• Obama Eyes Speculators for Rising Gas Prices, as Other Factors Play Role
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FOX Obama Eyes Speculators for Rising Gas Prices, as Other Factors Play Role [release]With gas prices surging to $4 a gallon, one of President Obama's solution to break the back of rising costs is to have Attorney General Eric Holder form a task force to examine alleged fraud or manipulation of oil markets. "We are going to make sure that no one is taking advantage of the American people for their own short-term gain," Obama said to applause at a town hall-style meeting at a renewable energy plant in Reno, Nev., on Thursday. But commodity analysts are skeptical of the president's plan. "This is a transparently political fishing expedition that insinuates that fraud or manipulation is distorting oil prices without providing even the flimsiest factual basis for such a suspicion," said Craig Pirrong, a finance professor at the University of Houston who specializes in commodity prices. The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline was $3.84 on Thursday, about 30 cents higher than a month ago and almost a dollar higher than a year ago. For Americans, who on average buy about 500 gallons of gasoline a year, that's an extra $500 from their wallets. But that's not the only way consumers are hit by higher gas prices. More expensive oil imports means increases in the cost of food, airline tickets and products shipped or trucked from far-away locations, among other expenses. At his town hall, Obama bemoaned the higher price "at a time when things were already pretty tough." He renewed his proposal to end roughly $4 billion annually in various government subsidies to oil and gas companies "at a time when they're making record profits and you're paying near record prices at the pump. It has to stop." But without congressional support for that plan, his primary tool right now appears to be the task force. The Financial Fraud Enforcement Working Group will focus some of its probe on "the role of traders and speculators" in the oil-price surge, Obama said, and will include several Cabinet department officials, federal regulators and the National Association of Attorneys General. In a memo accompanying a statement announcing the task force, Holder promised to "be vigilant in monitoring the oil and gas markets for any wrongdoing so that consumers can be confident they are not paying higher prices as a result of illegal activity." But he suggested a variety of legal reasons may be behind the spike in gas prices. "Based upon our work and research to date, it is evident that there are regional differences in gasoline prices, as well as differences in the statutory and other legal tools at the government's disposal," Holder said. "It is also clear that there are lawful reasons for increases in gas prices, given supply and demand. "Nonetheless, where consumers are harmed by unlawful conduct that has the effect of increasing gas prices, state and federal authorities will take swift action," Holder said, without citing any current evidence of intentional manipulation of oil and gas prices or fraud. Stephen Moore, a senior economic writer for the Wall Street Journal editorial board and founder of the Club for Growth, said aside from the Middle East, part of the problem is Federal Reserve policy, which he describes as inflationary because it is pushing extra dollars into the economy. "We're seeing inflationary effects through these gasoline prices but we're also seeing it in gold prices, copper prices and food prices. So I think (Federal Reserve Board Chairman) Ben Bernanke is as much responsible for these high gasoline prices as anyone," Moore said. A McClatchy-Marist poll this month found that 36 percent of respondents blame tensions abroad for rising gas prices while 33 percent blamed oil companies. Eleven percent blamed Obama and Democrats, and 6 percent pointed to congressional Republicans. The nationwide poll of 1,274 adults was conducted April 10-14 with a margin of error of 3 percent. Indeed, with the 2012 campaign ramping up, the White House is eager to show voters it's taking action to tackle rising gas prices. But Pirrong said the task force is hardly needed since the agencies already have tools to monitor for fraud and to take action. "This is part of a broad effort by the administration to deflect criticism with regard to gasoline prices," he said. As Obama targets traders, some media analysts argue that he is getting a free ride on the skyrocketing prices compared to former President George W. Bush who was largely blamed for soaring hikes near the end of presidency in 2008. "The numbers are fascinating… There were 280 network news stories" dealing with the issue of recent rising gas prices, Brent Bozell, president of Media Research Center, told Fox News. "Only three, three out of 280 mentioned the Obama administration's responsibility in this." Bozell argued that the administration does deserve some blame for the prices since isn't looking at its own actions affecting higher gas costs. "Whereas the Republicans wanted to drill more, and still want to drill more … drilling is down 13 percent in the last year," he said. "That is a huge, huge contributor to the problem we have of rising gas prices." [I] Fox News' Doug McKelway and The Associated Press contributed to this report.[/I][/release] Source: [url]http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/04/22/obama-form-task-force-tackle-rising-gas-prices/#ixzz1KHlnH9XA[/url] If Bush can get blamed for why gas prices got this high last time, why can't Obama now? Other sources: CBS: [url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20056205-503544.html]With gas prices rising, Obama announces new gas task force[/url]
Thank you for the Fox source.
