What do you think will happen to oil prices if Obama is president? n/t

[cynatnite]

[Clovis Sangrail]

1. same thing as will happen if Hillary or McCain became president

they'll go up

:shrug:

[jody]

14. What Clovis Sangrail said. Presidential candidates are puppets for the corporate party.

Benito Mussolini said "Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of State and corporate power."

Theodore Roosevelt said "'Behind the ostensible Government sits enthroned an invisible Government, owing no allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. To destroy this invisible Government, to dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics, is the first task of the statesmanship of the day.... This country belongs to the people. Its resources, its business, its laws, its institutions, should be utilized, maintained, or altered in whatever manner will best promote the general interest.' This assertion is explicit. We say directly that 'the people' are absolutely to control in any way they see fit, the 'business' of the country."

Abraham Lincoln said "This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember it or overthrow it."

[SergeyDovlatov]

20. seconded - n/t

[pitohui]

24. and yet history says otherwise

look at what oil prices were predicted to be in the 90s sometime

look at what oil prices actually were under clinton

wow, sometimes this leadership thing actually works

[SergeyDovlatov]

26. to alter the current status quo you need radical reform ...

like cutting down oversees expenditures by billions of dollars and returning troops home from all over the world. Also figuring out what to do with entitlement bomb.

Unless those issues are addressed. Inflation will continue and geopolitical situation will remain iffy.

Somehow I don't feel that such radical reforms can happen under Hillary, Obama or McCain.

Kucinich, Gravel or Ron Paul. Maybe. But elites won't let them into the white house. I think Obama is safe and approved candidate. Thus, no radical reform can be expected.

[sandnsea]

2. Depends on global stability and the dollar

and how quickly we get to alternative energy and fuel efficiency.

[cynatnite]

12. On the news tonight they contributed today's jump to some saber rattling by Israel n/t

[Selatius]

3. If Bush leaves a war with Iran as a parting gift for Obama, oil prices will be sky-high. nt

[NaturalHigh]

4. They'll keep going up.

Obama is not going to make a difference one way or the other even if he does get elected.

[wuushew]

7. Why do you say that?

The odds of international conflict certainly add some component to the overall price of oil.

[movonne]

13. Another debbie downer...

[DJ13]

5. Depends on the amount of oversight he wants over NYMEX

My guess is he'll be very aggressive in enforcing laws against manipulation, so the prices should decrease rather rapidly after he's sworn in.

[ben_meyers]

11. What laws? Most of the financial regulations were repealed

in 1999. The Glass-Segal Act put in place after the last depression were effectivly done away with.

See this article from Mother Jones.

It's the Deregulation, Stupid

Commentary: Democrats from Carter to Clinton helped roll back the government's regulatory power, but as the economic crisis deepens, "regulation" is no longer such a dirty word.

By James Ridgeway

March 28, 2008

http://www.motherjones.com/commentary/columns/2008/03/deregulation-economic-crisis.html

[ben_meyers]

6. He will get the credit if they come down,

and the blame when they don't. Who ever wins the Presidency is going to inherit a global mess, dog save them!

[onehandle]

8. Oil prices are where they are and will stay there.

Don't expect miracles under any new administration.

[INdemo]

17. No..These oil prices are where they are because of commodity speculating

With a President in there that will force the SEC to enforce the laws governing these markets, we will see a drastic drop in oil...The prices we are seeing today have little to do with world demands or supply.Google "high oil prices" or "oil speculating" something similar and you'll find several articles about the oil contract speculating and I think you will agree that we are being held hostage by millionaires buying oil contracts and holding them until potential profits are at their highest.

[gullwing300]

9. Continue to increase.

It's not rocket science.

[JDPriestly]

10. Depends on whether there is an investigation into some of the

speculation on oil, the success of Obama's ability to restart our economy so that the world once again has at least a little confidence in the dollar and whether Obama carries through on his promise to jump-start investment in alternative energy technologies and installations. So, we'll see.

[ThoughtCriminal]

15. Continue to rise, but maybe not as fast

We've wasted almost 8 years by not adopting higher efficiency standards. Also, the economic damage thet Bush's disasterous fiscal irresponsibilty to the dollar is not going to be repaired for a generation. For every year they were in office - figure 2-4 years to undo assuming they NEVER control Congress or the Whitehouse during that time.

[goldcanyonaz]

16. Nothing, we need to revolt! I am ready, just tell me where and when cuz

my husband and dog ain't gonna make much of an impact

[DCKit]

18. Then use them for ammo.

Kidding.

[cloudbase]

19. No simple and pat answers to this one.

Obama could promote policies that may strengthen the dollar versus foreign currencies, and that would drop the price of oil. Long term, he'd have to have congress implement some real energy policies that move the U.S. toward a modicum of energy independence. This would serve to reduce the price of oil, too.

I can envision the first happening, but even today I doubt that congress has the will to really do anything to bring about the second if they haven't done anything in the last 35 years.

[elfin]

21. Possibly go down in the fears that finally the US will take real

steps to meaningful conservation and alternative energy. Attempting to lure us into thinking such hard efforts are not really needed.

[Hekate]

22. I think we've hit peak oil and are screwed, that's what I think. Obama can't bring back 1950.

What we need is comprehensive policy changes, and I hope to gods Obama can get them enacted and enforced immediately.

Hekate

[pitohui]

23. i know what happened to oil prices when clinton was president. sigh

how soon they forget, oh lord, how soon they forget!


as for those who fantasize that politics have nothing to do with oil prices, dear god, i wish i had some of what they're smoking!

i hope obama gets good advice from good people but even if he falls flat on his face he can't do worse than those (the GOP) who openly sell us to the saudis

[Dreamer Tatum]

25. Obama can probably impact the price of oil

...via the value of the dollar. When the dollar is weak, oil (which is still quoted in dollar prices) effectively
goes on sale, and the quantity demanded therefore increases in the short run. That said, the weak dollar also
restricts the supply of oil, since it is drilled in euros (or dinars, or...) but sold in a much weaker currency.
The result is higher prices per barrel.

Obama's problem will be to strengthen the dollar by wielding tools that (a) he can't control himself ,
and (b) are likely to restrict economic growth here in the USA.

It's a tough, tough problem. Oil prices will not decline just because Obama is in office, I assure you.

[ladjf]

27. That might depend upon how successful he is with alternate

energy initiatives.