you probably also think that if Israel capitulates to all Palestinian demands today that the middle east will have ever lasting peace.

Iran can allow U.N. inspectors, like in Iraq before Bush invaded. Iran does have nuclear capability; we just need to be able to determine whether nor not they are seeking to make weaponized uranium.

i agree clotho, but also you made the point yourself kind of, Iran can allow U.N. inspectors, like in Iraq before Bush invaded, inspectors didnt stop that war (there were no wmd's there either) furthermore Iran announced a short time ago that the inspectors could come to the main site in dispute, where they were testing explosives allegedly that could detonate a nuke possibly, whats our response? ^^more sanctions. at this point i think all that is coming out of inspections are better maps for Israeli airstrikes. escalating this situation leads to one thing, war, i think the problem is there are just too many people who want a war with Iran for political and economic reasons, nukes are just the excuse they've been looking for for 40 years, honestly at this point i think the coming war is a done deal, but this one's gonna cost us much more than Iraq, this one has a good chance of starting the west vs. Islam war that osama bin laden was hoping for.

Franko, if you have doubts, google some of Ahmadinijad's speeches that have been made inside of the last 3 years. You can then decide for yourself. But I personally have no choice but to believe that when the leader of Iran SAYS ON RECORD that he wants to be able to destroy western and Israeli infidels to fulfill his destiny, I sort of have to give him the benefit of the doubt and put 2 and 2 together and extrapolate from there.

he does it to appease his warmongers, are you the same as him? talk is cheap, and as ive said before, does not justify wars that result in the deaths of hundreds or thousands of people, there was a time when countries would do everything possible to avoid a war, now somebody says something mean and we're running over there like a teenage girl to a scratch fight, we're supposed to be the good guys, that means we cant kill people because of what someone said, and if we attack, if we start a war then we are responsible for all the deaths it causes, regardless of "what he said".

Wake up folks, nukes is just an excuse to slap sanctions on Iran so that the regime fails. This is because their central bank is not in the Rotchchild club. Whatever they do, we will never be satisfied with their response. We will always find an excuse to attack them. If they open up for inspections, we will always say they are hiding "something". Easy, no? We have seen this movie again and again. This is not the first time.

@Mikes - Yes, we have seen this, and I agree with your sentiment to a point. This tactic was brought up and suggested by Cheney to the Bush administration in private circles near the end of the last Bush term to strangle Iran's banking system and to keep them from getting close to where they apparently are today but was not fully enacted for whatever reason. But the differences between Ahmadinejad and Hussein are significant. These are 2 completely different animals with 2 completely different perverted goals and the situations are NOT the same by any stretch of the imagination.

The White House said Friday that the United States would implement tough new sanctions aimed at squeezing Iran's oil exports after President Barack Obama determined there is enough crude on world markets to take the step without harming U.S. allies.

The president said he based his determination on global economic conditions, the level of spare oil capacity and increased production by some countries, among other factors.

Uh oh, now we are in trouble. Mr. Obama is now an "expert" on oil supply and demand. Just a couple days ago, MSNDC reported that the reason for the higher gas prices was the DEMAND from other countries but previously reported than the high prices were due to the "speculators".

His "determination" is partially based upon "global economic conditions" is really SCARY. I do hope he is keeping up on the EuroPIIgs, as one example, getting ready to bailout Italy and Spain. And then there is the continuing problem with the Greek Austerity program.

They are developing the technology and producing the materials needed to make a nuclear bomb. If they aren't making a bomb, they could still stop going through the process of of looking like they are making a bomb. They could have accepted the offer by others to provide fuel for nuclear power plants and isotopes for medical use. Since they didn't take that offer, even though it would have provided them with what they say the need, one could only assume that they are building a bomb. Up until you build the bomb, you aren't building a bomb, your building the technology to build a bomb.

Yeah bin Laden was not planning to attack us either-everybody said so. I for one will do everything I can to see our Government does not repeat that stand. We did offer Iran fuel for it's reactors. They turned us down-we want to make our own-ok. Islam is NOT about peaceful intentions it is about aggressive domination. They convinced me.

i disagree on that point realist, the argument that other countries could enrich their uranium kind of falls through when year after year for decades the US and others have been placing sanctions on Iran, so if Iran spends the millions (billions even) to build nuke plants that it will then use to generate electricity, essentially shutting/dismantling the oil powered plants they currently use (they need their oil to sell, also they know it wont last forever) what assurance do they have that after that huge investment, and after committing themselves completely to nuclear energy how do know that we wont starting pulling their nuclear fuel they need to power their country every time hezbollah or hamas does something that Israel doesnt like, or every time Iran tries to act in their own interest in the middle east and it contradicts our own. you're telling me that the nuclear fuel will always be available to them and never on the table for something that can be withheld for sanctions? now who's being naive? even if it is russia or china that makes it for them, they can still be pressured to go with the west and withhold the fuel. im not pro Iran, i know Ahmadinejad is dangerous, but the argument that because they wont let their good buddies (us) do it for them, means they obviously are making a nuke doesnt hold up imo.

Smart people hire other smart people so they don't have to be experts on everything. Sheesh.

Looks like all the 'self-hating' Americans -- if they ARE Americans -- pro nazi, anti-US, and anti-Israel Jew/Christian Haters are out there waving their banners once more...

Wonder how many of these work for the Iranian government.

Simple truth is that a nuclear Iran will set the middle east ablaze... That is their intention and that is their goal!!!

Eric-913730....."Smart people hire other smart people so they don't have to be experts on everything. Sheesh."

Yep, Mr. Obama has really surrounded himself well. Just look at the Secretary of the Treasury, Federal Reserve Chairman, DOE, DHS, DOJ, DSHS, Czars, and the rest of the "elite" Liberal cabinet members. They don't use "expertise" but spin every issue. Some have went so far as to "jump the sinking ship".

Ask ANY of these "experts" (smart people) questions at a Congressional Hearing and they plead the 5th. Ask this Administration for ANY information and the requester gets stonewalled.

It surprises me if ANY of them can tie their own shoes.

Sheesh//

Eric-913730

Smart people hire other smart people so they don't have to be experts on everything. Sheesh.

I do hope you have a list of applicants. You have proven the need for them.

"1989 Iran's Ayatollah called on all Muslims to kill Salman Rushdie, sick leadership"

If Iran is not building WMD's, hang tight, the GOP will come up with a story like they did for Iraq..

Here we go again.

Odumbo taking orders from Tel Aviv and the Teanuts again.

NSA, CIA and the rest of the security orgenizations in the US (not AIPAC) are telling us the Iran is NOT having a nuclear bomb program.

