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yes Captain Obvious gas prices are going up, thanks for the revelation. But neither President Obama, Bush, Clinton etc... are at fault for Iran wanting to nuke Israel. Our relationship with them has been strained for decades and there is no magic policy the latest President can adopt to reverse history and make this all go away. Suggesting that it's largely Obama's fault is a laughable talking point that the far right extremists have been pushing as they're desperate for some national negativity to latch onto. The last few talking points have gone over like a led balloon and their primaries have been an embarrassing circus featuring pathetically feeble turnout. See, I do follow the news
While speculators have recently driven up prices due to the latest concerns, as several posters have pointed out demand for this higher priced gas is plummeting. Thats not going to make the rest of the Arab world happy either which equals even more pressure on Iran. We'll just have to see how this plays out, but I much prefer our current tact working with other countries to starting yet another war
STOMP
Demand for oil going down is a BAD thing. It means people are not flying to resort areas (for example) to spend their money. What happens to the economy of those resort areas? Seriously, what happens if demand for oil goes to zero? We all sit in the dark, go only where we can walk, etc. It's the opposite of progress and not a sign of a growing economy.
But I do think the president has the power to affect the economy and gas prices.
He appoints trade negotiators, for example. Ron Brown, appointed by Clinton, was outstanding and we all prospered.
The president also appoints people who regulate industries. In the case of oil, we have plenty, but we're not allowed to drill for it. In the case of gasoline, we need more refineries, but regulation makes them difficult to build and bring on line.
His appointed people are unelected and regulate all sorts of things throughout the economy.
He has the ability to submit legislation to congress, and the ability to veto what comes out of congress. In fact, he vetoed the Keystone XL Pipeline recently. Leases for drilling in the Gulf of Mexico are at ridiculously low levels, after the administration put a moratorium on new wells and bankrupting companies.
His reckless spending on all things that don't promote lower oil prices takes a toll, too. Consider QE1 and QE2, where the Federal Reserve printed over $2T in new money to make it look like Obama's deficits are only in the $1.5T range (see debt monetization). Silly Arabs saw us deflating our currency and demanded more dollars that are now worth less (not worthless!) per barrel of oil. And that's how we got $3+/gallon gas prices.
There's also the power of the bully pulpit. Even his strongest supporters from Vegas during his first campaign are royally pissed at him for how his statements about spending money on trips to Vegas and conventions there has hurt their economy.
And for the record, I'm not pleased with but a few politicians of any stripe. I'm not rooting for republicans, though I am not at all a fan of democrats. My guy is Ron Paul, and I'll be voting for the Libertarian Party candidate in the fall. I don't dislike Obama, but I have serious issues with his policies and the choices the people he appoints make. I've enumerated a few in this post alone.
You may be right that there's no magic policy (but there is: strategic oil reserve) to right things overnight, but you can look at the 3+ years of policies, spending, vetoes, etc., and see how we got into this mess. The average price of gas was $1.79 when Obama took office. Can you name one thing he's done to keep prices low?
