Obama “can’t do much” to lower gas prices … demands they go higher

When the cost of doing business increases, the business can increase prices, take a lower profit margin, cut dividends, cut labor and R&D, or most likely a combination of those options. Basic business right?

Not so much for President Obama, who thinks the oil companies make too much money and enough is enough. The average net profit margin for the most recent reporting year for the top six oil companies traded on the New York Stock Exchange with market caps of more than $100 billion is 9.4 percent, with a high of 16.22 percent and a low of 6.75 percent.

That is what I would call a reasonable profit margin, but Obama and the left don’t want you to understand the concept of a profit margin, all they give a crap about is a big dollar figure on a white board that does not have enough room to show all the zeros.

Political stagecraft.

In 2008 he stepped out in front of America and let everyone know he was going to take the needed steps to reduce the price of oil and work to solve the energy crisis once and for all. I guess that promise, like many others was a complete lie since now he’s saying there is not much he can do about the price of oil, so we might as well cut the “loopholes” afforded to oil companies to make you feel better by putting the screws to them, and guaranteeing the price of oil and gas will go up.

Democrats always fall back to class warfare. How do people fall for this crap?

President Obama said Saturday he can’t do much to lower gas prices, and renewed his call for Congress to end tax breaks for oil companies.

Got his logic? Can’t lower prices, so let’s just collect more tax dollars from big oil. Well that certainly might give the federal treasury a few more dollars to spend, but that guarantees some of the additional tax burden will be passed on in higher prices at the pump. It also means retired seniors who rely on dividends from those investments might have to do with less, and the oil companies will have less money to spend on research and development of fuel alternatives like bio, solar and natural gas.

“The truth is, the price of gas depends on a lot of factors that are often beyond our control,” Mr. Obama said in his weekly address. “Unrest in the Middle East can tighten global oil supply. Growing nations like China or India adding cars to the road increases demand.”

Holy crap, did he finally pass Econ 101?

Mr. Obama said his administration is cracking down on oil profits — on traders who “distort the price of oil, and make big profits for themselves at your expense.” And he called on Congress again to eliminate $4 billion in annual tax breaks for oil companies.

“Your member of Congress should be fighting for you,” Mr. Obama said. “Not for big financial firms. Not for big oil companies.”

Don’t fall for the political theater of the Democrats (and plenty of Republicans), that’s all they have since facts, business sense and reason are foreign concepts to these bastards.

Next, head over to Hot Air and read Jazz Shaw’s post on the false-hoods Obama keeps regurgitating at campaign events. Shaw and John Merline over at Investors Business Daily squash the “we only have 2 percent of the world’s oil reserves” myth.

It’s up to those of us in the alternative media since Fox, CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN and MSNBC won’t dare to ask the questions, they don’t think you have the attention span. (I’m serious about that, they don’t.)

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Steve McGough

Steve's a part-time conservative blogger. Steve grew up in Connecticut and has lived in Washington, D.C. and the Bahamas. He resides in Connecticut, where he’s comfortable six months of the year.

23 Comments

  1. Open4FreeDebate on March 17, 2012 at 9:10 am

    In a few weeks the quarterly profits will released for the oil companies. Then we will see who and where the screws were twisted. I can?agree with your profit percentages. Do you think executive salaries and bonuses are in line with average employee wages?



  2. sammy22 on March 17, 2012 at 12:12 pm

    Since 12/30 the price of crude ha gone up 8%. The average US price of gas/gallon has gone up 17%. Even if the President could “affect” the price of oil, I don’t see how he could affect the price of gas. BTW, I don’t think that the bottom of the pyramid above (undiscovered resources) would make a dent on the oil price. Talk about a “wild guess”!



    • Dimsdale on March 17, 2012 at 1:15 pm

      But the next two steps up sure would, and ?bama didn’t have to kowtow to the greenies, and made those resources more accessible, the price would drop, just like it did when Bush called for a moratorium on offshore oil to pull the rug out from under the 2008 price spike.?
      ?
      Here is a somewhat predictably humorous side note: on checking the web for information on this, I note that the last DOE projections of domestic recoverable oil were from 2005-2006 (Bush administration; http://fossil.energy.gov/programs/oilgas/eor/Undeveloped_Domestic_Oil_Resources_Provi.html).?? The current page is all about green energy, renewables, and how to replace oil etc.
      ?
      How odd.



