Treasury secretary says oil too costly

[leftchick]

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/business/11071625.htm

U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said rising oil prices are creating "head winds" for continued economic growth.

While the U.S. economy is "so robust right now that we've blown right through" the jump in crude oil over the past year, "clearly these energy prices create head winds," Snow said Sunday on ABC's This Week program.

Evidence of continued upward pressure on U.S. gasoline pump prices also came from the latest Lundberg Survey of 7,000 filling stations, which shows that gasoline had climbed about 7 cents a gallon in the past two weeks to an average of $1.97 a gallon.

<snip>

But more bullish oil was poured on the fire Saturday, when Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said OPEC countries could fix a price for crude in a range of $40 to $50 per barrel, adding that low petroleum prices are a thing of the past.

Crude oil for April delivery rose to $53.78 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday, the highest close since Oct. 26 and a gain of 4.5 percent over the last week.

[NMDemDist2]

1. $2.05 here for regular as of Friday

we'll see if it jumped again over the weekend

[BiggJawn]

8. It did. $2.10 here in Indiana.

And that's "Blowing through"?

[Tempest]

21. What I wouldn't do for $2.05 a gallon

It jumped 24 cents in the interior valley of California in the last 10 days. It's $2.31 here.

[MSgt213]

2. Why worry about oil prices when SS is going bankrupt?

The world all ready knows we are willing to pay much more for oil then we were paying. Look at Iraq.

[leftchick]

3. snow is such a dipshit...

like the rest of this misadministration he is so fucking clueless and an embarrassment to listen to.

[MSgt213]

4. I don't even listen to any one from this adminstration anymore. Used to

be I would try to pick out the truth from the lies in previous administrations. All of them have lied to us to a certain extent. But this administration knows only how to lie about every fucking thing. There is no truth in any statement any of them make. I don't how their adoring follows sleep at night. Oh, wait they sleep on the money.

[BiggJawn]

7. And we pay this dumb-ass HOW much?

He reminds me of the doofus who'd come back from lunch soaking wet to declare "Hey! Didja know it's RAINING outside?" Aw, no, I thought you ran into a thunderstorm in the elevator, pigshit-for-brains!


Wally-World Murka thinks Snow is a very wise man. "Shit, Murlene, thet Snow dude sez oil makes everything go up. Wunder iffn' thets why mah Skoal 'Bandits' is so exspinsive now-days?"

[Ganja Ninja]

5. Why worry about anything?

The rapture is coming.

[Delphinus]

6. You know, I don't cuss often,

but this statement by Snow, While the U.S. economy is "so robust right now that we've blown right through" the jump in crude oil over the past year, just makes me want to say, Jeebus Freaking Kriste! Whatever they're smoking, I want some, 'cause I don't see life in the same manner.

[ProfessorGAC]

23. You Are Correct

The economy is NOT robust. It's treading water and has been for 3 years. The idea that this idiot thinks that the oil price spike isn't affecting the economy is preposterous.

It just PROVES how little he understands economics.

What a buffoon.
The Professor

[Mr.Green93]

9. Others say

Wages are too Low.

[freestyle]

10. Which is exactly why we need to use less of it

That report from the department of the painfully obvious should have been followed by at least a mention of conservation. Of course, now there will be more calls for oil drilling everywhere and no mention of reducing consumption. When looked at objectively, Americans don't live any better than the rest of the industrialized world, we just use about twice the natural resources to do it. There is huge room for improvement. But, our standards are so low that Ford advertises its new wagon that doesn't even top 30 mpg on the highway as having good fuel economy.

[cthrumatrix]

11. where is OUR alternative energy plan ?????????

[pf99]

12. Hey Snow

We know better.

This is Bush's payback to his big oil buddies for help in his relection.

[Skidmore]

13. The logic of the headwinds statement escapes me.

Has this fool never heard of stockpiling or hoarding or gouging or regional instability or speculating? I would lay odds that any or all of the above have more to do with the price of oil right now than any "economic growth" he thinks we're having.

[Demeter]

14. The Sinking Dollar Inflates Oil Prices

and the dollar sinks because the deficit is so huge, but we can't raise taxes back to where they were when we had no deficit, now, could we? That might actually fix the problems, and we can't have that!

[denverbill]

25. You hit the nail on the head.

Bush gets full credit for high oil prices. The weak dollar was caused by his budget busting tax cuts.

Most taxpayers got a $400 tax cut and paid for it with thousands of extra dollars in heating bills and gas bills.

[tanyev]

15. His assessment of a robust US economy

must be based on his informal poll of calling all his oil executive buddies and asking them how they're doing.

[TomClash]

16. Why listen to a guy . . .

. . . who couldn't tell the Yuan from the Yen?

[hatrack]

17. Get on the horn and start jawbonin' big fella!

Since your boss is apparently too busy spreading Freedom(c), somebody's got to get OPEC to open the spigots, and that somebody looks an awful lot like you.

[chlamor]

18. "...clearly these energy prices create head winds..."

What a freakin' ass. Must have gone to the school of Greenspanspeak. Now he's Snowblowin' out his ass. Don't spit in the wind John.

No doubt he's sittin' pretty in his bunker under Weathertop.

[Guckert]

19. Time to drill in Anwar?? Duh. Or maybe increase CAFE standards. NOT

This admin is trying to force drilling in Alaska on the people by refusing to increase CAFE standards that would bring this crisis to a halt. They think we are STUPID because the ReDUMBlicans voted for the Liar in chief.

[gasperc]

20. maybe a little more war will help bring the price down

or better yet a severe economic downturn, that'll really help drive down demand and send supplies soaring and prices falling

[bleedingheart]

22. Isn't this the same fellow who managed CSX poorly but took big $?

http://www.forbes.com/2002/12/10/cx_da_1210topnews.html

[cliss]

24. A comment from personal experience:

when an official is using heavy metaphors, like in this case using weather metaphors, storms, high winds and so on, watch out. It means that they're bullshitting. Especially when they do this with something as important as our money.

Notice:

"head winds"
"blown right through"

Looks like Snow is trying for another Snowjob.

[w4rma]

26. Crack down on the big oil companies who are price gouging, then.

That, in theory, is the easiest thing to control.

[Zerex71]

27. What planet is this dumb mofo on?

I mean, seriously? "So robust"? What is he smoking, some of the same stuff Junior did?