Barack Obama has spent his presidency finding scapegoats and fleeing responsibility. For example, our massive deficit is not his fault. Rather, it’s George W. Bush’s fault. Our painfully high unemployment isn’t his fault either. Rather, it’s due to the fact that “the economy is so automated.” He’s even tried to assure us that we can’t blame him for the sharp rise in gasoline prices we’ve seen under his watch either. Rather, he boasts that he’s expanded domestic oil production to its highest point in the last eight years.
Here’s what he said in a speech on March 15: “Do not tell me that we’re not drilling. We’re drilling all over this country. There are a few spots we’re not drilling. We’re not drilling in the national mall. We’re not drilling at your house. ” He then grinned like the cat that just ate the mouse, as if saying these thing takes him off the hook for the fact that the price of gasoline has jumped over 100% on his watch.
That’s right–over 100%.
Here’s the problem, as with almost everything this administration tells us, there is a small sliver of truth in what Obama said, and he’s using that small sliver to hide the ugly reality behind it. For example, domestic production is currently up by 120,000 barrels a day. But Obama has cut foreign intake by 1,000,000 barrels a day. In other words, the ugly reality is that Obama is forcing us, as a nation, to make due with 880,000 less barrels of oil a day that we were used to having prior to his presidency. Take away that much oil a day in a situation that isn’t static–a situation where demand is constantly growing–and it’s no wonder our gas prices are through the roof.
To put it another way: If gasoline were food, Obama would be starving us to death.
And don’t ever forget about the Keystone Pipeline Obama nixed earlier this year. That pipeline alone would have brought between 800,000 and 900,000 barrels of oil a day into the United States, with the number of barrels transported via the pipeline exceeding one million a day in the future.
When asked about the Keystone Pipeline, George W. Bush said it’s a “no brainer,” because it would bring energy and jobs to America. And I’ll tell you something else that’s a “no brainer,” and that’s understanding where the blame rests for these high gas prices. It rests with Barack Obama, who has cut our daily intake of oil by 880,000 barrels (and raised domestic production in certain places to try to hide the fact that he’s really forcing us to do more with less). These gas prices are Obama’s gas prices. He owns them just like Eric Holder owns Fast and Furious.