Congressman Israel, try answering the question for once in your life. Explain to me, your simple-minded constituent, how the hell ending "subsidies" to oil companies will bring down gas prices. How about allowing drilling for our own oil, building the Keystone pipeline, and opening up new refineries. Congressman Israel, you are the reason gas prices are so high because of your relentless war on “big oil”. You consistently vote against every bill that would increase the supply of oil and instead waste billions in hard earned tax payer money on unproven “green” technology. Your ignorance of Economics 101 and the laws of supply and demand is baffling. If anyone is interested in reading the gory details of Congressman Israel’s spending orgy on “green” technology, check out my blog posting entitled “Congressman Israel’s Solyndra Problem”
http://longislandpatriot.wordpress.com/2012/02/06/congressman-steve-israels-solyndra-problem/

Steve israel appears to be not only incoherent on the issue but also nothing more than a sock puppet for pelosi and the eco-fanatics. israel's policy of not endorsing the XL pipeline which in of itself would have created thousands of jobs and made America less dependent upon foreign sources of oil from nations that detest America, it would have added supply and thusly lower oil/gas prices. israel's endorsement of the moratorium on drilling in the gulf, and oil shale production have also made America more dependent and less secure and is the top reason cited as America's national security risk. israel is a puppet to the 'greenies' who's technology is neither marketable or financially stable, and this has been shown by the numerous bankruptcies by democratic donor green companies that received loan guarantees at taxpayer expense. To add insult to injury, israels partner at the DCCC, jim rogers has received $230,000,000 in subsidies via loan guarantees, so if israel wants to be truthful, than let him espouse the billions of dollars wasted on green companies that were politically connected to the obama regime and the DCCC. The only way to bring oil prices down is to increase supply, and that will not happen under democrat regulation and crony capitalism. If israel really wanted to eliminate subsidies, than he could start w/ solar, wind, battery, ethanol, and the others that dont have a market place and yes oil subsidies too.

Steve Israel campaigns as a moderate when in fact he is a radical liberal, taking his orders from none other than Nancy Pelosi who forced Obamacare onto the American people. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wogG-uZ0eY. Steve Israel is a career politician that cares more about his political career than that of the hard working taxpayers of his district. Congressman Israel, how does cutting subsidies to oil companies help lower the price of gas and home heating oil? This insanity has to stop. Obama signed an executive order to loan $2 billion of our taxpayer money to a Brazilian oil company (Petrobras) to drill for oil off the coast of Brazil. Costing Americans their jobs and once again dependency on foreign oil! The Chinese government is under contract to purchase all the oil that this field will produce. The largest stockholder of this Brazilian Oil company is George Soros, which has been one of Obama's most generous financial supporters. Congressman Israel when will you put America and the people of CD 2 first and not sell your soul to the devil to march up the political ladder?

Did you ever wonder where a self-proclaimed corporate raider and Occupy Wall Street supporter such as Congressman Steve Israel gets his campaign donations from?
According to Open Secrets, Israel has raised $1,581,081 for this election cycle (2011-2012), of which $15,790 comes from small donors, the “average Joe” like you and me.
Another $965,850 was raised from his top 100 donors, an all-star team of big labor and big business

Boy, some people are really hard up, as well as in need of mental purgatives, to make such looney tune comments.

Israel is as far from the looney left as George W Bush was from the looney right, but when you hate somebody, I guess you'll say and do anything to covert that hatred into
distortions, and worse.

He no more takes orders from Nancy Pelosi than Peter King takes orders from John Boehner; like them or hate them, both Israel and King are pretty independent people.

Oh, and always watch out for people who wrap themselves in a metaphorical flag, or proclaim their own religious values (yet deny the values of other religious people because they are different), or who boldly proclaim their "patriotism." After a career in the US military I learned to be wary of those folks; they were usually the first to send us into harm's way without volunteering for combat duty themselves, and they were usually the ones who wanted more and more tax cuts for themselves and their friends without regard to the pay and benefits of our US Armed Forces members, and the impact of a military career on their families. We became political pawns of their ideologies.

Try a little balance in your lives, and avoid Fox News (or MSNBC, to go in the other direction) as your primary source of information.

I agree with all of the above. We are being sold out by most, if not ALL of our politicians. Down the middle is the way to go. We should all become independents (I have) vote for the person that you think is going to do the best job, and let these other 2 parties wither away.

For those who are associating American/Canadian gas & oil resources with our energy independence, or regarding new pipelines as a solution for current gasoline or heating oil prices, you should try learning from actual experts on the energy industry, & avoid the hyperbole (polite word for "crap") from politicians seeking to defeat the current president, or from so-called "talk radio" motor mouths whose "economics" is just a cover for a political movement.

Instead, seek out interviews with actual energy industry experts, like Daniel Yergin, interviewed this week on a number of programs which were seeking facts, rather than reinforcing prejudices.

First, energy is fungible, and it goes to wherever the demand -- and willingness to pay -- is greatest. We are in an era where the incredible growth of the automobile industry in China, & to a lesser extent in India, is driving up demand for petroleum-based products in those nations, thereby driving up global prices. As long as US demand is strong, we are part of the problem.

Unless the US (and to a certain extent Canada) placed legal restrictions on the export of petroleum and gas, both in its natural state as well as in derivative products, those supplies are going to the highest bidder, & prices will rise.

