So he is in congress and has been for over a year and has done nothing to empliment this. He also has done nothing to push any of his “changes” the 111 ecconomy packaged bill he drew up and put before congress he voted no on and it was his bill. So what will he do as president?

Not with the millions in his coffers…the supporters are footing his travel bills these days.

Funny…he tries to act like he has fought the poor black fight…what a complete joke the 2 candidates are…especially him by 1000x’s

I really believe that the Middle East countries are responsible for the high oil prices. This way Obama looks good to the American voters; the Middle East countries get richer and richers (see this week’s issued of U. S. News & World Report), and perhaps they can get Obama elected president of the U.S. and continue taking over this world.

Wow, it’s so great to hear a candidate (Obama) talking about getting at the root causes of problems and denying the easy way out, which is making preposterous accusations and trying to steer the argument away from solving our major economic crises and instead focusing on trying to put the other person on the defensive. I expect much more from McCain, but if this is what the Republicans are going to rely on for the first time many Americans might see through their short-sighted use of red herrings and elect somebody who will make substantial changes to make our country stable again.

It’s truly sad to see an entire party unwilling to lead. The Republican party cannot seem to break out of their tired rhetoric about increasing oil production. This is a national security issue, we need to reduce our consumption so that we are never at the mercy of Persian Gulf nations and their backward, un-democratic societies.

Obama will say anything to deceive the public as long as it suits him

visionary , Mccain is not.he needs someone to hold his hand. How many for trillions are you and your family willing to give up.Lets face it McBush policy is not the answer.
Our Families and future generations will pay for this.

Why are the Republicans, the party of free-markets, objecting to the price of gasoline? It’s Economics 101– supply and demand sets price. Oil is finite, so it can and will go higher- to $250 a barrel according to one pessimistic forecast in today’s Wall Street Journal (not exactly a liberal rag).

A slow, steady price increase is exactly the kind of economic pressure that will catalyze energy conservation, wise development and alternative fuels– just by the power of Adam Smith’s invisible hand. No government programs. No government price-setting. Just let individuals and businesses respond to price pressure in the ways that they see fit. Republicans should be celebrating!

If you ignore the obvious price signals from the market, or try to minimize them, it is like giving the patient anesthesia so his hand can scald more efficiently– when what he should be doign is yanking his hand out of the hot water.

Expensive gas is the best possible thing could happen to our economy in the long-term, as it is the only way to wean us off the cheap oil around which we have short-sightedly and wastefully organized our lives. Why are the Republicans avoiding their market medicine and pandering to the public’s need for another dime bag of energy crack?

Headline “Does Obama Really Not Mind High Gas Prices?” is blatant anti-obama propaganda. Fox is not “Fair & Balanced.” Fox News should be prosecuted for violating truth in advertising laws. “I have a dream!” My dream is that Fox Propaganda is driven out of business in a patriot uprising to return to democracy.

According to a government report announced today “U.S. oil inventories have been falling for weeks as refiners opted to use existing supplies instead of buying new barrels amid the crude market’s biggest bull run ever” That means there’s an oil shortage in the US. That would make sense because if you stop importing oil then supply goes down. It’s not rocket science. My question is why did they pick now to stop importing oil ???? It seems kind of stupid. But wait, maybe they’re not so stupid. They must have known that by making that announcement today it would drive prices even higher. Hmmmm… do I smell a rat? No denying. the government deliberately created this shortage of inventory. Why did they cut off our foriegn supply at a critical time when the consumer is worried about gas prices and the economy is unstable. They deliberately jeoprodised future supply of oil by allowing inventory to fall. Then just as it appears the oil bubble is about to burst they make this announcement which drives the price up again. That doesn’t sound very responsible. It almost sounds more like market manipulation to me. I admit, I am no expert but if they manipulte the supply then they can manipulate the price too.

Get REAL you REPUBLICAN voters - We have an Oilman President and an Oil Industry VP who got us into an Oil War that THEY SAID would be paid for by Iraq Oil and assured America a steady supply of gas. Every promise was a lie. WE are paying for the WAR … where is the Iraq oil going? (Really where?) And what about the price of gas, went down didn’t it… yeah sure.

What part of all of the above don’t you understand?

