Obama Mocks GOP's '3-Point Plan' for Cheap Gas

He says he'll cut red tape for Keystone's southern leg

(NEWSER) - President Obama defended his oil policy yesterday, pledging to speed up approval of the southern leg of the controversial Keystone pipeline project. "Anyone who says that we're somehow suppressing domestic oil production isn't paying attention," he said, adding that boosting production in the US won't be enough to bring prices down. The southern leg of the pipeline will go from Oklahoma to the Gulf of Mexico, eliminating a bottleneck in crude oil production. Obama was heavily criticized earlier this year for rejecting plans for the Oklahoma to Canada part of the pipeline. More»

Krauthammer: Obama 'fatuous'; Krugman: GOP 'intellectually bankrupt'

(NEWSER) - The US president may not directly control gas prices, but Barack Obama's "disdain" for oil is still hurting Americans terribly, writes Charles Krauthammer in the Washington Post . Restricting drilling, vetoing the Keystone pipeline, and similar anti-oil moves are killing thousands of local jobs, hurting relations with Canada, and sending billions of dollars to Venezuela, Russia, and Saudi Arabia. Trying to develop alternative fuels of the future is a waste of time and resources. "Drilling is the single most important thing we can do to spur growth at home while strengthening our hand abroad," writes Krauthammer. High gas prices are "a constant reminder of three years of a rigid, fatuous, fantasy-driven energy policy that has rendered us scandalously dependent and excessively vulnerable." Full column here . More»

President testing leaders' pulse on lowering gas prices

(NEWSER) - With Americans facing spiraling prices at the gas pump that could threaten a nascent economic recovery, President Obama and British PM David Cameron yesterday chewed over the possibility of tapping the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. The president has taken a drubbing both in approval ratings and from Republicans quick to blame his energy policies, and faces a tricky balance between achieving real relief and accusations of playing election-year politics. No agreement was reached, but Obama is likely beginning to test global leaders' appetite for such a move, notes Reuters . "We will continue to work together to address energy security and oil price issues," says a senior White House official. It could be months before a decision is made. More»

Sure, policy affects things ... eventually

(NEWSER) - As gas prices rise, President Obama's approval rating falls , which makes sense, because those painful numbers at the pump are all his fault, right? Wrong, say oil experts and economists. The Washington Post breaks down their arguments:

• Policy: It definitely affects things, but it takes a long time for that to happen. Cars can take a decade to turn over, for instance, so tightening fuel efficiency rules doesn't kick in immediately. One expert notes that legislation George W. Bush signed in 2007 is helping stop the "current situation from getting worse."

Approval rating drops 9 points in a month

(NEWSER) - Another poll has found President Obama's approval ratings falling sharply, and the Republican contenders gaining. The New York Times / CBS poll found that Obama's approval rating has dropped 9 points from just a month ago to 41%, with voters increasingly unsure about his handling of foreign affairs. The poll—echoing a Washington Post/ABC poll released yesterday —found that Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum have gained against Obama, who now holds only a 3-point advantage over Romney, and 4 points over Santorum. More»