    • Dimsdale on March 17, 2012 at 1:16 pm

      And if I did miss it, please post it with my apologies for missing it.



  3. stinkfoot on March 17, 2012 at 12:45 pm

    Just a variation of class envy/warfare to whip up outrage among the struggling masses his administration has done nothing to help in order to get us stupid monkeys believing that he gives the slightest damn about our situation.? Every time I hear Obama speak I lose an IQ point.



  4. papa on March 17, 2012 at 8:31 pm

    Let’s wait and see what the oil companies report as profit. There are more than a few Americans who believe that allowing speculation in the oil, gas, and gasoline markets are responsible for much of the increased cost. The independent service station owners aren’t making the big bucks. Why should someone who “buys” oil futures with no way to actually take delivery of the oil and use it be able to bid it up or or sell short. If oil futures were limited to companies who refine or sell oil and were bidding for their own use, the price would get much more stable and supply and demand would work as a closed system. If Americans were unhappy with the price, they could cut their use and force the prices down. Profits taken by middle people who have no investment in production and no personal need beyond their own use, allows gambling with a key component in the price of goods that as the price of delivering those goods go up, the price of the goods, foods anything we use inflates even more rapidly. Time to take America back for the people.



  5. Plainvillian on March 18, 2012 at 6:33 pm

    Would anybody care about oil company profits or their executive’s compensation if gas were $1.00 a gallon?? Oh wait, taxes per gallon preclude $1.00 pricing.?
    In 2008 wasn’t the smartest man in any room elected president?? Didn’t he replace the stupid cowboy oil guy?? Didn’t the newly elected president surround himself with the smartest guys in other rooms who would solve all problems so he could concentrate lowering his golf handicap and having great White House parties when he wasn’t fundraising/campaigning?? Haven’t they solved all our petty problems like inflation, unemployment, and foreign threats?
    Could domestic regulations and the dollar’s value in international trade have anything to do with the price of oil?? Would any newsy ever ask any of these questions?



    • essneff on March 19, 2012 at 11:34 pm

      No, of course no one in the main stream media would ask any of these questions.. Obama could give a rat’s arse about rising gas prices…….? it’s what he wants…….. more Solyndras!! our unborn grandkids paying?for his?socialist agenda… what really tees me off is listnening to his bs on how we are “drillin” more than ever under him!!!! what a load of? crap…….. he has down nothing to expand drilling, that was done under his predecessor, who he dumps?on every chance he can……. Be prepared to get even more sick?as you watch him go to Oklahoma this week……. essentially, to lie that he expanded the pipeline……??Yo Prez, take some time from?your NCAA pools, (Man, how cool is he!?)?we need to move that oil first through the XL pipeline you rejected?from Cananda to OK first, before it goes to the refineries in the Gulf…….



    • Lynn on March 20, 2012 at 7:49 am

      “Would any newsie ever ask any of these questions?” LOL, NO, but you just did. Thanks



  6. JBS on March 19, 2012 at 11:33 am

    Every time I read something ?bama said, I am reminded that he will do and say anything to get reelected. He is a Democrat and a politician, the worst of the elitist class. He is also a serial liar.
    Here’s a shocker of a suggestion: Allow drilling in the Gulf! Uncap the wells in the Gulf that were cut off after the BP spill. Get that oil flowing. It may be symbolic, but it would be a step in the right direction. Something Americans can believe in and relate to.
    Otherwise, I am beginning to believe that the Agenda 21 crowd is correct.



  7. Murphy on March 19, 2012 at 12:32 pm

    If for some reason the Obamanation platform turned pro US oil, you would see gas/oil prices start dropping immediately. The reason oil is as high as it is is due to speculation. And not just as reflected in the commodities market. The oil rich countries out there know as long the administration is holding US of A sources back they can charge what they want. You just hint of starting a new source of domestic crude and watch the prices come down.
    ?



