Gas price anger will cause President Obama big problems

It is only the early days of March, but gas prices are already hovering around $3.60 a gallon. We often associate price spikes like this with the summer vacation season, but this is not the case this year.

There are many words I would like to use to describe this situation, but unfortunately, this is a family-based blog and profanity is not used.

And, believe me, I would really like to use those words. Every time I fill up my tank, I get dizzy as I watch the numbers spin on the gas pump. It is like watching some weird kind of slot machine that I know always stops with me being the loser.

For those expecting an analysis of the situation, prepare to be disappointed. I am not interested in digging at the root cause for these high prices. This column is only about expressing frustration.

We have heard all the excuses. Some say the high prices are because of tensions in the Middle East caused by Iran. Others say it is the fault of speculators. Others say it is the greedy oil companies.

The fault probably lies in all those excuses. However, the bottom line is experts do not expect the prices to come down soon. Actually, the worst is yet to come as prices are expected to surge above four dollars a gallon. There are some who predict prices could reach as high as five dollars.

For a culture that depends so much on automobiles, the coming months could be grizzly for most of us. Transportation costs will continue to take a big wet bite out of our budgets, and money that could be better used elsewhere will continue to go into our cars.

For all the losers in a situation like this, the biggest loser could be President Barack Obama. At times like this, the public tends to take its frustration out on the person living in the White House.

Like George W. Bush before him, many have been looking toward Obama for direction on this issue, and so far, many have been disappointed. However, how much impact can a president have on gas prices?

Based on my knowledge, not a lot. Still, a president is like the quarterback of a football team. When the team wins, the quarterback gets too much of the credit. When the team loses, he gets too much of the blame. The same goes for a president.

Well, our team is currently losing on this issue so the president should expect criticism of him to continue. Unfortunately for him, this is a presidential election year. Because of this, the Republican nominee is guaranteed to have an issue in which to criticize him that will resonate with the public.

High gas prices impact everybody. It impacts citizens, but also companies see higher transportation costs. They will not just eat those costs; they will pass them along to you and me. Expect higher grocery prices because of this.

Also, people will not travel as far if they get to take a vacation this year. Even simple pleasures could take a pounding if gas prices continue to climb.

Basically, we have nobody but ourselves to blame for this situation. We have set our culture up to be heavily dependent on gas, and when others play hardball with a resource like this, all we can do is smile and pay.

Of course, it is a forced smile. By the end of the summer, we will all be masters when it comes to sarcastically smiling.

We will be smiling, but we will not mean it. It is nothing to be happy about.

Why the good cheer about gas prices?

In the last couple of weeks, gas prices have dropped. This news has resulted in joy in some sectors, but I do not get it. I paid $3.59 a gallon today to fill up my tank. While I am glad prices have dropped, we are still paying way too much. Yet, some people want to throw a party because prices have gone down 20 cents. Our expectations regarding what should be a reasonable price for gas has changed a lot. And not for the better.

Gas prices choking us all and hurting President Obama

Back on the January 8, I wrote about how experts were predicting that the price of gas would spike upward in 2011. Almost from the moment of my posting, gas prices have steadily increased.

Locally, we can consider ourselves somewhat lucky as the cost of gas remains around 20 cents below the national average. Still, the prices here hover around the $3.65 level, and we are all experiencing the impact of these prices.

When studying media reports about the cause for the increase, most of the reporting focuses on instability in the Middle East. After all, our nation does get a big chunk of its oil from there. Therefore, it stands to reason that we would be impacted if there were problems there.

However, the big problem regarding this excuse is that the original predictions about price increases occurred before the recent Middle East problems.

The predictions came before the Egyptian revolution. They came before the civil war in Libya. Several other countries in that region have also experienced unrest, but this was all after the predictions of price increases. So, this can't be the reason why this is happening.

I really feel the media has dropped the ball. All too often, they are content to simply rely on the 'Middle East excuse' regarding this situation. This means very little reporting of substance is being done.