[quote]Fox News' Doug McKelway and The Associated Press contributed to this report.[/quote] I liked to see the Associated Press contributions to this article. Otherwise, I'm thinking this is nothing but spinned.
Well he's right, commodity markets have a lot to do with large fluctuations in prices of such things.
Many people HAVE been blaming Obama for it. It's pretty unfounded, as was most of the Bush-era blame. Perhaps you should research your one-liners some more.
[QUOTE=MrBob1337;29360464]Many people HAVE been blaming Obama for it. It's pretty unfounded, as was most of the Bush-era blame. Perhaps you should research your one-liners some more.[/QUOTE]He's nothing more than a Fox newsbot at this point; even shoving a cattle prod up his arse probably wouldn't affect his posting habits.
Read more: http: [editline]22nd April 2011[/editline] :downs:
[QUOTE=Sgt Doom;29360850]He's nothing more than a Fox newsbot at this point; even shoving a cattle prod up his arse probably wouldn't affect his posting habits.[/QUOTE] Y'know, I'm starting to wonder if Glaber isn't one of those astro-turfing bots a lot of conservative organizations have been creating. Wouldn't it make sense?
Funny, I could assume that you're astro-turf too. [editline]22nd April 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=Lizard Of Guilt;29362340]Read more: http: [editline]22nd April 2011[/editline] :downs:[/QUOTE] I attempted to fix that already, Title edits don't always work.
[QUOTE=Glaber;29365625]Funny, I could assume that you're astro-turf too.[/QUOTE] Did you just... Yes, yes you did. You do realize you just threw out a rebuttal on par with the average third-grader, right?
How about research alternative propulsion sources instead of doing this.
[QUOTE=Dalndox;29365710]Did you just... Yes, yes you did. You do realize you just threw out a rebuttal on par with the average third-grader, right?[/QUOTE] Sometimes, that's all I got. I mean really. How would you respond to a baseless accusation of being astro-turf if you know you're not, but can't figure out how to prove it? I could link to all my previous topics here, but I doubt that would make any difference. Just like with the accusations of being a troll and trying to defend against that. I keep posting the same type of stuff over and over, most of it from Fox, and people still can't make the connection that I am a conservative that believes in this stuff, or in the case of progressive articles, believes against it.
[QUOTE=Glaber;29366294] I keep posting the same type of stuff over and over, most of it from Fox, and people still can't make the connection that I am a conservative that believes in this stuff, or in the case of progressive articles, believes against it.[/QUOTE] I think everyone made that connection months ago, then your persistence just makes everyone thing you're a troll. Perhaps if you want people to take you seriously you should stop posting articles from fox and more importantly stop making threads.
If only it was blood for oil instead of blood for "marginally acceptable relations for a decade followed by a military coup followed by terrible relations for several decades and extreme oppression of the local population by a military dictator, because somehow letting a puppet government price fix everything through OPEC followed by a dictator price fix everything through OPEC is better than just paying the locals actual living wages to mine the oil and give it to us directly".
[QUOTE=Generic.Monk;29366347]I think everyone made that connection months ago, then your persistence just makes everyone thing you're a troll. Perhaps if you want people to take you seriously you should [b]stop posting[/b] articles from fox and more importantly stop making threads.[/QUOTE] You may find this statement complicated glaber so I have bolded the applicable part.
how old are you anyway glaber, I only ask because you sound like you would be hell to live with
still not that much compared to the rest of the world glaber, do you drive a f150 or something? get a more fuel efficient car, and learn how to drive properly and $4/gallon won't be that big of a deal
[QUOTE=JDK721;29366436]still not that much compared to the rest of the world glaber, do you drive a f150 or something? get a more fuel efficient car, and learn how to drive properly and $4/gallon won't be that big of a deal[/QUOTE] Seeing as a huge percentage of Americans live at or below the poverty line and can already barely afford transportation, yes, 4 dollars a gallon is a MASSIVE deal.
