On Saturday’s Forbes on Fox (10/20/12), the topic was nominally why gas prices are spiking. But as usual, the real purpose was to blame President Obama, this time because of his “green energy push.”
Mike Ozanian was asked if the President was right to say that the bad economy was the reason why gas prices were lower 4 years ago. Ozanian wasted no time bashing Obama. “He’s absolutely wrong. In fact he showed how clueless he was about our energy policy… The President blocked a pipeline coming down from Canada which cost us a tremendous amount of jobs. Meanwhile, he’s confiscating more taxpayer dollars to… companies that go bankrupt like Solyndra.”
In case the message wasn’t clear, host David Asman said, “There has been a lot of government money wasted on these projects no?”
Rick Ungar said, “Mike made some very compelling arguments, the problem is none of them have to do with the price of gasoline… We see production up, there’s no disputing it, and you can give President Bush credit for it if you like. None of that impacts on the current price of gasoline. Talk to me in four years.”
But Asman made sure to zero in on raising doubt about Obama again. “Are gas prices going up because of the President’s policies or not?”
Bill Baldwin said, “Maybe because of the President’s policies, but the real question is are they going up because of his green policies? Let’s focus on one big cause of driver anguish which is the ethanol mandate. The jobs created by that particular boondoggle are not green jobs, they’re black jobs. Ethanol destroys the environment.”
Victoria Barrett said, “We are completely dependent on the Middle East for oil. President Obama is the President of the United States, not the President of OPEC. So in that case, he doesn’t have much control over oil prices… It’s about supply and demand… We should reduce our dependency on the Middle East.”
Last March, the Huffington Post listed five reasons for higher gas prices: speculation, demand, global politics, seasonal situations, and fuel efficient cars. A truly fair and balanced discussion should have included those other factors.
Rick Rosenberger commented
2012-10-27 16:16:13 -0400
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You hated Bush, You don’t seem to hate Obama but you hate Romney.
Id ask what makes you hate Romney so much but I guess the list is clear.
Lots of accusations but no real substance.
Obama inherited a bad economy “The worst since the great depression”
Unemployment, the deficit, GDP, Gas and a whole host of other economic conditions are as bad today as they were in 2008 in some cases worse.
Arguably Obama hasn’t for what ever reason been able to make a significant improvement after four years.
If Obama wins what will he do when he inherits his own economy?
If Romney wins I don’t think you will see him propping himself up with the poor performance of his predecessor.
Clarence Swinney commented
2012-10-26 12:24:05 -0400
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Are Romney and Ryan the kinds of people we want in charge?- Those like Bush but worse? Criminals and thieves? Romney the loser from MA, outsourcing king, off shore account maven, company busting brat who bullied gays and dressed up like a state trooper just to harass people. Is this the person we think will care about Main St, seniors and college kids? – Do we really want this type of person leading our nation backed by a congress who has been against Main St and that 47% of Americans that Romney was caught saying we are good for nothing lazy moochers? What kind of a person says this? Not a good one, not a responsible one, not a leader that represents all the people and not just the top- He has shown his hand over and over along with a congress that has vowed to defeat Obama at any cost to the 99%. And do we want president who is against cancer screening for women, against birth control and who things rape victims should be forced to give birth even if the mother’s life is at stake? Do we want a president supports a congress that refuses to sign the violence against women Act? These are the people who say they cherish the unborn but are willing to allow 35+ million to live in grinding poverty in our nation, vast populations of working poor and tens of thousands of college grads who can’t find work. It’s OK with Romney if our health care system is the emergency room only and who will support cutting services across that nation as the ultra -rich VARDETTE
Visitor 55 commented
2012-10-26 10:33:15 -0400
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John Burski commented
2012-10-26 09:22:46 -0400
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Sorlsee Teranova commented
2012-10-26 09:18:31 -0400
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www.is-privacy.tk
Clarence Swinney commented
2012-10-26 08:49:25 -0400
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He campaigns on who can create jobs since the Republicans have no plan.
His message that the wealthy and corporations need to pay their FAIR share of Total Income
and the dire need for jobs is getting attention.
He is correct to run on the economy since he was left a skeleton.
Create jobs, protect entitlements, build the middle class, make wealth give in on more contribution.
He must stress over and over how the opposition fought every good thing he tried to achieve no matter how much it hurt the people. Paint them as villains. Ask the people to help him get America back on a track of jobs and more equality.
Jeremy McElwain commented
2012-10-26 08:35:30 -0400
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Jeremy McElwain commented
2012-10-26 08:34:02 -0400
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Visitor 55 commented
2012-10-26 08:17:29 -0400
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Scott from Toronto commented
2012-10-26 05:04:21 -0400
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Being in Canada, our gas prices are even higher than in the States, and we have a conservative prime minister. Have a look at this chart and see if you can tell if the U.S. and Canadian trends appear to be the same. Bottom line is that the leaders of our countries have absolutely nothing to do with gas prices.
mlp ! commented
2012-10-25 22:30:14 -0400
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So…..what the fuck is Fox talking about? Are they just desperately trying to dredge up shit in order to keep their moronic base energized?
And Brandt……as vocal as the bunch from Fox is, they really don’t have the power they pretend to have, especially since GWB’s second term. Look at the Repub primary….did the Fox candidate win? How about Gui911ani in 2008? Any impressive showing or (ugh) Romney victory would be the result of the sheer volume of money spent by RW forces, NOT because of the efforts of Fox. Goober-Power has its limits. Having as your primary base a bunch of brainless, toothless, uneducated slobs can be a double-edged sword. It will be interesting watching this play out.
Brandt Hardin commented
2012-10-25 21:05:32 -0400
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