Tell me how Bush, Cheney the Oil Companies are making sure that the US Oil royalties (we American’s own the BLM and Oil Leases) are getting paid - much less at market rates? Look it up - it’s easy enough. The fraud is huge and you pay for it twice - by not getting a market price for US Oil and by getting shafted at the pump by the same companies that get the discounted oil and billions in subsidies. Republicans scream about increasing unemployment but have no problem gifting billions to poor needy Oil Companies. Check it out - its a matter of public record.

You got what you voted for … when gas hits $6, $10 or $20 you’ll also get what you voted for.

My problem isn’t Bush and the Oil bought-and-paid for Republicans - a snake is a snake and they were right up-front about being a snake. No my problem are voters who didn’t think that a snake is really a snake - they are costing me and others who do think and work hard for our money - so get a clue, quick!

after a foreseeable crisis occurs, it is amazing that our leaders and population are now in shock. emotional claptrap and nonsense responses are the rule. this energy thing is not viewed as the threat to national security it is. people think its just going to cost us more money when it is really going to cost us our way of life. WITHOUT ENERGY WE WILL HAVE NO FOOD,TRANSPORTATION AND HEAT IN OUR HOMES, FORGET ABOUT FILLING UP YOU RECREATIONAL BOAT OR GOING OUT FOR A DRIVE. NO SEE THE USA IN YOUR CHEVROLET ANY MORE MY FRIENDS. PRESSURE YOUR ELECTED LEADERS FOR THE CORRECT RESPONSE ABOUT THIS MESS LIKE IT WAS A WAR, BECAUSE IT IS A WAR BEING FOUGHT WITH MONEY BY ALL THE OIL RICH NATIONS OF THE WORLD. THEY COULD NOT DEFEAT US WITH ARMIES BUT THEY WILL DEFEAT US BY DESTROYING OUR ECONOMY!!!!!!!!!

Obviousl, Barry didn’t even bother to read the gas tax bill. And how did he actually vote on it? “Present!”?

I feel like I’ve read this story before. Maybe it sounds familiar to some other people two:

Republicans: “It looks like Obama wants XYZ.”

Obama: “You’re crazy. It’s all because of Bush and cronies protecting ABC.”

Personally, I grew tired of Bush bashing YEARS ago. I’m not exactly sure how, if at all, he has negatively affected me. In fact, there is a lot I like about him. And more and more, the people I see whining about him endlessly seem to be of questionable reliability.

I also know this: “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” Bush-haters have no where to look but to themselves.

Just my opinion.

It is past time that we ration gas like we did in ww2. There are just too many cars out there going no where. Give every driver 20 gallons a week that just use their cars for pleasure, and we would save millions of gallons

Of course high gas prices aren’t the problem. The fact that we Americans are addicted to oil is the problem. Is thinking really that difficult?

Trust Fox to include some half-brained comments from loyal Republican tools as a response. The real fact of the matter is that the Bush cabal is milking every penny from their disastrous 8-year run for their oil masters before they’re driven from office (and hopefully to prison). We all know it; why don’t you say it?

“On the House side, Minority Leader John Boehner dramatically added, “If Obama really thinks consumers ought to shoulder higher energy costs while we make the transition to alternative fuels, he should answer a simple question: how high should gas prices go? $5? $6? $10 a gallon?””

They should go as high or as low as the market will bear, Republican.

the GOP is pretty retarded. the man wants green, renewable energy and the GOP says he wants high gas prices…. i swear the GOP and the current administration is like listening to 3rd graders.

It’s interesting that the democrats are only interested in attacking the oil companies profits. Really, they don’t make that much money, and even if you get a fraction of it in taxes, it won’t be enough to do substantial research on more renewable energy. Why don’t we get rid of our dependence on foreign oil, put money and jobs into our own economy and drill in our own land until more sustainable energy is available, not to mention affordable. And where are we going to get this money? Lets cut the billions of dollars in pork that our politicians use to get re-elected. That will more than dwarf the oil companies’ profits.

Obama is an idiot who has never worked for a living. Obviodly, he lives in a world where it’s not a 40 mile round trip to a doctor or a pharmacy. he must never have had to plow snow from a drive way.
He likely uses a private jet] paid for by someone else for vacaions.]
The payer is the working family that he wants to tax the behind off of.

It’s always nice to see our pathetic, liberal media define anything that’s against a democrat as “GOP”. I simply can’t wait for democrats to lose, yet again, despite the continuous support from our supposed “Fair & Balanced media”. In general, smart, educated people see throug hthis crap..

