Obama responsible for bringing $5 per gallon gasoline

Since it hasn't happened, it is quite literally impossible for Obama to have caused it, n'est pas?

 

What's the bet? Put your money where your mouth is....

 

bigtexxx, if you don't mind me asking, how do you see fiscal discipline helping anyone right now?

We can see firsthand what's happening in countries choose to practice fiscal austerity during a balance-sheet recession. Greece's GDP shrunk by 7% last quarter alone. Ireland had a small spurt of growth at the end of last year, but suffered 3 straight years economic contraction beforehand and is on track for another decrease in GDP this quarter. Unemployment in both countries is sky-high and still on the rise.

I can understand if you're frustrated with where the government is choosing to spend (e.g. bailouts and other idiotic endeavors that add little to no value), but cutting off spending altogether doesn't seem like the right answer to me.

 

bigtexxx, I thought basso was the starter of no-substance rabid knee-jerk ultra-conservative threads.

Is this a competition between you two?

 

I love Republican Concern Trolls. They taste like victory.

 

Nope. Quantitative easing bolsters bank reserves and nothing else. It's (like I said before) operationally equivalent to printing a trillion dollars and dumping it into a hole nobody can find. QE doesn't do a damn thing. Besides, it's monetary policy, not fiscal policy...so it's completely unrelated to fiscal restraint or austerity.

I'm not saying I personally have a solution, but I've yet to see a compelling reason for fiscal austerity during a recession. Based on what we've seen with Greece and Ireland, it looks like the only thing austerity does is shrink GDP further and drive unemployment even higher.

But hey... I'm open-minded and willing to learn. If it's not too much trouble, I'll ask you again to enlighten me because I'm genuinely curious. In what way to you see fiscal restraint helping the economy right now?

 

you're doing it wrong.

no, but imprisoning all traders, and implementing a principally agrarian society would be a nice start.

 

[rquoter]Shell Clears Major Hurdle in Its Bid for New Arctic Drilling

In a crucial step toward the ultimate approval of new oil drilling off the North Slope of Alaska, the Interior Department on Friday tentatively approved Shell’s plans for responding to a potential spill in the frigid Arctic waters.

Shell still needs to cross several more regulatory barriers before it will be permitted to begin drilling as many as six exploratory wells in the Chukchi Sea in July. But the green light from the Interior Department on the company’s oil spill response plan is a clear sign that the Obama administration is disposed toward allowing the drilling despite the dogged opposition of many environmentalists.[/rquoter]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/18/s...-spill-plan-for-new-arctic-drilling.html?_r=1

 

Personally, I hope gasoline goes to $6 per gallon before November. Obama will be run out of D.C. on a rail regardless of who runs against him. Then we can re-start domestic drilling and close the deal with the Canadians.

 

speculation on speculation:

http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/pwbpn/guess_what_law_goes_into_effect_the_same_exact/

The price of oil will be whatever the Saudi's want. They can control the amount of available oil on the open market and they can bid any amount they want on the futures market and essentially transfer money from their left pocket to their right.

 

(1) You realize it's not even at $5, right? And that the thread title is just a strange lie or clumsy propaganda.

(2) If this is all you want in an elected leader, why not overthrow democracy and just hand the reigns over the Oil Industry? Would definitely simplify things, and we wouldn't have all these silly political arguments.

 

Funny thing is, you don't believe that. Would you put a bet on it?

 

I focused on the gasoline cost scenario because that's the theme of the thread. A great many people would be hurt, but the long range benefits of restoring balance to our energy development would negate the short term pain. We elect leaders to lead, but IMO Obama has failed in that regard.

 

Why? Obama wants to be re-elected so even he is not so stupid as to let gasoline prices reach $6 per gallon. However, if you will recall his first campaign rhetoric, he said he wanted to increase gasoline prices in order to stimulate solar and wind energy. BTW, both of his initiatives in those areas were dismal failures, although he did use them to pay off his campaign finance packagers (Solyndra et al).

 

1) Of course, who would want gas prices to go to $6. Go ahead and link me some info (credible pleeze) where he said that he wanted gas prices to go up.

2) We both know he will be re-elected, and if you believe he will be "run out on a rail no matter who he runs against", bet on it.

 

You never want to kill the goose that is laying the golden eggs.

It would be in their interests to get the highest possible price, at the highest possible volume, while maintaining the political support of the worlds strongest military and suppressing competitive innovation; a complex balancing act.