Can the President of the US affect oil prices or not?

Conservatives are defending Bush by saying the President cannot control oil prices.





Then, in the next breath, they are saying that President wants to lower oil prices by allowing more oil exploration.





Which is it?Can the President of the US affect oil prices or not?
they have no logic





I am still puzzled how Obama can be a Muslim, go to a racist church and be an ultra socialists (atheist) at the same time.Can the President of the US affect oil prices or not?
The president DOES want to lift the ban on offshore oil drilling which would increase the supply and thus lower costs. Democrats however are 100% against this. So yes, the president CAN put policies into place that could help lower costs but he can't do that with a democrat majority in the House and Senate.





Make sense?
The President plays a role but he cannot do it alone. Congress has to pass a bill for the President to sign. Congress did pass such a bill and Bill Clinton vetoed it. So, obviously, that President, by preventing us from starting the drilling 12 years ago contributed to today's high crude oil prices.





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Absolutely the President can.





Bush can impact the price of oil by strengthening the dollar by fixing his flawed trade policy. This is the main reason for high gas costs, our dollar is weak because the executive's fiscal and trade policy is seriously flawed.
Yes





Bush is an oil man isn't he?





And no he doesn't want to lower oil prices, he want to make more money for him and him crew.





Can't wait till he is gone.
well, if the legislator allowed bushs bill of drilling in america to pass then oil prices mite go down. then again theres plenty other stuff bush is doing thats ******* up the economy which in turn ***** up the oil. oh rite and iraq
Congress can directly affect the price by lowering the taxes on gasoline to as low as the profits made by the oil companies that produce the gasoline.


Currently the Government makes more than TWICE as much as the oil companies.
Congress legislates. The president can ask Congress for legislation but the only thing the president can actually do to affect oil prices (short term) is to draw out oil from the strategic oil reserves.
Not directly, unless they limit price increases. Allowing drilling allows private companies to affect the supply of oil and thus the price. If being in favor of free enterprise counts as the President controlling prices then maybe he can..
Conservatives say alot of things that don't make sense. I guess that's why they attack education so much. If people are able to think intelligently, they will stop supporting conservative policies that only help the rich.
Certain policies and government doings can affect prices.


Starting wars in oil rich regions will do that, but mostly it's consumption, stop driving so damn much.
Congress can affect oil prices. That is what he did the other day... asked congress to allow more exploration. Learn to read everything not just the headline.
Fact: Bush raised the price of gas by 400% due to his inablity to create a good policy.
He can indirectly through his actions and policies.
He can influence it with policies and actions. ex increasing fuel taxes or managing an economy poorly.
Only the Oil Companies can effect oil prices by telling the President what to do
The president can do only what the congress and Supreme court let him
When he was first campaigning he said he would ';jaw bone'; with OPEC to keep oil low.
There are some things he can do but most involve Congress. Oil is a world commodity and based on supply and demand, that is normally what rules when it comes to the price of oil





We have a couple of issues driving the price up.





1. Weak US dollar. Anytime our imports are greater than exports, our dollar becomes weaker. This is the trade deficit and no, there is no quick fix because some countries wont buy our goods.





2. Congress has choked Oil production for many years. Oil prices have been flat and economists agree, should have increased from the 40-60 dollars per barrel, to about 90-100 dollars per barrel to correct for inflation. Not having new refineries in the last 30 years, coupled with the clean air act, which means refiners have to met certain standards with their product, it slows down the process of refining.





3. Oil and gas are available in several places from Virginia, south to the tip of Florida, along the California coast and in Alaska. Due to environmentalists controlling the liberal congress, we have not drilled any of this oil.
Bush can't control the global price of oil.





But Bush CAN control the behavior of oil corporations within the United States, pressing for more refineries, and for expanded drilling, as well as accountability for pricing.





The large oil corporations conspired to leverage out the smaller lower-priced companies during the Bush years, so they could name their price.


Exxon is the # 1 corporation on the Fortune 500 list, and its profits are larger than the 2, 3, 4, and 5 corporations on that list combined. Their profits have far outpaced their rise in production costs.





Bill Clinton's largest contributors were gay-activist organizations. The first thing Bill Clinton pushed for as president was the gays-in-the-military ';don't ask/ don't tell'; policy, along with other gay advocacy.





W. Bush's largest contributors were oil corporations. And I think they've likewise seen a return on investment of their campaign contributions.