  8. RoBrDona on March 19, 2012 at 1:34 pm

    I wish I could get my liberal friends to understand that the real buyers and sellers of oil (“the market”) buy and sell in huge bulk orders, and the only effective way to lock in any profit is to protect the forward price of your contracts. The current high prices ARE NOT SPECULATIVE. They are realistically based on the nuts and bolts of what everyone sees in the market as punitive anti-business, anti-oil, green-tinted, centralized socialism. It is the intentional destruction of America’s energy independence. The fault for creating a FALSE impression that we have an oil shortage is 100% part of the current administration’s policy.??



  9. sammy22 on March 19, 2012 at 5:41 pm

    So the President wants the price of gas to go up, so his approval rating goes down further and he loses the election. I don’t believe it makes sense.



    • Lynn on March 20, 2012 at 8:18 am

      Sammy, no on the face of it, it doesn’t make sense, politically. Until you accept, as I do, the fact that President Obama is all about HIS agenda with his pal Gene Sperling. Note: I did not capitalize agenda. This is no conspiracy, it is “in your face” acts to make everything FAIR and EQUAL in the world. Secretary Chu has already told us that there was a move to drive up the price of gas in the USA so that “we would consume” less (think green, His political base) of the world’s valuable resource. It is also, as pointed out above, taking the ” wheels off the American economy”. There was no other way to level the power of? the USA? capitalist economy, unless you stopped it. We have not stopped yet, but we are yielding our growth to China and others. No more #1 for us. We need to elect people who believe in our capitalist republic of USA. End of lecture, time to workout frustrations ….



  10. sammy22 on March 20, 2012 at 11:07 am

    If the greenies were the President’s political base, he wouldn’t have a chance of being re-elected. To believe that the President only has ill will for his country is simply delusional.



    • Lynn on March 20, 2012 at 3:13 pm

      Sammy, you need glasses, look closer. I never said he has ill will for this country , just that HE is imposing his will on this country. HE knows all, He is omniscient. He knows what is good for us. We are too stupid to know. That is how he explains that 68% (changes with poll) do not want Obamacare. It’s ok He knows better.
      ?
      No, he has a HUGE chance of being elected because of the Left. The People who voted for the President will never question why He has NOT delivered on one of his promises. They are elitists and cannot be wrong. There are more of them than you think, ex-hippies, Hollywood elite, those on the welfare who don’t? want to find work, pretend tree huggers who will buy a VOLT and need to spew more carbons to keep it charged than us Mini-owners, lovers of newts and tree frogs more than people, obnoxious women who are so full of hate for Conservative women that they don’t see the hypocrisy by the Lefty idiot Maher trashing conservative women, sheep who watch “The View” and get their news from John Stewart and nasty “documentaries” of Sarah Palin.?? The Left list is endless and it is supplied by an uncaring media, that long ago deserted journalism. So call me delusional if you want. I simply…



    • Dimsdale on March 21, 2012 at 12:13 pm

      The greenies are but one piece of the anti American ?bama political support puzzle, an with his record of accomplishment being the true “hill of beans”, he will need every vote he can scrape up.
      ?



  11. sammy22 on March 20, 2012 at 3:57 pm

    Yes, you did not say specifically “ill will”, but I submit that the long list of “sins” of the left amounts to the same “hill of beans”. BTW, he said that the US would get out of Iraq by last Christmas. Be generous as conservatives believe they are, and give him credit at least for that promise.



    • Lynn on March 20, 2012 at 6:33 pm

      Nope, the “hill of beans” is Congress, except for my favorites, especially Paul Ryan. I am generous, but only when it comes to donating my time and energy to my friends and causes. President Obama and Gov. Malloy and the DEMOCRAT General Assembly have redistributed my family’s hard earned wealth.? YUP, I pointed fingers what else can you do surrounded by blue. However, as for getting out of Iraq, LOL blame Bush for that!



    • Dimsdale on March 21, 2012 at 8:22 am

      You mean that “little hill of beans” called the ever growing deficit?



    • Lynn on March 21, 2012 at 8:37 am

      HA, HA thanks for bringing it up $16 trillion and growing, it’s so trivial, I missed it.



  12. Lynn on March 20, 2012 at 6:38 pm

    PS, we still have problems in Iraq and the golfer, Campaigner – in – Chief? has taken health benefits away from the troops. Nice way to improve morale. Also, I think he’s Jon Stewart not John, but I don’t watch him. He’s not so funny anymore. Sammy, tried to turn the other cheek, but I’m not perfect by any means. So sue me.



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