High Gas Prices, Just as Democrats Promised

September 12, 2012

High Gas Prices, Just as Democrats Promised

Democrats’ War on Energy Is Making a Bad Economy Worse, and Dems Would Rather Pay Back Special Interests Than Give Working Families Relief from Gas Prices

High gas prices may be the one campaign promise Democrats have kept, with prices more than double what they were when President Obama took office.
Democrats repeatedly caved to the demands of special interests who fund their campaigns and opposed opportunities to increase American-made energy and provide relief at the pump.
The Democrats’ war on energy has made a bad economy worse, making life harder for workers and adding to the economic difficulties families are already facing in the Obama economy.

Raising gas prices may be the one campaign promise Democrats have kept, with prices more than double what they were when President Obama took office:

GAS PRICES AT $3.843/GALLON NATIONALLY: (“National Average Prices,” AAA’s “Daily Fuel Gauge Report”, Accessed 9/11/2012)

SINCE OBAMA TOOK OFFICE, AVERAGE GAS PRICES HAVE MORE THAN DOUBLED FROM $1.83: (“Gasoline And Diesel Fuel Update,” U.S. Energy And Information Administration, Accessed 9/4/12)

CAMPAIGN PROMISE FULFILLED: IN JANUARY 2008, OBAMA SAID HE WANTED ENERGY PRICES TO “NECESSARILY SKYROCKET” UNDER HIS CAP-AND-TRADE PLAN: “ ‘Under my plan of a cap-and-trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket,’ Obama told the Chronicle. ‘Coal-powered plans, you know, natural gas, you name it, whatever the plans were, whatever the industry was, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers.” (Catherine Richert, “Pence Claims that Obama said Energy Costs Will Skyrocket with a Cap-and-Trade Plan,” PolitiFact.com, 6/11/2009)

AAA: FAMILIES UNLIKELY TO SEE RELIEF, HIGH PRICES WILL REMAIN “AT OR NEAR RECORD HIGHS” THROUGH THE END OF 2012: “But high prices will probably linger. ‘While prices should drop in September barring any major developments, we expect gasoline to remain at or near record highs through the end of 2012,’ AAA spokesman Avery Ash said in a statement.” (Andrew Restuccia, “Record-High Labor Day Gasoline Prices Greet Democrats In Charlotte,” Politico, 9/3/2012)

2012 LIKELY TO BE “COSTLIEST YEAR EVER AT THE PUMP”: “Gasoline prices are up sharply in the past month … and now are likely to make 2012 the costliest year ever at the pump. Nationally, gasoline averages $3.70 a gallon — up 30 cents since mid-July and is now higher than year-ago levels in 39 states. Prices are likely to continue climbing through August” (Gary Strauss, “2012 Gas Prices Head For Record,” USA Today, 8/15/2012)

ENERGY SECRETARY STEPHEN CHU SAID LOWERING GAS PRICES WAS NOT A GOAL FOR HIS DEPARTMENT: “COMMITTEE QUESTION: “But, is the overall goal to get our price lower?” SEC. STEVEN CHU: “No, the overall goal is to decrease our dependency on oil…” (Remarks from Stephen Chu, U.S. House Of Representatives, Appropriations Committee, Hearing, 2/28/2012)

FLASHBACK TO CHU IN SEPTEMBER 2008: “SOMEHOW WE HAVE TO FIGURE HOW TO BOOST THE PRICE OF GASOLINE TO THE LEVELS IN EUROPE”: “ ‘Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe,’ Mr. Chu, who directs the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal in September.” (Neil King, Jr. and Stephen Power, “Times Tough for Energy Overhaul,” The Wall Street Journal, 12/12/2008)

Democrats repeatedly caved to the demands of special interests who fund their campaigns and opposed opportunities to increase American-made energy and provide relief at the pump:

PRESIDENT OBAMA REJECTED THE KEYSTONE PIPELINE: (Aamer Madhani and Susan Davis, “Obama Rejects Keystone Pipeline from Canada to Texas,” USA Today, 1/18/2012)

20,000: THE NUMBER OF SHOVEL-READY JOBS FROM KEYSTONE PIPELINE BLOCKED BY OBAMA: (Editorial, “Keystone Cop-Out,” The Wall Street Journal, 11/11/2011)

130,000 JOBS: THE LONG-TERM JOBS IMPACT OF THE KEYSTONE PIPELINE, ALSO BLOCKED BY OBAMA: (Editorial, “Keystone Pipeline is the Wrong Call,” The Houston Chronicle, 11/11/2011)

INSTEAD, OBAMA REJECTED KEYSTONE AND FLOATED A RECONSIDERATION AFTER THE 2012 ELECTIONS, MAKING TOTAL KEYSTONE DELAY MORE THAN FOUR YEARS: (Aamer Madhani and Susan Davis, “Obama Rejects Keystone Pipeline from Canada to Texas,” USA Today, 1/18/2012)

NATIONAL JOURNAL ANALYSIS: “U.S. ECONOMY MISSED OUT ON CREATING UP TO A QUARTER-MILLION JOBS” IN 2011 BECAUSE IT “LACKED [ENERGY] INFRASTRUCTURE”: “The U.S. economy missed out on creating up to a quarter-million jobs this year because it lacked the infrastructure to capitalize on a rare divergence in global oil prices, a National Journal analysis shows.” (Jim Tankersley, “A Crude Hit to the Recovery,”National Journal, 11/29/2011)

GREEN GROUPS HAD THREATENED TO ABANDON OBAMA IF HE APPROVED KEYSTONE: “Environmental groups have been protesting the pipeline that would run from Alberta oil sands to Texas refineries, and there have been rumblings that greens would abandon Obama next fall if he approved it.” (Dan Berman and Darren Goode, “Obama Punts Keystone XL Pipeline,” Politico, 11/10/2011)