It's great for the oil and gas companies, their investors, & their friends in the Congress, but it isn't such a good deal for the rest of us poor suckers.

PS Don't forget the Iranian Hormuz threat factor.

Actually Americans, especially New Yorkers are digging into their pockets to subsidize government spending not oil company executives. In the Empire State around 66 cents of state, local, and federal taxes is added to the price of every gallon of gasoline sold. Makes the oil execs look like pikers.

Oh give us a break and learn something about business. Take a look at energy company profits over the past five years, and just where the big cap stocks are these days.

Yes, government takes its taxation share, but it's better done at the pump than in property taxes.

Yes, I understand you don't like being taxed for anything, but this country doesn't survive by your, or my, charity. We pay for things with taxes, some of the things paid for I may like, and some of them you may like, and neither of us, undoubtedly, likes every use for all of the taxes, but that's just what a democracy is.

But, the oil companies and their Congressional friends (lackies? puppets?), who thrive on their campaign donations, have been rolling in cash, while most Americans suffer.

I'll check in on this heated debate when it hits $6.00/gallon !

There he goes again, Steve "Democratic Talking Points" Israel. What a disgrace to our congressional district.

One of the main of main reasons gas prices are going up is because of the extended easy money policy the Fed keeps continuing. Look at your food bill - it's not much better there too.

And Jerry - while we can't escape taxes, tax on gasoline is a real burden on the middle and lower income classes, and it just shows how corrupt NY is to have a disproportionate percentage of taxes relative to other states. I'd much rather spend my money the way I want to instead of giving it to the government to determine how best to spend it. But I guess it's a pipe dream in this state to think we'll ever get a real leader to turn things around like NJ did.

Concerned Citizen - Do you think that unions run this state and its politicians, or that taxpayers have the say as to how things should be? If you answer the latter, I think you're standing in the wrong state. If Cuomo would follow Obama's mantra of fairness, he would take away all of the gold-plated, legacy benefits that public sector unions have and put them on equal footing with the private sector. The gravy train has to stop.

Obama's mantra of fairness is to drag everyone down, instead of lifting everyone up..... in addition to his crony capitalism and payoffs to labor and the like......

This election is simple - do you want big government, or smaller government? If BHO wins, Europe, here we come - buckle up everyone!

Once again, learn something about where the money is made by the oil companies. Some of them earn their big bucks because they are big producers, while some of them earn more of their money on distillation, but fewer and fewer earn their money in final distribution. There's a reason that you see less and less traditional "brand names" in gas stations; marketing gasoline is NOT where the big money is.

As to price rises, there are all kinds of reasons for price rises, and for gasoline to spike up to $6 per gallon it would probably take a major disruption in Persian Gulf shipments, and that would mean not just a mining of the Straits of Hormuz (which would be a short term disruption, as the US has effective mine countermeasures vessels and helicopters) but a deliberate sinking of several VLCC's or ULCC's in the Straits. That would shut it down for six months to a year, while the debris is cut apart, underwater, raised to the surface, and removed by barge; what a disaster that would be.

Oil prices will continue to rise, steadily but gradually, because demand is rising in the WORLD market; unless some of you myopically blind radical right reactors can shut down growth in Asian car markets (particularly China and India), and unless the green freaks can think of a way to power cars with wind turbines (OK, electric for some vehicles, but we're not there yet), gas prices will rise as demand rises.

Economics 101, combined with World Politics and Naval Strategy.

Supply and demand is true. Thus, by voting AGAINST a new pipeline, from one of our largest trading partners and ally (Canada), of which has already agreed to run it along side an existing pipling to mitigate environmental concernes, makes no sense. Your turning away MORE SUPPLY from a friend only to send the oil to China instead. Look at what an INCREASE in supply of nat gas has done. It came down from over $13 a unit to $2.50 (and still dropping) in no time. And if we on L.I. didn't have the gas pipeline from Canada we would now be having trouble getting THAT gas here. Why then did Israel and his buddies vote against the new pipeline? look here and check other sources for yourselfhttp://www.redstate.com/williamjameson/2011/01/20/obamas-energy-sec-wants-7-to-9-unleaded-gas-prices/. Chu is also one of the guys who OK'D the $$$ , our $$$, thrown away on Solyndra. Wiki it.

There is plenty of supply out there. By all accounts there are tankers out there just waiting for a place to go. No this is not about supply and demand this is about pure greed plain and simple. Exxon Mobil had a 45 BILLION dollar profit last year !! Warmest winter on record and highest heating oil prices?? Supply and demand? Keep telling yourself that.

Hey, don't let facts get in the way of your obsessive fantasies.

Just keep repeating the lies you hear, and then re-telling lies, over and over again, and some fool might think it's the truth.

As to taxes on the oil companies, it's a tax on profits, friend. I don't know about you, but as I made more money over the years, I paid more taxes. Did it dissuade me from working hard to make more money, and then pay more taxes, coming up with higher and higher net incomes each year? No, of course not.

The oil companies don't believe Rush, or other idiots, but they're happy to have him distort all of this for their own sake.

And as for that Canadian oil, it's going to go down to Port Arthur, in Texas, and it will then be shipped to China; the issue isn't whether or not the oil will go to China, it's what route will be taken for the oil to reach a shipping port.