What Obama’s spokesperson doesn’t say is that corporations don’t pay taxes. They just pass the tax on to the consumer. And as for cutting back on our oil consumption, what is an individual supposed to do when they are faced with driving 30 miles one way to their place of employment? How do you cut back on that? Right now, oil is what fuels vehicles and the trucks that haul cross country to deliver the goods that consumers need and want. Until the time when we find the right alternative to oil, oil is what we have.

He would have preferred a gradual adjustment. Obviously, Obama doesn’t mind the prices because if his policy of a windfall profits tax on the oil companies comes to fruition, you had best believe that the consumer will be paying more for a gallon of gas. Poll after poll has shown that Americans believe that we should be drilling domestically for oil. The US is sending billions of dollars overseas to the Saudis and anyone else in the Middle East who wants to sell their oil to us, and they are the ones who are making a hefty profit. That is money that could be better spent here. It is absolutely ludicrous to insist that the Saudis increase production when we have access to billions of barrels available to us here in the US.

I think that this article’s title is way too opinionated and biased. As a news site, FOXnews.com should report fair and balanced. This, to me, seemed much more like a thinly veiled attack against Obama. The article itself is much more balanced, but seriously, it’s almost like the writer wanted to hook in people like me, who are outraged, and other who agree, just for the advertising dollars.

Obama needs to watch the way that he broaches subjects like gas prices. Everybody who knows anything knows that he’s right, and that oil prices must climb as oil becomes scarce and that all of this is necessary to move the capitalistic system towards accepting green tech, but he is sticking out his neck with these statements. Oh well, maybe it’s the risk-taking that makes me like Obama so much; he doesn’t bullshit.

Does anyone really think fuel prices are not going to go up?
Does anyone really think that we can meet rising energy demand by increased oil production over the long term?
Do you think there is enough oil hidden away in the planet to meet rising demand for the next 50 years?
Do you really think a president can solve this problem? Is he our only source of leadership?
I knew what Obama meant even if I don’t support either of the candidates from the red and blue factions of the business party.
You don’t have get hysterical about it just use common sense planning and start developing other
sources of energy. Gee you might even find something you didn’t know was there.

Wow - the ridiculous sniping has already started on BOTH sides. In the past 24 hours we’ve heard nothing but non-stories taken out of context by BOTH candidates. McCain says getting the troops out of Iraq is “not too important”, and the democrats go nuts (when it was clear what he was saying. He’s simply re-stating his stand. Nothing new here). McCain also wants to “Veto beer” (when he immediately corrected himself - although I have to admit that I laughed when I heard this). Now this (when it seems to me that what Obama said was pretty clear. He wasn’t saying he’s for higher gas prices - far from it).

This has become the season of taking what our candidates say out of context, with little regard to what they were SAYING. If we have issues with our candidate’s STAND on the ISSUES, then let’s discuss that - the issues. But this examination of taking small sound bites from the candidate out of context is ridiculous.

I don’t agree with everything that either candidate is trying to accomplish, but trying to figure out their stand from the media is impossible anymore. These stories are a waste of time and energy to write and read.

It’s simple supply and demand…higher cost is supposed to curtail demand. To artificially mess with cost via government intervention messes with the effectiveness of the market. Gas isn’t going to be getting any cheaper, and people have been living in la la land regarding cheap gas up until now, so a correction is necessary.

Quit whining about it and make changes as necessary…you’re not entitled to cheap gas.

The underlying fact though, that none of these people are willing to admit is that yes, higher oil prices will be beneficial to Americans in the long term. The price we pay at the pump does not reflect the entire cost of the oil we produce, which gets distributed into our massive defense budget, our health care system, environmental cleanup programs, and several other expenses we share as a nation.

Simply put, our country has an unhealthy addiction to oil, and the only cure is to raise the price and drive demand for higher efficiency and alternative sources. The average consumer does not take into account pollution, environmental impacts, and political impacts of their driving and oil consumption.

The fact of the matter is that the technologies needed to reduce our unhealthy dependence on foreign oil are all readily available. It’s not a difficult task to create a fuel efficient, cost effective car. Unfortunately, the American auto makers are far too slow too sedentary in their engineering and implementation. This is largely due to their poor pension practices and dependency on labor unions. So, as a result, they’re unable to innovate at the pace of other competitors. This would explain why Toyota is now the number one car manufacturer in the world.