So waht is the problem with those guys. Ofcourse the picture changes when you speak to the Haliburtons, Lockheed Martins and Tel Aviv those guys are chomping at the bit to go to war.

Good for bussiness and give Tel Aviv to gain their "greater Israel" territory for more settlements.

the sanction's may have some effect, we did the same thing with Iraqi under Saddam, we finally invaded because it did not work, same here; however they do have WMD, and are building a arsenal very fast .M

Tsk. This is classic neo-imperialism, aka: neocolonialism. Look at Libya, Iran is next. Any pretext will do. Note that in the Kwame essay, he mentions the situations that are occuring today, the rapid rise of the welfare state along with the greater military buildups happening in the Superpowers.

As to Putin, Obama seems to think that he can make nice with Putin, a mistake that Bush made.

http://www.libya360.wordpress.com/2012/03/28/kwame-nkrumah-neo-colonialism-the-last-stage-of-imperialism/

http://www.boilingfrogspost.com/tag/neocolonialism/

Most ridiculous action.

Repetition of Iraqi war dramas in Iran and Syria to increase oil prices by Saudis, oil companies and their lobbyists and their puppet politicians.

Slowly oil supplies from Iran are being choked. Now it is free for all and at the mercy of Saudi & co.

Wait for the oil prices to shoot up to $200 a barrel this time.

Talk about ungrateful people and backstabbers: you have the Sunni Saudi beastly rulers and co!

i agree clotho, but also you made the point yourself kind of, Iran can allow U.N. inspectors, like in Iraq before Bush invaded, inspectors didnt stop that war (there were no wmd's there either)

Come on Franko, keep up with what is going on:

1) Wiki-leaks release of documents showed that hundreds of stashes of large quantities of WMD's were found!

2) Inspectors for the UN kept being denied access to WMD's, Iraq refused to follow UN procedures for accounting for those WMD's and China, Russia, France and Germany were breaking sanctions causing those sanctions not to work (ever hear of the oil for food scandal?)!

And before any of you get your panties in a wad, Google it! It is all over the net.

No problem for Iran.

They have Russia, Syria, China, Venezuela, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Middle East helping them out.

Sanctions. They never work. The Devil finds the Devil.

Now the Government should think of another idea to "cook" Iran. Will it be Israel that does the real job. Our Government has leaked Top Secret Intelligence to the media on how Israel was going to take care of Iran--

Do we have a friend in the World that will stand side by side with America to actually show Iran we say what we mean, and do as we say?

Weakness never works, and neither do Sanctions. Ahdinemajad must be shaking in his boots with this new tactic. NOT. Some who agree to the Sanctions will backstab the US, for their own benefit. Oil and profit..

Most who have served in forces should know about wars.

Everyone knows that but for bragging, the US has not won a single major war.

In most of the wars, the US forces had to flee with variations from being airlifted from Saigon airport!

So they should lead the pack of NO WARS ON SYRIA AND IRAN.

LET SAUDIS, ISREAL HANDLE THEM!

Hmmm? Didn't Obama say the unemployment rate wouldn't go above 8% too? That was based on his expert opinion too!

Franko Relaxo

has anyone considered what happens if Iran isnt building a nuke? how do they stop doing something that they're not doing?

Dont we have to bomb them first before we can find out whats actually in those underground bunkers? That is how we pass legislation here in American, why not apply that to foreign policy as well?

don_draper

Actually Kornfed, the US is producing more oil now than in the last 8 years, which naturally includes drilling. I know this doesn't go along with your Obama-sucks narrative, but facts are facts. And, the sanctions are mandated by the partially republican-led congress I might add.

I was under the impression, by liberals, that it takes at least 10 years to get any drilling site operational. Given your own talking points, I have drawn the logical conclusion that it must not have been O'bama's doing. If I am wrong, maybe you can post us a link on the legislation O'bama may have crafted, or any executive order given, that may lead you to this conclusion.

Hey Franko relaxo, you state that if someone says something mean, we run over there to pick a fight..... I guess you think 9-1-1 was "saying something mean". Also, if you head was amongst the sunshine, you'd realize that we have been trying diplomacy with Iran for over 10 years now on the nuclear issue. This didn't just pop up overnight.

Kornfed, regardless of who is responsible, facts are facts bud, don't let it stop your narrative though...

Kornfed, regardless of who is responsible, facts are facts bud, don't let it stop your narrative though

What are these facts you speak of...and which point are you addressing?

We should all listen to Obama, gas and groceries have never been cheaper.

Hey Franko relaxo, you state that if someone says something mean, we run over there to pick a fight..... I guess you think 9-1-1 was "saying something mean". Also, if you head was amongst the sunshine, you'd realize that we have been trying diplomacy with Iran for over 10 years now on the nuclear issue. This didn't just pop up overnight.

So, when are YOU signing up?

Thought so.

Somebody with real "Wall Street" and "Financial" training that is above mine....Explain to me how oil, gas, gold, silver, copper, (all commodities) can all be climbing in value....and the stock market is high as well......I've been watching the stock market for close to 50 years, and have never seen "everything" ( the commodities and stocks) up at the same time, especially with record unemployment, and we are still in a "DEEP" recession and there is a lack of demand for consumer products.......Someone at the top is playing with our money and necessities......and its time to stop them.....NOW !!!!

I bet Vladimir is smiling in Moscow. His political future relies on high oil prices in order to keep the lights on in his bankrupt country. Obama and his czars have repeatedly stressed the need to raise oil prices. They must be dismayed that our domestic oil industry has managed to maintain production by drilling on private and state lands despite his practical moratorium on drilling on federal lands. He may justify the latest sanctions as being intended to harm the Iranians but it has the pleasant (for him & Vlad) effect of giving those evil speculators an excuse to drive up crude oil prices. It may be conventional wisdom to believe that Obama was talking about missiles during his open mike commiseration with the Russian President Medvedev, could it be however, that oil production (or lack of it) in this country was and has been a part of their larger discussions. One has to wonder what “more flexibility” would allow him to do if he is re-elected.

To bad that the people who can regulate them have the math skills equivalent to a 6th grader. Calculus is the math that deals with rate changes. It wouldn't be difficult to impose a statue of limitations in order to keep the values of commodities stable.

Iran WILL NOT be allowed to acquire nukes. Period, bottom line. They can say whatever they want, but that is the bottom line, and that point isn't open to discussion.

Geez, the Right Wing Nut Jobs are so easily mislead. You do realize that 'Iran gonna get them a nuke' is only a message that the simple minded can understand?

