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On “Face the Nation” yesterday, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) argued, in all seriousness, that that higher gas prices are the result of a deliberate conspiracy, orchestrated by the Obama administration. Barbour, a former well-paid corporate lobbyist for the energy industry, actually wants us to believe the White House wants gas prices to go up, and is forcing them higher on purpose.
He’s argued this before. It’s still absurd.
But Barbour’s argument just happens to coincide with a new ad campaign from a right-wing attack operation, which is pushing a similar line.
A key conservative group will launch a new campaign this week aimed at trying to put the blame for high gas prices on the Obama administration.
Americans for Prosperity, the libertarian-leaning nonprofit chaired by David Koch, will launch rallies and media campaigns in a series of states — beginning with Nebraska — asserting that the administration’s regulation of the energy industries is key to pain at the pump.
“We want the public to know there’s a reason these prices are going through the roof: It’s because of the environment produced by the regulatory practices of this administration,” the group’s president, Tim Phillips, told POLITICO.
As a substantive matter, one would have to be awfully dumb to believe such nonsense, but the charade appears intended to dazzle the confused with spectacle.
The Americans for Prosperity campaign, under the rubric Running on Empty, will take a decidedly different view of the administration’s actions and will kick off this week with rallies in Omaha and Grand Rapids, Neb., followed by events in Missouri, Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.
The local stops, complete with a 14-foot inflatable gas pump, will be paired with a website allowing consumers to see the amount of money they’re losing in price increases and to “send the bill” to Obama, as well as more traditional radio and television campaigns.
That certainly sounds expensive, doesn’t it? Maybe now would be a good time to note that Americans for Prosperity just so happens to be financed by oil industry money.
These clowns just assume Americans are idiots. Here’s hoping they’re wrong.
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June on June 06, 2011 9:41 AM:
Unfortunately, a certain segment of the population are congenital idiots. That's why it's so important for thinking people to show up at the polls. Otherwise, we get what we have now - absolutely disgraceful fools in charge of the House, who govern via hostage demands for absolutely everything.
Alli on June 06, 2011 9:43 AM:
Americans are sometimes idiots but they do tend to surprise me a lot. There's been a campaign before to blame Obama for gas prices but it didn't work. What the Koch's are counting on is an idiotic corporate media. A very reliable group.
slappy magoo on June 06, 2011 9:44 AM:
"These clowns just assume Americans are idiots. Here’s hoping they’re wrong."
They're not. It'll work. Hopefully not to the degree they hope it will but to hope it will have no effect at all is to wallow in naivete.
Todd for VT House on June 06, 2011 9:45 AM:
And here I thought it was the record profits oil companies are earning, and the speculators.
And Captcha...
Steve on June 06, 2011 9:46 AM:
What is awfully dumb is the Democrats won't do a darned thing to refute this spectacle. By this time next year 55% of Americans will believe this nonsense and Democrats still wont have a clue why they are polling bad.
DAY on June 06, 2011 9:54 AM:
"As a substantive matter, one would have to be awfully dumb to believe such nonsense"
as a matter of substance, at least the posters here are on the same page.
These "rallies" will attract the usual suspects- those who already think the Darkie in their White House is a Kenyan Socialist, and must be stopped at all cost. GuanoNutz all, but remember the number of like folks and the amount of money they raised for the "End of the World Extravaganza" a few weeks ago.
Gird your loins, Debbbie Wasserman Schultz!
martin on June 06, 2011 9:55 AM:
As a substantive matter, one would have to be awfully dumb to believe such nonsense,
Is "awfully dumb" your new euphemism for "Republican"?
Mr. Serf Man on June 06, 2011 9:57 AM:
And here it comes ...your first taste of the negative ads that we will be subjected to. Ignore at your own risk.
The KochSuckers did the same thing in Florida , trashing Dem candidates and all things democratic with nonstop ads months and months (even before the Republican primaries).
Look what we got as a result:
Rick Scott
Alan West
Marco Rubio
Be afraid very afraid. They can convince the mugwumps to vote for anything.
flyonthewall on June 06, 2011 9:58 AM:
The Energy Information Adminstration has other reasons why gas has gone up and has now come down.
http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=1650
•Unplanned refinery outages in the Gulf Coast and the East Coast: Unplanned outages seem to account for most of the gasoline crack pressure in April. The East Coast lost 17% of its operable crude distillation capacity on average during April, and 23% of its fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit capacity. (FCC units are large gasoline-producing units.) The Gulf Coast lost, on average, 7% of its crude oil input capacity during April, compared to a typical 4%, and 9% of its FCC capacity versus a typical 6%. There have been additional refinery outages in late May and early June in the Midwest, which have led to increasing crack spreads in the Chicago market over the last two weeks. As refineries return to normal operation, and barring additional unplanned outages, refineries east of the Rocky Mountains should be running at more normal levels in June.
•Supply did not keep up with demand: Low production, combined with only slightly elevated imports and likely strong exports caused inventories to decline sharply. East Coast gasoline inventories normally fall about 3 million barrels from the end of February through the end of April. This year they fell about 15 million barrels—or 5 times the typical amount. Midwest gasoline inventories were already at low levels in February and fell about 6.5 million barrels by the end of April, which is slightly higher than the typical 6 million barrels.