So, as oil rises, the consumer demand will raise and Detroit will scramble about to suit the desires of the consumer, meanwhile Toyota and Honda already have a nice hold on this market. But, hopefully as a result to skyrocketing oil prices, in 10-15 years we’ll all be driving bigger, more efficient cars more, and making a lighter footprint on the environment while saving money.

Now wouldn’t that be nice?

Isn’t it refreshing to hear a candid and forthright answer instead of political doublespeak or intellectual lies from past candidates for the presidency? It’s too darned easy to pander to the masses when it comes to economic realities. The demand for oil/energy from Asia is growing exponentially and for us to think that we can mandate price reductions is ludicrous. And, the argument that increased domestic oil production would make a material dent in the world price of oil is delusional or, simply, political mumbo jumbo.

What?
We’ve known for 30 years oil was being depleted–ithat’s why we have trickle down economics–
the talking points version of “down to a trickle”. Oil supplies are down to a trickle and food supplies are close behind thanks to our “leaders”.
Those who rule fool.

The Republicans are right, the bill that the Dems were trying to get passed to tax the profits on the oil companies would only have resulted in the oil companies raising the price to compensate. It is a bad bill and needed to be shelved. I am a Dem but I agree on this one with the Republicans.

Most of our gas does not come from the Persian gulf. It comes from Canada and other countries local to ours. Think about how much it would cost to ship all that oil half way around the world. In addition, if we did open up sources in our country it would not have a great effect on the gas prices. They might go down a little but not significantly. Only if these new sources were nationalized(IE Communism) would the price of gas go down in our country. All it does is add to the global supply. I also hear a lot of people blaming oil companies and their huge profits. If you break down the cost of a gallon of gas you would easily see that the amount that the oil companies keep per gallon is probably less than a dollar. If you want to look at their CEO go and look at their income statements on e-trade. They are no better/worse than any other company. One thing you can blame the oil companies for though is lobbying power. They have been keeping alternative fuels in the closet since Henry Ford first powered a car using hemp in the 20s. If our government put as much money into alternative fuels as it did into the murder in Iraq we would probably all be able to go out and buy hydrogen cars by now.

It is ridiculous. Here is a guy who talks about issues like uninsured Americans, making sure trade agreements have some agreed labor standards, phasing out income tax for lower income seniors, etc., and he is being portrayed as wanting higher gas prices. It’s a blatant distortion and he has shrewdly pierced the veil by pointing out how hypocritical his opponents are.

The Republican ideology sure is warped…

Mitch McConnell is an idiot. The tool hasn’t paid for a gallon of gas in his life.

40 mpg should have been the goal 15-20 years ago. This is the typical “someone-dies-and-then-we-act” syndrome of our civilization. Any precedent set now is actually lowering the standards for what the future actually has potential for. What sounds incredible now… simply isn’t. 40 mpg is ridiculous. The internal combustion engine is a first draft that never made it into a 2nd draft. It should have led to greater more powerful engines decades ago. Alas, somehow it caught on like wildfire, and now we all drive the most inefficient tool ever invented that pollutes and poisons our air to boot.

Any goal we set now won’t be met for another 10-20 years. Red tape. Federal administrations. Political promises that lead to wins that become the cliché lie we all fall for over and over again.

“…invest in green technologies and alternative fuels and increase fuel efficiency standards. “If we increase fuel efficiency standards on cars to 40 miles per gallon, we would save the equivalent of all the oil we import from the Persian Gulf”

40 mpg should have been the goal 15-20 years ago. This is the typical “someone-dies-and-then-we-act” syndrome of our civilization. Any precedent set now is actually lowering the standards for what the future actually has potential for. What sounds incredible now… simply isn’t. 40 mpg is ridiculous. The internal combustion engine is a first draft that never made it into a 2nd draft. It should have led to greater more powerful engines decades ago. Alas, somehow it caught on like wildfire, and now we all drive the most inefficient tool ever invented that pollutes and poisons our air to boot.

Any goal we set now won’t be met for another 10-20 years. Red tape. Federal administrations. Political promises that lead to wins that become the cliché lie we all fall for over and over again.

