Pumped out @ the Pump.

Nothing drives voter sentiment like the price of gas – now averaging $3.56 a gallon, up 30 cents from the start of the year. It’s already hit $4 in some places. The last time gas topped $4 was 2008.

4 dollar a gallon Gas is back , and it's expected to go higher if you live in CALIFORNIA .  We'd been through this before back in 2008 , and everyone blamed BUSH . Now history repeats itself with indignation .Where are the outraged congressmen, senators, presidential candidates, governors and media, the so-called protectors of the people? Are they for real? Or are they simply in the pocket of the kings of the oil profits, the oil barons of the 21st century? Well the campaign contributions seem to indicate they have been bought off. So do the millions of dollars being spent on advertising by oil related industries. And nothing energizes Republicans like rising energy prices. Last week House Speaker John Boehner told Republicans to take advantage of voters’ looming anger over prices at the pump. On Thursday House Republicans passed a bill to expand offshore drilling and force the White House to issue a permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. The tumult prompted the Interior Department to announce on Friday expanded oil exploration in the Arctic.In a note to clients Tuesday, titled “Why this time could be different,” LaVorgna reminds us of his rule of thumb (which he shared with us before and during the 2008 crisis) for measuring the effect of run-ups at the pump: a one-cent increase in gasoline prices increases household energy consumption by about $1.4 billion. With the 29-cent jump in gas prices over the past two months, that would translate into about $40.6 billion in higher household energy costs .Gasoline prices in Canada rose Tuesday as oil prices hit their highest levels in nine months.According to the price-monitoring website Gasbuddy.com the average price for regular gas in Canada was $1.2443 a litre, up from $1.2430 Monday as crude oil for March delivery closed at $105.84 US a barrel, up $2.60, or 2.5 per cent, in New York.

The more widely traded April contract settled at $106.25, up $2.65, oil's highest price since May.Crude prices rose after European leaders agreed to lend Greece €130 billion ($172 billion Cdn) to avoid a debt default and as Iran laid out conditions for future oil exports to European countries.

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NOTES & COMMENTS:

One of the ways he has gone about this is to push for less oil and gas production. He seems to think that if oil and gasoline are not readily available, or so expensive that many Americans can not afford to drive, we will automatically fall in love with the Chevrolet Volt and other alternative energy vehicles. Where’s my evidence of that, you may ask? It’s fairly simply, really. Let us look first at the BP explosion and subsequent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Analysts blame political tensions in the Middle East, particularly involving Iran.

The price of barrel of oil has shot up, and that, in turn, impacts gas prices.

The average price of a gallon of regular, unleaded gas in L.A. is now $4.06, according to GasBuddy.com.

That's 19 cents higher than last week, 33 cents higher than last month and 52 cents higher than the same time last year.

The average price in California is $4.02 per gallon, and the nationwide average is $3.52 per gallon.
The price went up to $106.25 for crude to be delivered in April - i.e. it hasn't even been refined yet. The gasoline coming out of the pump today was refined from crude purchased at the previous, lower price. Can you say price gouging.

Where in hell are the government agencies that are supposed to protect us from this BS? Oh wait. The government itself benefits from this in the form of higher tax revenue. And don't hold your breath waiting for the Harper Government (tm) to take a stand against big oil
What was Obama’s first reaction? He placed an illegal moratorium on any further oil exploration and drilling in the Gulf. Even after a court ruling ordered him to cease and desist with his actions, he ignored the ruling. He went on his merry way and did what he wanted to do. He kept the moratorium in place for six long months. Never mind what the courts ordered him to do. I wonder if that had anything to do with the price of gasoline going even higher?
To be fair, not all of this is Obama’s fault. We have been far too dependent on foreign oil for far too long. The actions of many administrations before him had taken their toll on our energy policy. However, that does not remove the responsibility of President Obama and the energy policy he has established since taking office. From the beginning, he stated that energy prices would necessarily have to skyrocket to further his agenda of cap and trade. In 2008, he made the statement that he would have preferred to see a more gradual adjustment of the price of gasoline, but he said nothing about it actually going up.
What conclusion are we supposed to draw from his actions? He nominated Steven Chu for Energy Secretary and we all know the statements he has made. He has made it no secret that he believes the government needs to come up with a way to boost the price of gasoline to the levels they are seeing in Europe. He says the price of gasoline should be expected to go up over the long haul. What does Obama say? “I’m just going to be honest with you. There’s not much we can do next week or two weeks from now.”
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