Marcy Kaptur: “here we go again. According to Reuters news agency today, oil prices held just below record highs on Wednesday as fund…”

“here we go again. According to Reuters news agency today, oil prices held just below record highs on Wednesday as fund buying continued to dominate the market even though the United States Government said crude oil stocks had risen to their highest level for 8 months. Looks like the Saudi campaign promised to keep prices low before the election has now come to pass. Now that we are past the inauguration, oil prices are going through the roof. Today, U.S. light crude rose 11 cents to $54.70, within a dollar of record highs hit last October. Oil prices are up, the dollar is down, and our economy is sputtering. And the demand for oil is just about to increase with summer and vacations coming on. The stock market fell by more than 100 points today based on investors' fears about these rising oil prices. The price at the pump has also gone up significantly in the last few weeks if you have not noticed. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the average price at the pump this week is $1.99, up seven cents from the end of February and a 26-cent increase from 1 year ago. What a down draft on economic growth that is. In fact, the gas price increase is up 15 percent. That is more than five times the rate of inflation. Ohio's gasoline price at the pump today is 11\1/2\ cents up from the last week of February. Currently, Ohioans are paying over $2.05 for their gasoline and the upward trend is not going to stop there.”