You can? Really? Our government controls the price of oil? Oy. I can't believe I have to drag the facts out again to correct someone on this. Here, have a look:
http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2012/03/12/442536/wall-street-journal-and-koch-cato-agree-not-obama-fault-crude-oil-prices-have-increased/
I guess you know something the WSJ and Cato Institute aren't aware of.

CommonSenseCitizen...Thank you for that link and the interesting statistics and information it provided.

(Now...about your anonymity...I always have to ask, but I confess that I like your handle and it fits)

I guess I was right about the government connection to the price of oil.Obama wants to win votes by using his power to bring the price down. The UN wants to stop all oil coming from Iran over insurance issues.Obama+Wall st+speculation=price per gallon.The government controls the price of oil.

Hi Diana.
I'm sorry to read that your business is struggling, like so many others these days. Would you want to post the name and location of your business, so that those who can might stop by and give you some of their business. I wish you all the best in the future.

Diane, I second Carmen's sentiments. Please post your business info. so we can consider shopping there.

John if the price of oil was all about politics then wouldn't the president make sure we were paying $2.00/gallon this year? Do you think he really wants it to be $3.75/gallon? The price of oil is the same EVERYWHERE IN THE WORLD. Not just in your little part of America. You might want to turn the channel off of Fox (news?) every once in a while. When you repeat the things they come up with you sound like an idiot.

Gee, I don't think I am an idiot but I do know the price of oil is not the same everywhere in the world and in fact is not the same from one state to the next in the US. The president cannot lower the price because he won't drill to prove to the Arabs we have our own supply.The US oil cpmpanies make new record profits every year.Trying to understand why Obama does what he does is a waist of time. Why are we still in Afganistan a year after Bin Ladins death when they dont want us there? I am not into name calling but your entire response makes you sound like .....well an idiot!

John, you're a riot. Read the link I posted above. Then come back. I'll wait.
Okay, back? Feel sheepish, right? Okay, one more just to make you really understand how little you know: The USA gets twice as much oil from Canada as it does Saudi Arabia. Go ahead. Look it up. But darnit, it's those dang arabs, right?

Hey commonsensecitizen,please tell me how we know how much oil we have in the US if we don't go and look for it?As for Canada and the Arabs,I don't really care who we get it from,I want us to explore and find our own oil. Most of those oil producing nations live under the security we provide. Stick with your strenghts,insulting everyone like only you know the answers. You have it all figured out,who needs anyone else?

John,
Our thirst for a dirty oil supply that will only last about 1 year (3.65 billion barrels per year) is not the answer. I don't know where you get your "recent reports" but it is not according to the latest USGA survey. Cleaner energy solutions are out there. BIG OIL knows that can make the American people pay high gasoline prices because we are dependent on it!

Yah, no. Europe pays more because the taxes are higher - nothing to do with supply and demand.

As of February, the US became a net EXPORTER of oil products. (See: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-29/u-s-was-net-oil-product-exporter-in-2011.html). That is, we export more than we import. It's not about shortages.

John,

I'd be interested to hear when exactly he said that. Doesn't sound like it'd be a very popular thing to say.

I remember Obama saying our gasoline prices need to be more like Europes'.
BTW......Gasoline in France last week was €2.02 per liter, which is $10 a gallon.

Through reckless spending and onerous EPA regs, this is at least one campaign promise he's keeping!

Obama and Bernanke are teaming up to give stagflation another try.

Oil prices are not rising, the Dollar Is Falling.

The price of a barrel of West Texas crude in terms of gold is only 82% of its average price over the past 41 years.

Gasoline prices would have to rise by another $0.65-$0.75/gallon just to be “normal, meaning they're very likely to go up more........perhaps a lot more.

The big difference here is most cars in Europe look like real cars (not Prii) but have the same level gas mileage, even the Jags. When you pay double but get double the gas mileage, it's really the same cost.

