Remember these great hits from the last administration’s critics?
First up, Dividend Money had what was pretty standard fair in the leftosphere:
Do you think that it is important to look at possible ulterior motives of government administrators when casting your vote?
Check out the following graph to see what President Bush accomplished during his term in the White House. (Remember, Bush is an “oil man”)
Bush Drives Up Oil Prices
Then, I give you Jack Cafferty:
CAFFERTY: I don’t know. Oil was $28 a barrel when George Bush was sworn in. It’s $104 right now and could go to $120 soon. Now, why do you suppose that is? It wouldn’t have to do with the policies of the Bush administration or the relationship they have with the oil companies, would it? Come on.
Katie Couric, discussing the drop in oil prices prior to the 2006 election, asked:
“Is this an election year present from President Bush to fellow Republicans?” Over a shot of a “GOP: Grand Oil Party” bumper sticker laying on a dashboard, reporter Anthony Mason asserted: “Gas started going down just as the fall campaign started heating up. Coincidence? Some drivers don’t think so.”
Nancy Pelosi said it was Bush’s fault too:
Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House, stated, “drivers are paying a heavy price for the Bush administration’s failure to enact a comprehensive energy strategy. Years of Bush administration policies that have favored Big Oil over the consumers have resulted in record dependence on foreign oil.”
USA Today had this headline:
Democrats blame Bush for high gas prices
The left’s subtle conspiracy theories had an effect.
A hefty 42% of Americans polled over the weekend said they think fuel prices are being manipulated by the Bush administration to help Republicans in an election year. The USA TODAY/Gallup Poll has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
Which brings me to my point. If “BushCo” was responsible then, who is responsible for this:
Oil prices rose to near $81 a barrel Friday in Asia as crude traders followed equity markets higher ahead of a key U.S. jobs report.
Benchmark crude for April delivery was up 48 cents to $80.69 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 66 cents to settle at $80.21 on Thursday.
Three days after Obama took office, the price of crude oil was $46.47. It has nearly doubled. Not quite, but it’s getting there. Since he has been in office, he has had a Democrat Congress more than willing to give him whatever he wanted.
So why are oil prices rising again? At least during the Bush years, oil prices dropped in the winter months because of demand. This winter oil prices just kept climbing.
Is Obama in league with Big Oil? Or are there actually other factors that weigh in on the price of oil?
Like, say, demand.
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