The Observer, October 19, 2007
Volume XL, Issue 8
Blame Bush for record high oil prices
To the Editor:
This week, oil prices hit a record high of $85 per barrel, but don't tell Canada or Europe; they've barely noticed the drastic rise in oil prices over the past six years. Why? Because as the dollar loses value due to the poor fiscal policies of the Bush administration, the price of a barrel of oil has dramatically increased relative to said dollar while barely appreciating against stronger currencies.
According to Christian Weller, senior economist at the Center for American Progress, the price of a barrel of oil rose 162 percent relative to the dollar from January 2002 to October 2004, but only half that much (77 percent) in Euros during the same time. Since then the dollar has continued its precipitous drop while oil continues to climb
steadily higher on the world market, leading to drastic increases in oil prices relative to the dollar.
So don't blame the oil industry for prices at the pump. You can thank the Bush administration directly for driving our fiat currency straight into the ground with reckless, borrow-and-spend economics and a war that has us hemorrhaging blood and treasure to the tune of 12 billion worthless dollars per month.
Vote Ron Paul in the upcoming GOP primaries March 4, 2008 for an end to the war and a sound monetary policy.
Jeremy Oehlert
Shaker Heights, Ohio
