President Obama today accused Republicans of “licking their chops” at soaring gas prices, while admitting his administration has no “silver bullet” to ease pain at the pump.
Obama gave a talk on energy issues on a visit to the University of Miami’s industrial energy-efficiency center. He then attended a fundraiser at the Biltmore with Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and DNC Chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.).
“Just like last year, gas prices are climbing across the country – except this time, even earlier. And that hurts everyone – everyone who owns a car; everyone who owns a business,” Obama said.
“Now, some politicians always see this as a political opportunity. You’re shocked, I know. Last week, the lead of one news story said, ‘Gasoline prices are on the rise, and Republicans are licking their chops.’ Only in politics do people greet bad news so enthusiastically. You pay more, and they’re licking their chops?” he added.
“And you can bet that since it’s an election year, they’re already dusting off their three-point plans for $2 gas. I’ll save you the suspense: Step one is drill, step two is drill, and step three is keep drilling. We heard the same thing in 2007, when I was running for President. We hear the same thing every year. We’ve heard the same thing for thirty years.”
The president called that a “bumper sticker,” not a solution.
“Well the American people aren’t stupid,” he said. “You know that’s not a plan – especially since we’re already drilling. …It’s not a strategy to solve our energy challenge. It’s a strategy to get politicians through an election.”
Proclaiming that there are “no quick fixes” to lowering gas prices, he touted a strategy for “responsible” oil production in America and long-term alternative energy sources including wind and nuclear energy, and battery-powered cars.
“The payoffs on these public investments don’t always come right away,” Obama said. “Some technologies don’t pan out; some companies will fail. But as long as I’m president, I will not walk away from the promise of clean energy.”
To remedy drivers’ pain in the short-term, the president promised “we will keep taking as many steps as we can in the coming weeks” without offering specifics.
“None of these steps I’ve talked about today represent the silver bullet that will bring down gas prices tomorrow, or reduce our dependence on foreign oil overnight,” he said. “And that’s because there is no silver bullet. There never has been.”
The address didn’t mention the killed Keystone XL pipeline project, something noted by Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), who introduced a bill last week that would ban Obama from tapping into the Strategic Petroleum Reserve unless he approves Keystone.
Vitter called the speech “yet another example of the president putting a political agenda in front of common-sense energy policy.”
“I actually agree with the president on one thing – there is no ‘silver bullet,’ and we do need an all-of-the-above strategy,” the senator said. “But that means focusing on proven energy sources like oil and gas first, and letting other, newer energy sources succeed and fail in the marketplace. Unfortunately, this administration’s approach has been to throw billions of dollars at unproven energy projects while just hoping that the technology would catch up.”
President Obama proves he can dish it, but he can’t take it. Mr. Thin Skin needs a different job. Yes, Obama’s toxic policies are a direct result of high gas prices from the onerous Obama EPA Crap & Tax regulations, Iran’s instability, the weak Dollar, & general inflation across the board. Obama has good reasons to be on the defense, but hiding under Valerie Jarrett’s skirt is not the place to say it.
“Now, some politicians always see this as a political opportunity. You’re shocked, I know. Last week, the lead of one news story said, ‘Gasoline prices are on the rise, and Republicans are licking their chops.’ Only in politics do people greet bad news so enthusiastically. You pay more, and they’re licking their chops?” he added.
I’d love to know which organization produced that “news story.” The New York Times? The Washington Post? Newsweak? Huffington Post? Whoever it was they were only interested in setting up an opportunity for Obama to make this ridiculous, self-serving “observation.”
No silver bullet? He has no desire to reduce fuel prices. And neither does his doner base.
Wait!
- I thought all we had to do was properly inflate our tires? ( Yes, he said that)
- I thought that $5.00 a gallon for gas wasnt necessarily a bad thing, so long as it didnt happen all at once? ( Yes, He really did say that.)
The MSM can blast whatever lie they want about “the One” all day cause there is a campaign sign down every Main Street saying socialist policies just don’t work. The signs say:
$4.00/gal. Regular
That is simple Genius. Nicely played!
Lexy, BEST COMMENT OF THE WEEK AWARD
“Now, some politicians always see this as a political opportunity. You’re shocked, I know. Last week, the lead of one news story said, ‘Gasoline prices are on the rise, and Republicans are licking their chops.’ Only in politics do people greet bad news so enthusiastically”
One could also argue that the Democrats licked their chops over stalemate in the Middle East 2003-7. One scenario of possible “chop-licking” involves as a reprecussion an electoral defeat for a party. The other involved as a reprecussion giving the foe the hope, as in Vietnam, that if he won the war in America, he would win (even though repeatedly losing on the ground)–and that winning the war in America was possible if he just held on long enough, because the Americans also made enough mistakes on the ground to give the chop-lickers room needed for purchase. The surge put an end to all that, but not before lives were lost needlessly.
So as far as gas prices and “chop-licking” goes, I find it hard, even if the President is correct, to really care.
Back in 1992, Bill Clinton and Al Gore went around the country proclaiming it was “the worst economy in 50 years!” It was a lie, of course, but no one in the Press called them on it. Instead, bad economic news was the lead story on just about every news broadcast for months. They’d then follow with poll results showing a decline in consumer confidence. Even my then teenaged stepson caught the manipulation with a “well, duh!”
In 2000, GW Bush stated that the economy was slowing (and it was) and Bill Clinton had the gall to complain about him “talking down the economy!”
