rising gas prices

[Mike in Louisiana]

[Bob Perry]

Good one, Mike !!!

[KETCHAM]

Getting the HD back together,,,42mpg...$3.89 and rising,thanks Obama,,,$1.79 when he took office!!!

[Jim Becker]

Getting the HD back together,,,42mpg...$3.89 and rising,thanks Obama,,,$1.79 when he took office!!!

Not that the President has much control over gas prices, but the gas price peaked in the summer of 2008 and has never been as high since. Look here for an explanation of what does affect it.
http://useconomy.about.com/od/commoditiesmarketfaq/p/high_gas_prices.htm

[DanR]

The President does have some control over gas prices. He can and should tighten the screws on the commodities traders. They're the real culprits and we're paying them at the pump.

[John *.?-!.* cub owner]

The President does have some control over gas prices. He can and should tighten the screws on the commodities traders..........

He cannot go in and directly tell them what they can and cannot do anymore than he can tell us what to pay for cub parts. It has to be done with regulations that affect everyone, not by executive order controlling just a few people. That requires congress, etc. good luck getting that done at present.

[RaymondDurban]

As mentioned there are several things that affect the price of gas at the pump.
1) our skyrocketing national debt
2) the printing of trillions of dollars without anything to back up said money. The dollar is loosing it value which means it takes more dollars to purchase the same barrel.
3) the perceived notion by wall street of a possible reduction of supply relating to the ever present conflicts in the middle east, every hurricane season, and increased demand every driving season, every winter....
4) the lack of a clear and coherent energy policy by our government. Simply stating that we need to switch over to "clean" and "green" energy is not going to cut it.
5) the statements by our government and "experts" in the industry that the middle east contains 75% of all the worlds oil reserves. This is just simply not true, and leads to the notion that this is all there is and therefor it's a finite resource and we must get all our oil from this region.
6) increasing demand world wide by developing countries such as India and China.
7) taxes and "profits" due to the increased barrel price. The oil companies per gallon gas profit is margin based, meaning the more they have to spend to bring the oil to market and to the pump, the more profit they make as the price per barrel goes up. Many of the in-bedded taxes are based as a percentage of the price per gallon, so as the price goes up, the more taxes you pay. Both of these compound the price per gallon issue.

If there was just one or maybe two of these issues, we probably wouldn't notice much of an increase at the pump. But when coupled all together, we get hit hard.
In the grand scheme of things, the president cannot directly effect the price. But he can indirectly by way of his energy secretary and national policies relating to areas allowed for exploration, building of pipelines, and change of EPA regulations. Steps could also be taken to shut down the run away printing press and cut back on spending and reducing the national debt.

[Eugene]

Steps could also be taken to shut down the run away printing press and cut back on spending and reducing the national debt.

Raymond pretty well nailed down the major causes of the current gasoline prices.

[Jim Becker]

The reason for the current spike is futures trading based on the Iran situation. The longer term recent trend is probably mostly from overseas demand (US has been a net EXPORTER of refined petroleum products since the start of 2011).

[Steve H]

whatever is the reason some one or some thing JUST FIX IT!! These high gas prices are really hurting. But I know I'm preaching to the choir. How bad is it going to get before it's taken care of???????????