The price of gas/diesel/oil also has a large influence on the cost of goods due to the amount of shipping goes on, and the number of products that need it as a component.
[QUOTE=Glaber;29366294]Sometimes, that's all I got. I mean really. How would you respond to a baseless accusation of being astro-turf if you know you're not, but can't figure out how to prove it? I could link to all my previous topics here, but I doubt that would make any difference. Just like with the accusations of being a troll and trying to defend against that. I keep posting the same type of stuff over and over, most of it from Fox, and people still can't make the connection that I am a conservative that believes in this stuff, or in the case of progressive articles, believes against it.[/QUOTE] How about not dignify it with a response and let it go. What was that one famous quote? "I'd rather keep my mouth shut and look like an idiot, then open it and remove all doubt." Here's a good idea: Stop posting articles from Fox. I know you can do it, because I've seen you post other sources. If you just stopped posting Fox articles, about 40% of complaints against you would probably stop. You'd still be called out for being a conservative talking-point dispenser, but it'd be a step in the right direction.
[QUOTE=Generic.Monk;29366393]how old are you anyway glaber, I only ask because you sound like you would be hell to live with[/QUOTE] 24, and you should try living with my brother sometime. [QUOTE=JDK721;29366436]still not that much compared to the rest of the world glaber, do you drive a f150 or something? get a more fuel efficient car, and learn how to drive properly and $4/gallon won't be that big of a deal[/QUOTE] I drive a Used Ford Taurus. $20 would get me to about half a tank depending on how close to E I am.
Your Ford Taurus, going from the 2005 model, gets 4 mpg more than an F150. Good job at understanding the phrase "fuel-efficient car".
He is right, it is all speculation. Saudi Arabia is the key provider down there. Middle East turmoil shakes up a lot of investors.
[QUOTE=JDK721;29366436]still not that much compared to the rest of the world glaber, do you drive a f150 or something? get a more fuel efficient car, and learn how to drive properly and $4/gallon won't be that big of a deal[/QUOTE] the rest of the world has cars with better gas mileage
[QUOTE=Lazor;29367195]the rest of the world has cars with better gas mileage[/QUOTE] on average, yes that doesn't mean there aren't fuel efficient cars in america. it's more the fact that americans like to drive hummers and big trucks, etc. and then bitch about gas prices
[QUOTE=JDK721;29367275]on average, yes that doesn't mean there aren't fuel efficient cars in america. it's more the fact that americans like to drive hummers and big trucks, etc. and then bitch about gas prices[/QUOTE] actually it's more like oil lobbyists keep us from having any sort of legislation that would encourage more fuel efficient cars i hardly ever see a hummer or giant truck, and i live in the south
Glaber, you're 24 years old and you spend your time making sonic fan comics and posting republican rhetoric from Fox News. You should be fucking grateful that people are calling you a newsbot, because the more applicable insult is much more depressing.
[QUOTE=Lazor;29367318]actually it's more like oil lobbyists keep us from having any sort of legislation that would encourage more fuel efficient cars i hardly ever see a hummer or giant truck, and i live in the south[/QUOTE] I see hummers/trucks/SUVs all the time in florida all are gas guzzlers
[QUOTE=Glaber;29366659]24, and you should try living with my brother sometime. [/QUOTE] I did, but then he started screaming something about "where did you come from?" and "why are you in my refrigerator?" and "get out of my fucking house!" and "oh god what are you doing with all my shaving cream?". It was a short lived, but educational experience.
[QUOTE=Glaber;29366294]Sometimes, that's all I got. I mean really. How would you respond to a baseless accusation of being astro-turf if you know you're not, but can't figure out how to prove it? I could link to all my previous topics here, but I doubt that would make any difference. Just like with the accusations of being a troll and trying to defend against that. I keep posting the same type of stuff over and over, most of it from Fox, and people still can't make the connection [B]that I am a conservative that believes in this stuff, or in the case of progressive articles, believes against it.[/B][/QUOTE] So you're admitting that conservatives are ass-backwards. That they're regressive. Since you're 'against' 'progressive articles', I suppose that means you're openly admitting that you're ass-backwards, too. What the christ. [editline]23rd April 2011[/editline] And you say you're not a troll?
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