Also, we took two refineries offline unnecessarily which bumped the cost of oil, and we have untapped reserves we are unwilling to utilize, and we don't drill, and we don't convert things to use CNG which we have an abundance of and is considerably cheaper. I would never buy a home with oil heat after having one that uses natural gas. The price differential is nuts.

Yay, somebody else who remembers him saying that during his first campaign.

It wasn't Obama that said it, but it was someone high up in his administration (I wish I could recall it off the top of my head but cannot) But people have been saying it for years. Europeans have been driving the most fuel efficient vehicles as we were driving SUVs everywhere. With the price of gas up, we have been buying much more fuel efficient vehicles and the gas usage in the US is WAY down (people not having jobs to drive to helps too)

I believe he said that in 2008. Apparently, he still believes it. As far as the Europeans and their tiny cars and light driving: European countries are much more compact and a lot of people have access to trains, etc to get to work. We are much more spread out and need to drive longer distances to shop, work, etc. Why do we live far away (relatively speaking) from congested areas? Because WE CAN. Because a lot of people LIKE IT. Why drive bigger cars? Because a lot of people (Europeans and others also!) LIKE bigger and more comfortable cars. Enterprises, in a free country and market, build and sell things that people like. What in earth is wrong with that??? Cheap, clean fuel should be the goal, not economically unsustainable expensive luxuries like wind and solar power.

Dan D. - You make my point. As long as we CAN, we WILL. When our fuel prices look like Europe's, we'll learn to live closer to our jobs and drive smaller cars.

No kidding. They're just handing it over, not the least of which is due to their desire to throw women's health back into the dark ages under the guise of religious freedom - a term which does not mean what they apparently think it means.

Okay, that might have been what you meant, the confusion between Chu and Obama there (http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2012/03/obama-energy-chief-recants-statement-about-high-gas-prices/1#.T3OpMdVTdyU)

Chu gives himself high marks on gas prices, drawing criticism

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/03/20/chu-gives-himself-high-marks-on-gas-prices-drawing-criticism/

Energy Secretary Steven Chu made the comment during a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing in which he was asked whether he was still doing A-minus work.

“Well, the tools we have at our disposal are limited, but I would say I would give myself a little higher,” he told committee Chairman Darrell Issa. “Since I became secretary of energy, I've been doing everything I can to get long-term solutions."

Chu is a true dolt, O-no is not far behind.

It works for Europe. Europeans drive smaller cars and fewer miles than Americans. Until our fuels costs approach theirs, we won't get serious about alternative fuels and increased mileage - we'll just whine.

"It works for Europe" -> GOOD KEEP IT IN EUROPE!

OK... I giggled at that. Good response.

yes can't wait to get Obama reelected and remove the obstructionists from congress so the countries work can get done instead of blocked at every turn by the minority.

right on malcolm

That was and is Congresswoman Tsongas' and Senator Kerry's approach also

It's high time we get that phony, swarmy Kerry out of office, don't you think?

I love it john, great rant

Clinton leaves office: Surplus, great economy.
Bush in office: two bubble economies and skyrocketing deficit.
Obama in office: recovery and job rebounds.
Don't let the facts sway you though-- you gotta have those rich folks padding their pockets in the GOP if America is to survive, am I right guy?

I know, right? I had no idea Reading / North Reading was popular with sheep.

Amen brother. Wake up America!!

Don, you're worse than the web site "yahoo answers." All opinion, no fact. It's amazing you have the ability to use a computer at all-- your IQ must be room-temperature at best.

If you open a store in Salem you get your picture with the mayor on the front page of the Salem News.

"I am reminded of an old Dutch farmer, who remarked to a companion once that it was not best to swap horses when crossing streams." --Abraham Lincoln

One party got us into the position to have to ford the rough waters to begin with; now that a different party has us on our way out I'd hate to ask the former for a lift.

