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- iHaveNet.com: Politics
by Meg Handley
With talk of gas prices heading north of
Gas prices have surged to their highest February levels on record, jumping to
"Just like last year, gas prices are climbing across the country. This time, it's happening even earlier," Obama said, speaking to students at the
"And when gas prices go up, it hurts everybody -- everybody who owns a car, everybody who owns a business. It means you've got to stretch a paycheck even further," he added.
Obama also fired back at Republicans who've blamed him for steadily increasing prices at the pump and warned simply drilling for more oil won't solve the underlying problems pushing fuel costs higher: perennial turmoil in the Middle East and growing energy demand abroad.
"The American people aren't stupid," Obama said. "They know that's not a plan, especially since we're already drilling. That's a bumper sticker. That's not a strategy to solve our energy challenge."
The president countered the familiar
But others aren't so sure the president's words and actions match up as well as he'd like for voters to think. While championing an America in control of its own energy destiny, Obama has nixed plans for projects and policies that would increase domestic production and ease gas prices such as the Keystone XL project, says Jack Gerard, president and CEO of the
"This administration's actions and its policy proposals are out of sync with its words," Gerard said in a conference call. "The administration is restricting where oil and natural gas development may occur, leasing less often, shortening lease terms, going slow on permit approvals, and increasing or threatening to increase the industry's development costs though higher taxes and more regulations."
A more restrictive energy policy "is not a prescription for increased oil and natural gas production," Gerard added, and doesn't generate "the jobs and more affordable energy that America's workers and consumers need."
AMERICAN POLITICS
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Obama Fights Back on GOP Gas-Price Attacks | Politics
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