Gas prices have risen $1 since just after President Obama took office in January 2009 and are now closing in on the $3 mark, prompting an evaluation of the administration's energy record and calls for the White House to open more U.S. land for oil exploration.
The average price per gallon across the U.S. hit $2.81 this week, according to the Energy Information Administration. That was up from $1.81 the week of Jan. 26, 2009, just after the inauguration, and marks the highest price since Oct. 20, 2008.
I had to laugh out loud when I first read this story.
It's up over a dollar since Obama's taken office, approximately 64% in two years. 25% of that 64% came about since November 2, 2010, election day, when the Republican Party was given the House of Representatives by voters. Democrats would no long be able to force investigations on oil companies after January. So actually prices have only gone up approximately 39% since Obama took office.
Let's travel back to the Bush years.
Gas prices have been on a roller-coaster ride over the past decade, dropping to near $1 after President George W. Bush's first year in office, crossing the $2 mark in 2005 and reaching $4 in June 2008 before Congress and Mr. Bush took action, lifting presidential and congressionally imposed moratoriums on expanding offshore drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf.
Yes Mr Dinan and Mr. Rowland, they dropped from almost $4 in 2008 to just about $1.81 in Jan 2009 when Obama took control. You want to know the real reason they dropped? It had nothing to do with the imposed moratoriums (otherwise, why didn't Bush take action BEFORE they hit $4) and everything to do with the upcoming election. The oil companies wanted to help the Republicans get reelected so they stopped charging so much (after all, they'd already made a 300% profit over the previous years) to bring the costs down.
Now we've seen prices jump almost 25% just since November 2nd. Why? Because Republicans can now stop any investigations on OIL companies and start investigations on the Democrat president's energy policies.
Why investigate his policies or threaten to? You said it yourself gentlemen, "calls for the White House to open more U.S. land for oil exploration.". They want to scare President Obama into giving into their demands for more oil drilling.
As for Obama's two years and costs going up, that 39% is nothing compared to the 300% increase Bush and the Republicans allowed to happen.
Simple as pie.