•Concerns over refinery and pipeline flooding: In early May, concerns about renewed supply disruption risks on the Gulf Coast from refinery and pipeline flooding, particularly in Louisiana, brought further price pressure. However, after the Morganza Spillway on the Mississippi River was opened on May 14, waters rose less than expected, implying less potential for serious petroleum supply disruptions. Gasoline spot prices dropped significantly on Monday, May 16, falling about 16-18 cents per gallon in many regions, and about 26 cents per gallon in Chicago.
berttheclock on June 06, 2011 9:59 AM:
"libertarian leaning non-profit"
Leaning? Is that what one calls a falling tree just before it strikes the ground; Leaning?
That group has fallen into the ground. AFP was a split off from Citizens for a Sound Economy founded by the Koch brothers. Koch kept AFP, while Armey developed FreedomWorks. AFP Oregon runs ads which run during Lawrence O'Donnell's "Last Word". Tons of money behinds both organizations, same as ALEC, the American Learning Exchange Council, which as bought off state legislatures across the US.
BTW, AFP used such ads, very effectively, during the last Senatorial campaign in North Carolina.
c u n d gulag on June 06, 2011 10:00 AM:
The Koch brothers and their cohorts have done far more harm to this country than the 5th Columnists they were all so afraid of years ago.
Party over Country!
PARTY UBER ALLES!!!
berttheclock on June 06, 2011 10:02 AM:
Yes, BlueGirl, review should be my best friend. Must review, otherwise, some might believe $ister $arah is spell checking for me.
Mr. Serf Man on June 06, 2011 10:05 AM:
@ flyonthewall
to much readin' n shit . We want E-Z answers
Brawndo - It's got electrolytes.
stevio on June 06, 2011 10:14 AM:
THIRD WORLD AMERICA
nemisten on June 06, 2011 10:35 AM:
"These clowns just assume Americans are idiots. Here's hoping they're wrong."
Sadly, for 20 - 30% of Americans, that's not an assumption...
Sam Simple on June 06, 2011 10:55 AM:
Steve, I hate to be the one to break the news, but a significant percentage of Americans are simple-minded and either uninformed or misinformed. This bodes terribly ill for the future of this country. And to commenter Steve's point above, the Democrats haven't figured out a way to effectively refute this nonsense.
The fact of the matter is that we are running out of oil and the EROEI (energy return on energy invested) ratio is declining precipitously. This means higher prices and these prices aren't likely to go down soon, if ever. Obama needs to become educator-in-chief and start holding Ross Perot-like educational sessions with charts and graphs, to educate people on the tough reality that our energy future is very bleak unless we make radical changes.
ukesch ntstot on June 06, 2011 11:40 AM:
“Somehow, we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to levels in Europe.”
--Steven Chu, Obama Administration Energy Secretary
Steve on June 06, 2011 11:43 AM:
"...the Democrats haven't figured out a way to effectively refute this nonsense."
I don't think that the Dem's haven't figured out a way, but that they don't even try. They will throw in with the all too familiar mistake of thinking the public is too smart to fall for this "spectacle".
News Flash!! No... a large percentage of middle America are not smart enough, and by the time Dems try to refute this it will be too late. It will be ingrained into voters minds, and can and will be seen in exit polling in 2012.
Athena on June 06, 2011 12:08 PM:
LOL! And on the right side of the screen is an ad saying "high gas prices-blame Obama?".
Zorro on June 06, 2011 12:48 PM:
These clowns just assume Americans are idiots. Here’s hoping they’re wrong.
As George Carlin once noted, think about how stupid the average person, and then remember that half the people are stupider than that.
-Z
dj spellchecka on June 06, 2011 12:53 PM:
reading steve's post, i have a sense of deja vu, since i just read the chapter in griftopia that delt with the oil price spike in 08...and the ads the gop ran then...
to be clear, the reason for the spike was somewhat different, but the ads were the same
Bobby on June 06, 2011 12:55 PM:
The problem as I see it is the fact that most people who believe the lies are innocent. They are fed information through interpreters of the truth and take what they are saying as news reports. A lot of the older crowd are not dumb they just lived in a time when someone on TV said something it was real reporting and not just someones opinion. We live in an age now where what is reported is almost all opinion and very little actual presentation of fact.
With that being said you can say it is because they are dumb if you want to. I think it is because they have been deceived into thinking these news programs are actually news.
http://politicalflair.blogspot.com/
Sarafina on June 06, 2011 1:37 PM:
Here in Fort Worth, Texas, gas prices have been going down for about the past month. Currently the independents are selling for around $3.54/gallon. Barbour is mentally deficient.
2Manchu on June 06, 2011 3:25 PM:
I think you mean "Grand Island", not "Grand Rapids". I don't think we have a Grand Rapids here. And I wonder if it was Obama's fault also when I was paying $4.25/gallon back in 2008.