Regular: $1.84

Top Dems protest high gas prices

2006, when high gas prices were Bush's fault.

Re-posted from the South of 5 and 20 archives - more relevant every day.

Obama wants high gas prices

Mission Accomplished

Are your friends talking about gas prices?

Since the media is ignoring Obama's energy crisis, it's up to you to start the conversation.

Protesters pressure administration on gas prices

Protester in "New York" t-shirt with effigy of politician - Andy Cuomo?

While Andy Cuomo was at the DNC in Florida, fighting to secure his opportunity to run against President Romney in 2016 by calling for higher taxes,  Finger Lakes gasoline prices crossed the four dollar/gallon threshold.  

Not allowing the administration to ignore the economy-crushing energy costs, student protestors took to the streets.

Student and youth groups affiliated to various political parties continued their protest against the recent price hike in petroleum products on Thursday by enforcing one-hour long chakka jam (road blockade) in front of different colleges and academic institutions across the country.

Fortunately for New York's second generation Democrat governor, the chakka jam was held in Nepal, not Watkins Glen.  It appears Upstate New Yorkers, blinded by Andy's media induced celebrity, would rather not talk about record high fuel prices under Cuomo II, not to mention ever-increasing taxes and years of 8 percent unemployment.

Obama policies causing gas prices to skyrocket, again

You wouldn't know it from following our local media, but gas prices in our neck of the Finger Lakes have been skyrocketing.  Once again, we don't see reporters repeating their Bush-era routine of of harassing motorists at the Valero pump, asking them if they've had to give up food to afford fuel.  However, way downstate, word has been leaking out.

Pete Richardson of Wappingers Falls said he spends roughly $94 a week filling up his 2010 GMC Terrain.

“I’m obviously not happy about (gas prices) because it constrains my family and what we can do together,” he said.

Richardson, 32, said it’s frustrating with the economic situation that employees aren’t making more but are being asked to pay more.

One can only hope Mr. Richardson will remember his frustration when he enters the voting booth this November.  Perhaps the crushing increase in energy prices my not bode well for the incumbent regime's reelection prospects.

Kirsten Kukowski, a spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, said pump prices will be part of their political messaging, alongside other staples like jobs data. “We are going to be talking about every economic factor,” she said.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee, meanwhile, vows to hit vulnerable Senate Democrats – such as Claire McCaskill (Mo.) – and Obama over the prices.

“The NRSC fully intends to highlight the disastrous effects President Obama’s EPA has had on our nation’s energy prices including their rejection of the Keystone Pipeline,” said spokesman Lance Trover.

Unlike corruption at the Export-Import Bank, gas prices are an issue that most voters can instantly understand.  Let's see if the Republicans can can make the easy shots.

Auburn prepares for zombies

While record high gasoline prices and ever increasing taxes force Auburn residents to cut back, their government rolls out the mother of all SUVs.

Small arms fire, anti-tank mines or alien invasion — the latest addition to the Auburn Police Department's fleet can handle them all.

APD Emergency Response Team Commander Michael Roden admitted that the Casspir armored vehicle, loaned to the city by the U.S. Department of Defense last October, probably won't face any of those conditions in Auburn, but it's still a useful tool.

 Photo:  Taisha Laird  

Attention Republican candidates:

 

Free political consulting from South of 5 and 20 - here's how to beat Obama:

President Obama's approval rating has hit the lowest level ever in CBS News polling, according to the latest CBS News/New York Times survey. The drop may be partially attributable to rising gas prices.

Just 41 percent of Americans approve of the job Mr. Obama is doing as president, according to the poll, conducted from March 7 to 11. Another 47 percent disapprove of his performance, up from 41 percent last month.

Mr. Obama's approval rating was 50 percent last month.

The average U.S. price of a gallon of gasoline has jumped 12 cents over the past two weeks. The poll found that most Americans, 54 percent, believe gas prices are something a president can do a lot about.

Bold added to make this even easier for professional political advisers to understand.

Clinton, Schumer blame president for high gas prices

"This is indicative of this administration's failed policies."

