President Bush Troubled By High Gas Prices

President Bush said today that he is 'troubled by high gas prices'. Well, I am glad that the President of the United States is finally troubled about this issue too because the rest of us have been suffering from high gas prices now for almost two years. For a man that spent a great deal of his life in the oil and gas business, President Bush sure did come to this troubled by high gas prices party late. While it is easy to blame President Bush for everything that is going wrong in the world today, in reality President Bush did not cause the current spike in oil and gas prices - but he is not doing anything meaningful to help either. President Bush is a conservative that believes that only good things will come from business, if the federal government will just leave them alone. For the most part, free markets do work very well and they do also help keep the prices of good and services that consumers need as low as possible.

That said, President Bush is still living in a world where he believes that oil prices are still being set by supply and demand issues, instead of being manipulated by member nations of OPEC. It is difficult for conservatives to admit to themselves that they have been wrong for years when they continue to claim that the price of crude oil and gasoline are set by supply and demand factors. Anyone that pays attention to what is going on in the oil and gas business understand all to well that the price of crude oil is not set anymore through supply and demand, but instead it is controlled by the amount of oil that OPEC allows to flow into the marketplace. As crude oil hit $120 per barrel for the first time today, OPEC is discussing cutting back the amount of crude oil that their member nations release to the worldwide oil market. That is not how free markets are suppose to operate.

Whether it be a Republican President like George W. Bush or someone from the Democratic Party like Bill Clinton, both become out of touch with the average American during their term in office. The President of the United States never purchases gas at the pump because the U.S. Secret Service does it for them while the taxpayers pick up the tab. Also, President's don't go to the supermarket or any other retail location that often either - so in a nut shell they are completely out of the loop when it comes to the real issues that effect everyday Americans. Even presidential candidates like Hillary Clinton that have been under Secret Service protection since 1992 do not pump their own gas. When you think about it, it is no wonder that top politicians in both political party's are so out of touch with the average American.

I am glad that President Bush is troubled by high gas prices, but while he is troubled I don't expect him to do anything that will help out the American people over the long run, either. The mantra of the Republican Party that all things will be great if we just let the free market system take care of it does not work in a world where globalization rules the day. With globalization, comes nations that set their own rules and many times those rules are not based on a supply and demand system when it comes to price setting. President Bush should know and most likely does that the oil and gas business is no longer a supply and demand driven business - but in many ways his hands are tied when it comes to change, so he just sticks with the same old GOP party line. Conservatives and right leaning Republicans alike must rethink the oil and gas business and put it more in the category of a monopoly in the future if the U.S. is ever to get gas prices back under control.

Title: President Bush Troubled By High Gas Prices
Written: May 06 2008
Related Gas Prices Content:
Gas Tax Holiday Is A Bad/Short Sighted Idea
More Alaska Oil Drilling Needed To Increase Supply
Exxon/Mobil Earns Huge Profit, Wall Street Disappointed
2005-2008 © Hutch Report