In 2008, Obama ran against the Republicans, blaming them for every bad thing in the world short of tooth decay (and I may have missed that one). Today, he’s (nominally) in charge and wants to deflect the blame away from himself. Sorry, but no, especially when his administration’s policies of hindering oil exploration has directly contributed to the problem. Add to that the massive debt and borrowing which is reducing the value of the dollar. International oil sales are priced in US dollars. When the value of the dollar goes down, the price of oil goes up and with that the price of gasoline and diesel fuel, which in turn drives up the price of everything else.
Can he pretty please explain what he means by “responsible?” Only when it seems politically expedient for him to support it? Only when his environmentalist friends say it’s OK? Something else? Nothing?
The word “responsible” is similar to one of his other favorite words, “fair.” Humpty Dumpty would be jealous.
Why of course we Republicans just love high gas prices. Just this morning as I was using the better part of my day’s income to fill my tank I was doing a regular “Happy Feet Dance”.
If Republicans aren’t licking their chops over President Algae, and they don’t exploit this, they deserve to lose.
And as ridiculous as algae sounds, it is currently $33 a gallon. But, it is delivered by unicorns, so it’s all good.
Ah! But do the Unicorns run on green, renewable, sustainable, fair-trade energy?
The headline was from Politico
Thanks 2nd Amendment Mother! No surprise, huh?
I am a Republican. I assure you I am not licking my chops at the thought od paying higher gas prices.
Comrade Obama’s statement that US production has little or no effect on prices because they’re World prices is an outright lie. When the US brought on Alaska’s North Slope and the British and Norwegians brought on the North Sea in the late ’70s, early ’80s the additional supply broke the OPEC price paradigm in only three years or so; oil had been at $30/bbl. in ’80 and was in some places less than $10/bbl. by the mid-’80s. I know; damn near bankrupted my state and people were driving up to the banks, putting the house keys in the night deposit box and heading South.
We probably won’t be that cooperative with US policy again; we’ve learned what the Lower 48 thinks of us. We sustained the highest uplift rate of any major field in the World for two decades so you could have cheap gas. Our production has fallen from 2.1MM/bbl./dy. to 600K/bbl.dy. and your government is preventing us from developing any other provinces. So, 300K/bbl./dy. at $90/bbl. is the same revenue to us as 1MM/bbl.dy. at $30/bbl., but it sure as Hell ain’t the same in your fuel bill and right now, it’s over $100/bbl. Hell, even Sarah Palin was popular here with oil at over $100/bbl. One man’s meat, another’s poison.
Ear Leader said:
“The payoffs on these public investments don’t always come right away,” Obama said. “Some technologies don’t pan out; some companies will fail. But as long as I’m president, I will not walk away from the promise of clean energy.”
Jug Ears thought:
The payoffs on these public investments don’t always come right away except for my campaign donors Obama said. Some technologies don’t pan out; some companies will fail. But as long as I’m president, I will not walk away from the promise of laundering every tax dollar I can.
Maybe government is not the answer
Gasoline is a commodity, and its retail price is subject to the market forces of supply and demand. Besides the cost of crude supplies, US refiners also have cost burdens due to complying with environmental regulations. Plus there are very few refineries left in the US, so there are the costs for transportation/shipping.
Obama could immediately reduce gasoline costs for consumers with a federal excise tax moratorium. In the longer term, he could establish a national policy that encourages building out gasoline refinery capacity near new sources of crude, such as North Dakota. Obama could also push a long term national energy policy that uses domestic oil and natural gas for transportation, with coal and nuclear power for electricity.
It doesn’t take magic, just common sense.
“All of the above approach”. He said the same thing in the ’08 campaign.
As president, his administration gave the permit to BP to drill in the Gulf, despite their terrible safety record. They waived or just ignored many of the requirements, like an emergency plan. The Gulf Oil Spill was the fault of the incompetents in the Obama administration. Can you imagine if Bush, the oil man, had done this…?
Then, he interfered with every attempt to fix the problem soonest. Then, he used the spill for which he was responsible as an excuse to shut down all the safe oil rigs. He instituted a moratorium on drilling permits. Now, he has disapproved the XL Pipeline. They are trying everything they can to stop fracking.
All of the above. Right. Except for anything to do with oil. His words mean nothing. His actions say everything.
Seriously? The HEADLINE that the president quoted was aimed at our lawmakers. I don’t really think it was aimed at individuals. Any disagreements may want to examine ego issues. Secondly, not one comment about how our lawmakers punish the American people when they refuse the president’s request to tap reserves (oil we drill for in the U.S.). Lastly, anyone who disagrees with events in the middle east affecting gas prices may want to examine the percentages of world oil supplies shipping out of the middle east. As far as “fair” and “responsible”, very simple…don’t pollute our drinking water, soil, etc. The oil companies, who saw record profits in the past, did not invest their earnings into clean up technology. They didn’t invest it into cleaner processing technology. Instead of blaming the one guy who doesn’t work in oil, how bout we blame those who do?
Too few people know that inflation is the underlying cause driving the high gas prices, and that Obama supports Ben Bernanke’s policies for inflating the economy. Click my name and scroll down on my blog for more on this fascinating subject.
People voted for a man that was supposed to reach a hand across the aisle in good faith, solicit and make use of good ideas from any source, who would give us bold, fresh analyses of our problems, and have the vigor to solve them. Instead, we got the person who can give a speech as nasty, petty, vindictive and divisive as anything McCarthy ever spewed.