The issue is that Iran is attempting to enrich uranium to weapon grade - not that they are 'gonna get them a nuke'. Iran could very likely BUY a nuke from countries it trades with. The fear is that Iran will be supplying enriched uranium to other countries. Where do countries like Pakistan or North Korea get enriched cores for their bombs? A bomb core or a two hundred kiloton warhead are both pretty small and could easily be shipped - even on a North Korean diesel sub. For the amount of money that Iran is investing in uranium enrichment - they could easily BUY a warhead - they have no need to develop one. Iran could just BUY a North Korean diesel submarine built around a North Korean nuke - if that was the objective.

'Iran gonna get them a nuke' is not the full story.

to be perfectly honest....we are the most powerful country on the planet...why don't we just take the oil...and why bother paying the debt. we would receive the same or much better RESPECT.

Obama is a complete and utter fool.

Remember all the moonbats crying about how The President doesn't effect oil prices?

Yeah, I'm not hearing that so much anymore.

Oh well, it's only US who will be hurt by the higher prices.

Check out how China and India are already getting around the sanctions.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-29/india-and-china-skirt-iran-sanctions-with-junk-for-oil-.html

Love the title - "junk for oil"..... The truth is, they're trading precious metals for oil too, mostly gold, but some others. Wow, that sounds like precious metals are valuable currency, much like Ron Paul says.

Ron Paul will end the wars now. Even Huffpo is getting on board!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-trice/why-dr-ron-pauls-national-defense_b_1384267.html

Franko Relaxo "has anyone considered what happens if Iran isnt building a nuke? how do they stop doing something that they're not doing?"

That's easy - Just let the UN inspectors in to verify, and everybody's happy.

In retrospect, that's what Saddam Hussein should have done in Iraq, but he preferred letting the World 'think' he had WMDs. As it turns out, 'he wasn't the brightest crayon in the box'.

has anyone considered what happens if Iran isnt building a nuke? how do they stop doing something that they're not doing? or is this just taking a step to guarantee a war with them?

Frank - I agree with Roy's answer, to a point. All Iran must do is to comply with the terms of the non-proliferation treaty, allow U.N. inspectors access to all nuclear facilities and stop the enrichment of uranium beyond what is needed to fuel nuclear power plants.

Where I differ with Roy, is his assessment of Saddam's options in the 1.5 years between the 9/11 attacks and our blundering entrance into Iraq in March of 2003.

During this time period, Iraq was allowing U.N. inspectors access to everything, and, by their own assessment, they were finding nothing. Hans Blix the head of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection committee said on at least one occasion that all they required was more time, and the only item Iraq had failed to supply was a good paper trail for the destruction of WMD stores. We all know now that this was the result of poor record keeping, not of obfuscation.

The lesson I derive from that experience is that Saddam waited too long, meaning until after the 9/11 attacks to fully comply, at which point our nation was poised to react in extreme fashion to anything which might be a threat, which in turn allowed George W. Bush to lead our nation into an unproductive and wasteful war.

I do not see that happening today, not unless a major terrorist attack occurs within our borders, or in one of the nations of Western Europe.

dmkan - Iran is complying with the NPT. They do allow the inspectors in to view their enrichment. Iran is enriching only to 20%, the amount required for medical isotopes. Read about the sponsors of the sanctions. Israel's hand is always there.

Sen. Bob Menendez,
D-N.J., who co-authored the sanctions legislation with Republican Sen. Mark
Kirk of Illinois, said he welcomed Obama's support in targeting Iran's Central
Bank.

According to former AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) staffer – now critic – MJ
Rosenberg, Mark Kirk cultivated a relationship with AIPAC since he was a
Congressional aide. According to Rosenberg, between 2000 and 2010 –
Representative Mark Kirk received $1,025,437 from “pro-Israel” PACs, making him
#7 out of all members of Congress and #1 of all House members.

US and Israeli intelligence agencies mostly agree that Iran has not restarted its development of a nuclear bomb,the New York Times reported on Saturday.

According to the report, he assessment among top US officials is that Iran has not yet decided to pursue a nuclear weapon, a conclusion which was
established based on intelligence analyses

Would the USA or Israel let the Iranians find out all of the secret locations to program in the GPS coordinates? Iran is a nation...if it fires one missile towards Israel or USA interest it would be destroyed.....

This war is about Iran not selling oil in US dollars the same thing Iraq did...USA knows this will collapse the dollar if they do not stop Iran or any nation that tries to buy oil in their own currency.... China, Russia and India will be impossible to control......Unfortunately, the dollar is on the way out and there will be no warning when the money changers decide to pull the plug on the trillions of dollars in derivatives.

When the Right actually has a plan, except "get Obama out", maybe we can debate what plan would work better. But, until that day, I'll stick with sanctions over war.

An unbiased American,

Please change your name more in line with your very biased views...false advertising for sure...not so sure.

No, it's just that logic seems to fall under the Left's umbrella, at least during recent times. So, it just appears all my logic tilts Left.

And when Iran has the bomb them what. More sanctions. Seriously?

Our intelligence is very good in Iran. In fact, a couple of the major nuclear scientists in Iran were mysteriously taken out by bombs.

I'm sure that before they have a bomb that we could take any needed military action.

An unbiased American

When the Right actually has a plan, except "get Obama out", maybe we can debate what plan would work better. But, until that day, I'll stick with sanctions over war.

So BooBoo has continued 2 wars and has moved military personnel into 2 other countries since he got in office. Then he has a list of at least 3 other countries he is threatening.

Is the Change working for you yet?

Change is good, "get BooBoo out."

We've all been duped by our Gov't. Shut the damn thing down with a flat 10% tax across the board and you'll see that we will have plenty of money to run the Country and important programs. Because they (Gov't) will have to go and work in the "Real World" like the rest of us. One form. What you make and pay your taxes and call it day. No loopholes, no right offs just a plain and simple 10% tax across the board. Let each state decide their own state funds, but take the Feds out of our lives and let us get back to work and rebuild this county with hard workers again. Everybody wants a handout and that is exactly what he is trying to do, make everyone dependent on the gov't. That way he and they can control everything you do from top to bottom. Everyone needs to pitch in and by everyone paying their 10% with no clauses you'll see that we'll begin to grow and cut all this back and forth BS for good. If this Gov't Crap doesn't change soon, our country as we knew it will be History.

Change is good, "get BooBoo out."

We intend to. We just havent decided which democrat to replace him with after he finishes his next four year term.

Can't fight wars properly and win any major war!

Have people not learnt lessons from Iraqi and Afghan wars?

Still many imagine just like Sunni Saudi bigoted beastly rulers dreaming in their sevent century desert caves: we can do this, we have this, have that and so on!

Why get into dirty wars for Saudi Arabia, oil companies and their cheap lobbyists?

Define "win" Jonathan..... What end result would make you happy? The death of a nation? A parade?