CSC - That is if you believe we are on the way out. Most economists see another recession coming early next year and that one could be worse because we have no more fat to cut in our home budgets.
My take is that we are swimming in circles in the middle of the stream without clear direction and floundering. I am not a Romney fan but he can't be as bad as Obama (can he?). I think it is time to change to a horse that will swim for shore. Either way it will be better than the unknowing we face today.

Bob,
The "fiscal cliff" that looms ahead is a big issue. It will take both parties working together to get us out of this mess. But the problem didn't start with Obama, and it can't be stopped by ANY president's actions alone.

Republican ideology is what led to this issue. The biggest factors in recent years leading to this problem were the Bush tax cuts and the multiple wars that were not funded.

Meanwhile, the government under Obama has SHRUNK since he took office. The average growth rate has been -0.1% per year on average. Under GWB, the government GREW by 10% on average per year. Here's the reference:

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/may/23/facebook-posts/viral-facebook-post-says-barack-obama-has-lowest-s/

Obama's signature health care has been accused of raising the deficit. But the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office has shown that it will actually reduce the deficit, while the republicans' proposed plan would increase it by billions:

http://www.tnr.com/blog/plank/105327/cbo-obamacare-deficit-medicaid-expansion-cost-revenue-exchange#

As for jobs, the wealthy don't create jobs. Demand for products creates jobs. And taxes on the wealthy are offset by salaries because they are based on profit, not revenue. In other words, for every dollar spent on salary, businesses pay a dollar less in taxes. So tax cuts for big business HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH JOB CREATION.

So: why has Obama been "bad?"

CSC, yup things sure are getting better ;)
-> 16 TRILLION in debt
-> fiscal cliff approaching but our dear leader only cares about re-election
-> GDP is anemic
-> unemployment wend down last moth from 8.3% to 8.1% if I recall the exact numbers, WOW we are on our way, wait, that was only due to > 300k unemployed who stopped looking for work
-> more people on food stamps
-> more people on ssi
-> more Obama-phones
-> gas more than double
-> another terrorist attach on 9/11/2012, the middle east in flames
-> median income down
-> no plan to balance our budget
-> no plan to get us closer to energy independence
-> doctors realizing Mr 0-care is not what we need http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/10/01/why-obamacare-has-doctors-depressed-and-discouraged/
-> no budget in senate for > 3 years
-> ...

Want more, you know what to do.

NOT me!

CSC - I honestly believe that if the Democrats didn't waste the 2 years they controlled all of federal gov. and worked on a recovery, it would be much better today. The regulations in Obamacare and Frank-Dodd have brought the economy to a stand still (hence my going in circles).
I don't agree with the tax cuts and unfunded wars. The gov. size may be shrinking a little but it needs to shrink a lot. Salaries in the public sector are raising faster and waste is crazy. It started with Bush who was not a real conservative but someone needs to be the adult and cut the spending. The total cost in dollars for the wars is $1.2 Trillion over 12 years or $100 Billion a year. That is only (I can't believe I am typing only for billions) about 3% of the $4 Trillion dollar budget.
We also need a real budget and a balanced budget amendment.

I've heard some whoppers told during this election, CommonSenseCitizen, but your claim that "the government under Obama has SHRUNK since he took office," is the best told thus far. Federal spending in 2009 was $3.5 trillion. Federal spending for FY 2013 is $3.8 trillion (Source: http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/total_2013USrt_13rs5n). I'm quite certain that $3.8 trillion is a greater number than $3.5 trillion. But hidden in these numbers is the fact that the 2009 budget had a one-time charge of $700 billion for TARP. This was not supposed to be reflected in the baseline for budgets in future years; however, it was. The final revised CBO numbers for the 2009 budget before TARP were $3.1 trillion. That is the number that should really be used for comparison. Either way, you're wrong.

I love FactCheck.org, but they whiffed on this one, CommonSenseCitizen. Sorry. It is unfair to characterize Obama spending as "skyrocketing," but this article from the Heritage otherwise nails the relevant facts.

http://blog.heritage.org/2012/05/24/the-truth-about-president-obamas-skyrocketing-spending/

hmmm where to start

"Job rate falling was not due to unemployed coming off the books as you suggest."