Again, going back to one ultimate possibility (that nobody thinks would happen, due to a cascading effect on the global energy industry), if the United States PLUS Canada restrict the oil from foreign sale, and if they survive the lawsuit from the oil producers, then it won't be shipped to China.

Oil goes to whomever pays the most, or in a period of supply/demand equilibrium, it goes to anyone who will pay for it.

Oil prices are not about today's supply and demand, it is all about buying futures and speculation.

For Concerned, I would agree that speculation and futures is a very big factor in swings, but supply and demand is the base long-term cause of prices rising. There are simply a lot more major economies with greater and greater calls on petroleum, chiefly for gasoline as their car industries zoom ahead (pun intended). I spent eighteen years of my thirty year banking and corporate finance career working with automotive companies, and nobody believed -- when I retired in 2000 -- that China and India in 2011 would have moved ahead, so fast, with their car sales.

Speculation is always used as a scapegoat for what's happening. Remember in 2008 when congress blamed the speculators for the stock mkt. drop? they immediately wanted a halt to shorting financial stocks. This is but one example, speculation creates a fluid market, it is simply a bet that an instrument will go in a particular direction. Nobody blames the speculator when things go the way that the mass wants it to go. What's going on now is more a product of the bad policy of the obama regime and its surrogate like steve israel. Everyone should read and learn about petrodollars. In short, petrodollars was a deal set up under nixon whereby opec would only sell oil in US $, this caused a demand for US $ above and beyond what the normal market would have, but the other side of the deal was that all excess US $ held by OPEC would be invested in US Treasuries. Well, under the democrats like steve israel, countries are now purchasing oil in euros and other currencies. This is happening because of obama/pelosi/reid/israel policy of running up US debt and destroying the value of the US$. As the US$ goes down, the price of oil goes up and the US$ is going down because countries and investors see the huge debt being run up by obama and his surrogates (steve israel) and dont want to own US$ and in turn opec countries dont want to own US debt because of the impending failure that is mounting. The more we borrow, the more the dollar declines & the price of oil rises!

Oh for the love of Richard Milhous, please take your head out of the warm dark place where it is clearly lodged.

Petrodollars was not some "deal" set up by President Nixon, Mr. "First". That word simply refers to the money generated by oil producing nations from their exports of crude oil; the industry is based on US Dollar revenues, as crude is priced in USD. When a nation earns USD revenues they do not receive suitcases full of currency; they receive credits to their US Dollar accounts lodged either directly with US banks, or indirectly through their accounts with foreign (i.e., non-US) banks which in turn have correspondent banking relationships with US banks, and they have the funds lodged in those accounts.

And, as to purchasing oil, anyone can start their purchase in Euros, or in Renminbi, or in Rupees, or in Reais, or in Rubles, or in Yen, or in Swiss Francs, and those will be converted, in the Forex markets, into US Dollars, and that will be paid to the oil producing nation for subsequent shipment, or to the oil company which already owns the crude sitting in fully loaded ULCC's or VLCC's.

You clearly know nothing about banking, nor about foreign exchange, nor about the oil industry, nor about the US national debt, nor about economics in general, Mr. "First."

Perhaps that is why you make such absurd comments about President Obama, or Congressman Israel, or anyone else you hate who is not part of the radical right.

Look, I am not necessarily a fan of the Obama administration, or the DNC philosophies; nor am I an ultra-conservative that has an every-man-for-himself perspective. I do believe, like another Poster to this blog, that the road to recovery and a better America, and our future, is based on a new and more centrist point of view that seems to be missing in action… Probably because the centrist view cannot succeed in fund raising the way the parties and power-groups can. But without hesitation I could tell you that the extremist on either side of the aisle is not doing anything positive for this country. So, open your mind a little and have a dialogue that may be off-track from conservative media… Like I said previously, the media does it for ratings and Ad sales, so take it all with a grain of salt.

Wow!
Petrodollars and Nixon.
Debt and Obama.
Next, "America First" will try linking the Ebola Virus and Reagan, or maybe the Incredible Hulk and G.H.W. Bush, or maybe Chinese Fortune Cookies and Clinton, or maybe "AF" will even link Hundreds Of Billions of Dollars In Debt For An Unnecessary War and George W. Bush....oh wait, that one would actually be correct.

Come on, man, get real and leave your deep prejudices behind.

Other people aren't attacking politicians around here, except in response to outrageous and irrational posts from you and a few others.

Let's stick to understanding the real economic causes and effects.

Well, I do not know that another 4-years in the White House will prove any better than the first four. But then again, I never thought the first four would be that fruitful because the mountian was just too high and too challenging for anyone, or any administration to climb in four years. However, it is hard to believe the Obama administration will not get another four years to try because there is no viable options for reasonable Americans, which I still believe is the majority; regardless of what the media reports.

Prices ARE being driven up in the futures markets by speculators. But if we had a larger supply ie pipelines, drilling etc., they would not be speculating, ala nat gas.I saw a post somewhere saying that Morgan Stanley, a very large player in oil, is driving prices up to unseat Obama. Barney Frank was one of the biggest culprets of the housing boom\bust but always tried to blame someone else. People need to think for themselves and stop listening to the 2 party hype. All they want to do is keep themselves in office at any cost. They care nothing about us.

Very interesting perspective....