Ray in Jax: Fountainheads of all world problems are Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

They are in world map due to the US, British and allies.

For world peace and a little bit of economic stability, "win" will mean erasing of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan from the world map.

Do you just come up with this stuff out of thin air? Please cite a reference.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/03/28/israel_s_secret_staging_ground

That's a great link to a Right Wing website that also cites no references for it's claim that Israel is buying airbases in Iran. Huh? And how does that relate to the original comment?

No I use multiple sources "Unbiased". Pehaps you should get away from MSNBC then maybe you wouldn't be falling behind.

At least MSNBC believes in "If you don't have anything nice to say dont say anything at all." As far as Democrats and Obama are concerned. The Right, Republicans,etc. is a whole different matter. In the rights case its "If theres anything good to report dont report it, but if its bad, jump all over it and inflate it out of proportion."

http://news.yahoo.com/israelis-suspect-obama-media-leaks-prevent-strike-iran-172438650--abc-news-topstories.html

Israelis Suspect Obama Media Leaks to Prevent Strike on Iran

JERUSALEM - Two reports today about Iran's nuclear program and the possibility of an Israeli military strike have analysts in Israel accusing the Obama administration leaking information to pressure Israel not to bomb Iran and for Iran to reach a compromise in upcoming nuclear talks.

Unbiased, if you read and watched news that weren't slanted so far left (CNN, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, Time, Newsweek and the NY Times) you would have known about the leak of the Obama administration. Those are the same news sources that would have had a GOP Pres/candidate plastered all over the news had he/she been telling the Russian PM he/she would have more EU missle flexibility after the election. The left would have crucified a GOP for that. Just like Fox leans to the right, there are 10 news agencies that lean to the left, including the one we are blogging on.

Ok, Yahoo posted it too. Thanks for pointing that out. And, no, I don't just rely on MSNBC for news, but that's a great, typical comment the Right uses anytime someone uses logic to argue a point.

I see the article and read it. It does not state anything you have alluded to. It states they are accusing Obama's administration of leaking secrets. Does that mean it happened? I will accuse you of actually having a brain. Does that mean you do? Isn't it possible Iran found out Israel bought those airbases from a different source? And, isn't stopping a war that we would get involved in actually in our best interest? Or do you think war is in America's best interest?

Yep, the leak is for real.......and done on purpose too !!!

lets all sing that Merle Haggard classic.............. If We Make It Through December.

The leak came from Wikileaks, not the Obama administration. Nice try.

Everybody who follows msn.com should change to realclearpolitics.com or PBS.com for the real story. All the MSNBC, CNBC, NBC, ABC are all just propaganda machines for the White House. I come back to msn.com because I like to be entertained. It's just a bunch of hype and it's pretty obvious that it's just for our entertainment. The journalists who work for the named organizations dumb-down their reports and are appealing to the gullible in our society. They are obviously not professional journalists.

Even amongst Jews, there are huge sane people.

Unfortunately, they also have mad religious extremist maniacs like Netanyahos in Israel and the US.

They can match in their religious madness the most barbaric and beastly bigoted Sunni and Shiites Islamic religious leaders.

One can't put much reason and logic into their heads. They have puppets George like Bushes too to jump shoot all around.

Or else, despite all devastations of Iraqi wars, who will repeat them again and again?

Iran and Syria are not our business just as handling Saddam was not our problem!

How is Israel controlling our POTUS? I think that is G.W. in an Obama mask. So much for change. He's a puppet of Israel just like rest. Doesn't the crazy islamic government of Pakistan already have nuclear weapons, and Israel has them as well for that matter. So we won't buy Iranian oil, check the fine print, we can still buy if first sold to an approved vendor, so Iran will still sell us oil and some friend of Obama will reap a huge profit.

Pakis have nukes on sale or for stealing.

How many dances and dramas by UN and others have been done in Pakistan?

Just like Iraq, WMDs in Iran are just fantasies being spread by the Sunni Saudi seventh century beasts, oil companies and their cheap puppets.

ROFLMAO.... Are the righties now calling every MAJOR news network EXCEPT FAUX, leftist? It's easy to label things you disagree with, but news is news....

p.s. right wing blogs are not "sources"

Israel is damn scared to attack Iran. Israel likes to attack indefensible countries like Lebanon, Syria and unarmed Palestinian people in Gaza. They are very good at that. With Iran the things are different simply because Iran has missiles that can reach Tel Aviv. So the Israelis want badly to drag the USA to this catastrophe as always. The American people should rise fevently against any war. Ignore The White House and Congress they are not the owner of the People. The people own the White House and Congress.

If it is on the internet, it must be true!

All I can say is: if the leak was intentionally initiated by the Obama administration, they are even more politically savvy than I thought.

I like to focus on the fact that oil companies receive tax breaks while still making record profits. The Right points out the extremely low margin of profit per gallon, but that's where "economies of scale" come into play. Sure, a 1% profit on 1 gallon (16cents @ $4 per gallon) may not sound like a lot, but for a 20 gallon tank of gas, does Exxon deserve $3.20 in profit? Does they deserve $30+ BILLION IN PROFITS? PROFITS PEOPLE, NOT REVENUE. As we get ripped off, the president get blamed. But, when those companies making $30billion in profits can spend millions on commercials blaming Obama, of course it will work because most of the Right receive thier education from TV. It's unfortunate that these people are actually supporting the ones that are destroying our nation, while pointing the fingers at the groups that are trying to make us better.

Unbiased American - Democratic party had control of Congress and Presidency for 2 years but did not plug tax loops or tax breaks. They could have used the nuclear option in the Senate if they were really serious about tax reform.

No, they've been trying, obviously in vain, to tell us that SPECULATION about Iran is the reason for high gas prices.

Someone, somewhere along the line decided to take the old idiom, "I'd like to buy you for what you're worth and sell you for what you think you're worth," and apply it to the commodities markets. At the risk of mixing metaphors, gas prices have basically become a game of three-card monte.

Bend over and take it, my friend, for until we're ready to unify our voices and demand change as one, NOTHING is going to.

I agree with nuclear power, and I thought we had a new one in the works and approved? Did that fall through?

Iran contributes to the price in some way (I would assume), but as a liberal, I do not blame Iran for our gas prices, but rather the screwed up system we have not changed in the USA! Has Obama done all he can? No. Has he received resistence at every attempt? Yes. Do I rate him well in this aspect? No. But, I still rate him better than any other policy I've seen from the Right.

K I - I thought he tried to cut out those tax loops but it was voted down under the premise it was "increasing taxes" on business, when in reality it was just removing the breaks past administrations have implemented.

well put, Unbiased--I was just about to give up on any sensible posts when I read yours. It seems the only goal for the right is still getting rid of Obama--not improving economy, not creating jobs, not anything that is actually important.