-> WOW

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/us-adds-96000-jobs-in-august-unemployment-rate-drops-to-81-percent/2012/09/07/30374bfa-f8e9-11e1-8398-0327ab83ab91_story.html

But few things are normal in this recovery. The unemployment rate declined in August to 8.1 percent, a drop that occurred largely because 368,000 people left the labor force. The Labor Department counts only those actively seeking a job as unemployed.

"16 Trillion in debt. Yet republicans want to continue tax cuts to wealthy. And the cause of the debt was Republican policy."

-> WOW

My checkbook is balanced by ME, Mr 0 did nothing to slow the deficit, $10 TRILLION then > $16 TRILLION now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You do the math!

"Obama bombed the embassy? Bush was president on 9/11"

-> WOW x 2

Are you living under a rock?

this is from Clinton News Network
http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/01/politics/libya-attack-statements/index.html?iref=storysearch

I further suggest the lame-street media is blocking for Mr 0, notice how he still refuses to call this a terrorist attack. compare his weak statement to that of his staff.
Mr 0 apologized to the UN for the "video", ... skipped out on BB, ... Here is what a TRUE patriot would have told the UN after the 9/11/2012 terrorist attack (Allan West): “The future does not belong to those who attack our Embassies and Consulates and kill our Ambassadors. The Angel of Death in the form of an American Bald Eagle will visit you and wreak havoc and destruction upon your existence”

"Food Stamps: Completely false. More people hit food stamps under Bush than Obama."

-> WOW

food stamps then 28 (start of Mr 0's term) million now 47 million, do some of your own research

"Additional people on SSI "...

-> WOW

ssi/disability then 7.4 million (at the start of Mr 0's term) now 8.7 million

"Obama phones?"

-> WOW

the lifeline benefit (AKA Obama-phone) was ~ $800 million at the start of Mr 0's term and is ~ $1.6 TRILLION today!!!

say uncle

As I told you before your cost of higher gasoline prices now than before ($1.85 per gallon) is very misleading. It was up over $4.00 per gallon before the President took office. You should eliminate that from your copy and paste shortcut.
Big Oil uses its enormous influence to twist policy. And as I mentioned to you before just look at who Romney has backing/financing his campaign and who he has as his energy advisor.
I said it before and I'll say it again, BIG OIL knows that can make the American people pay that amount because we are dependent on it!
You just haven't read his energy plan or don't care to. Maybe you should junk that pick-up truck you drive with the One Big ___ Mistake America bumper sticker on it take out a loan, invest in a Prius and help the economy. Better yet buy an electric model Prius.

the FACT is: gasoline / gal then $1.85 (at the start of Mr 0's term) more than DOUBLE that now, you do the math, it is due to Mr 0's failed energy policy, oh wait the mean old Republicans blocked it all, they caused him to fail, ... Mr 0 is NOT a leader

"electric model Prius"

-> WOW

here is proof you do not know what you are talking about

question: where does the electricity come from?

the cricket loop is often substituted for uncle

Brian, the price went up and quickly came down prior to Obama. We have had $3+ gas for more than 3 years! I remember also when it did go up under Bush it was his fault because he was an oil guy. Now the President has nothing to do with the price of oil which is wrong. He can't control it completely but he can have an impact with his policies.

the answer is natural gas and coal, cheap energy is what this country was built on and needed for future success, proven energy sources, not pie in the sky, reality!

tonight I learned a new stat for my cut/paste FACTS
- oil subsidies $2.8 billion green energy $90 billion and yet my car, home, ... all still run on dirty/cheap gasoline/natural gas/coal

$90 billion and 1/2 of the companies Mr 0 bet on have gone (or are going) belly up, priceless!

