would naturally go down, or is the Law of Supply and Demand wrong?
You do realize oil is a commodity, right ? If we had double the oil now, the price would still be set by the markets, not congress, not the Prez. That doesn't mean oil companies don't share in the blame here either.
Let's also not leave out the pertinent fact that if more oil is dumped on the market, the traditional producers just close the valve up a bit to compensate. They make the same or more money for selling the same or even less oil.
Thats right. Many oil producing counties can't hold off production much if world oil availability suddenly became much more (drill baby drill), and the price drops. Many are heavily in debt and oil is the main driver of their economies. Not like many could afford to cut back as the US or other countries greatly added to the world oil supply. Therefore, since they largely would have to keep selling, the price would naturally go down, or is the Law of Supply and Demand wrong?