Whats so strange/scary to me is that it does not take genius or even basic critical thinking skills to see what you so perfectly pointed out in your post, yet this "new" kind of republican still exists in significant numbers..

If voting were limited to those with IQs over 80--I scarcely think the republican party, as it exists now, would exist at all..

An unbiased American

Sounds pretty biased to me. Been seeing the same hypocrisy from the White House for 31/2 years. Dems are right-time for a change.

What's interesting is NONE of the liberal media talk about the US dollar being pegged to barrels of oil. Oil like most commodities is tied DIRECTLY to the American greenback and NO other currency. For the last three years our Fed (with the approval of the current Admin), has been printing money for our two massive stimulus plans. And we all know from Economics 101 that the more money that is printed the less it's worth. And our Arab friends sure aren't going to take less for their oil so they charge us more even though inventories are fine/stable. Isn't it amazing that when gas was high under Bush the libs all said it was his fault as he was in the pockets of the oil companies. So by that "logic" I guess those same oil companies are in the pockets of Obama along with the lawyers, banks, unions and insurance companies? If that's not true Unbiased American than at least admit you were wrong about Bush and high oil prices!

I bet Unbiased American doesn't see Obamacare as a tax either? Interestingly enough had Obama and his libs called it a tax it would have more of a chance to make it out of the Sup. Court. Of course if one or two of the unbiased judges have a laps of judgment, and pass it who knows what president this might set? Perhaps the Libs will pass bills making sure everyone eats broccoli? And a bill for all to quite smoking.... and one to purchase only American made cars. After all, those things are all good for our health and for the Nation as a whole. Sounds like intelligent communism to me.

I still blame past policy for tax breaks that hurt our economy while helping Oil companies. I never blamed Bush. I blame greed.

Anyone that took Economics 101, 201, 301, 401, and 501 like I did at my top-10 rated university understands there is a lot more than the "more printed money = lower value of money"arguement when it relates to the strength of our economy and the value of our dollar.

Dollar Value Compared to Euro:

• 2002-2007 - The dollar fell 40% as the U.S. debt grew 60%. In 2002, a euro was worth $.87 vs $1.44 by December 2007. (Source: Federal Reserve, Exchange Rates)

And, how much money did Bush print during that time?

MR RPM - if Obamacare was a tax,wouldn't I have to pay something? I haven't and will not pay anything because I already pay for my own health insurance. If Obamacare isn't held up by the supreme court, we should pass a law that people cannot get emergency care when they don't have insurance. Right? But, is that humane?

Are you a Christian? The bible talks more about helping your fellow man more than anything, but for some reason the Right only like to talk about birth control or abortion when it comes to religious speak. Read the bible. How often did Jesus talk about helping each other? How often did he talk about birth control? What then, should the focus be. And yes, I'm a scientist and a Christian, AND a liberal, AND i paid for my own school and have had a job since I was 15. I guess I don't fit in to all those perceived images of a "liberal", but, in reality more liberals are like me and not "crazy spenders" like you all imply. If candiates from the Right actually had substance to their arguments, I'd lean more Right. I've voted Republican in the past. I vote based on reason and logic, stats and data.

An_unbiased_American speaks the truth over and over. It is a refreshing counterpoint to the endless prattling of lies, distortions, fear-mongering, and hypocrisy that I had to sort through to get here. My wish is that I could vote for your comments more than once.

No rational, objective American wants a war with Iran. If you do not use diplomacy, sanctions, or threat of war (Obama did #2 and #3, we don't do #1) what do you do have left to dissuade them? War is the only thing that is left. We have no more money or American lives to spend on a Middle East war.

Just as in Iraq, oil rich Sunni seventh century bigoted Saudi barbaric and beastly rulers and their Sunni pals (Kuwait, UAE and others), oil companies, lobbyists and Jewish mad people (Netanyahos and co) are repeating their seventh century desert dances through their cheap US puppets on Iran and Syria.

IRAQ WARS

Net results of Saudi, Kuwait, UAE, oil companies and their lobbyists directed 1991 and 2003 Iraqi wars are

WINNERS

1. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE and other rich ME sharks became richer by manipulating oil prices too high.

2. Oil companies and their lobbyists. Oil prices, which were hardly $30 a barrel before 1991, shot up to $140 a barrel.

3. Since 2003, future traders, rating agencies, Wall Street and oil companies and their lobbyists transferred five trillion dollars from oil importing countries to oil exporting nations.

4. Rich Sunni ME sharks (Saudi Arabia in particular) funded Salaffi and Wahhabi mosques and Islamic radicals and terrorists all over the world. These Sunni Islamic radicals and terrorists are rampaging all over the world. World’s 80 percent of problems are due to them.

LOSERS

1. General US and European nations’ public. There have been high unemployment, cut in welfare measures, housing market collapse and more miseries. Since 2001, US spent three trillion dollars on Iraq and Afghan wars. Did the Saudis and co foot the bill?

2. Poor soldiers killed and injured and their families. In Iraq and Afghan wars 6300 soldiers were killed and 40000 injured.

3. High budget deficits and heavier borrowing. Many nations (PIIGS) and people are on line to bankruptcy!

4. Iraq will plunge into bloody sectarian civil wars leading to the creation of Shiastan, Sunnistan and Kurdistan. Here the losses are of Iraqis.

While everyone is raging about gas prices, the U.S. oil production is at a historic high AND the price of our gas is some of the lowest per litre in the world. Try buying gas in Europe.

quit yer whining...

Unbiased, obama has surpassed in three years, what Bush did in eight. If you look at his highest two years of deficits, it is when the democrats controlled congress. The two years that democrats controlled congress, their deficits were about the same as when the Republicans controlled the congress in 6 years. You need to put it into perspective.

K I Smart Simple "Unbiased American - Democratic party had control of Congress and Presidency for 2 years but did not plug tax loops or tax breaks."

Obama has proposed eliminating about $3 Billion in so-called 'subsidies' to oil companies. Since the Federal Government spends over $10 Billion per DAY, this would amount to about 7 hours of Federal spending. Whoopdedoo.

It's not a serious issue - it's just a nice 'talking point' for Obama to foster the impression that oil companies are 'greedy'.

PS - For purposes of comparison, Obama's 'buddy' Jeffrey Immelt's company General Electric received a tax 'subsidy' allowing them to get a $3 Billion REFUND (no taxes paid) on about $15 Billion of income about a year ago, thanks to Obama's 'alternative energy loopholes' - and that's just one company, not an entire industry.

An unbiased American

So you like to give the impression that you're 'unbiased', but admit to being a 'liberal'.