One thing I've learned Mr. V is that you shouldn't believe the hot air that comes from your savior. Your assumption that Mitts 1/2 the companies have failed is wrong
http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/04/politics/fact-check-green-energy/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
But hey like I've said before. Keep on throwing it against the wall and some gullible person will believe you. What's Mitt's plan? Thats right, returning to 19th century fossil fuels. Good plan for BIG OIL but not America.

If all you can latch onto is the 1/2 quote then you really have nothing, just like the "green energy" running your house, car, ... NOTHING. The full quote is below.

He said that “these businesses, many of them have gone out of business, I think about half of them, of the ones have been invested in have gone out of business,“a number of them happened to be owned by people who were contributors to your campaigns.” Romney forgot to mention Beacon Power and Abound Solar.

Forget Bain — Obama’s public-equity record is the real scandal

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/forget-bain-obamas-public-equity-record-is-the-real-scandal/2012/05/24/gJQAXnXCnU_story.html

Beacon Power bankrupt; had U.S. backing like Solyndra

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/31/us-beaconpower-bankruptcy-idUSTRE79T39320111031

Green Jobs Gone Bust
Obama’s green investments drown in red ink.

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/309936/green-jobs-gone-bust-deroy-murdock

Maybe the 1/2 comment was measured in a different way than 1/2 of the $90 billion, I do not know. What is clear:

1) the federal government should not be handing out $ to it's friends
2) all the green jobs promises have not materialized (like most of Mr 0 promises both financial and promises totally under his control, transparency, bringing both sides together, ...)
3) Mr 0 has failed at all levels and was scolded for it the other night ;)

get on board or get run over

http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesinsights/2012/04/18/u-s-energy-independence-in-15-years/

A true leader takes all this information and formulates an energy policy based in REALITY, if the technology does not produce usable energy then it remains in the lab until it does and it is cost effective, until then the PROVEN resources get priority.

Let me get this straight. You are saying solar and wind do "not produce usable energy" so "then it remains in the lab until it does and it is cost effective"? And because it is not a proven alternative energy sources we should not invest in them?
"Until then the PROVEN resources get priority" - meaning dirty oil and natural gas?

"the federal government should not be handing out $ to it's friends" but yet you want to elect someone who's friends are BIG OIL making record profits who will keep giving them $?
If that is your platfrom then vote for Mitt because that's the shoe that fits.
I got news for you. Incase "you" haven't noticed, a majority of country is moving towards "green" energy resources, renewable energy and energy savings.
But if you want to remain with the old and your "proven" energy sources, you too may become a dinosaur.

Wait, wait did you just comment my "car, home,.....all still run on dirty/cheap gasoline"? But yet you are complaining about the cost of gasoline! HAHAHAHA. I'm surprised you didn't say "clean".

Mitt: "Yes let's invest only in proven energy resources like coal, oil and natural gas because clean air, water and a persons health are not important"

Investing in proven clean alternative energy resources are not a failed policy in my opinion.

yup, pass me a glass of dirty water while you are at it.

OBAMA-phone!

;)

That's all you got? You claim to say you care about where your tax money goes?
All while Romney continues to endorse proposals that maintain billions in handouts from the American taxpayer to oil executives like his adviser Hamm, he refuses to support tax credits for the growing clean energy industry, which provides thousands to workers around the country, without the costs to public health and the environment.
Take a look at the Ryan budget Romney supports.
You look at the stat of $1.85 and say "It's Mr 0's fault" But you really didn't do any research as to why except to blame the current President. Did you blame the last President too when the prices rose? My guess is not. You probably placed the blame on the Middle East.

Put this in your "stats"
Romney supports Ryan’s proposed FY 2013 budget resolution which would retain a decade’s worth of oil tax breaks worth $40 billion to BIG OIL
ExxonMobil paid an effective federal tax rate of 18 percent in 2010. The average family’s effective federal rate is 21 percent.
The FY 2013 budget proposal includes cuts in energy programs. And it explicitly calls for ending investments in programs that promote emerging technologies.
PWND

You don't listen/learn, so ya that is all I got, you spout dem talking points as if Mr 0 was not in office for the past 4 years, ... your quarter is up.

