Bush to blame for Iran nuclear crisis, gas prices

[evanrick]

Imagine a world where George Bush did not invade Iraq.

If we have anyone to thank for all the uncertainty on Iran, where we may face an actual threat, its George Bush.

Americans might not want to go to war again, Iran may get nuclear weapon, and like the boy who cried wolf, the townspeople will not want to help the boy being eaten by the wolf, except its all of us who will pay the consequences, its all of us who may have to pay for his mistakes.

Its the soldiers of the NEXT war with Iran if there is one, and the current TWO wars we are already in who will pay with their lives thanks to George Bush.

Its OK to place blame where it belongs, within the GOP and the neo-cons and George Bush who lied to get America into a war with Iraq.

Now that we are leaving Iraq they are slaughtering each other. Is that what we wanted?

I hope im not overstating the influence of George Bush and his mistakes, but is it possible he has damaged America irreparably?

I know a war with Iran is a hypothetical, but how many have we radicalized by thinking we can solve ages old struggles so arrogantly?

 

[MystikWizard]

I am really not sure if you can blame Bush for tensions between us, Israel, and Iran frankly.

The bottom line is that their desire to enrich uranium is what is creating a lot of tension in the region ... and thus driving speculators to inflate the price of crude.

We simply don't know if they want a weapon or whether they simply want to develop their nuclear technology. Obviously, an overwhelming percentage of the world's population feels they are lying and want to develop a bomb.

I have gone back and forth on this so many times. On one hand, if Israel has nukes, then why can't Iran?

On the other hand, there is clearly no good that can come out of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon. It would lead to an arm's race in the region and more than likely, keep crude at a very high cost indefinitely.

In my opinion, this is completely separate of Bush's invasion of Iraq.

If there's anyone to blame for high gas prices, blame the speculators for constantly looking for reasons to inflate the price of oil.

 

[CowboyBob]

Imagine a world where George Bush did not invade Iraq.

Yes, imagine a world where Barbara Bush used birth control (back in her day she would have held an aspirin tablet between her knees) and there wouldn't have been a Jeb, Dubya, Neil and their criminal offspring.

Because of that family, thousands of people around the world and here at home are dead and maimed for life and live in poverty. This family's misconduct has cost billions of dollars.

9/11, Wall Street Collapse, Silverado Savings and Loan, Afghanistan & Iraq Wars, prescription drug fraud, assorted sexual misconduct, smuggling. All thanks to the Bush dynasty.

 

[chrisrobin]

as for "blaming Bush" I'm wondering if the statue of limitations is ......

There isn't any. Why should there be?

as for the price of gas

Repeatedly, I have heard sound bites of Bush cronies declaring that the president has nothing to do with gas prices. What's happened between then and now? I already know the answer.

thinking that the current President might want to consider the rich resources we have right here in the U.S. and mine them rather than listen BLINDLY to those who think that drilling is a dirty word like slut

One of those "drill baby drill" zombies? There has been more new oil sourcing during the last three years than in the entire Bush administration. The Keystone project is another Neocon wet dream. Fewer jobs than stated. The resulting oil isn't ours anyway. It belongs to the world market. The only thing that is ours is the resulting fucked up environment that the pipeline would cause. And by the way... currently, the world is replete with gasoline. The laws of supply and demand have been outmoded by the speculators.

 

[chance1]

^ Pres. what's his face has been in office 3 years no? i think it's time for him/his supporters to own the sitch

price of gas is reflective of things the Pres. can impact - exploration and drilling is one of those - he gets an F on that front

no zombie here - although i do love "Walking Dead"

the zombies are not "no drilling" one noters that on one side of their mouth complain about the price of gas and the other say "NO drilling" from an ideological standpoint

FSU baby

 

[chrisrobin]

Basic Premise: The Republicans' goal is to make Pres. Obama a one-term president.

Bush did not put the Middle East wars in the budget so he would look good. Good luck on that one! Pres. Obama included the Middle East wars in the budget which ballooned the deficit. He was then accused of being a spendthrift - a "tax and spend" Democrat.

In the same manner, if Pres. Obama would find the cure for cancer, the Republicans would accuse him of putting oncologists out of work.

Analogy: When are we going to stop accusing Japan of bombing Pearl Harbor? Never, because that's what happened. Spin it any way you like.

 

[swerve]

^Thanks Chris for pointing out that oil is traded in a WORLD market -- and what we drill here will have LITTLE impact...

The HIGH PRICE of oil is what is making other forms of extraction more viable as an investment -- possibly with MORE risk to the environment...

The problem I have with oil prices has more to do with the speculation allowed in the commodities market -- for oil, since it is traded via U.S. Dollar, shouldn't be allowed (as a protection of the Dollar) to be a speculative investment for those who have no intent or need of the actual delivery of the product...

