OIL: Obama pulls a slick one

As one of millions of Americans struggling with sharply increasing prices I felt immense gratitude to our president for releasing the emergency stores of oil to alleviate our suffering by lowering gas prices at the pump. Then my emotions waned and my brain kicked in and I realized that the oil purchased to fill in the reserve was far cheaper than the oil we will have to buy to replace it, the cost could be double that of the initial outlay.

The big splash made by the announcement of presidential heroics will shortly feel like a cold dash of water to the face because the reserve oil will only last a few days and prices will soar yet again. Is this starting to sound familiar? We are spending ourselves into oblivion with the president performing cheap tricks to cover the failure of all of his policies in the long term. The Gulf of Mexico production is being curtailed, Alaskan drilling is restricted but we can give money to Brazil and become "customers" of theirs all the while President Obama attempts to placate Americans with another head fake. I can only ponder on whether he's the dumbest president ever or if he's deliberately deconstructing this country and trusts that the American population is too stupid to catch on.

LINDA COOK

Rathdrum