Thanks for the laugh.

By the way - When you accuse the 'right' of being 'uneducated', you overlook that one of the biggest vote advantages for Obama in the 2008 elections was 'high school dropouts', where his winning margin was 63% vs only 38% for McCain.

Mark-384387 "Unbiased, obama has surpassed in three years, what Bush did in eight"

The election this year will focus on whether we can afford 4 more years of Obama.

Here are the Deficit figures for the last 5 Presidents - with a link to the official government source (Obama White House) to verify;

Reagan (1981-1988) = $1.339 Trillion over 8 years, or $167 Billion per year.

Bush 1 (1989-1992) = $933 Billion over 4 years, or $233 Billion per year.

Clinton (1993-2000) = $320 Billion over 8 years, or $40 Billion per year.

Bush 2 (2001-2008) = $2.006 Trillion over 8 years, or $251 Billion per year.

Obama (2009-2012p) = $5.453 Trillion (Proj) over first 4 years, or $1,363 Billion per year. That's $4.6 Trillion more than Bush spent in his first 4 years.

If Obama is reelected, he projects another $5 Trillion of Deficits in the next 4 years, or over $10 Trillion which our children and grandchildren will have as a 'millstone' around their necks for their entire lives. Running up huge debts is a great way to 'pander for votes', but somebody will have to pay it back (our children) - with interest.

Here's the official government link - See Table 1.3; http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Historicals

PS – Let's also look at the 'JOBS' picture under Obama;

The total average number of people employed in 2008 (Bush's last year, including losses at the end of 2008) = 136,790,000.

The total average people employed in 2011 (Obama's 3^rd year) = 131,359,000 – that's a LOSS under Obama of 5,431,000 net jobs. Here's the Link to official Bureau of Labor Statistics site on
employment to verify - Compare jobs for 2011 vs 2008;

ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/suppl/empsit.ceseeb1.txt

Jimmywhite had it right, and nobody even bothered to respond. Gas prices have not increased because of any change in supply or demand - in fact, domestic supply is way up under Obama, and the US now uses substantially less gas than in did just a short time ago, due in large part to those intrusive government fuel standards the Right hates so much.

So if we have more supply and less demand, why are prices going up? Head on over to your commodity trading site and find out: the speculators are driving the price up, in part on fears that we will be going to war with Iran. And the best part is that they are doing this on the margin, which means they don't even have the money to buy the oil underlying their contracts.

I don't care if you have your head up your a$$, I just wish you'd pull it out of MINE.

What is your suggestion, or what is ANY suggestion from the Right? Let's drill Canadian oil for foreign companies to profit off of? Is that how you plan to deal with Iran? Or, shoudl we turn back to McCain and the good ole' "bomb Iran" song he sang. Is War your answer for everything? Will war lower gas prices? Will war help us, as Americans? The last one didn't.

Homer--if we sanctioned the customers of Iran's oil we'd be sanctioning some of our allies. Not a position we want to be in when our country is in this 'weakened state'(for lack of a better term)...

An unbiased American:

As I stated in my first sentence of my post: A better plan would place sanctions on the customers of Iran's oil.

Let's drill Canadian oil for foreign companies to profit off of?

The USA gets 50-52% of its crude oil for production within the USA, 40% from Mexico and Canada, and the other 8-10% from other non-North American countries. The USA is NOT dependent on the Middle East for oil, but many of our Allies are.

So Homer is proposing a boycott of Canada and Mexico? Do you have any sense of how much of our economy is based on trade with Canada? Unbelievable....and you would say the President is making the wrong move.

Yeah that's real smart now isn't it, nail the folks that actually need the oil. Go tell S. Korea and co that you can't buy Iranian oil, so your economies will go belly up, just to presssure them into doing something that they might not be doing in the first place. Does yellow cake uranium ring a bell to you? Peter Schiff has pretty much pegged that the bond market is going to collapse next year, within 6 months of Obama's most certain re election. He is going to need a major distraction from the economic collapse that will ensue. See the BRIC nations' central banks are meeting soon to end the dollar hegemony with regards to being the world's reserve currency in buying oil. If they do decide to create a new bank and use the Chinese yuan, like they are hinting at doing, game over for the US of A. This is why Obama needs to ratchet another war, to try and stop this or take the whole world down before they can do such a thing. Pretty hard to stop a nation from obtaining something that they are not trying to obtain in the first place, so it is easy to make them look like they are non compliant and with over 40 years of Iran being the "bad guy" in the US media, US citizens are eager for another war. If anything, to make them feel good about their deteriorating nation.

Are you really so stupid you would imply our president is making deals with Iran just to get re-elected? Wow, I think I hear Mel Gibson's character from Conspiracy Theory coming to life.

biased,

Why not he just did it with the Russians or have you been sleeping in class again?

Yes Unbiased, we think our President would do a great many things just to get reelected even if it wasn't in the best interest of the Country. 1. Leaked Israeli war plans. 2. Overheard Obama telling Russian Pres. about the EU missile shield, "just wait until after the election then I'll have more flexibility". 3. Telling the Latino community that he's ready for a comprehensive Immigration Plan (he could have done whatever he wanted in the first 2yrs just like he did with Obamacare and did nothing as that would have cost him votes), as such he will cont. discussing but NOTHING will happen until after the election. 4 The Canadian pipeline "no" was a big mistake for Obama and his campaign committee realized other than the tree-huggers NOBODY was happy about it as such within months before the election he will give it an OK.

In short this guy ran on "HOPE AND CHANGE" because he marketed himself as not the typical politician and wasn't going to run Washington as it had been for years. Looks more like SAME OLD CRAP to me but "DOPE and DUPE" will work.

well, he makes deals with Russia, why not Iran?

Rc - Here is a recent report from our intelligence agencies and the Mossad. Do you think the Mossad made a deal with Iran?

http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=262275

US and Israeli intelligence agencies mostly agree that Iran has not restarted its development of a nuclear bomb, the New York Times reported on Saturday.

According to the report, the assessment among top US officials is that Iran has
not yet decided to pursue a nuclear weapon, a conclusion which was established
based on intelligence analyses.

Israel - while seeing an existential threat in Iran's possible pursuit of a
nuclear bomb - mostly agrees with those assessments, a US intelligence official
speaking on the condition of anonymity told the Times.

“Their people ask very hard questions, but Mossad does not disagree with the US
on the weapons program,” the Times quoted the official as saying.

So all the half wits that say Iran is a threat to the US are simply war mongerers or yellow belly fools.

What's your solution, or the solution from your party? War? Is that all you have to turn to?

Funny how you conveniently forgot to cite your sources there, Shipwerck...

You might be right'so vote for sarah pailin or rush limbough in november'that will satisfy you.

