Mr. Sensenbrenner

You have been in public office for a long time. Now you have the audacity to hang fuel prices on Obama? I do recall not so long ago during the Shrub administration that gas prices reached the same levels. Where was your voice then? I am no fan of the current Pres. nor of the past, but making the current situation political is ludicrous. Please move on sir.

Unfortunately we haven't been drilling new wells over the past three years. Even if we had been though, the reflection in gas prices would be marginal. For the US to have an impact on global prices we need at least a decade of agressive drilling.
If you think prices are bad now, wait until the world economy turns around!
The Middle East will never find peace, so it is up to the rest of the world to stabilize prices by increasing production.

No sense Sensebrenner. One of the dumbest Representatives in a House full of very dumb Representatives (what have they accomplished this year? Nothing and the least number of days actually working on nothing of any do nothing Houses.

Let's see the logic: oil companies making record profits but they get a huge tax break for what? Screwing the American public? Did I get that right?

I personally wonder just what position you would be in working for 8.50 an hour raising a family and paying 4.00 agal for gas.Gee lets quit our job and livr off our bsnkrupt government, what a novel idea jana lsatsch pekin,il

People are struggling more now then ever and some of us cant affort hybrid cars or payments obama is not the blame make cars run on natural gas it last longer and i have seen it done so get up ur butts and work a lil harder we need gas prices to go down so the poorest families can live and feed thier families

Oil production is up in the US. Oil drilling rig deployment is up. North Dakota infrastructure is already being stressed to the breaking point by oil and gas drilling Permits have been being issued for the Gulf of Mexico for well over a year. The Keystone pipeline reroute demanded by Nebraskan Republicans and hung on President Obama has now been announced and the "recent" statement by Secretary Chu occurred years ago.

Is this article written by someone who is knowingly misleading people or just grieviously misinformed? Or both

1. The Keystone is intended to pump oil to the Gulf of Mexico, right. Not for domestic refinement.
2. Commodities speculation is reportedly the cause of the recent surge in gas prices.
3. See RSeve above. Oil companies get huge subsidies, make enormous profits and pay little or no taxes. Why shouldn't go ahead and screw us at the pump too?
4. Obama could snap his fingers and lower gas prices. He just doesn't because he doesn't want to get re-elected.

Do your homework on Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, ultra liberal from California, hand picked by Obama. His goal as Secretary is to see gasoline hit $10.00 per gallon, so we will all put a windmill on our house, and bicycle to work. One of the scariest people ever appointed to a cabinet position.

If you want to spend less on gas, buy a fuel efficient car. That will solve your problem immediately. There are several cars that get almost 40 mpg for about $20,000. Obama has mandated higher fuel economy for future vehicles and cash for clunkers replaced a lot of 15 mpg cars with 35 mpg cars. The oil in US soil is something we are going to need later, and it is going to be worth a lot more in 10 or 20 years.

Well here are some real facts:
1) Since Obama has been in office, oil drilling and permits to drill for oil is at the highest level in history. (We can not drill our way out of this)
2) In 2008 the average cost per gallon for gas was $4.05 (AAA rating)

It has nothing to do with the president and everything to do with speculation on oil that are the cause of our gas prices. We are exporting as much oil as we are producing in this country. If you want to get prices down then invest in a full cuntry overhaul and lets move to green energy.
If you really want to help to stimulate the country they why not send every American 1.5 million dollars and require bills to be paid and a new car to be bought. This will come at a cost of 1.2 billion dollars and we would not have a housing/banking issue.
It seams rather simple to me and yes you would have a persentage of people on either end handle their money badly but I do not think they can do any worse the Congress or the senate are doing. In the end you could say you left it up to the American people and kept government out.

Think about it

Rep. Sensenbrenner, just how stupid do you really think the public is? To think people would fall for such empty rhetoric suggests that you think the general public is dumb as a brick. You are an insult to democracy.

Since the oil is the American economic blood and main support of our daily life, it is critical to cut it off then, do you still have a life like usual, right? It has been designed to do so by this administration.