Cheap Republican attack - and typical too. Dodge the issue and spin it as if Mr. Obama wasn’t concerned with our current oil crisis. Mr. Obama is, obviously, focusing on how we could have adjusted to during a climb in petrol prices had it not struck the world so quickly. I only hope that he’s a man of his word and plans to take some sort of initiative to soothe this.

Wow, you really think we don’t see the bias when you ask a question like that as a title? Whenever you ask if something illicit is true (Does ______ REALLY hate America? Does _________ really not care about your safety?) it is implied, even if you say the opposite in the report, that yes they do hold those illicit opinions.

Whatever producer or editor let this out clearly doesn’t understand the new landscape (as Karl Rove does who has instructed McCain to stay away from the kind of politics that destroyed Clinton). I will never, ever watch/read foxnews again because when you intentionally put out a bias like this article’s title suggests, it is lying/manipulation/propoganda NOT journalism. (I will continue to watch Orielly because he has the skill of a showman despite having ADMITTEDLY been wrong about a war that so many of his viewers signed up for (including my family members) due to his viewpoints- whoops - hey Fox news stop destroying America (and I am a conservative from West Virginia saying this).

“If we increase fuel efficiency standards on cars to 40 miles per gallon, we would save the equivalent of all the oil we import from the Persian Gulf

On problem Oessiah, that not true. Here the problem all the Leftists fail to realize. EVEN if you magically invent a replacement for oil tomorrow it will be decades before we perfect the technology and creat the infastructure to use the alternative fuel. Even if you mandate 40 mpg tomorrow, it will be decades until all the cars on the road now are used up. We will be an oil based econcomy until the children born now grow very old. That is just simple reality.

Rich fat cats, like the Obama’s can afford these high price feel good solutions, average working Americans cannot. The solution is not to chase after some magic silver bullet to slay the oil dragon but deal with the reality that Oil is the most efficent, cost effect energy source and open up our own US Energy reserves to production.

Why would he care? Why does any of the leaders in Washington DC care? They are all millionares making money hand over fist. Thats why they sit around and complain about the other side while they do nothing about the high fuel prices. This is what happens when we allow the rich to run the country.

the GOP is so dumb.. they’re really looking for anything they can fabricate. the man wants green, renewable energy and made no mention about not minding high gas prices.

these types of headlines make me less republican, i swear.

I understand what Obama is saying. Unless we feel the pinch financially, our habits won’t change. How many people decide to quit smoking, not because its a health risk, but because they can’t afford a pack of cigarettes anymore?

Yeah,…leave it to the Republican-owned & run so-called news outlet to twist anything he says into their own little version. Bush doesn’t mind the prices,…he thinks they’re great!! But then,..who’d have thought that under the presidency of a Texas oilman that our oil prices would have shot up so high making all his little oil tycoon friends richer.

Yeah,..Obama understood that rises in oil prices were inevitable here,…just not that they would have risen so quickly. But,…leave it to your propaganda machine to twist that into “Obama Really Not Mind High Gas Prices”

You’re idiots if you think the general public doesn’t know that everything your so-called news outlet is lies and Bullshit. Doesn’t matter though,…Bush is out soon and McCain doesn’t stand a chance!!
Burns ya up,….doesn’t it!!!! Ha! Ha! Ha!!

Nothing’s as good at lowering consumption as higher prices. If the goal is to truly lower consumption for the sake of the enviornment, $10/gallon gas should be welcomed.

Yeah, it’s just fine for Osama to say that we should have a gradual increase in gas prices and invest in alternative fuels and ‘green’ stuff. How about me? I’ve already invested in an SUV when gas prices were a buck 35. ok, where do I take the hit? I can’t go out and turn an upside down loan into a new car. Where’s he coming from????

Obama makes a good point about solving gas problems but, there is no solution in sight and even if he gets elected many more years will pass before his proposal is in place. A few cents a day will carry you a long way, especially if you fill your vehicle up once a week that is a minimum of $7 dollars savings, 7×52=364 / there are no pennies, for me is a whole month of gas, I am sure other people would save 2-5 times as much.
On the other hand, he is not the first one to suggest increasing mileage per gallon on all vehicles, that is an old goal that has not been implemeted because of american interests being at stake,
(automotive technology is lagging) instead of spending on R&D they pay lawyers to to files suites, everything catches up and the result becomes in massive lay offs an awful sales of american vehicles, which no may people want because they are unreliable, break down too often and teh quality standards are low.
Obama will bring no change.