H/T Instapundit.  More at BuzzFeed.

Wearing Sarah's dress

Looks better on her

Don Surber accuses Barry Obama of crossdressing.

Republicans have President Obama on the run. He has had to disguise himself and his stupid policies again — this time by donning the political garb of his arch rival. President Barack Obama looks pretty nice in Sarah Palin’s dress. And by dress, I mean her energy policy.

However, Mr. Surber isn't fooled by Barry's new outfit.

But President Obama is not the real deal. He’s in drag. President Obama is not a real believer in American energy independence. He’s a fake. A fraud. A phony.

Obama's commitment to increased energy production includes financially eviscerating the companies that are actually producing energy, while handing out billions to his campaign donors.  Algae?  Read the whole thing.  

Take it, boys!

Shocker: gas prices rising!

In the old days, before January 20, 2009, whenever gas prices went up, mainstream media reporters would immediately bother drivers in gas stations.  "What do you think about these high gas prices?"  "Don't like 'em, won't be able to feed my kids, etc., etc..."

In the past three years, however, gas prices have doubled without attracting the news hounds.  Until now, that is.  Be sure to watch this one, from yesterday's ABC News, all the way to the end:

Upstaters beginning to notice gas prices?

 

Even if your only source of information is the old media, you might have seen this shocking story today.

High gasoline prices have Theresa Impink and her family thinking twice before taking the car out for a drive.

Impink, her husband and their two teenage children try to determine if the trip is worth the cost.

“We’re consciously cutting back on all travel because it’s getting too expensive,” said the 38-year-old Frankfort resident.

The most difficult part is Impink’s 50-mile roundtrip drive to Rome every day for work. To fill the tank of her SUV costs about $56, and a full tank only lasts between five and six days, she said.

“What I’ve done is adjust my whole budget.”

Keshia Clukey, the professional journalist who dug up this news, forgot to ask the financially strapped Ms. Impink if she is aware of the fact that the Obama administration wants high gas prices.

This barely made a blip in the news when it was first reported, but read what President Obama’s Secretary of Energy Steven Chu had to say about gas prices back in December:

In a sign of one major internal difference, Mr. Chu has called for gradually ramping up gasoline taxes over 15 years to coax consumers into buying more-efficient cars and living in neighborhoods closer to work.

“Somehow we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe,” Mr. Chu, who directs the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal in September.

And now you’re paying $4  a gallon. not quite European prices, but no fun nonetheless.

 Will Upstaters vote to reelect Obama?  Stay tuned.

Its no secret

Investor's Business Daily, a reliable analyst of matters political and economic, today makes the shocking charge that Barry Obama secretly wants high gas prices.

If gasoline prices so far are any indication, the pain at the pump will be severe this year. But if you think President Obama cares, you're wrong. If anything, he's secretly cheering it on.

Already, average pump prices have topped $3.50 a gallon, leading some experts to think they could reach an all-time high of $5 by the summer.

So what's Obama's response? He treats it like a badge of honor, saying this week that "gas prices are on the rise again because as the economy strengthens, global demand for oil increases."

We agree with IBD, but its no secret.  We let that cat out of the bag a year ago.

The difference today is that Obama does not want lower gas prices - he wants higher gas prices.  To Barry, your economic pain is a feature, not a bug.  Don't expect any help from him.

In the past year, Barry's been very successful in making the situation worse.  Do your neighbors understand what's going on?

Newt steps on the gas

Not that long ago

Say what you will about Newt Gingrich, the guy has more ideas in one day than Mitt Romney has had since he got back from France.  Among Newt's output today is a plan to return to $2.50 gasoline.

$2.50 a gallon gas is not a dream. It’s achievable with the right policies. If we take these steps, we can quickly and dramatically reduce the price of gas by tapping America’s incredible oil and gas resources to increase supply. That would mean more money in Americans’ pockets, lower costs for millions of businesses, and tens of thousands of jobs across the country in an industry poised to take off.