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/26/opinion/sunday/friedman-a-good-question.html?hp

William Muray has show in just 2 short sentences that he is a racist and a bigot. Instead of posting facts or documentation about his favorite choice for president, he simply calls everyone else that disagrees with the abject failure of the obama regime as racist. I guess the fact that obama and his surrogates have proven themselves to be inept and incompetent while at the same time serving cronies and destroying the American economy, the American family, American values and religion, dictating via executive orders and mandates while inflicting upon American taxpayers higher costs of living via union legislation, govt regulation and inept energy policy to name but a few. The obama regime is an abject failue in all senses of the word, but having said that I am a racist to murray. Well, how about this one, "Voting for someone because they are black is racist"! Can anyone imagine if a white individual said that they voted for McCain because he was white? wow, the racist word would run rampant but many times over people have stated that they voted for obama because he was black, recently samuel jackson made such a statement and wasnt eloquent about it. Murray is the racist, its about the economy stupid not about skin color and btw, obama's mother wasnt black! 1 more fact, obama has lauched a site "african americans for obama", again, can anyone imagine a site called "caucasians for Romney"? obama inherited, 1) AAA bond rating, 2)5% unemployment 3)$1.67/gal.gas! All GONE!

In an effort to leave in Orlando, or Anaheim, the Fantasyland of the radical fringe's oil conspiracy (you know, "Obama did it" or "Boehner did it", or, even better, "one lonely, Congressman Steve Israel, did it"), you should consider the following:

http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000074514

http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000069559

http://www.cnbc.com/id/24762007

Mr. hannon, you attempt to make yourself appear to be the purveyor of non-partisanship and a mediator of this debate, yet everything you state is left leaning as in the following instances. I discuss the ramifications of the petrodollar and its effects, I even post an article outlining the ramifications of how it is affecting America, yet you deride and condemn an article of fact as coming from an “outhouse and biased source of news”. Yet it is simply an article of fact, than you have the audacity to discuss the great op-ed piece in the nyslime by friedman. Well, in case you were unaware of it, the NY times is left leaning, it is run by a devout liberal named pinky, it’s the mouthpiece of the DNC and the whitehouse, friedman is a far left liberal, and if you hadn’t noticed, the piece was an op-ed meaning opinion/editorial and had no bearing on fact!

So, on the one hand you condemn an article outlining the effects of the petrodollar debacle which has historical significance on current day fluctuations as crap but an op/ed piece in a liberal rag as the cornerstone of truth even though it is nothing more than an opine from a liberal contributor.

At least have the decency to admit that you are a liberal and that you decry anything that is not skewed to the left!

Than when another liberal (William murray) posts inflammatory and racist comments you defend and justify his comments as not racist. Ok, than you go onto state in another liberal rant that right wing lunatics loved Herman Cain, well, you are saying that people that are willing to judge someone by the content of his character rather than his skin color are “right wing lunatics”? Are you also, like many liberals inferring that Herman Cain is an “Uncle Tom”? Let’s look at history, which party was known as the party of slavery and segregation? Democratic party! Which party had blocked civil rights enactment during the Eisenhower administration? Democratic Party! Which party had a higher % of elected officials voting for the Civil Rights Act? Republican Party! As far as, racism, I am inserting the latest obama race card, and again, if white people were to do similar, well we all know the phony outrage. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdjoHA5ocwU Y

Back to you, Mr. hannon, you than attack my education. Well unbeknownst to you, I graduated Magna Cum Laude with an MBA, worked on institutional trading desks and despise liars like you that pretend to be one thing but are the complete opposite!

Hate to make this about jerry hannon's uberliberalism, but here's a tidbit as he chooses to bash Herman Cain and calls those that supported him "Right Wing Lunatics". First, what is your definition of "Lunatic"? Again, as stated earlier, is it judging someone by the content of his character rather than his skin color? or perhaps its simply someone who supports logical and sensible govt rather than out of control spending and entitlements? From your posts, you call me a hater and seem to know whats not only in my heart and mind but in that of william racist murray too! Herman Cain blew his opportunity not because of his biz plan r acumen for the job but because of his extra-marital liasons, now having said that can we think of others that went down that path? Let's see, you have John Edwards whose wife was dying of cancer while he was cheating, you have the democratic poster boy bubba clinton, but looking at hellary, one cant blame him, can they? And for purposes of this conversation, we have steve israel. steve cheated his wife after taking vows of lifelong marriage not once but twice. So, steve has shown that promises mean nothing and character means even less. If steve will screw his intern and than screw his wife, what makes anyone believe he has any ethics or character of being responsible to his constituents?

steve israel's only concern is winning his next election, payoffs and affiliations are common thread for stevie boy!

Come on, Mr. "America First," try to be honest about yourself for the sake of the rest of us.

As anyone can easily find out, who I am, and what I have done, is all out on the internet to be judged by others.

Who are you?

What is your name?

Where did you work?

What was your military service?

What public service do you perform for the community?

What have you done for your school district, and the Town of Huntington, and for the State and Nation?

How have you tried to make life better for other people?

You apparently don't even know the difference between Centrists and Liberals, Mr. "First," because you label anyone not in your circle of (extreme) belief as a liberal.

As I have publicly acknowledged about myself, on Patch from time to time, and in other published internet sources, I am a lifelong Republican, as was my father, and my grandfather. Furthermore, I am a Centrist, not a Conservative, and not a Liberal; in fact, part of the problem in America today is the extreme polarization of the Left and the Right, which is not only poisoning the civic atmosphere but also making impossible effective governance.

