Gas Prices - Another Right-Wing Lie Exposed

The GOP and every Right-winger here likes to point out the price of gas when George Bush left office was about $1.89 or so as if a snapshot of gas prices tells the whole story. The truth is that once the Great Recession of 2008 hit gas consumption plummeted for a very brief period of time at the end of 2008 and so did gas prices. Gas prices had been averaging about $3.67 a gallon until this very temporary dip. Four years later, the average is about 3.76 or so a gallon but you will never hear the Right talk about what George Bush did to lower prices (essentially wreck the entire economy) nor can they point to any policy of Obama's that has increased gas prices. No taxes, no additional tariffs, no restrictions on drilling that have actually had an effect on gas prices.



As proof of the temporariness of the gas price dip at the end of 2008, I give you this 5-year chart.

View attachment 546

 

What about the BO admin's desire to raise US gas prices to "European levels" as a means to force people off fossil fuels?

 

The graph is kind of interesting to look at when it is not chopped off at 2008. I am sure the 2 different factions will draw their own 2 different interpretations.

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One thing I noticed is that, for about 3 years, gas prices had not been higher than about 3.15 before the up and down blip of mid/late 2008. But they have not been below 3.15 in the last year and a half. In other words, our old ceiling is now our new floor. I just see it as another part of the New Normal do to horrible Executive and Legislative management this country has had over about the last decade. But that is just my own interpretation.

 

Very interesting that you pick the single cause ("the Great Recession of 2008") and assign the entire price drop to that one single cause. I find it most curious that the drop in price correlates - to the day as best I can read - of this announcement dated July 11, 2008;

http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/07/11/us-energy-bush-idUSMOL15913820080711
Now, unless you believe that the oil companies manufactured history and coerced Reuters to repost that article on the net, I think you have posted nothing but your made up news.

 

(gazing at graph)...It is amazingly coincidental that the price of gasoline dropped so suddenly from September to Christmas in 2008....in that, the claim of such a comparatively low price on Obama's inauguration day is accurate.

Amazingly coincidental.

(points above David's head) ...Squirrel!

 

I guess you are correct - if you choose to ignore July and August!

 

I'll keep saying it until it soaks in....the Obama admin is on record advocating $8.00+/gal gas as a means to force us off fossil fuels! The problem with their strategy is that there have been no cheaper, viable alternative fuel sources developed. Raise prices a .25, drop them .15...repeat as needed until the price settles in at the desired level. This manipulation is eased in gradually as to limit the public outcry along the way.

 

Are you suggesting there is coincidence afoot?

 

How coincidental!

 

(stands knee deep in water)...Look, if I knew you little brats people couldn't swim, I wouldn't have agreed to be here. If I have to babysit their asses, I think they should be coughing some dough my way....or all they all the cheap bastards I think know they are?

Screw it...(takes off shirt)...I am so goin' deep, baby! ...(dives in)...

 

If you would bother to read post #4, I think you could answer your own question, but then that is on the internet.

 

The reason I focused on 5 years is because what the Right constantly says is that when George Bush left office, gas cost such and such and now under Obama gas costs such and such. The 5 years clearly shows that at the end of 2008 gas prices dipped temporarily right after the recession began and if you trot out the price for just the end of 2008, you would think that gas was affordable under Bush which of course it really wasn't all that different of an average price from today. So yet another disingenuous Right-wing talking point is explained but will continue to mean exactly the opposite to the sheep that hear it. So be it.

 

Well, I think the $1.87 is certainly misleading but I also think that saying that it was averaging $3.67 is also, well, not telling the whole story. When dealing with the 2 parties, I believe the truth is, as usual, found somewhere in between. When you take out the aberration of the run up to >4 and run down to <2, I think one can see a lot better where we were then and where we are now.

 

BTW, the gasoline consumption dropped even further in 2009 and 2010 (the last year I can find). So why didn't the price of gasoline stay low? OH!!!! That's right! Obama closed all the fields that Bush was going to open. It is beginning to sound like the price correlates pretty well with the governments drilling policy

 

Does BO have an energy policy??

I sure hope that new fangled alt-diesel fuel becomes available pretty soon, BO has mandated it's use for more than 6 months now!! Did you know the BO admin is levying fines against farmers for not using a certain type of fuel & that the fuel whose use they are mandating isn't even available on the market????

 

Sure he has an energy policy - see how much he can screw everything up for the oil companies and to spend all our money on "green energy" overseas and bankrupt companies.

 

DRILL BABY, DRILL...!​

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U.S. gas prices at highest ever for Labor Day weekend​

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September 3, 2012​

The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline hit $3.80 on Monday, up 14 cents from the same time last year, the highest price ever recorded during a Labor Day weekend, GasBuddy.com reports.​

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U.S. drivers hit the road in droves in one of the nation’s busiest weekends, seemingly undeterred by the high gas prices, due, in part, to Hurricane Isaac, which forced oil refineries on the Gulf Coast to close, according to Reuters.​

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On Friday, the average price of gas was $3.83 per gallon, according to AAA. Monday’s price of $3.80 beat the Labor Day record of $3.68 set in 2008, the association reported.​

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Average gas prices grew by nearly 31 cents a gallon in August and have risen 11 cents since August 22, when forecasters first predicted that Isaac would reach the Gulf Coast and threaten to close oil refineries, AAA said in a report, according to Reuters.​

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Still, AAA projected that 33 million Americans would travel 50 or more miles over the Labor Day weekend, including 28.2 million by car.​

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The projected number of car travelers would be 500,000 more than last year, AAA said.​

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According to GasBuddy.com, the lowest gas prices could be found in Colorado, New Mexico and South Carolina, which average about $3.50 a gallon, while Hawaii, Illinois and California offer the highest prices, at more than $4 a gallon.​

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Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/09/03/us-gas-prices-at-highest-ever-for-labor-day-weekend/?test=latestnews#ixzz25SwmtC2W​

 

Funny. I haven't heard any farmers mention this. Anyone else?

 

Gas prices fluxuate as we all know. Average gas prices will also fluxuate depending on the time period averaged to make an obvious point. Gas prices have generally increased or the average price has increased my entire life fairly steadily. The average gas price from 2001-2008 should by all accounts average a little lower than the average price from 2009-2012 and in fact the average is a little higher for the latter period. No news here but to say that gas prices were $1.87 or so under Bush is just crazy talk for stupid people and of course that works well with the base of the GOP.