Nobody is saying that BIJAN Z, even hard-line GOP don't want Limbaugh or Palin. After all we have seen what Pelosi, Franks and Dodd have done from the far left and that totally FFFFT things up.

And no Unbiased we don't need to go to war with Iran but we need to SUPPORT our friend/allei Israel should they wish to strike at those Nuke installations WITHOUT leaking their war strategy. After all if Cuba was building nukes and telling the world they were going to wipe out America we certainly wouldn't wait till they had a nuke to strike. You sure you are unbiased Unbiased? Seems to me everyone with a brain has exposed you.

Dear 'Unbiased American,'

I had a great 'one liner' to go with your name but, after reading your posts, I simply can't use it...

Matter of fact, I agree with almost everything you say.

EXCEPT your stance against war with Iran. Frankly, short of an internal revolt popping up in Iran, I don't know how else we're going to stop her from achieving nuclear weaponry and setting the middle east ablaze in a quest to re'establish the ancient Persian Empire under an Islamic banner.

If you are a Christian, a Jew, a Buddhist, an Agnostic, Atheist, or just about anything else except a Moslem, you will find it very difficult to live in or alongside such an Evil Empire.

Your "sources" are just cultist drivel. Why don't you sit this one out and let the grown-ups do the talking...

Well Toasty, if you can put your Captain Marvel comic book down for a moment and check out the reality of the decline of the "Petrodollar" you might be up to speed as to what's going on in the Middle East".

Sorry Jus, but you can't try to talk down to someone else when your buddy's best source was an apocalyptic cult.

I'd like to avoid war too.

I would like avoid war as well, however there is a fanatical leader in power in Iran who wants to dominate the region. He has fomented terrorism in other nations and is now setting up in Venezuela. As I see it the US will have to fight Iran sometime but I would rather do it on OUR terms. This president is an appeaser on the model of Neville Chamberlain. But unlike Chamberlain (who was wholeheartedly sick of war) Obama wants only to maintain and strengthen his hold on power.

I guess you can tell that I want this current occupant of the Oval Office out.

So let me get this straight, you see the President cracking down even harder on Iran... And you equate that with Chamberlain?

That is an outright lie. Fact: Iran has the second lowest per capita defense spending in the entire Middle East. The UAE spends more dollars on defense than Iran. That is a fact Jack. So much for Ahjy coming off as the new Hitler now, but like Goebbels said you keep telling the big lie and the people will eventually believe it. 40 years of being programmed that Iran is a big baddie, and now you get almost 70% of Americans beleiving Iran has the bomb, just like around the same amount believed Iraq had WMD and was allied with Al Qaeda. Both turned out to be outright lies, and the thing is if the people just would read stuff on their own and do a little bit of personal research, they would have known it was all BS from the get go.

Kurt - we may have to elect and toss out a few to get a qualified one but that would be the plan. I'm hoping to see it before I leave this earth.

Heh, I wasn't aware there were any Birthers left after last year.

Biggest reason prices on everything is going up is because of infaltion. You think prices are going to stay the same on everything when the Federal Reserve is literally printing billions of dollars a month of not more?

Mark - If Iran was hurting (I should say feeling the pain or caring about it.) they would come to the negotiating table. Instead they keep saying they will endure any sanction and they will continue with their quest for nuclear arms.

it's that simple. We can even blow up their scientests and they don't stop. So are you getting it now? They are @!$%#ing CRAZY.

Of course they would say they will bear any sanction, that is required of the government propaganda.

It's a very slow process, and it will take many twists and turns, but it's better than another war.

How have the sanctions hurt N Korea Mark? Sanctions might hurt the good people of Iran (and there are many), but crazy leaders and governments will stand and they will do so in Iran just as they have in N. Korea. I don't want war but I know if it was Cuba threatening us like Iran is Israel we would have struck years ago!

Why are they crazy? Who told you they are crazy? The media? The government? I repeat, there is no evidence that Iran is going after the bomb. Even our own intel agencies and Pentagon say that if they were, they are a long way off. So my question is why all the hubbub? The reason is what many others in this forum have been saying, the life extension of the petro dollar, the very and only reason our economy didn't tank a long time ago. The BRIC nations are about to get together and try and topple the $ as being the world's reserve currency in buying oil in global markets. The Chinese Reminbi is most likely the currency that will be chosen as the dollar's replacement. China is big into both Iranian oil and natural gas. If we take out Iran and take over those resources China will be screwed. But I think the main plan is to foment another global war that will take down every one involved in trying to take out the dollar, but it will take us down along with it. A nice big war will keep Americans from thinking about how their government and Federal reserve screwed them over with irresponsible spending, etc. Total insanity!!!!!!!!

Finally, the real truth comes out. It's all about the oil and the dollar and Obama isn't too smart to threaten China in this way since they have the ability to crash this feeble economy before his election bid. Notice how the law requires Obama to look at economic sanctions in regards to this every 6 months. That would make September the next go around. So after Obama drives up the price of oil and gas on you for the summer for his oil buddies and his campaign contributors, he'll come out of the blue in September with a reconciliation on his previous sanctions and gas and oil will fall like a rock

Sanction work you say?

50 years later that midget next door called Cuba still has not surrenderd to the that big bully next door that 50 years ago supported all the gangsters from the USA to run that corrupt country and that the USA supported that dictator Batista.

Great track record here for the US.

You are nothing more than the lapdog off Tel Aviv and AIPEC

People, these sanctions will probably mean almost nothing, unless we help arm the opposition in Iran. Look what it has done in North Korea. Nothing!!! They still build their nukes. The military and leaders take any food available and starve the people. The same thing will happen in Iran. The military and leaders will take all food available and starve the people. The people can do almost nothing unless they have the means to fight. I disagree with about 90% of what obama and the dems have done to ruin our country. I do agree that these harsh sanctions and others need to happen, but at a much faster rate. We do not have years to implement, we have weeks. I also had heard that the Swiss government was willing to freeze all Iranian assets. If this is true, we need to let them and ask them to do it. If they have zero dollars to do anything, this will bring them down fast.

Only in a Post Soetoro Administration would the price of gas get back below $2.50

Only a defective mind would think gas prices will ever go to $2,50 a gallon.

lol 2.50 a gallon?!!? LMAO--no wonder you hate Obama--you dont even have a clue! (which is now evidently the official pre-requisite for joining the Rep. party).

