The economic policies and misery index similarities Ohioans have endured during the administrations of Barack Obama and Jimmy Carter are nothing new. However, you should be aware of yet another dreadful linkage between the two big government liberals which may not have caught your eye: both presidents saw gas prices double during their first terms. In fact, as of this morning, President Obama has seen an even higher gas price increase than Carter dealt with under his administration.  

I guess that is what Joe Biden was referring to recently when he said that the United States' "energy policy's the best it's ever been." Talk about out of touch!

Republicans, led by House Speaker John Boehner and Senator Rob Portman, have continued to discuss domestic energy manufacturing by holding Barack Obama accountable for the consequences of his anti-energy policies, and promoting a substantive "all of the above" strategy to promote job creation and economic prosperity right here in Ohio.

Senator Rob Portman toured the United States Steel Corp. in Lorain last week to view a process that has become a leader in the nation in seamless pipe manufacturing for offshore, arctic and shale drilling. Recently, during a radio interview with Fox News Radio, Senator Portman took President Obama to task for a 14% decrease in oil production on federal land which has occurred under his watch, a notion deemed factually accurate by PolitiFact Ohio and The Cleveland Plain Dealer:

"The president says, you know, 'we're doing more.' Well, on public lands, we're doing less. Last year, we produced 14 percent less oil on public lands than we did the year before. We should be doing more on public lands, and that's the outer continental shelf and what's going on in Alaska and so on," Senator Portman said.

In a recent Weekly Republican Address, Speaker Boehner challenged President Obama to urge Senate Democrats and Sherrod Brown to act on House-passed energy bills:

The bipartisanly-supported American Energy Initiative, championed by Speaker Boehner and Ohio's congressional delegation, would increase domestic manufacturing, repeal policies that increase gas prices, and create jobs.

Sherrod Brown has been in and out of elective office for thirty-eight years, and during that time he has amassed a job-killing voting record which has hindered American energy independence:

• Sherrod joined Barack Obama and voted against approval of the Keystone XL Pipeline.
• Sherrod stood with Barack Obama and voted for an amendment that would have prohibited the export of crude oil transported by the Keystone Pipeline.
• In 2011, Sherrod voted with Barack Obama and against a bill that would have directed the Interior Department to sell leases in the Gulf, and off the coasts of Virginia and Alaska.
• In 2006, Sherrod voted against a bill that would have authorized leases for oil and gas exploration, development and production in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

As U.S. Senate candidate Josh Mandel explained last year in his Wall Street Journal op-ed, it appears that the Obama administration, Sherrod Brown and Washington regulators are determined to slow our state's steady climb to economic recovery by burdening potential investors and energy companies with onerous regulatory obstacles. Thankfully, for Ohio consumers experiencing pain at the pump, Governor John Kasich, Attorney General Mike DeWine, and our Republican-led General Assembly are committed to ensuring that energy exploration and manufacturing moves forward while being conducted in a safe manner, compliant with state EPA regulations.  

What's clear is that this November, we will be able to add a final item to the long, painful list of similarities between Barack Obama and Jimmy Carter: they both will be one term presidents.