Thanks to a torrential maelstrom of jokes on Twitter persisting all throughout the next day, far too many people only remember Romney’s “binders full of women” hiring comment following Tuesday night’s highly contentious debate.
Unfortunately, what has seemingly gone unseen is one of President Obama’s most economically ignorant, logically fallacious, and intellectually offensive remarks he has made as of yet – his contention that high gas prices means a strengthening economy.
The president’s ridiculous remarks on gas prices and the economy were unfortunately overshadowed by a seemingly hilarious internet meme that paints a portrait of Romney as a sexist for his “binders” comment.
Nearly 20 minutes into the debate, Romney stated that when President Obama took office, the average price of gas was less than $1.86 per gallon. Now the average price of gas is more than $4 per gallon.
Obama’s reply to his contender’s statement: “Why is that? Because the economy was on the verge of collapse…so it’s conceivable that Governor Romney could bring down gas prices because with his policies we might be back in that same mess.”
That’s an interesting idea, but it’s splitting hairs, and as one of America’s most entertaining political figures, Joe Biden, once said: “With all due respect, that’s a bunch of malarkey!”
President Obama was inversely insinuating that we should be grateful that gas prices are no longer so low because it means that our economy is nice and healthy thanks to him. Not only is it logically untrue, but it makes no economic sense. While it is true that a steady period of growth also directly creates some inflation, it is not true that the presence of inflation in a commodity market indicates the presence of growth. The facts dictate quite the opposite.
Thankfully, the NRCC noticed this and released an array of credible material that not only debunks the President’s insinuation that our economic recovery is not as anemic as we think, but also illuminates some of the greater problems in our nation’s current energy policy. Here’s some perspective:
Romney was right when he said that production of oil and gas on public land is down 14 percent and 9 percent respectively. Fossil fuel production is down by more than 12 percent. The unemployment rate remains above 7 percent. The jobless rate has risen by 46,000. Real family income has fallen $3,290 during Obama’s presidency, and the state average monthly expenses for gas range from $241.75 to $434.06. But don’t worry about all those facts because those higher gas prices mean that our economy must be doing fine!
Let’s also recall that President Obama championed Cap & Trade, a policy that would, under the most conservative estimates, have sky rocketed the price of electricity by $340 per family, and President Obama confirmed it.
To be fair, there are severe limitations as to what our government can actually do to immediately lower oil prices, but gas and oil prices are not high because of economic recovery. According to the Institute for Energy Research, they are high because of increased world demand, decreased domestic supply, the OPEC supply cap in the Middle East, and excise taxes (which alone counts for 12 percent).
The energy debate was where Romney’s performance was arguably the strongest, and it is a crucial issue for the country because our energy policy is the clearest link between the welfare of our economy and our foreign relations. Whoever wins the election will need to enact a decisively strong energy policy to combat the rising prices as well as possess a clear understanding of how to create real growth.
The economy has remained weak for three years and the president has not only failed to bring down energy prices, but willingly campaigned to increase them. He is seemingly under the impression that the higher energy prices is a sign that America is getting better, so it is no wonder that this issue is where President Obama’s re-election bid is deeply vulnerable.
And maybe once the binders of women joke dries up, more people will actually take notice.
