You have a point... the President is responsible for the price of oil going up.Diuretic said:Look on the bright side! The price of fuel is through the roof! The oil companies are rich - sorry, I mean, getting richer! And so are their associates like Halliburton! Be happy!
Every time the President of Iran opens his mouth and says he is going to wipe Israel off the face of the map, the price of oil goes up. Everytime the Iranians have another go around with the U.N. on nuclear weapons, the price of oil goes up.
If this destabilizing influence exists in the Middle East and has helped push the price of oil up, imagine what we'd be paying now with a second regime with WMD capabilities operating freely!
At this point, everyone objects.... "Wait Karl! Saddam Hussein was under sanctions! Remember the Food for Oil Program? Remember the arms restrictions?". To which I say, "Yes, but unbeknowst to most people, China, Russia and other countries were lobbying the U.N. to lift those sanctions against Iraq. It would only have been a matter of time before Saddam's regime would be back in the saddle, creating WMDs, launching SCUD missiles at Israel, shooting at our aircraft and probably just causing a lot of uneasy feelings in the Middle East. My guess is that we probably are paying 50 cents to 75 cents less per gallon of gasoline than if Saddam Hussein were still in power.
Now... what about Haliburton and those devilish oil companies? Well... how Haliburton gets mixed up with oil companies is beyond me..... Haliburton is not an oil company. But, hey! Ignorance of economics is a hallmark of the Left!
The price of oil is determined by the futures market, not by the oil companies. In fact, according to the DOE (Department of Energy), oil refining costs + oil profits make up less than 18% of the price you pay at the pump. Taxes on the other hand make up well 23%-27% of the price you pay at the pump....
http://www.eia.doe.gov/bookshelf/brochures/gasolinepricesprimer/eia1_2005primerM.html
SO!!!!!! It's that evil Federal Government that's behind the rising price of oil!!!!!!
And to make matters worse, the Democrats wanted to tax the oil companies for making too much profit!!!!!