Idea!!! How bout we trade a bushel of corn for a barrel of oil? Sounds fair to me! Tired American!

Who is this hack??? Why is he given a forum??? His assertions are patently false. Let me guess....he's refuglican.

We are very fortunate that we aren't paying what they are in England @ = 6.75 per gal. , Now on the other hand, Americans are paying for the speculations of war or at least using that reason to raise the price of fuel. Seems to me that is a bunch of the 1% get rich schemes on Americans to pay for more bonuses. Now I wonder if the President is able to get the price of fuel down.. What is he doing to get the price of fuel down?Maybe stop taking there tax from every gallon sold and give to in that way I would say the President is stealing from the poor to give to the rich i'm sure??Just as your paying 0.30 to every gallon at AmPm opps I meant to say BP to use a credit card so in the end your paying interest on the card too.,Paying for a oil spill!! a little more of the 1% tricks ....And as for the hybrid cars where are all of the batteries going to end up?? Start questioning government involvement They have messed up the economy so terribly bad.

ask the oil company why they using american to make them self more money,oh they don't care.

OUR OIL STABILITY IS STILL AT THE BECK-AND-CALL OF SAUDI ARABIA-----WHATEVER DOES, OR DOES NOT HAPPEN IN IRAN---WILL NOT MITIGATED THE IGNORED TIER OF WORKERS THAT ARE TWISTING IN THE ECONOMIC WIND----WORKING AS SLAVE LABOR ON UNSUSTAINABLE WAGES FOR ANYTHING OTHER THEN SUBSISTENCE ---OR UNEMPLOYED AND LOSING ALL EARTHLY SERVICES, IT ISN'T EVEN BEING JOKINGLY REMEDIATED---

There is anal intelligence on earth.

NO PROGRAMS FRAMED IN 2008 HAVE THE TIT-FOR-TAT FINANCING THEY WERE EVEN PRECARIOUSLY BASED UPON---THE FACTORS HAVE RUN AMOK-AND I FEAR THE PUBLIC WILL BE SUFFERING GREATLY AT THIS"NO -PROGRESS" TO MEET OUR NEEDS FOR GOODS AND SERVICES...

Just went to three web sites about amount of recoverable and potentially recoverable oil in Alaska. I get about 40billion barrels. If we tapped all of it, that would add 5.65 years to American oil use at current rates. That is of course assuming that we don't sell any of it to China, India, or the rest of the world, since their increase in demand is out stripping the increase in world production. Of course as we increase output, Saudi Arabia decreases theirs by just a little. Hence, our price will still rise.

This is a political football, and the only real answer is to get us off of using oil to heat our homes and drive our cars. The minute we have viable substitutes we will gain control over oil prices.

I don't mind high gas prices and yes I refuse to give rides to my liberal democrat friends and relatives. Obama wouldn't like me helping them out when they have all that algae available for their personal use like Obama said in a recent speech.

Jeff
I have heard about all I want. It is everyone else at fault. We have a Congress and Senate that does nothing but fight like kids in a sand box! Anything that can help the American people they don't do because they can't make any money. Let the poor and middle class be worse off! That way they can get more money. Thanks for your support senators and Congress for the American people.

$1.89/gallon in 2008? Basing his premise on a "fact" that patently inaccurate certainly calls the credibility of the rest of the article into question...

I say we switch all of our fossil fuel using products to hemp oil. Hey cannibis is good for more then smoking. Just saying....

Wow as I read through all the comments I feel torn. Gas prices suck and we do have reerves available. Why the gov't won't tap n, well that's unclear. Everytime election year is around the price of gas rises. Its all politics and we all know it. Admit it its time for change!

Yeah it's Obama's fault, for improving the economy and driving up demand.

It's the typical GOP agenda to blame the Democrats in office. Gas prices are determined by the "international" market and speculators. You can't blame that on the president. You can't drill enough in North America to make up the deficit. It isn't wrong to want to protect the environment and preserve our resources for future generations. As a matter of fact, it's typical selfish Republican thinking to demand the resources now. For a party that claims to have family values, there doesn't seem to be any when it comes to our children and grandchildren.

