Presidents can do something about high gas prices………
Mike Fitzsimmons February 28, 2012 12:32 pm
No Comment
Presidents can do something about high gas prices………
I’m Mike Fitzsimmons with commentary on 920-KXLY…….
Rapidly spiking gas prices are hitting Americans hard in the wallet. There’s a lot of finger pointing going on as the price of a gallon keeps inching toward 4-dollars nationwide. Already in some markets, premium grades of gasoline have passed the 5-dollar barrier. As we started the week, Americans were paying an average of $3.72 for a gallon of regular unleaded gas. In some areas more.
The White House tried to punt last week, saying that there really isn’t much that a president can do tho affect prices at the pump. Perhaps the Obama administration ought to rethink that posture as polls show, nobody is buying that. A few years ago, over the objection of majority Democrats in Congress, President George W. Bush announced that he would authorize opening previously closed oil fields in the United States and immediately off shore. That announcement alone changed the international oil market dynamic, and held speculators in check. The price of oil slipped back, and with it, the price of gasoline.
Barack Obama could certainly do something similar, but he is a very different president from George W. Bush. Bush would have had oil rigs at work on many sacred grounds and refineries under construction had he not been held down by the opposition-led Congress who kept public lands locked up and “protected” from those evil oil companies. Obama deeply believes that the only way to convince Americans to look to green energy alternatives to fuel their needs is to allow fossil fuel prices to escalate to a level where they become unaffordable for most citizens. That position is about to be seriously tested. In this election year, President Obama may have to risk his re-election on this strategy. The public is becoming restless. People are in no mood to be told that expensive gas in in their long-term best interest.
With commentary on 920 – KXLY, I’m Mike Fitzsimmons
Popularity: 1% [?]
