Political Hotsheet
By

Lucy Madison /

CBS News/ March 15, 2012, 12:31 PM

Mitt Romney: Obama to blame for high gas prices

Mitt Romney.

As national gas prices average more than $3.80 a gallon, Mitt Romney sought to pin the price increase on President Obama, though he acknowledged that "no one can guarantee what the price of oil's gonna be" and declined to pledge to bring prices down to a certain dollar figure if he is put in charge.

The Republican presidential candidate, speaking in an interview with Fox News, said he "absolutely" believes Mr. Obama is responsible for high gas prices, contending that "he has not pursued policies that convince the world that America is going to become energy secure, energy independent."

Romney cited restrictions on drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), as well Mr. Obama's rejection (at least temporarily) of a permit to build a controversial pipeline that extends from Canada to Texas, as evidence that the president is sending a message to the world that "America's not going to have the energy we need."

"We're going to have to continue spending hundreds of billions of dollars out of our economy going into other nations," Romney told Fox. "Even our natural gas resources, which were going to convince people we were going to use those for purposes of getting off oil, he hasn't pursued that aggressively either."

"His policies are responsible for not having America using the energy that we have in this country," he continued.

Still, unlike his Republican presidential rival Newt Gingrich, who has vowed repeatedly on the campaign trail that if elected president he would bring gas prices down to $2.50 a gallon, Romney declined to make a similar pledge.

"Well, no one can guarantee what the price of oil's going to be, but we can take advantage of what we know we have," Romney said. "The president has lots of places to point his finger and, of course, we alone don't set world energy prices."

"But we can affect whether we send billions of dollars out of our country to people who don't like us very much, and we can determine whether energy resources we take advantage of here create jobs here, and we can determine whether we have an effect on the direction of those energy prices by having an abundant supply here."

Fadel Gheit, an oil and gas analyst at Oppenheimer & Co., told CBS News recently that he believes the increase in gas prices is a result not of the actions of the Obama administration, but rather of a spike in prices that has spurred production, as well as technological advances over the past five years. He did say a president could help bring down gas prices by cracking down on speculation in oil markets, which he suggests has added 30 percent to the global price of crude.

Mr. Obama on Thursday addressed the issue of rising gas prices in remarks at a Maryland community college, telling voters there's "no quick fix" when it comes to bringing down gas prices - and that Republicans suggesting otherwise were merely making empty promises for political purposes.

He also assailed the argument that his policies had precluded America from drilling for oil.

"Do not tell me we're not drilling. We're drilling all over this country," Mr. Obama said. "Right now we're starting to see a lot of politicians talking a lot but not doing much. And we've seen this movie before. Gas prices went up around this time last year. Gas prices shot up in the spring and summer of 2008 - I remember, I was running for president at the time. This has been going on for years now. And every time prices start to go up - especially in an election year - politicians dust off their three-point plans for $2 gas... They head down to the gas station, they make sure a few cameras are following them, and then they start acting like, 'we've got a magic wand, and we will give you cheap gas forever if you just elect us.' Every time. Been the same script for 30 years."

© 2012 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
216 Comments Add a Comment
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MIO42 says:
Yea Mitt
Bring Back the Fifties

We all want to drive those great big gas Hogs again

V - eights and super charged hemis

We' ll need cheap gas though, we're counting on you Mitt ,don't fail us

"But we can affect whether we send billions of dollars out of our country to people who don't like us very much"

Mitt have ya counted lately How many Mercedes the average Arab owns lately?
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MIO42 says:
Yea Mitt
Bring Back the Fifties

We all want to drive those great big gas Hogs again

V - eights and super charged hemis

We' ll need cheap gas though, we're counting on you Mitt ,don't fail us
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AmericanFrog says:
God I can't wait for this election year to be over with. What with Newt Fig staying in till Tampa now, Robmee and Slick Santorum going at it (forgot Slong Paul, who doesn't?), I'm gettin' headaches looking at these faces and hearing their shyte! And I thought Sarah Palin was bad! Ugh!
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fxr60 says:
Romney is right!! Did you know that one of the FIRST things Obama did when he took office-stoped the drilling on the East and West coasts that Bush had passed, along with the Democratic congress permission to drill? Obama cancelled leases on Federal land in Utah, suspended them in Montana, delayed them in Colorado and Utah, cancelled off Virginia coast. President of Swift Engery said "Obama has done NOTHING but RESTRICT access and delay permitting for drilling. We all know it is so he can push his Green energy plocies that have FAILED and cost the taxpayers millions and millions!!!
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carolo43 says:
Then I guess it was Bush's fault that gas was $4.12 per gallon in 2008?

April 21, 2008....Gasoline prices jump to a record $3.50 a gallon in some parts of the U.S.

May 15, 2008..... While many people were shocked at $3 a gallon, they were not prepared for what was about to happen as prices shot up to nearly $4 a gallon. Public hysteria sets in as consumers begin using Gas Buddy to find the lowest gas prices in town.

May 21, 2008....Oil price skyrockets to $130 a barrel. Holly cow!!!

June 9, 2008...Retail gas prices rise above $4 per gallon.

In the early summer of 2008, when the average price of a gallon of gas in the US topped $4, a wide variety of Fox News figures were quick to push a simple message: don't blame the Bush/Cheney administration.
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Beyond-The-Spectrum says:
Oh please...neither Obama, Bush, or any president can affects gasoline prices so directly. This rise is about market investors/speculators driving up the prices, and geopolitical instability. If politicians would stop engaging in scare tactics and admit there are no simple answers (no, new drilling won't work...the supply wouldn't even reach the market for 5 years given the logistics and preparation it takes to dill and process oil) other than America going back to creating something the rest of the world wants...like alternative sources of energy!
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bassinapple says:
Pres. Obama smeared Republicans for showing up at gas stations and talking about $2.00 gas. Oddly our media has decided not to report candidate Obama did the same in 08.
http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-TV/2012/03/16/CNNs-King-Mocks-Obama-Speech
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jimatmadison says:
What are the core principles that Mitt Romney is running on?

Besides cutting taxes even more for himself and his rich buddies, I really can't figure that one out.

He flops around more than a carp in a canoe. You can never tell where he's going to land on anything, other than the fact that he's going to say whatever he thinks today's audience wants to hear.
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stevehamilton858 replies:
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Amen. Thank heaven, he'll never get elected in November. the wingnut evangelicals will vote for anyone but him.
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A_Canadian_Opinion says:
Hey Mitt, you lie to your friends, and I'll lie to mine, but let's not lie to each other.
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nearl451 says:
I guess Obama is also to blame for cancer and that the moon is made of green cheese also.
YAAWN.
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