What does George W. Bush have to do with oil prices?

I hear people blaming Bush for the gas prices all the time. What does the president have to do with oil prices? The oil is delivered, tariffed, and sold by non-governmental industries. The American government has no control over business.What does George W. Bush have to do with oil prices?
You are exactly right. Oil prices are controlled by OPEC, a group of oil exporting nations who chose only to export so much oil each year in order to keep prices up. There's really a lot more oil in the world than people think. If OPEC didn't fix the price of oil, it would cost less than a dollar a gallon.What does George W. Bush have to do with oil prices?
Nothing, people just love to blame Bush for everything.
The liberals find it's the easy way out, to blame everything on Bush without finding out the facts first. Blaming the oil prices on Bush is the easiest thing to do on their part. If a lib was in the WH, I guarantee that they would rebut every bit of blame and would attempt to blame someone else - a republican, to be exact.
He has a lot to do with it. They're using our tax dollars to increase their oil wealth in Iraq, yet they are adding further insult to injury by gouging us instead of passing the savings on to us! Their record profits says it all! They have so much extra oil that they're selling the excess to Nigeria!!!





And how wrong are these people!


http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/bu鈥?/a>
Put ourselves as a president of any states. what is the first thing comes in mind? let says money, then what? power...then what else? women...a lot of them. this is just a chronology.





think back when people needs money the person will use any method to gain it, though many would says that money isn't everything but everything needs money. so the one who in charge will try to gain money not only generate it in their country but also other countries. in this case i might say that invansion of iraq is actually the invansion of oils.





then power, is just as essential as money .when someone had power he can asked for almost everything that he needs in order to satisfies himself. in this case it may involves selfishness and arrogant.





regarding george w.bush, i might say somehow he plays some parts in influencing the price of oils.
A great investor once said, ';Don't fight the Fed.'; He's right. The government can choose to increase or lower interest rates which has a profound effect on business in America. Furthermore, they can fight a war in a certain part of the world that causes it to become even more unstable which can directly affect business in and out of that area. Since Iraq is in the Middle East and since so much oil comes out of that region, destabilizing it can push prices up. And let's not forget about government regulation. Too much regulation and businesses start going bankrupt.
People love to blame GW Bush for everything. I feel bad for the guy, he has no control over a lot of things that went down, but he gets the blame anyway.





The president's job isn't to handle the economy, btw. The Government meddling with the economy is only going to cause more problems in the future.
get a grip
Lots.


Unrest in The ME is the cause of high oil prices.





Who is the cause of unrest at the moment?
Nothing. And the Government likes the high prices since The Government is making more money from oil than the oil producers.
He has nothing to do with oil prices at all. People need to put the blame somewhere.
When foreign investors decide that it isn't lucrative to hold onto American currency or invest in American businesses, the value of the dollar falls. They make those decisions based on bad foreign policies, poor decisions by our leader, and our overall actions as a nation abroad.


Example: there was a sharp temporary dip in the value of the dollar when Clinton loaned Mexico 22 billion, which was viewed by the world community as less than a good idea.





When the value of the dollar falls, we pay more for commodities, such as oil, that are imported.





At any point in time military action destabilizes a nation that is a major exporter of oil, the oil prices will shoot up on wall street as traders view it as a threat to supply, and a potential profit.





All the President has to do to cause traders on Wall Street to shoot oil prices up, is start bashing the leader of a country that exports oil.





The President isn't sitting in the oval office telling Exxon what price to charge for oil, like right-wingers want to paint liberals as claiming.





This is how the ';supply and demand'; the right keeps shouting, actually works.
because his family business is oil and what did it do for him to manipulate oil prices?, make him billions
The total lack of leadership and neglect of problems over time - no captain steering the ship - and this is what happens. Although he cannot control the prices directly - management of affairs relating to our energy policy and connection to the world market - is squarely in his hands - and he dropped the ball.
GW Bush has spent vast amounts of money on the war on terror. This debt either has to be serviced or repaid. The international money markets are trading against the dollar because they think this financial load will be so heavy for the US economy that it will stall. The dollar is dropping and so the price of oil is going up for the USA, in Europe it hasn't changed as much because the euro is going up rather than down.





The violence in the middle east, that W help worsen by invading Iraq, makes the markets nervous, they think the violence will lead to a break in supply, rare oil is expensive oil.





These two factors on the price of oil are direct consequences of Washington policy.
Oil price is actually not set by people who deliver or sell it. Instead oil prices are set by oil speculators. Thus, if oil speculators think that oil will be less available in the future, then the price rises. A President and his policies have a lot to do with the oil prices then. Stability in the Middle East lowers oil prices. Good U.S.-Venezuelan relations leads to lower oil prices. Effective economic policies lead to lower oil prices.





It is not so much that the President sets oil prices; however, his policies do largely influence the price set by oil. Iraqi instability, unresolved problems with Iran, no movement on Palestine-Israel peace, harse tensions between Bush and Chavez all result in higher oil prices for us.





A more effective President (for example one whose family does not benefit from oil prices that go up from speculaiton) could help keep our oil prices low.
He has maybe a little more influence on oil prices than you or me. Let's face it, it's just something else the Democrats can blame Bush for. It doesn't really matter to them if its true or not.
Nothing.





Blaming Bush is simply the cool thing to do among liberal youths and old hippies.





There are equally as many dems who have interests in the middle east to line their own wallets. Otherwise, we wouldn't be there...would we....
nothing. Arabs run most oil. It is Chinese demand pushing prices up. As the rest of the world develops...oil is more and more in demand.
I agree, sort of...he (or any other president) can't snap his fingers and change the price, but policies like the Iraq War, allowing oil companies to gouge prices without seriously investigating and allowing them huge tax breaks, and not using any of the SPR for relief do contribute, and these are things he has influence over.
Because people find it easier to blame the president than help themselves.
true, but the oil industry is one of the most regulated businesses there is.
he is to blame for the down fall of our economy...