Impeached judge and leading Democrat finally gets the truth out.

The Dems have no plan for high gas prices.

U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Miramar, has a double dose of predictions on gasoline prices that nobody wants to hear: Prices are going up a lot more, he says, and the nation doesn’t have any good ways to bring prices down.

“There are no short-term answers. And I know that there’s going to be long-term pain. I predict to you that gas prices will be as much as $5 before the end of this year and they will go to $6 at some point next year,” he said during an interview with reporters and editorial writers at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

“When they go to $6 it will fluctuate between $5 and $6 and more for some time to come. That’s the harsh reality no matter what law we pass,” he said.

“I get tired of hearing people, politicians, friends of mine, Democrats, Republicans, liberal, conservative, all of them telling you they have the answer,” said Hastings, serving his eighth term in Congress. “There ain’t no answer, OK? … All the talk is feel good talk.“

Well, isn’t that comforting?

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Ted, you start from a couple of viable foundations… ala the prices have risen astronomically in a short period of time, and that there are may issues in play. After that, you ignore your own caveats, and go for the single problem/blame result. Granted, that’s what the media and Congress are feeding you. But yet you ignore your own gut feelings.

I’m going to just address your concerns of speculators as it relates to the short time period for price increases .. as it may shed light on more aspects than you realize.

As I talked about in an updated FA author post, Oil Prices, “psychological shortages” and “hope”, speculators (who you are quick to blame) are a consequence of the cycle, and not the cause. In order to stop the cycle, you must address the cause. And that cause is still supply and demand.

UPDATE: oops sorry, you are on the thread I mentioned. Here’s the longer, more info packed thread, the a’political look at the oil prices.

Speculators are merely responding to a widespread psychological fear (by press, US etal) that oil will run out, and thereby playing the financial game of hedging the market for profit. In the short term, this is a good bet. Long term speculators are working on a completely different mentality, and I’m not discussing that one here. Let’s talk short term, which is probably the bulk of the futures run.

Fact one: even the peak oil alarmists admit there is ample oil available. (as I mention in this very long article above, which you probably didn’t read…). They are basing their propaganda on reports of existing fields which do not correct and revamp for gross decline). They are also not including new fields. And lastly, they are saying that even tho the oil is there, it is cost prohibitive to obtain it. All of this is flawed/debatable data that morphs with new technology and exploration/discovery. So put aside that Mother Nature is a glass 1/4 full of petroleum… it just ain’t so.

However, during the past decade, the oil drilling/exploration industry has suffered from lack of investments by a PC driven world. In essence, we lost time because no one started building new offshore drilling ships (there is a shortage to accommodate for all the offshore discoveries and projects…), obtaining leases, exploration, as well as other sundry world wide prohibitive issues and red tape.

Now that the world’s demand has really hit home via the wallet (not just the US), and the alternative energies do not prove either advanced or affordable enough to handle the demand, the world is snapping back from their global warming reverie to reality. All nations… EXCEPT the US because of our Congress… are exploring, and/or making moves to start revamping existing fields to minimize the peak oil decline, or begetting new fields.

i.e. Brazil has ordered construction of 40 drill ships, completed by 2017, for the third largest find in three decades offshore that country. Projects are also on the move in Argentina, Peru, Norway, Hungary, Cuba, Canada’s Saskatchewan, Uganda, Pakistan, SW Queensland, Tunisia… the list goes on.

Only the US isn’t anywhere in the list.. And US is among the top consumers of oil. Ironic, eh?

Bringing this back to the “psychological fear”, if buyers think they are buying the last few Wii computer games on the shelf, they pay more. If they know more Wii’s will be available down line, they’re not so desperate to pay high price. Thus “psychological fear” and it’s effect on pricing. Investors will adjust with the “psychological benefit” of more future reserves, and the pricing will adjust.

This is a factor mentioned by McCain as a benefit of drilling, supported by Daniel Yergin in his Congressional testimoney to the deaf-mute US elected elitists. It is a theory when, coming from McCain, was embarrassingly scoffed at by Obama as a “gimmick”. Little did he know one of the leading experts was saying the same thing on Capitol Hill. oops…

Remove the apocalyptic issues of oil, and the speculator/investors will correct … just as it’s been doing for over a decade. Afterall the premise of supply demand problems is not a new one. So we’re looking for what’s different in the information mix. And that would be “apocalypse now”, so to speak.

Now, in addition to the fear mode, add in the very real and immediate 25% loss of Nigerian sweet crude over the past year. That’s another factor adding into the short term speculation. Immediate supply vs future reserves’ supply. That is a reality that cannot be thwarted, so some increase is still expected for shortages.

All in all, I think you should redress your quick finger pointing and start including more pertinent factors besides Congressional desire to regulate – all under the guise of “doing something” in an election year. They are the epitome of the smoke and mirrors you are “sick” of.

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Contrary to what US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman says I don’t think supply and demand are really causing the problem. There are to many other factors at play here. Too many middle men skimming profits. Too much manipulation of supplies and inventories. The price of oil nearly doubled and gas went up a third in just one year and yet figures are coming out that indicate we are using less gas, not more, probably because people are cutting back on gas. That clearly means supply and demand have nothing to do with these prices. Speculation is driving prices !!! Lawmakers blame loopholes in commodities trading like the Swaps loophole or Enron Loophole. Whatever you want to call it, It’s a get rich quick scheme and not much less obvious than a pyramid scheme. There is no way supply is causing this gas crisis. I put the full blame on speculators and commodities traders and I am sick of the smoke and mirrors. The meeting in Saudi Arabia hasn’t achieved any substantial results from what I can see. The price of oil is still going up. There must be something else that’s driving prices up and I think I know what it is. Although il appears to be a good hedge against inflation, a lower dollar and a low oil supply, in reality nothing could be farther from the truth. The main thing driving inflation is oil prices and as inflation goes higher investors buy more oil driving inflation higher again. Some experts predict this will trigger the worldwide recession. This will result in lower gas consumption and it will free up more gas supplies.. I am no expert but even I can see the writing on the wall. Investors are going to loose their shirts on oil. We may be looking at another ENRON. Hedge funds will topple leaving old age pensioners with nothing. The government won’t be able to bail them out this time because the cost would be far to great. The CFTC and ICE will be too slow to react to the cracks forming in commodities trading so the govenment will finally step in. By that time it will probably be too late. http://www.nbtv.ca

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There are more problems then just high gas prices. How about high food prices, conserve on food as well? How can Obama say that he wants the middle class prosper when he is willing to send food prices through the roof? Are we really willing to wait until 2035 to see what happens to people in this country if we are unwilling to take care of ourselves. To blame it on Bush is despicable. He had a comprehensive energy policy in 2001 which the democratic congress would not even contemplate. Shame on them! Maybe someone should pull it out again.

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