JDubbaya, did you forget Pelosi blamed Bush for the gas prices when they neared $4 a gallon when he was in office? Go ahead and Youtube it and watch.... Remember they all thought Bush and the VP had the oil companies in their pockets? Remember all the liberal conspiracy theories? And you know that barrels of oil are ALL tied to the US dollar and NO other currency. We (the Fed and this Admin through their stimulus packages), have been printing more and more money. Economics 101 teaches us that the more money that's printed the less it's worth specific to the commodities or buying power. As such oil, sugar, wheat, etc. have all been going up. Moreover many nations that aren't friendly (China, Russia, Arab), want a new basket of currencies tied to oil NOT the US dollar any longer because we can just print and print and print.

but it's the difference between having their nukes next week or in 5-10 years. Get it?

The difference is if Cuba was making inroads to nukes and had stated twice over the last few years they would wipe America off the map, we would have already struck. Let Israel bomb the nuke installations and let's support them if they need it.

You know what REALLY causes gas prices to increase? Your teabagger friends rambling on about how we should start a war with Iran. THAT is what changes gas prices far surer than anything the President can do.

Irish--where did he lie? You say most Americans are too stupid to pay attention to Obamas lies--but I think you're the one missing some knowlege here. The president DID say he has no control over the prices (which is true; the WORLD MARKET decides--always did)--I'd like to know where you read ANYWHERE in this article that he contradicted that statement.

You are part of that American Public you deride. Please learn how stuff works before you comment --or vote for that matter.

There should be an IQ limit for voting, I swear!!

FYI--under Obama we have produced more oil domestically than at any other time in 10years..I think his petrol record is pretty damn good. Get the facts before you call other people stupid, man--you owe it yourself and your country..

JD you shouldn't want an IQ on voters (hell most libs don't even want a voter ID let alone a voter IQ). After all it was the majority that got this guy and the last one in office. That alone shows the IQ of the majority of Americans.

Let's get this straight specific to your time-lines. Obama and the Fed do have something to do with oil prices as ALL OIL IS TIED TO THE US DOLLAR. The more we print (thanks to Obama's and Bush's stimulus plans), the less the dollar buys (oil, sugar, wheat, etc..). Also you claim that under Obama we are drilling and exporting more oil that ever (or at least for decades). But like most liberals you spin/twist the truth. ALL of these "fruits" take YEARS to get into production. While Bush and his admin made MANY mistakes, you can thank them for the oil production. Similarly once Obama approves the Canadian oil pipeline (months before the election would be my guess since he's NO HOPE/CHANGE different that most politicians), it will be years before those fruits are realized. You need to quite watching CNN/NBC and go back and take a Macro and Micro economics course as well as a quantitative analysis class (statistics is the prerequisite just so you know).

Hey Toasty! You were just chastising some other commenter about their calling someone a name or making a stupid statement.Maybe ,you too,should pull your plug and get off this thread!Just another big union,dimocrap back operative

I'm no genius, so both counterpoints are welcomed here. There were some brilliant contributions from vine members over the years, and unfortunately some of them have stopped posting.

It doesn't matter if I agree with postings. Who am I anyway? Just a number.

News stories on MSNBC will receive more views, more comments, more intelligently than any other news source I've found, representing a wide range of opinions. Thank all of you.

Keep posting.

Under normal circumstance supply and demand drive prices but not with the current oil situation. there are no shortages of oil, no increased demands any more so today than six months ago. Its the speculators driving up the prices. For several years now, as the price of oil has risen, the suply of oils has exceeded the demand for it.

I believe the problem in price is related to two problems. 1. Refinery capacity is lower due to a shut down in Washington State due to a fire at a major plant and shutdown at plant in the Gulf area. 2. Market speculation about the supply based on the fear of war with Iran.

After over 20 years in plastics I know there are business cycles and price increases that relate to productive capacity in the oil and plastics industries. When demand exceeds productive capacity the profits are taken to expand/modernize production facilities. The profits both industries make help to reinvest in the infrastructure needed to increase production. In our current case the is mystery our current prices seem out of line (higher) because of the lower consumption over the last several years. Politics clearly plays a role in price no matter what anyone says on the blog.

While you all make some valid points specific to supply/demand and speculation these are not the only things that impact the price at the pump. The US dollar and NO OTHER CURRENCY is tied to ALL oil (inc. Arab barrels of oil), and for many years now the Fed has been running the printing presses to support the stimulus packages which helped (?) keep the economy from getting worse. That said the value of the dollar specific to most commodities (oil, corn, sugar, gold, etc..), drops and our cost for these needs goes up. And, once the economy really is in good shape and the worlds is running well too, inflation will be bigger than any of us have ever seen. A gallon of gas might be $7 or $8 but hey that's what Obama's energy secretary said they wanted, "gas prices like they pay in Europe". <-- Google it!

pawoman, not entirely the truth. Saudi Arabia has said for years, that it is not a supply issue and I believe them, at least for now. The cost of a barrel of oil is based on the US dollar. The massive debts that obama has given to us, means we print money. When we print money, the value of the dollar does down. When the value of the dollars goes down, the price of oil goes up. I seem to remember that when Bush was President, the price of a barrel of oil hit about $140 and a gallon of gas was at $4.00. We were at $107 a barrel of oil and already at $4.00 per gallon.

Now that right there, is FUNNY!!!!!!!!.Then again, maybe not.

yikes

go to a mental health facility and ask for help...you need it....

There is obviously a lot of misinformation or lack of understanding written into many these posts. The basic problem seems to be, when one encounters someone who doesn’t fit conveniently into their view of a position or situation, they resort to personal attacks, offering few if any facts, just a lot of uninformed opinions, empty slurs and hyperbole.

Would you rather we start ANOTHER mid east war?

I guess you think the first two neo-con, mid-east wars (7,000 dead, tens of thousands of casualties and $2t when it's all tolled) turned out real well, right?

Republicans aren't "one world"?

What rock have you been sleeping under?

Not us start the war but I'm fine with Israel protecting itself (and even if I wasn't they are a sovereign Nation that has twice been told by Iran they would be wiped off the face of the earth), and bombing the nuclear installations. Knowing that Iran would strike back. While I don't want war, the thought of a country crazier than N Korea having a nuke is FAR WORSE! To put it into perspective, how long would America give Cuba if they were building the technology for a Nuke Bomb and had twice said they would wipe America off the face of the earth? Oh yea, we wouldn't have waited we would have made the strike the second time those morons threatened us.

Again, again, again, who told you they were crazy? The main stream media over 40 odd years. These folks have engaged in what? Only one war in the last 1,500 years? Anybody that doesn't suck uncle Sam's dick for economic or monetary reasons gets the "Axis of Evil" label slapped on them for immediate destruction. The very uncle Sam that is the only one who has ever dropped an atomic device in war by the way. As far as the threats they have given, that are related to if America/Israel struck first? They would be crazy not to hit us back if they could.

You should sign up to lead the next war over there then.