Political Quotes

“Mr. President, once again, oil prices have spiked to high levels threatening our economic recovery. Prices are now nearing $110 a barrel, up nearly 30 percent since October 2011, only 5 months ago. For years now the commodity markets have taken the American people on an expensive and damaging roller coaster ride with rapidly changing prices for crude oil. In 2007, a barrel of crude oil started out costing $50 a barrel. By the end of the year, the price had nearly doubled. In 2008, oil prices shot up in July to nearly $150 a barrel, and then by the end of the year crashed to $35. In the beginning of 2011, oil prices took off again, climbing to over $110 per barrel in May. Then they began falling. In October oil traded at $75 per barrel, a drop of more than 30 percent over 4 months. Now 5 months later oil prices are back up to nearly $110 a barrel. This unpredictable and incessant price volatility is burdening American consumers and businesses with both uncertainty and expense. Some in the media are blaming recent events in the Middle East for the latest oil price spikes, but Middle East instability cannot explain these large gyrations. We have seen uncertainty, unrest, and armed conflict in that region for more than 50 years without seeing this same pattern of extreme price volatility in oil prices. That volatility has become a feature of U.S. oil markets over the last 7 years.…”