When Obama was inaugurated, Americans were paying $1.85 for gasoline.  Assumed Republican presidential candidate Romney should embrace the NewtGas plan and pitch it at every campaign stop.  Pledge to appoint Newt Secretary of Energy.   Or put Sarah in the post.  Hammer Obama on the one issue that every American can understand.

Mitt: please do something, anything, or just get out of the way and go back to Taxachusetts.

Update:  Don Surber:

Conservatives should quit chatting up rubbers and go where the rubber meets the road: The economy.

CNS, bless its heart, reported that the price of gasoline is up 83% since The Won took office on that awful day in 2009.

That did not make the nightly news because conservatives were too busy with their catechism classes. Conservatives cannot complain of being made fools of when they act like clowns. Quit taking the bait already.

Candidate slams administration on high gas prices, poor economy

 
 2008:

The presidential campaign's focus turned sharply to the economy Monday, an inopportune time for Republican John McCain as Americans cope with record-high gasoline prices and a spike in job losses.

Democrat Barack Obama seized on the issue by launching a two-week economic tour meant to highlight his differences with McCain on taxes, spending priorities and other matters. At every turn he is tying McCain to President Bush, whose approval ratings are consistently low.

 Today:

The national average hit $3.523 a gallon, the Energy Department said Monday, up 4.1 cents from a week earlier. Analysts said the early price shocker is likely a sign that pain at the pump will rise to some of the highest levels ever this year.

Gas pump activism

Download, print, tape to gas pump.

h/t Prof. Reynolds

Democrat senators blame president for high gas prices

"Where is the president?" (John F.) Kerry asked in Portland, where gasoline is selling for as much as $2.31 a gallon. "We need a president who is fighting for the American worker, the American family at the fuel pump."

On Capitol Hill, a group of Democratic senators introduced a resolution calling for the release of 1 million of barrels of oil a day from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve for up to 60 days, arguing that would force down gas prices. Said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.: "The administration insists on throwing fuel in the fire."

Those quotes are from an AP report written in May, 2004.

(We keep reposting this, because America needs to know. - Ed)

Who should run against Obama?

Now that Obama has officially entered the 2012 presidential race, the future of our nation depends on picking a candidate who can beat this leftist, or not impossibly that other leftist, our own former "200,000 jobs for Upstate" senator, Mrs. William Clinton.  So let's forget about Romney, Daniels, Christie, Sleepy, Dopey, Donner, Blitzen, etc.  We need to win this.

Bill Kristol is certainly an establishment Republican, so we're pleased to note his dream ticket:

Wouldn't it be easier just to agree now on a Ryan-Rubio ticket, and save everyone an awful lot of time, effort, and money over the next year and a half?

Gasoline at $4.00...$5.00...$8.00 could give the United States our first female president:

Labeling President Obama as the “$4-per-gallon president," (Palin) asserts, “The evidence of the president’s anti-drilling mentality and his culpability in the high gas prices hurting Americans is there for all to see.”

She criticizes the drilling moratorium following the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the proposed elimination of tax incentives for certain types of exploration, and what she calls his “anti-drilling regulatory policies.”

And should Sarah decide to stay on the sidelines, we have a deep bench - Michele Bachmann:

Best known as a fiery presence on cable television and the founder of the House Tea Party caucus, she is now exploring whether to seek the Republican presidential nomination. And early reaction to her in Iowa, where she was born and raised, suggests not only that she might do it, but also that she could have a substantial impact on the race.

The energy speech

We know you want to hear the official South of 5 and 20 reaction to the "energy policy" speech.  Since this is a family blog, we better refer you to Syracuse's Lonely Conservative for thoughtful analysis:

President Obama unveiled yet another version of his so-called energy plan today. The problem is it’s not so much an energy plan as it is a plan to boost sales of the unpopular and overpriced Chevy Volt; to pay off political donors with sweetheart loans and subsidies; and to drive up the price of energy. In delivering his message he also managed to lie about and vilify the oil industry while mocking millions of Americans.

Couldn't have said it better ourselves.  Have a drink, or two, then read the whole thing.

Cartoon by Gary Olsen.