Thats what I thought.
Same old GOP rhetoric that has now reduced to name calling again for the Presidents energy policies. Fact is I do LISTEN to intellect sources about the world we live in. Some people just need to stop living in their own bubble and think about the greater picture.
You can't see the future because of all that smog from your "proven" energy resources. In case you haven't noticed outside your bubble, the consequences of "your proven energy resources" six of the last eight years were the hottest on record. Polar ice and glaciers are disappearing, sea levels are rising, coral reefs are suffering, plant and animal species are disappearing. And the wilderness areas and wildlife that prior presidents have worked so effectively to protect for more than a century are being threatened and lost.
So what I have LEARNED is that energy polices like the one that Romney supports is not one that I would support.
You did say you were willing to "frack" for natural gas in your backyard didn't you?
You would then have your dirty water. You might even be able to have it as your flaming shot.

and the altitude caused Mr 0 to look like a buffoon at the first debate, Al, Al, is that you?

what about dirty water, you need to fit that in ;)

Brian, I'm going to guess that you drive car with a gasoline engine and live in a house that is heated by an oil or gas fired burner.

And to imagine that I even have electricity and plumbing too.

It's a lot easier to talk about what other people ought to do, isn't it Brian? It's a lot harder to do it yourself. And this is the problem that I have with the self-contradicting Left. I drive an electric car and I live in a solar powered house; you live in a house that is almost certainly powered in part by the coal obtained from mountaintop removal, and you are driving your gas-powered car. So which is worse? Defending coal, or pretending to oppose it while being part of the very system that perpetuates the problem?

I don't mean to single you out, Brian. I once knew a co-worker at a bank, let's call him Marty. He, too, spoke volubly about how evil Republicans are because they are rich and destroying the environment. Said Marty, living in an energy wasting house, driving a gas-guzzling SUV, working for a bank that has cheated millions from the middle class over the years. In short, a fake, a fraud, a pretender. Just like you.

And this is the problem that I have with the Left. It moralizes about what is right, but it is really just a masquerade for statism. It has no intention of living by what it professes, and it really just wants to get someone to get someone else to live by an ideal that itself is not prepared to live by.

It is too bad Ron that unfortunately you make assumptions about a person you don't know. Because if you did you wouldn't have said that I masquerade.
I commend you for driving an electric car such as our family and living in a solar powered house.
I agree that one should practice what they preach. I also think that one shouldn't necessarily make assumptions about someone they don't know.

and one more thing Mr. Ron since I didn't get to finish the other day. You assume too much. Calling me a fraud, a fake a pretender. Yes my home may not be solar powered like yours but I do pay REC's. Maybe you have never heard of the program. Of all people to pass judgment on someone. Not directed at you but it is too bad that many Republicans pretend to care about the environment in which we live in. When we know for a fact that actions speak louder than words.

So it's "misleading" for you when we state the fact that gas is 100% higher today than when Obama took office? Or is it "misleading" for you when we say, the Presidents policies have an affect on gas prices?
Both are true. Look at the value of the dollar as the Fed continues to print money! You think that has no affect on prices of everything? Where do we get most of our oil? Canada! The Canadian dollar is now $1.02 American. Not too long ago it was $1.18 Canadian for $1 US.

"keep repeating " -> Like Mr 0? He got scolded for that the other night. Mr 0's MO: - no record to run on - put words in Mitt's mouth - keep repeating that Mitt lies, killed a mans wife, is a felon due to lies reporting on Bain - wants to kill Big Bird, ...

BUT REALITY:
- Mr 0 did not get away with any of it in a face to face debate
- the 5 trillion $ tax cut over 10 years is a total fabrication by Mr 0, do some research
- Mitt had training with his 5 boys so Mr 0 had no place to hid the other night
;)