People like you, Mr. "First," whether on the extreme Left or the extreme Right, are destroying America by creating a litmus test for cooperation by which the looney left, and the looney right, will only cooperate with people who share all of the same extreme beliefs.

You are not "America First," sir, you are "Extreme Ideology First."

In the hope, once again, of improving the dialogue about this subject by providing non-hysterical comments from actual energy experts, here is a link to a Feb 2nd video interview with T Boone Pickens, the legendary oil and gas developer:
http://www.bloomberg.com/video/85608082/

For Jerry Hannon, I appreciate the links you provided to the thoughtful commentaries by Dan Yergin as well as T. Boone Pickens; even if I don't necessarily agree with everything that each of them says, I do agree that they have the expertise to provide insight into this issue of pricing. It certainly beats the political crap we're hearing from the radio motor mouths.

Who cares about gas prices??? Where can you get the best chicken wings that's whats important!!

@Jerry What does questioning America First's military service have to do with anything being discussed here? I didn't know that was a qualification for commenting on energy prices. The fact that he was an institutional trader is good enough for me in commenting on economic matters. Frankly, I'm sick of the way you exploit your military service everytime you are challenged. Anyone who constantly goes around bragging about their service is suspect in my book. Most of us don't feel the need to constantly toot our own horns or use our service to suggest we are the only ones uniquely qualified to have an opinion.

You certainly don't know how to read carefully, do you "Long Island Patriot".

I asked him for as full a revelation of who he is, just as several others have been willing to do for Patch posts over the past few years.

That isolated bit of information which you carefully selected, again totally out of context (no surprise there, LIP), is not key; revelation, candor, honesty, a willingness to engage fully & openly, where a poster does not hide behind some phony name, that is what is at issue.

By the way, unlike your distorted interpretation, I don't go around giving my military title and/or experience in posts unrelated to a subject. When geopolitical issues are the subject, such as the potential for Iran mining the Straits of Hormuz and the likely impact on energy prices if that occurs, then someone's professional experience is relevant.

As to the professional finance experience of someone, such as your citation of his non-revealed (i.e., in candor, LIP) professional experience claim, I hope that you can understand that the details of someone's experience -- in terms of number of years, position, & name of firm -- makes a huge difference.

If John Doe claimed to be a finance professional in a discussion about syndicated loan refinancings of investment grade borrowers, and we later learned that his experience was as a junior vice president in the credit card unit at a minor regional bank, then you would weigh the specific experience against claimed expertise.

@Jerry, I know how to read just fine. You ask above, why does America First refuse to give details of his military service. Again, I ask what the hell does this have to do with what he is commenting on. Regarding posting our resumes here, conservatives are ripped apart by your friends on the left and many of us don't want our good names dragged through the mud by the likes of you. It's funny you don't badger concerned citizen or cammando to come out of the shadows.

Once again, you either don't know how to read a complete post or have not bothered to note on other Patch threads that I frequently suggest that ALL posters use their real names. But, neither of the two unidentified posters are spewing venom, so I cut them slack as I would anyone who is reasonably civil.

By the way, your post immediately above again takes out of context what I wrote about simply one aspect of AF's background; that seems to be a consistent theme for you, but again that's no surprise.

And, a further by-the-way, "Concerned Citizen" identified him/her self as a conservative and I believe also a Republican, just not a lunatic conservative. I'm not sure about "Goin' Commando"'s provenance, but I certainly did not get the impression that he/she was someone "on the left."

It's funny how the extreme radical right loves to portray even conservatives as left, or liberal, or who knows what, unless they are in lock-sync with their own extremist views.

Mr Gannon, I will try not to sink to your level of name calling and insults but I can't guarantee that. Let's see, you have called me a hater, a lunatic and a right wing extremist. I will refrain from calling you a moron and a self indulgent twit because that would be unfair to all the twits living and dead. I have stated facts with documentation and numbers that can easily be researched, I have exposed racism from William Murray whose racist remarks you condone and state that people supporting Herman Cain are right wing extremists. I have asked youl numerous times what is extreme in anything I have posted, and your silence has been deafening! You my friend are a coward and if I were really a lunatic and extremist as you claim than perhaps you shOuld be just a lil concerned? I guess even a lunatic wouldn't waste his time with a clown named hannon!

http://www.wtrg.com/prices.htm

Ooooh, scary, AF.

You just posted " I have exposed racism from William Murray whose racist remarks you condone...", which means that you, AF, totally ignored my expose of your distortions, in which I previously wrote:

"Let's take a closer look than Mr. "First" apparently gave the following sentence which Mr. Murray wrote: "Some people just have not gotten used to having a black man in the White House and they can't handle that he will be there for another four years."

That does not say, & it does not even imply, that ALL people are racially opposed to President Obama, & it does not say or imply that MOST people are opposed to him on racial grounds; it says that SOME people have not gotten used to having a black man in the White House."

Despite that, AF, you now call Mr. Murray's simple statement, "Some people just have not gotten used to having a black man in the White House and they can't handle that he will be there for another four years.", racist remarks.

You either don't know, or don't care about, the difference between objectivity and a perversion of what Mr.Murray actually wrote.

That, AF, is simply part of your hateful approach.

Your attitude is very sad for 90% of America.

