Saturday, March 5, 2011

Gas Prices And The Fragile Recovery

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Just in case you hadn't noticed, gas prices have gone crazy the last couple of weeks. I filled up my tank 10 days ago at $2.99 a gallon and just yesterday I paid $3.25 a gallon. Where is all the media outrage about our President being in cahoots with the oil companies.

After Hurricane Katrina halted off-shore drilling and damaged our Gulf coast refineries, the nightly news beat up on the Administration for the cost of gas going up. Now that Hurricane Obama has halted off-shore drilling and most energy exploration to make the environmentalists happy ... no blame at all seems to be coming his way.

In about a month's time, we will start to see sky-rocketing food prices and the price of synthetic clothing will also go up. Usually when synthetics go up, we can fall back on cotton ... but many of the cotton plants were damaged in the colder than usual winter we had in the south. Cotton prices have already tripled. We could have really used some of that global warming this winter.

The rest of this is simple. When people have to spend more on the necessities (food, clothing, utilities and gas) they have less money to spend on cars, furniture, appliances, etc. The companies that manufacture these goods and the retailers that sell them can't afford to hire new workers, or they go out of business and workers lose their jobs. The recovery stalls or reverses. If I can see this, and you can see this, why can't our politicians see it?

We need to drill for American oil, and avoid paying the fear premium that is currently on foreign oil (the fear that production will be halted in the Middle-East because of the chaos that is going on there). We need to fast-track nuclear power plants. We can continue to explore solar, wind and geothermal energy sources ... but until these options become cost-effective we cannot mandate a certain percentage of our electricity come from them (sorry Mr. President but that is irresponsible given our current fiscal situation).

The left is always looking for ways to spend OUR tax dollars. Sometimes they come up with good ideas and we should not reject them just because they come from liberals. We should not however, mandate how we spend tax dollars or how businesses spend their capital.

As for drilling in Alaska ... I lived there for 3 years and I can tell you that in ANWAR, drilling will cause absolutely no harm ... because for the most part ... it is a wasteland.

So, Mr. President, get your head out of your tuchus and lead. Stop worrying about the 2012 election and do what is best for the country. Take a page out of President Reagan's' book and just work on making America strong. The Country saw that he was looking out for our interests and he had no problem being re-elected.

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9 comments:

Ron R said...

Obama and gang have little or no interest in more drilling. Their power bases are in the large urban centers where folks can use mass transit. They have little use for those of us who live in the rural areas and depend on low gasoline prices to commute back and forth. Actually it's in their interest to keep gas prices high.

Thanks for your visit to TOTUS.

Right Truth said...

I paid $3.29 this week. Rush Limbaugh says that $4.00 is the most Americans will put up with, but I'm not sure we have much of a choice. No excuse. We should be doing everything to get energy efficient, and I don't mean GREEN.

Debbie
Right Truth
http://www.righttruth.typepad.com

WomanHonorThyself said...

I have a feeling this is just the beginning Paul..sigh

SNAKE HUNTERS said...

Paul - A thoughtful and accurate post. Wind & Solar provide less than 2% of our energy needs, so Obama is dead wrong again.

We have abundant natural gas & coal for the next 50 years, plus safe nuclear power. Governor Sarah warned us two yrs ago..that if we want $2.00 gasoline, and relief from OPEC..we should "Drill Now" in Alaska's ANWR and the north slope, plus off-shore on the Pacific & Gulf Coasts, where we have proven reserves.

reb

www.lazyonebenn.blogspot.com
___ ___

Always On Watch said...

And don't forget about what's going to happen to heating bills! Many of us in the Northeast heat with oil -- not natural gas.

In my own case, my first oil bill this winter was about $1100, my second $1500. These bills were each for two months of heat. Since I paid that second bill, the price of oil has gone even higher, and I dread the next bill that will roll in.

I do wonder how much of our electricity is fueled by oil.

The Obama administration has no intention of doing anything about the price of oil -- except to see to it that we continue to fund Islam via OPEC. More reaching out to the Islamic world! Pffffft.

jel said...

it's time to go back to the horse and buggy ! :)

Trekkie4Ever said...

We are up to $3.45 a gallon. I am not going to let my tank get below half or I will go bankrupt.

I don't see any relief, and we are so helpless to stop the rising of costs on gas.

Maybe I should invest in a scooter.

WomanHonorThyself said...

Have a great rest of the day my friend~!:)

Paul Champagne said...

Ron ... I agree, Obama and company would rather us yokels walk than drill a single new well ... after all, what's more important ... a red-neck tea-partier or the spotted owl?

Debbie ... Unfortunately, we don't have a choice. If gas is $5 a gallon ... we have to pay it.

Angel ... I'm afraid you're right

Reb ... Drill Baby Drill!

AOW ... ouch ... I hadn't realized that heating oil had gone up sooo much. It's been over a decade since I've lived in the Northeast.

Jel ... Giddy-up! I wish I owned a horse and buggy right now.

Leticia ... I'm thinking about a bicycle right now. It's funny, when I lived in Germany I biked to work everyday (weather permitting) and now I drive home and then get on my exercise bike ... how stupid is that?