Obama has the most influence over what you pay at the gas pump

To the editor,

Gasoline hit $5 a gallon in California and is close to $4 in N.H. and it's going higher. The usual suspects, big oil and speculators are to be rounded up and publicly flogged in hopes of keeping voter unhappiness pointed in their direction and not toward Washington. Oil price gauging will be prosecuted is all political cover. There has never been anyone or any company convicted of oil price gauging despite countless political witch hunts. Why? Because there is none to prove.

As much as you and I may hate speculators they provide much needed service. Indeed, they do drive up prices. They also support them when any asset falls rapidly in price. When the stock market crashes for whatever reason on any day, who supports prices from falling even further? Speculators. They are a double edged sword and do as much good as harm. Civil unrest in the Middle East is heightening tensions and making oil more valuable on purely FEAR which speculators thrive on.

America has little control of the events in other countries. We surely cannot stop speculators from speculating; many of whom will lose fortunes as well as make them. What we CAN CONTROL that has a great deal of impact on what oil costs and gasoline costs is the value of our own currency. Since election Obama has turned the dollar into toilet trash printing greenbacks 24/7 in good part to finance the socialist agenda. The dollar sits now just above it's all time lows in history and destined to go lower. The price of gas is likely to DROP a buck a gallon (yes., a buck a gallon if not more) the day that Barack Obama announces the dollar printing presses have stopped and he endorses policies that produce a strong dollar, including raising interest rates.

The ONE PERSON in the United States who has the most influence on what YOU PAY for gas at the pump every week is not big oil or even speculators. It is the president of the United States through his policies. A hefty 80-percent of all commodities in the world trade in dollars and that includes oil. When the value of the dollar drops, people selling oil want more of them to maintain their buying power. The price you pay at the pump is tied directly to the dollar's value. Every new dollar printed makes every other in existence worth less and every commodity traded in dollars more expensive. Just about every commodity including corn, silver, gold, wheat and cotton are all trading near or above their all time highs in history and will cause the price of every thing you buy to be come more expensive. Lowering currency values goes hand in hand with lower living standards. Don’t like the price of gas? Call Obama.

Tony Boutin

Gilford