Frank H. provided a link to some very interesting energy industry data compiled by an organization with which I am not familiar. Can you provide information about the author, Frank H.?

The "About" link on the WTRG Economics website really doesn't provide much.

“CC and Jerry hannon have to be the 2 biggest clowns, as they constantly deflect the issues and facts that I espouse and attack me. They throw around insults but add nothing to the debate. Before I go on about the issues of high gas prices and the probable causes including the “Petro $” agreement of the seventies, I find it quite amusing how not one time has jerry hannon, mr. non-partisan addressed any of the facts that I have posted, nor has he shown any comments made by me to be extreme or of lunacy. Insulting and demonizing as CC and hannon do has its roots in the democratic party, via ‘rules for radicals’ which states demonize and personalize the attack when you have no facts or record to fall back on. Where are my extreme points that I have made, your silence is deafening.

Now to the possible reasons for the high price of oil/gas. Speculators are a phantom ghost used by govt to demonize something that is not really the cause. The proof of this is as follows, Oil is a national security concern, hence we do have a “Strategic Oil Reserve” that proves this to be so. Given the above statement, if speculation was the main cause of high prices of oil, the simple way to eliminate the speculators and excess speculation would be to increase the margin requirement on futures contracts. Wow, now that would eliminate the govt scapegoat and who would the public look to then?

continued:

As knowledgeable people know, yes this would exclude hannon, the price of oil has an inverse relationship to the US$. As the US$ declines the price of oil and other commodities will increase. Under the obama regime, the federal debt has increased over 50% and $5,000,000,000,000 in just 3 short years. This in of itself would cause the decline of the US$ in that foreigner and investors would not want to hold US$ because they are less safe and are only backed by the full faith and credit of an out of control govt spendaholics. So, given the fact that our debt is growing exponentially, the federal reserve under bennie has chosen to keep rates artificially low because they claim there is no inflation. Well, the fact of the matter is, anyone that goes to a gas station, grocery shopping or looks at food commodities or metals knows there is serious inflation. The reason why the fed doesn’t raise rates is as follows. An increase in the rates would cause the debt service of the federal govt to expand exponentially from its current $600,000,000,000/yr. estimate. This would cause a larger amount of govt revenues to be directed to debt service leaving less for democrat entitlements and votes. The revenue pie is only so big, and debt has to be paid.

continued

This excess of spending needs to be paid for and how is that done? Well, the fed simply increases the money supply out of thin air via bookkeeping entries as in the case of $30,000,000,000 to JPM in 2008 to buy Bear or buy purchasing federal debt in the open market. The fed is now the largest holder of US debt, outstripping the Chinese. As in anything else, the more supply of something the less it is worth and the easy monetary policy of the fed is a root cause of the US$ destruction. Another reason for the fed to keep rates low is the financial leverage on Wall St., which is astronomical. The firms on Wall St. including banks, hedge funds, insurance companies ranges as high as 2000% (AMBAC &MBIC). Any increases in interest rates will not only force govt to reduce entitlements, it will also cause a financial crisis much worse than that seen in 2008. (Lehman & Bear) As interest rates increase, the value of stocks, bonds, fixed income instruments decline. So, we have soft monetary policy that increases the supply of money, which decreases its relative value and than we have petro dollars which was an agreement between the US and OPEC that oil be sold only in US$. As that falls apart, countries that needed US$ to purchase oil can now use other currencies or metals for that transaction.

continued

. This leads to the selloff of their US$ inventories and more US$ supply hitting the markets. The second part of this agreement was that excess US$ held by OPEC nations had to be used to purchase US debt. Well, we already stated above that countries are shying away from this. How do we know this is happening? Well, there is little demand from investors at treasury auctions and that is why the fed is now the largest holder of US debt, which is called monetizing the debt. Supply grows, and grows and the US$ is destroyed and devalued. The above are just some of the causes of the high price of oil. I guess its because I am hater, wont tell hannon what my military service is or my name that the price of oil is so high! Its obvious from the above, well obvious to those who arent ideologues that the democrat spending machine headed by obama and acolytes like stevie israel will continue to destroy the US$ and hence higher oil prices. Here is another article about the democrat insensitivity to the plight of the American citizen. http://blog.heritage.org/2012/02/29/morning-bell-white-house-wants-to-keep-gas-prices-high/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Morning%2BBell
this will be called right wing crap and extremism by hannon and cc, but the facts always get in the way of the stevie israel and democrat rhetoric and lies!

The national debt rose dramtically in the past three years largely in part to the policies of the past that took care of the banks and big oil companies. Yes, the banks got the capital injection and paid it back, but the American people got saddled with a real estate market that helped to collapse the economy. Additionally, ask the state of Michigan what would have happened if the car companies were allowed to go under and the unemployment, which is backed by the U.S. Government, would have eclipsed the bailout 10-fold. I am not pleased about Obama-care, but then I was not pleased with a very costly war in Iraq that failed to find weapons of mass destruction... That is part of the debt that escalated during Obama's term as well.

Amercan First, you are the self appointed guardian of rightousness that can't take an opposing point of view. You do not care about the people of Michigan, or the plight of people who got caught in the econimic debacle of the past administration.. But hey, you get to put the Confederate Flag on your new GMC Truck and spew venom at all who disagee.