KEYSTONE REJECTION WAS POLITICAL PAYBACK FOR THE DEMOCRATS’ LEFT-WING “DONOR BASE” THAT OPPOSED THE PIPELINE: “Democrats outside the West Wing and Chicago-based campaign say the politics were clear: With the exceptions of the grousing unions (who will have no choice but to support him in 2012), the party’s donor base, environmental advocates down to their hybrid SUVs oppose the pipeline.” (Glenn Thrush and Darren Samuelsohn, “Keystone decision a political win-win,” Politico, 1/18/2012)

REPORT: OBAMA’S “EPA REGS COULD HAMPER OIL, NATURAL GAS PRODUCTION, REPORT SAYS”: (Ben Wolfgang, “EPA Regs Could Hamper Oil, Natural Gas Production, Report Says,” The Washington Times, 3/15/2012)

OIL PRODUCTION COULD DROP 37%, NATURAL GAS PRODUCTION COULD DROP 11% DUE TO EPA RULES: (Ben Wolfgang, “EPA Regs Could Hamper Oil, Natural Gas Production, Report Says,” The Washington Times, 3/15/2012)

“UNTOLD STORY” BEHIND RISING GAS PRICES IS REFINERIES BEING DRIVEN OUT OF BUSINESS “IN NO SMALL PART BY COSTLY EPA RULES”: (Editorial, “EPA’s Heavy Hand Seen In Gas Crisis,” Investor’s Business Daily, 3/22/2012)

The Democrats’ war on energy has made a bad economy worse, making life harder for workers and adding to the economic difficulties families are already facing in the Obama economy:

TOP EPA OFFICIAL ADMITTED THIS YEAR THAT AGENCY’S “PHILOSOPHY” IS TO “CRUCIFY” ENERGY PRODUCERS: “It’s no secret that the bosses at the Environmental Protection Agency hate fossil fuels. But few are as candid as Al Armendariz, the regional administrator who says the agency’s ‘general philosophy’ is to ‘crucify’ oil and gas producers.” (Editorial, “ ‘Crucify Them’,” The Wall Street Journal, 4/26/2012)

OBAMA’S EPA RAMMING TRYING TO RAM THROUGH REGULATIONS THAT “EVEN A DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS REJECTED”: “The EPA is seeking to impose, by fiat, greenhouse gas reductions that even a Democratic Congress rejected with the Waxman-Markey bill in 2009, and that would drive policy at least 13 years past this Administration. It’s all more than a tad authoritarian. Welcome to the Obama-Jackson Presidency.” (Editorial, “The United States of EPA,” The Wall Street Journal, 11/28/2011)

13% OF COAL POWERED ENERGY BEING SHUT DOWN BECAUSE OF NEW EPA RULES: (Juliet Eilperin, “EPA Imposes First Greenhouse Gas Limits on Power Plants,” The Washington Post, 3/27/2012)

UNITED MINE WORKERS CHIEF: “LISA JACKSON SHOT US IN WASHINGTON”: “‘The Navy SEALs shot Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan and Lisa Jackson shot us in Washington,’ Cecil Roberts, president of the powerful union, said during an interview Tuesday on the West Virginia radio show MetroNews Talkline.” (Andrew Restuccia, “Mine Union Boss: Coal Industry Could Suffer Same Fate as Bin Laden,” The Hill, 4/4/2012)

ECONOMIC MISERY IS THE STORY OF THE OBAMA PRESIDENCY:

ECONOMIST: “THERE HAS BEEN ESSENTIALLY NO PROGRESS IN REPAIRING THE LABOR MARKET AFTER THE RECENT DOWNTURN”: (James Pethokoukis, “Oh My, JP Morgan Economist Just Absolutely Destroys the August Jobs Report,” The American Enterprise Institute, 9/7/2012)

MORE: “IT’S HARD TO FIND ANY REDEEMING ASPECTS TO THIS JOBS REPORT. … THE ECONOMY APPEARS TO REMAIN STUCK IN THE MUD.” (James Pethokoukis, “Oh My, JP Morgan Economist Just Absolutely Destroys the August Jobs Report,” The American Enterprise Institute, 9/7/2012)

MEDIAN NET WORTH PLUMMETTED DURING THE RECESSION: “Perhaps the most dramatic figure is that median net worth took a major hit during the recession. It plummeted from $152,950 to $93,150.” (Eyder Peralta, “Pew: Middle Class Poorer, Earning Less and Shrinking,” NPR, 8/22/2012)

STUDY: U.S. INCOMES FELL MORE AFTER STIMULUS THAN DURING RECESSION: (Jeff Kearn, “U.S. Incomes Fell More in Recovery, Sentier Says,” Bloomberg, 8/23/2012)

“HALF OF HOMEOWNERS UNDER 40 ARE UNDERWATER”:(Ann Carrns, “Half of Homeowners Under 40 are Underwater,” The New York Times, 8/23/2012)

“US POVERTY ON TRACK TO RISE TO HIGHEST SINCE 1960s”: (Hope Yen, “US Poverty on Track to Rise to Highest Since 1960s,” Associated Press, 7/23/2012)

“US CHILDREN, FAMILIES STRUGGLING AFTER RECESSION”: “More children and families across the United States are facing poverty and economic instability following the recession, new data shows, raising concerns about the weak economy’s long-term impact on the next generation of Americans.” (Susan Heavey, “US Children, Families Struggling After Recession,” Reuters, 7/25/2012)

High Gas Prices, Just as Democrats Promised http://ow.ly/dDEOF