[...] FOX News headline, “Does Obama Really Not Mind High Gas Prices (As Observed by GOP)?” stating that Obama believes that America should shoulder the high costs of oil, when in [...]

Barack Obama does not take money from Oil lobbyists.

Any attempt to distort this simple fact ignores the truth that most if not all Republicans do.

Who benefits from high gas prices? The investments Republicans have in Halliburtun, Exxon, etc. add up to hundreds of millions.

Nice lead in on this story, why is there no reporting, and instead just flinging the mud of biased headlines? I’d offer you folks jobs if I had the wherewithall to, it must be very difficult to your subconscious morality meter to post such arrogantly partisan news stories designed to instigate rather than inform. Good luck, I’ll say a little prayer for you.

This blog is awesome.

outrageous twisting of words once again by FOX. I hope they toss Murdoch over the left side of a sailboat back to Australia. Anyone that works for FOX sold their soul.

this is a clear distortion by GOP leaders of the real issue. stop protecting big oil, stop attacking progressives, and stop spending so much on military spending so we can cut american’s a significant (tax) break.

Let’s see. Republicans passed legislation to make 6000+ lbs SUV 1/3 cheaper to buy and saddled the cost of that legislation on U.S. taxpayers. They made us more dependent on foreign oil and put more 8 mpg vehicles on the road, and then have the chutzpah to rip others over energy policy.

Republicans are not leaders when it comes to what’s good for the USA.

Obama is an amazing and transformational leader, and has motivated America. We all need to do our part in America, by continuing to be a hard-working nation with creativity and desire to work together. Work hard everyone, we need to wrok hard… Listen to our songs inspired by Barack Obama’s leadership, Rise Up Daylight Breaks ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaE3_6uuiM4 ) and Fired Up, Ready to Go ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyJ72iZ3tW4 ) . It is possible to come together and push this country in the right direction, we can do it, and we will do it with hard work and a positive attitude, internalize this concept, and see how you can be helpful in moving us forward… The Bergevin Brothers.

Why should he mind, most of his party representatives and senators were driving big cars, private jets, and limo paid for by the taxpayers and the poor people they represents.

The reality is there has not been an increase in demand to justify the increases that we have seen over the past 6 months. The current price of oil/barrel is being driven by the speculative market, not by demand.

In addition, for 6 years (2001-2006) the Republican dominated Congress and Bush Administration proposed nor provided no long term strategy to reduce the United States dependence on foriegn oil. In fact, Bush has pledged to work toward energy independence in every single one of his State of the Union addresses . . . while our dependence on imports grew from 53% to 66%. There were no vetos, no filabusters, no excuses for the GOP. Six years with a legislative majority and NO significant proposals were made. Now FOX News and the GOP want to blame the Democratic Senate, with a 1-vote majority and the inability to override a presidetial veto without significant numbers of the GOP crossing party lines? How short of a memory do they believe we have?

Obama’s comment makes perfect sense. Now that we are faced a massive increase in gasoline costs (not to be confused with a massive supply deficiency), the American people and its economy are seriously evaluating how to curb demand, and will begin to demand the government seriously invest in alternative energy sources, which does not equate to cutting the taxes of the oil companies, or providing them with subsidies to further record breaking profits by granting unlimited drilling rights in our worlds few remaining natural areas.

Where are the benefits of Cheney’s 2001 Energy Task Force policies? Oh yeah…We went to war and now we’re paying BILLIONS for reconstruction of Iraq, and $5 gasoline. Thanks GOP…Now go home.

[...] few minutes ago I went to Google News and was slapped on the face with this: Does Obama Really Not Mind High Gas Prices (As Observed by GOP)? Ouch. The link was on Fox’s Embed Producers blog, which is written by nine bad [...]

NEITHER PARTY OFFERS THE SOLUTION:

END FOREIGN WARS AND DRILL FOR DOMESTIC OIL

A rapidly devaluing dollar, aggravated by the cost of the War in Iraq, contributes to recent rapid increases in the price of gas. And if the trillion plus dollars the US spent fighting that war had been invested in a Manhattan like project to produce oil from known reserves in the Gulf of Mexico, the Continental shelf and synthetic diesel/gas from America’s abundant coal fields, gas would be $2 a gallon or less.

And reducing trade deficits keeps jobs in America. Every billion of trade deficit costs 13,000 jobs. $400 billion for oil last year: do the math.