CC, I have yet to see an opposing point of view that has clarity or backup documentation. All i have seen is insults and derogatory statements from people with no lucid vision of what is going on. How do I proclaim myself as the self appointed guardian when all I am doing is posting facts and numbers? You in your comments do nothing but give opinion, poor opinion at that. So lets disect your latest comment.
1) The national debt rose substantially from $100/yr. to $400b/yr. when piglosi and the dems took control of the house and senate.
2) The American people got saddled with a r/e market that what? Have you no idea who crafted the CRA? It was govt regulations forcing banks to loan to people that couldnt afford to own. Bush was no bargain, but these laws were crafted by dems like dodd, frank, waters and groups like democrat sponsored ACORN would have protests at banks if they werent loaning monies to lousy credit minorities. These shakedowns by congress and its surrogates as well as additional demands by frank, dodd, etc. for fannie & freddie to purchase more of these mortgages only led banks to issue more of them and than unload them to F & F.

As far as Michigan goes, who would u like me to call? or does the state itself take questions? You have heard of bankrutcy law? Had the process been allowed to proceed, the viable assets would have been auctioned off in an orderely process. Where do u get your 10-fold from? The auto bailout was a payoff to unions.

Continuing: Under obama the natioanl deficit has increased to approximately $1.4t/year, that t stands for trillion.
Back to the auto bailouts that you say had to be done. Well, the pension funds and other investors took a bath on the bailout of govt motors. Investors that owned 1st mortgage and secure bonds were pre-empted by the unions. They should have been first in line but obama put them last. So, lets see about the numbers and this is from a h8ful memory. Bailout of GM approx. $86,000,000,000. Treasury rates about 3%. Well, if I were given $86B and invested it in riskless treasuries I would have earned approximately $3B/yr. doing nothing. GM had the bailout monies converted from debt to preferred and common stock so they paid no interest on the monies which had they gone to the market place would have cost them approx. $6-$8 billion/yr. in debt service. Now here's the kicker. In addition to the bailout monies and the interest the taxpayer got screwed out of, the CBO has stated that the taxpayer stands to lose about $23B on the stock, on top of that we had cash for clunkers which cost taxpayer $4B and in addition to all of these insults, the union bosses gave the union workers a $5k/man signing bonus in recent contract. Wow, couldnt they have used those monies to pay back the taxpayers? BTW, GM numbers are smoke and mirrors, sales are recognized when they leave lot, not sold. GM reports income which is based on above,tax credits,and benefit of no interest!

For those who are interested in an objective perspective, in other words a moderate and non-partisan analysis which avoids the loonies of the left, and the loonies of the right, Id suggest you read the following:
http://www.cargroup.org/pdfs/bankruptcy.pdf

Another analysis which avoids partisan positions, not to mention the lunatic fringe of either left or right, would be:
http://useconomy.about.com/od/criticalssues/a/auto_bailout.htm

According to hannon, the article I am posting in this comment would be considered right wing extremism. Not really sure what he means by the facts or economics being exrtreme other than the fact that the liberals dont deal in facts, only in the purchasing of votes via freebies that cost the taxpayers dearly. You the reader may decide what is true and what is a leftist lie. Stevie israel is a liar and an enabler to destroy America and its taxpayers. Here is an article on percieved reason for gas price spikes. http://netrightdaily.com/2012/02/the-gas-price-manipulation-boogeyman-returns/ Enjoy!

CC, I dont know what you believe to be ultra-right wing because unlike hannon i have no way to know what is in your mind. Is the article calling for violent overthrow of the govt? Please be more explicit into what you believe to be ultra-right wing? FYI, being a republican and not a rino means that you are for fiscal sanity, smaller govt and the rule of law. These are considered to be extreme by the left wing liberals. If you are a Republican than these are your ideals, if not than you are a rino or a liberal. I am not really sure what your vendetta against FOX is, I believe they were rated the most fair network, but being that I havent watched it in over a year I cant say with certainty. I do know that MSNBC is a pack of race baiters, liars, and anti-semites that wish to present themselves as non-partisan journalists, when in fact they are neither. Do you recall the bailout with taxpayer funds to GE the parent company of MSNBC and CNBC? Do you recall their tingley feelings for obama and how anyone who was associated with fiscal sanity was a "teabagger" which in of itself is a derogatory homo insult which homos detest. Its ok for them to use derogatory statements against the right as in Bachmann's case, as in Palin's case, as in Cain's case, etc. You will never see derogatory and inflammatory comments like that on FOX. Lastly, dont tell hannon, I used to be a registered democrat. shhhh

Anyone who somehow imagines that something from "netRIGHTdaily.com" would be objective and unbiased would also have to welcome information from sources like "netLEFTdaily.com", or "netNUTSYSQUIRREL.com", or "netSLIGHTLYDERANGED.com."

People need to leave behind their preference for the intellectual pornography of extremist websites, whether from the extreme right wing, or from the extreme left wing, and turn to truly objective and broad based sources of news and information.

Aside from the hyper-extremist websites, like the one favored by Mr. "First," neither Fox "News," nor MSNBC "News", are good sources for intelligent discussions either, and the extremist polarization reflected in some of the posts seen above on this site gives us all a good insight into why a superb US Senator, Republican Olympia Snowe of Maine, has decided to leave the US Senate.

Americans, and their US Senators and Congressional Representatives, need to work together, cooperatively, with an understanding that fostering unity by compromise in the public interest is what strengthens our democracy, and what will keep America, and its people, safer and stronger and more prosperous.