While Sensenbrenner has his cat fight with Obama over the increasing cost of oil, your good friends in the free market are making a major contribution to solving the problem of high gas prices. Many, route style, fleet operators are in the process of moving from diesel to CNG as they replace their aging trucks. As an example, Waste Management ordered 80% of all its new trucks as CNG in the last year.

No-Sensenbrener, I know that you are following rhetoric that most politicians put out. You think we don't fact check your dribble. Well...just looking at the comments here it appears that most have done just that. If you followed the real reason why gas prices are so high its because they can. Even if we drilled more wells, took land from farmers that oppose the Keystone pipeline, made more refineries we would still be years from any of it being on line or help with the immediate prices.Why didn't Bush do what your blaming Obama? Now look deep and realize your not fooling anyone with this mindless dribble. Not all of us are seniors without technology that you're trying to fool. How about coming out with something that actually makes SENSE?

In the Republican weekly address, North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple accused the Obama administration of blocking projects and technology that would allow greater energy production. He singled out the Keystone XL pipeline project, which Obama deferred.

"We cannot effectively market our crude oil domestically without a large north-south pipeline," Dalrymple said. "North Dakota oil producers were scheduled to feed the Keystone pipeline with 100,000 barrels of crude oil per day."

Yet Senile Senseless one says,"Then, the president rejected the Keystone XL pipeline that would have transported up to 830,000 barrels of oil per day from Canada to refineries in the Gulf Coast area."

Pant on Fire Lie! Senile Senselessbrenner needs to retire.

Whenever the "Looney Left" comments about anything on the Patch, it always boils down to the "same old same old". It is the fault of George W or Scott Walker or the Koch brothers. Here is a tip, please call your union president or the Obama campaign for some new people to blame for their lack of policy or actions to do the right thing instead of playing politics with every issue. It is truly tiring.

Let's remove the (R) and the (D) from the topic and look at the facts:

1. The price of fossil fuels have historically risen consistently as the market has allowed for it. In fact the price of gasoline was higher than it is now in the Summer of 2008. The only thing that brought the price down was the market crash of Late Summer/Early Fall 2008.

2. Domestically, petroleum production has increased to the point where we now produce 80% of our consumption internally. This is the highest rate of domestic production in a generation. However petroleum is a finite resource, so the production of "alternative sources" has also risen to an all-time high.

3. Since petroleum is a finite resource with increasing pressure in the global economy, we need to decrease our demand. Fuel efficiency requirements on domestic vehicles has been increased to an all-time high.

4. Global demands in developing countries like China & India coupled with market speculation on oil futures adds pressure to market forces.

So that being said, with politics aside, is the author right or wrong in his assessment/blame of the issues pertaining to gas prices?

We can thank the EPA and other environmental whackos for preventing a refinery from being built for the last 30 years. Face it, we know Obama wants higher gas prices to drive Americans away from gasoline. The only problem is there is no viable alternative.
Thanks to my Congressman Sensenbrenner for representing me the way I want .

If you voted for Barry Hussein Obama, you deserve to be hurting!!! Change and Hope!!

FROM BUSINESS INSIDER:
http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-02-26/markets/31099224_1_west-texas-intermediate-price-opec-crude-opec-production

i asked sensenbrenner why he doesn't supporting raising the mileage standards? his answer to me by letter was "why that would put little cars on the road and they would have accidents with the big cars raising the death rate." what does he think will happen to our ag industry if we run out of gas- how many people will die if you can't farm? ///the fact is cars consume 65% of our gas in vehicles that move 2 or 1 persons almost all the time. this need could be met by a 700 pound commuter car. one such was made 30 years ago called the hmv freeway which got 120 mpg.

the auto industry only breaks even on its small cars something like the hmv. would ruin their business and that is why sensen opposes higher cafe standards. the main reason he supports more drilling is to profit the oil industry of course (and as a bp owner himself). the spill offshore which came from his vote to drill there in the gulf does not seem to bother him.