CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL THE GOP THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE NOT STUPID?

Rochester, N.Y.-- President Obama was recently in Miami talking about gas prices (see video below), making a pitch for an "all-of-the-above" energy policy that would rely on oil production, alternative energy, and improved fuel-efficiency standards. Anticipating the Republican response, Obama added, "Anybody who tells you we can drill our way out of this problem doesn't know what they're talking about, or just isn't telling you the truth."

If an "all-of-the-above" policy sounds vaguely familiar, there's a good reason: as recently as 2008, it's what Republicans said they wanted, too. But like health care mandates, cap and trade, the DREAM Act, the payroll tax cut, and contraception coverage, the GOP is now against what they were for a few years ago.

Regardless, Republicans aren't just demanding expansive drilling. They're also pushing foolish talking points that's quickly become ubiquitous on the right. The GOP must think the American people are stupid-- that we can't figure this out on our own. House Speaker John Boehner says the president would like everyone to forget that gas prices have doubled over the past three years while he consistently blocked and slowed the production of American-made energy. Nothing could be further from the truth.

These talking points are just ridiculous nonsense; oil production has increased every year under Obama's presidency, and is now higher than it was at any point in Bush's second term. But it's the first part that's important.

At first look, the GOP line may seem compelling. Indeed, at a certain level it's just a matter of arithmetic -- either the price has doubled or it hasn't.

But for those who care about context and a more thorough understanding of the situation, the relevant details make all the difference.

Most American consumers know the price of gas always rises in the summer-- and predictably, prices will go down right about the time when the kids go back to school.

Nothing Santorum or Boehner or Gingrich or Obama says is going to change the fact that the United States is an increasingly small part of the global demand picture. When China, India, or Brazil get richer, their citizens start trading bicycles for scooters and mopeds for cars. They’re flying more airplanes. This increases the global demand for oil and pushes prices up. All else being equal, this is inconvenient for American drivers.

But it’s far from clear that it’s permanently harmful to the American economy. American firms are hoping to export goods and services to rapidly growing economies. Every time Boeing sells a plane to an Asian airline, that increases the demand for jet fuel and makes driving marginally more expensive. But we’re better off in the fast-growing world than in the slow-growth, cheap-gas world of three years ago.