Plus declaring American energy independence is the neighborly thing to do. It would place downward pressure on world oil prices by making more OPEC oil available for the UK, France, Japan, Turkey, etc.

Call Congress and demand domestic production in this decade.
http://www.house.gov/house/MemberWWW_by_State.shtml

I was reading books that discussed the need for energy conservation, mass transit and a sound energy policy in 1965. America’s leaders have not implemented any of the above in 43 years. Alternative fuels may be the answer in the future but not in the near future. For the next few decades we need to drill for oil, utilize coal and build nuclear power plants.

Supply and Demand do not operate when the market is dominated by a cartel. Don’t the republicans study economics? Be prepared to be screwed until we don’t need oil ever again.

First of all, the GOP completely twisted his words.. no part of his quote indicated that he “does not mind high gas prices”.

Also the republicans have no place to talk about Democrats not helping lower prices. The Republicans yesterday blocked a proposal to regulate the speculation market to prevent the manipulation that is occurring. That was the only action that would lower prices, and they blocked it. Speculation has gone wild and caused supremely over-priced oil, unfortunately nothing will be done about it until a democrat is in office. A real shame.

As ALWAYS, Obama’s statements must be explained by a third party or re-explained by Obama himself. He talks alot, and has NEVER said anything. So, this is the kind of LEADERSHIP you want? What has our Democratic Congress done lately beside create “the great divide” of America?? WAKE UP AND LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE! Change is good, but in the wrong direction, it can be a disaster….

Wow, so much for no spin.

We have had 7 years of INCREASING our dependence on oil, and now we are paying the price for having oil men in the white house.

And somehow this is Obama’s fault??

And because of this dependence on oil we sending billions of our hard earned dollars to our wonderful allies in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Venezuela, and Nigeria.

It should not be a surprise that oil demand was going to go up and we needed to speed our adoption of other energy sources. But somehow this is the demo fault.

Where are the benefits of Cheney’s 2001 Energy Task Force policies? Oh yeah…We went to war and now we’re paying BILLIONS for reconstruction of Iraq, and $5 gasoline. Thanks GOP…Now go home.

What a lopsided pile of BS!? Funny FOX news didn’t mention that three days ago Obama proposed a very detailed tax penality for BIG OIL like Exxon-Mobile who have had record profits for the past three years while the poor American citizen has been screwed at the pump — especially those that are dumb enough to take Fox New articles seriously. Also interesting no observations like the rest of us have already made that every time President Bush goes to OPEC to beg for a reduction in price of crude, the price it goes up! No mention about how curious it is that during the administrations of Bush and Cheney — two oil men — the price of crude has gone from $40 per barrel to $140? Really professional reporting boys! Should make the folks at the National Inquirer feel responsible! Fox News motto should really be “We Omit and Lie! You decide!”

Really, the comments show how both sides are “trying to distract voters”. Obama clearly did not mean that he thinks the high gas prices are good; however, the democratic push to tax oil company profits would do nothing–the oil companies would simply find a way to pass the cost onto consumers. Any reactionary responses to the climbing prices at the pump are ultimately gimmicks and will ultimately be of little help to consumers.

Bonny,

It is so refreshing to see unbiased and well reasoned insights from a seasoned news person like yourself. Good show madam, good show!

It is nice to have a politician that realizes that there is a reason that the rest of the industrialized world has not allowed gasoline prices to stay at unhealthy levels. Unhealthy for people and the environment, that is. And all of you people who flinched when I said “environment” should take a close look at where your priorities lie!

Maybe Republicans are just not very bright on the whole, but far be it from me to generalize an entire group. The truth is that oil is a finite resource. For those of you who don’t know what “finite” means, a synonym would be “fixed” or “limited.”

So yes, Obama and many others are right when they say that rising gas prices aren’t the problem. The problem is overcoming the challenge of devising a (preferably) clean, cheap and vast energy source.

Americans have had it very easy for a long time in terms of gasoline prices, and we still have it pretty soft even as gas creeps above $4.00 per gallon. Imagine what we could accomplish if we directed even half the money and energy that goes toward the oil and petroleum lobbies into developing a viable alternative fuel source. But that sort of thing takes brainpower and work, and it’s just so much easier to play political games and point fingers, so I guess we’ll keep doing that and thereby promote the stereotype of Americans as spoiled, arrogant, lazy crybabies. Good work.