Other commodities DO NEED the capital injection that these markets provide -- but NOT oil...

I wish our government would become AGGRESSIVE at regulating this type of speculation -- it only HURTS us...

 

[MystikWizard]

^Thanks Chris for pointing out that oil is traded in a WORLD market -- and what we drill here will have LITTLE impact...

The HIGH PRICE of oil is what is making other forms of extraction more viable as an investment -- possibly with MORE risk to the environment...

The problem I have with oil prices has more to do with the speculation allowed in the commodities market -- for oil, since it is traded via U.S. Dollar, shouldn't be allowed (as a protection of the Dollar) to be a speculative investment for those who have no intent or need of the actual delivery of the product...

Other commodities DO NEED the capital injection that these markets provide -- but NOT oil...

I wish our government would become AGGRESSIVE at regulating this type of speculation -- it only HURTS us...

I couldn't agree more with this. And I am going to have to respectfully disagree with Chance in that I really don't think drilling here would result in that much of a price decrease in crude, due to oil being a global commodity. We may save a few pennies, but hardly anything noticeable.

The amount of damage that could come from another oil spill, as what occurred in the Gulf, far outweighs saving a few pennies at the pump. Look how many people's livelihoods that ruined? Not to mention how much it affected tourism, the environment, etc.

There needs to be a long term solution to this problem and it involves taking a giant leap to more fuel-efficient vehicles. However, we need leadership to make this technology affordable and feasible for regular travel. As far as electric vehicles, we simply aren't there yet from an efficiency or affordability standpoint.

And sadly, there are many in the Oil industry who will see to it that we never get there any time soon.

 

[Kulindahr]

price of gas is reflective of things the Pres. can impact - exploration and drilling is one of those - he gets an F on that front

Obama could issue ten thousand more leases on drilling spots and it wouldn't make one bit of difference.

Why? Because companies aren't drilling -- they're sitting on the leases they have now! Over one half of all the leases for oil drilling in the U.S. are just sitting there.

All that opening up for more drilling leases right now would do is allow the oil companies to rip off the American people, because they'd sit on them, too, waiting till the price of oil goes even higher. So unless you think the president can effectively nationalize the oil companies and tell them where and when to drill, your "F" for Obama is ludicrous.

 

[opinterph]

… The problem I have with oil prices has more to do with the speculation allowed in the commodities market

I wish our government would become AGGRESSIVE at regulating this type of speculation -- it only HURTS us...

A key problem associated with bringing about an end to oil speculation (and the resulting artificial escalation of gas prices) is an effort underway by some conservative lawmakers, banks, and others to thwart implementation of the Dodd-Frank regulations. Chris Hayes moderated a reasonably understandable explanation of this problem on his show Saturday morning.

Roadblocks to Financial Reform Regulations (Cue in at about 7:45 for a more specific mention of oil speculation.)​

This same regulatory struggle was evident more than a year ago:

The Dodd-Frank Financial Reform bill, signed into law on July 21, 2010, mandated that the CFTC write rules for the oil markets designed to stop speculation from controlling prices on crude oil and gasoline and driving them to astronomical levels, as they did in 2008. The bill also demanded that these rules be in place and working by February of [2011]. [Huff Post Business]

 

[JB3]

Yes, imagine a world where Barbara Bush used birth control (back in her day she would have held an aspirin tablet between her knees) and there wouldn't have been a Jeb, Dubya, Neil and their criminal offspring.

Because of that family, thousands of people around the world and here at home are dead and maimed for life and live in poverty. This family's misconduct has cost billions of dollars.

9/11, Wall Street Collapse, Silverado Savings and Loan, Afghanistan & Iraq Wars, prescription drug fraud, assorted sexual misconduct, smuggling. All thanks to the Bush dynasty.

Wall street would have collapsed without Bush being in office.

 

[Kulindahr]

A key problem associated with bringing about an end to oil speculation (and the resulting artificial escalation of gas prices) is an effort underway by some conservative lawmakers, banks, and others to thwart implementation of the Dodd-Frank regulations. Chris Hayes moderated a reasonably understandable explanation of this problem on his show Saturday morning.

Roadblocks to Financial Reform Regulations (Cue in at about 7:45 for a more specific mention of oil speculation.)​

This same regulatory struggle was evident more than a year ago:

So speculation right now has added seven bucks to the price of a fill-up for a twelve-gallon tank. That's not any value being added, it's not any work being done, it's not anything being produced... it's just manipulating the flow of oil to siphon off money to those filthy rich who do no work.

How is this not theft?

 

[Kulindahr]

Wall street would have collapsed without Bush being in office.

 

[JB3]

No you can pretty much guarantee it. The most important pieces of deregulation that contributed to the collapse happened before Bush even got in office.