What The House GOP Doesn't Get About Rising Gas Prices

A Shell Oil facility in Singapore If President Obama is responsible for the high gas prices here in the States, is he also responsible for the high prices across the globe? While Americans are paying about 12 percent more for gas than they were a year ago, Italians are paying over 18 percent more and nearly all of Western Europe is paying more for gas now than they were a year ago, as is Canada, Australia, and Japan. Should we start blaming President Obama for these increases, too?

The fact of the matter is that gas prices are high globally because the price of oil is high globally. Oil prices have risen 15 percent just since January, largely due to sanctions on Iran—an oil-producing nation. When you restrict the outflow of oil, it decreases the supply. Couple the decrease in supply with rising demand due to recovering economies and the greater demand from emerging economies and the inevitable result is increased global oil prices. If oil prices remain this high, the nations that consume oil will pay a record $2 trillion for oil imports.