White House fears gas prices could tank Obama
Rising prices at the pump are a new political obstacle to the president's reelection. He is trying to defuse the situation by reassuring the American people he has a plan to draw down costs.
Reporting from Fairless Hills, Pa.—
For much of President Obama's term, White House aides were convinced the main barrier to his reelection was the worrisome unemployment rate. But even as the economy bounces back, a new political obstacle has emerged: rising gas prices.Trying to defuse the issue, the White House has arranged a slew of speeches and public events to reassure Americans that Obama has a plan for cutting gas prices.
On Wednesday, Obama flew to Pennsylvania — a perennial swing state — for a town-hall-style meeting devoted to energy. He travels Friday to Indiana, another important state on the 2012 election calendar, where he will appear at an event in Indianapolis that is also focused on high oil prices.
"It's on the minds of a lot of people right now because you're paying more at the pump. Anybody notice that?" Obama told workers at a wind turbine plant outside Philadelphia. "For a lot of people, money was already tight before gas prices started climbing."
Read the rest here.
Are You Ready for $8-a-Gallon Gasoline?
Share
PrintBetter get ready for gas prices to go way back up, to the $4-per-gallon heights of last summer and even beyond. And it won’t be because of anything OPEC does, or the lunatics running either Iran or Venezuela. It will be because the U.S. government thinks you should pay much more for the gas you depend upon to get to work, go to the grocery store and pick up the kids at school. It’s all for your own good because, remember, the government is here to help us.
It hasn’t gotten much attention but Steven Chu, President-elect Barack Obama’s choice as Secretary of Energy, is a firm believer that the federal government should increase taxes on gas in order to push the price-per-gallon up to European levels. That’s what he told The Wall Street Journal in September. It’s for our own good, see, because forcing the price of gas into the stratosphere will make us stop driving our evil automobiles and instead use mass transit. Or bicycles. Or walk.
It hasn’t gotten much attention but Steven Chu, President-elect Barack Obama’s choice as Secretary of Energy, is a firm believer that the federal government should increase taxes on gas in order to push the price-per-gallon up to European levels. That’s what he told The Wall Street Journal in September. It’s for our own good, see, because forcing the price of gas into the stratosphere will make us stop driving our evil automobiles and instead use mass transit. Or bicycles. Or walk.
Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/2008/12/are-you-ready-8-gallon-gasoline#ixzz1J4zKq6JI
No comments:
Post a Comment