Again, I ask you to please, please cite what you find as extreme? Did you even read the article? There is a distinct fundamental difference between those writing on the right and those on the left. I showed that earlier in hannon's gospel about the ny times op.ed. piece. Journalists on the right deal in facts and history, talking heads on the left deal with opinion, insult and non-fact but rumor. If you know anything about right/left differences, again fact. People on the right use history as a guage for implementing laws, rules, startup companies, biz, etc. People on the left use hyperbole and utopian ideals (we will all have equal outcome) to formulate their plans. This is what they do. So, again, like I requested of hannon, give me a specific about the extremism in the article. He has never responded to articles I posted including from the Wall St. Journal, I know they are right wing extreme. If you want to have a serious debate, be specific, dont demogogue the issue and say its ultra-right without citing points, you lose cred!

CC- you are correct that op. ed pieces are opinion. I pointed this out in the piece from NY slimes that hannon claimed to be gospel. Obviously you do care, so giving up is not an option. My suggestion to you and its only a suggestion. Get the facts, get involved and find out how the country is being destroyed by liberals like steve israel. Truth to Power, Knowledge is power. If you look at the numbers, the debt, the deficits, the lies from reid, piglosi, boehner & obama you will see that we are the pawns in their political regime. Why should you pay higher taxes because israel wants to give illegals entitlements? why should you pay higher taxes so nurses can take college courses on cancer for free (lib jargon). This is israels pet project and why should you pay higher taxes so that women who cant say no to sex get you to pay for thier birth control? There is much more. If you look at the truth including what I posted on GM bailout you will see the light and its not shining betwixt steve israels ears.

A barrel of oil in the summer of 2008 was over 140 dollars. Don't we have more debt now. So why is a price of a barrel of oil cheaper now?

There are many factors, including but not limited to geo-political, economic and emotion. In 2008, the economies of Asia and the sub-continent were booming, demand was much stronger than it is now. There was also uncertainty as there is today in the markets. I cannot quantify uncertainty but the economies of the world did not go into a tailspin until obama took office. This is not extreme right posturing, this is fact. Also, the US$ had been taking a bath and I believe it was lower in 2008 but bumped up due to a flight to quality when the Greek and PIIGS countries started their spiral into insolvency. You can research the above.

Us recession started in Dec of 2007
Bear Stearns rescued by JP Morgan Chase in March of 2008
Fannie Mae rescued Sept. 2008
700Billion bailout approved by congress Oct. 2008
Fed cuts key rate to near zero Dec. 2008.
Obama took office Jan. 2009

http://www.americanthinker.com/2012/03/like_the_price_of_gas_just_wait.html

http://www.lipolitics.com/blog/2012/03/23/congressman-israel-claims-that-medicare-is-not-going-bankrupt-labate-responds/

Integrity - adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.
Not a difficult noun to understand, so let’s use the litmus test on Stephen A. Labate.
Stephen A. Labate – Served his country faithfully and risked his life fighting for America in a foreign country known as Iraq. He did this without question for his own security and as to whether he would return to see his newborn twins or beautiful wife. Stephen A. Labate continues to serve his country in any way possible and is currently in the military reserves as a Lt. Colonel. Stephen A. Labate has never promised anything to anyone that he has failed to deliver upon. His ethics, his integrity and his judgment are above reproach and for a malcreant like john rennhack who is a steve Israel surrogate to cast dispersions upon the integrity of someone so noble as Stephen A. Labate is not only despicable but sheer desperation on the part of the steve Israel camp.

the steve Israel camp.
Now let’s examine the ethics, integrity and judgment of steve Israel or the lack thereof. Steve Israel claims to his constituents to be a moderate, yet he has voted nearly 100% of the time with the far left loon Pelosi. He has consistently voted for liberal spending bills that have helped in the bankrupting of America, caused taxes to increase, business to leave Long Island and to impair the quality of life of his constituents. Steve Israel has voted for the auto bailouts, tarp, wall street bailouts, green payoffs, porkulus bills, union payoffs in return for endorsements and contributions, the failed obama stimulus and of course the job killing healthcare destroying obamacare. Steve Israel counts as his friends, ACORN, WFP which is a front/sister group to ACORN, SEIU, Wall street donors and anyone else that will help line his pockets. One of his close allies and co-chair on the DCCC is Jim Rogers who has a legacy of heading the infamous Enron, and who has received as co-chair $230,000,000 in loan guarantees. Steve Israel has called the thugs and anti-semites of “OWS” the true Americans and with the American Nazi and the American Communist parties, endorsed their destructive and repugnant activities.

In addition, steve Israel has shown his integrity by cheating on not one wife but two wives and at the same time having an affair with his intern and or interns. But, that is nothing new for democrats (ie. Bubba Clinton & John Edwards). Lastly, in his decade plus employ as a congressman, steve Israel has done virtually nothing to justify collecting a salary. He has renamed 2 post offices during his tenure, and that is it for bills that he has written or had enacted by congress. Think about it, over a million dollars in salary and that’s what his claim to fame is. He has had sexual liaisons with more interns than bills he has authored and gotten enacted. So, in retrospect, when questioning integrity one needs to simply look at the facts and we can see how Stephen A. Labate stands head and shoulders over a corrupt, inept politician named steve israel!