As a nation, we like to complain about this problem, but a lot of the blame for it lies with us. Back in 2008 when prices soared above $4 a gallon, there was plenty of rhetoric about change, but our nation's driving habits have not changed that much.

True, the recession caused all of us to cut back a little, but when I travel the interstates (and I do that a lot), I still see plenty of large vehicles with drivers pushing the gas pedal to the floor.

We can talk all we want about alternative technology to decrease our dependence on gas and oil, but if we all drove less, it would go a long way toward improving this problem.

The high prices in 2008 set the bar when it comes to what Americans will pay for gas. Now, the oil speculators and oil companies are trying to nudge that bar a little higher. It is up to us to stand our ground.

Will we do that? I do not know, but based on our past behavior, I am not optimistic.

The political fallout from this situation has begun. President Barack Obama recently directed the U.S. Attorney General to investigate the situation. While this seems noble, I really do not know what the president is trying to accomplish.

He says he wants those who are possibly breaking the law or exploiting the situation to be punished. The president really is not going out on a limb here, but he may be realizing that he stands to lose a lot if this persists.

More than ever, people cast votes based on issues that impact their wallets and pocketbooks. High prices at the gas pump are one of the few economic issues that hurt everybody. Nobody gets out alive on this issue.

Some experts are now saying gas prices could reach $6 a gallon by the end of the year. If this really happens, Obama will have to do some serious damage control.

President George Bush was vilified when prices skyrocketed in 2008. Will the same happen to Obama?

Generally, Obama gets the easy treatment from the media. However, this could begin to change very soon.

I never thought I would be happy to see...

Currently, gas can be purchased here in Manchester for $3.42 per gallon. If I had been told a couple of years ago that I would some day be happy to pay that for gas, I would have thought you were bananas. However, that is the current state of the gasoline marketplace.

I wish I could be optimistic and believe that prices will continue to fall. However, I don't think that will happen. We'll be fortunate if gas prices ever fall below $3 a gallon again.

Desperate times call for desperate measures

We all get email messages sent from friends and acquaintances that are supposed to be true, but upon further digging, we find out the information may not be credible.

I don't know if this is the case regarding the following information below, but because of skyrocketing gas prices, it sounds plausible to me.

Here is the text of a message I recently received:

"A woman said her son found his license plate missing so he called the police to file a report. They told him people were stealing the plates to get free gas. Given the rise in gas prices, people have taken to stealing license plates, putting them on their car, then getting gas and running. The gas station will have 'your' license plate number and you could be in trouble for 'pump and run.' Check your car periodically to be sure you still have a plate. If you should find it missing, file a report immediately! Keep an eye on your license plate! Make sure you always know it's there! When the license plate is reported as the 'drive off vehicle,' it's you they contact! Be aware! Be aware of your license plates, most of us never look to see if the plates are there or not."

Given the pain at the pump we are all feeling, it wouldn't surprise me if this was true.

Keep your guard up.

I'm moving to Philadelphia

The controversy involving gas prices in our country continues to grow, and it will likely simmer for a while because prices will not be coming down anytime soon.

Last week, I wrote about the role we all have played in this crisis. For years, we have developed an insatiable appetite for gasoline, and now it is biting us on the rear end.

We can blame the oil companies, OPEC, and the government all we want, but our demand for gas has created the marketplace we find ourselves in now.

During the last week, the debate on this has raged in both humorous and serious ways.

On a humorous note, a gas station owner in Philadelphia decided to sell fuel for 76 cents a gallon for 76 minutes as a tribute to the Philadelphia 76ers basketball team who recently made the playoffs for the first time in three years.

Predictably, cars began lining up hours before the sale began and about 100 lucky motorists got to take advantage of the man's generosity.

I've never been to Philadelphia before, but if this man makes an offer like this again, I may be visiting there soon.

Additionally, this issue has become a hot topic on the presidential campaign trail. Both Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton have pointed their fingers at the other regarding this mess.

Clinton recently criticized Obama for his support of a 2005 energy bill that she claimed had "billions of giveaways to oil companies."

