Obama: No 'silver bullet' on gas prices

WASHINGTON, April 23 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama said Saturday "there are a few things we can do" but "there's no silver bullet that can bring down gas prices right away."

In his weekly radio and Internet address, the president said with U.S. gasoline prices at about $4 a gallon "you see politicians racing to the cameras, waving three-point plans for two-dollar gas. You see people trying to grab headlines or score a few points."

"The truth is, there's no silver bullet that can bring down gas prices right away," he said.

"But there are a few things we can do. This includes safe and responsible production of oil at home, which we are pursuing. In fact, last year, American oil production reached its highest level since 2003," Obama said.

The president said "the economy is growing again and we've seen businesses adding jobs over the past year" but many Americans are still out of work, paychecks aren't getting bigger and costs are going up.

He said U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has initiated a task force to "(root) out cases of fraud or manipulation in the oil markets that might affect gas prices, including any illegal activity by traders and speculators."

Obama also called for ending "the $4 billion in taxpayer subsidies we give to the oil and gas companies each year."

"That's $4 billion of your money going to these companies when they're making record profits and you're paying near record prices at the pump," he said.

"Instead of subsidizing yesterday's energy sources, we need to invest in tomorrow's," the president said. "We need to invest in clean, renewable energy."

Obama called such a policy "the key to helping families at the pump and reducing our dependence on foreign oil."