Dont go on about the trivial and put words into people’s mouths about what they ‘mind’. Obama is explicit about the multiple solutions for gas prices:
1. Higher requirements for gas mileage efficiency.
I have a 2000 ECHO with 170K miles on it. It still gets higher mileage than the too-low “standard” for 2012, 30 MPG. That low standard was/is a form of pandering to the US SUV manufacturer’s by Bush’s government, which was still suppressing global warming science at the time the new 2012 standard was set. Now we know that the global warming science has been suppressed.
2. Lots of research to improve performance and lots of investment in research for alternatives,resulting in ending reliance on foreign oil, and new forms of energy for cars. Bush promised $6 billion in such research when he was nominated. He didnt make good on it, as he spent it on Halliburton and Karl Rove’s megalomaniacal war to take over the Muslim Middle East, something McCain still claims we should do, based on his fantasy we can have a presence there as long as our presence in Germany.

What is true? Obama “minds” that the right wing has taken our civil rights, including habeas corpus, your right to be charged with a crime and see evidence and cross examine witnesses. The taking of your rights was based on the fear of terrorists stoked by perpetual campaign, which itself is now seen to have been a sham. Vote to restore habeas corpus and end requiring people to testify based on torture, waterboarding and secretly selected forms of torture approved by Condi and the secret crew in the White House.

And Obama controls gas prices??? He’d be damned if he did and damned if he didn’t now, wouldn’t he, regardless of his answer. And the Republican answer?

So, let’s look logically….we’ve known for years that China was going to become a bigger consumer, yet, did the oil companies build any more refineries? Did the US govt. encourage them to build more refineries?

Answer: No.

No new refineries means same supply.

New China consumers means more demand.

Basic economics means the price goes up, right? More profit, and frankly, do the oil companies plan to increase supply? Bush just failed at that effort.

And you ask if Obama cares???? What are you smoking? Another piece of sophomoric reporting by Fox. You’re so sad…

Perhaps if we’d have listened to Carter, we might have been prepared for this day….but alas…the Republicans did what they always do…labeled him a nut. Good for elections, but perhaps not the best strategy for the US.

I am confused, this article seems almost non-partisan. Maybe I should read it again. Anyway, the price of oil is rising because millions of new consumers can now afford it, and want it. Americans can and will pay $10.00/gal. The real question is, how MUCH will we buy at that price, and how much the rest of the world will. The rest of the world will fold first. We need to encourage real pricing of oil, which means it should increase as demand grows. Trying to keep it artificially low can have disastrous consequences (ask retard Hummer owners).

Less consumption will never be the remedy. Long-term, we need technologies that will allow us to transition from petro products to other alternatives, as oil supplies dwindle. That may be the reality some day. But the price crisis is simple. High demand + low supply = high prices. We need to bring our consumer/producer ratios into equilibrium, which for us means more production.

Oddly enough, green fuels may make “sense” for the environment, but they make “dollars” (and lots of ‘em) for millionaire farmers. In addition, they make food stuffs (corn & other grains) more costly as food (their most virtuous use) because of the redirection of their supply towards “alternative fuels”.

We are sitting on the answer. Why can’t we drill our own oil, whose byproduct will also be the loosening of the stranglehold we’re in under middle-eastern oil producers. But, the extremist environmentalists won’t hear of it. Just try getting them to roll down the windows of their SUV’s to talk to you.

I am confused. While it may be impressive that our Republican Leaders (God Bless Them) are looking out for us and our pocketbooks by pressing forward on opening up the Arctic for greater oil exploitation by our friends at Exxon Mobil, Conoco Phillips and others, I am confused why these same humble leaders would not be in favor of legislation to curb massive profits that are so well earned by these loving oil companies. It simply does not make sense. I know and would bet my neighbors mother on the sheer truth that our Republican Leaders are in the game to serve me and to help me weather this horrible storm of soaring gas prices that will threaten to kill the American Middle Class, not to mention the unmentionable lower class. However, I do need to understand the connection between record profits and opening up our natural resources to our public servants at Exxon and other big oil companies. Considering our consumption, which big brains sometimes call demand, has actually decreased and considiring that oil availability, which those same smarties often call supply, is termed steady, I guess that that explains the increases in prices at the pump and our need to open up more oil for our t