Obama, on the other hand, has criticized the entire Washington establishment.

Recently, he said: "The candidates with the Washington experience -- my opponents -- are good people. They mean well, but they've been in Washington for a long time and even with all that experience they talk about, nothing has happened. This country didn't raise fuel efficiency standards for over 30 years."

I'm sorry, but it tickles me every time I hear Obama criticize the Washington establishment. Doesn't he realize that he is a big part of the Washington establishment by being a senator?

It seems that Obama wants to have his cake and eat it to. He wants to project himself as a Washington outsider when compared to Clinton and Republican Sen. John McCain. However, his success in the race so far is a direct result of his ability to exploit the notoriety he has received by being a senator.

If nothing else, Obama deserves credit for having a lot of chutzpah.

As for the gas crisis, it is time for the American people to take this issue into their own hands.

There has been some talk about temporarily reducing taxes on gas on the state and federal level to give us a break at the pump. However, I don't see this as much of a solution.

If the government did do this, there would be no guarantee that oil and gas companies would drop prices. Remember, drivers have shown a willingness to pay the almost $4 a gallon prices we are seeing. Because of this, why would those companies drop prices even if taxes are reduced?

The only real way to force prices to drop is for demand to drop.

If every driver committed to driving 10 percent less than they currently are, then prices would slowly drop. I'm no economics expert, but this is simple supply and demand.

If demand drops, then supplies will increase causing prices to drop so companies can sell their product.

The big question is whether drivers will have the backbone to cut back.

It's up to you.

Gas prices are making me choke

Well, my fellow Americans, we really find ourselves in a mess when it comes to gas prices in our country.

We have become so dependent on oil that we are again facing record gas prices. Recently, the national retail average for a gallon of gas broke the $3.50 barrier, and with the summer vacation season coming, experts expect the price to go much higher.

Of course, there is a silver lining in this for us here in Coffee Country. We can be grateful that we do not live in Florida, California, and Hawaii because some parts of those states have already seen prices break the $4 a gallon barrier.

Although Hawaii is often described as 'paradise,' that news makes me glad I live here in Tennessee. However, we can all expect to pay higher at the pump as the next few months unfold.

How much higher? Many analysts see the price for a barrel of oil rising to $125, and because of this, the country's national average for gas could reach $3.80 a gallon very soon.

A couple of weeks ago I experienced a case of gas price 'sticker shock.' I was driving home one evening from Nashville and stopped at a gas station near the interstate to fill up my tank.

As I pulled into that store's parking lot, I saw that they were selling gas for $3.40 a gallon, and I did a double take. I was stunned prices had jumped up that high so fast.

I told myself that it must be just this one station and that if I drove around Manchester I would find a much better price. However, I could not so I bought my gas and grinded my teeth about having to pay these prices.

Even though I was frustrated, deep down I knew the only person I could be upset with about this was me. After all, my reliance on gasoline as perhaps the most important resource I need to conduct my daily life was a result of decisions I've made.

And the same goes for the rest of America. We grumble about paying high prices and don't like that Exxon and other huge corporations make tidy profits, but our decisions created the marketplace that we are currently in.

For years, we have thumbed our noses at ideas like conservation and developing alternative fuel sources that could have avoided the mess we find ourselves in now. Now, the joke is on us.

The most compelling aspect of this is whether we have learned our lesson or not. Will the soaring prices cause us to change our driving habits? Will we all look for ways to avoid making unnecessary car trips?

Or will it be business as usual? Will we simply cope with this problem by putting all our fuel purchases on our credit cards and then praying that the problem will go away?

As much as I would like to believe that these high prices will force us to conserve more, I don't believe it will happen.

Whether we understand it or not, we are a nation of extravagance compared to most of the world, and a primary way we express this is by how we use our cars.

For whatever reason, many believe our vehicles are an extension of who we are and reveal a lot about us.

I tend to agree. Why else are there all these huge cars, trucks, and SUVs out on our streets?

Because of that, I don't expect things to change.