GOP Deceptions About Gas Prices

[SunsetDreams]

Well, here they go again. With nothing positive to campaign on, GOP strategists have decided to launch a messaging war against President Obama, blaming him for the high price of gasoline. According to the New York Times, the GOP argument is that when Obama took office in 2009, gas was $1.89 per gallon. Today, the price for that same gallon is $3.52. So it must be Obama's fault. Rick Santorum even says that the Democrats "want higher energy prices."

But as I teach my undergraduate students on their first day in class, it is easy to make statistics lie. And you can bet that as the GOP unleashes its attack dogs on the White House, they'll do just that. What they won't tell you, for example, is that under George W. Bush, the price of gasoline increased from $1.60 per gallon when he took office in January 2001 to $4.40 per gallon in July 2008, a jump of 275 percent.

Now it's true that when the economy crashed, the price of gasoline decreased temporarily, in part because the economic meltdown suppressed demand. When Obama took office in January, 2009, the economy was at its low point, and as a result the price of gas was at a low point as well. As the economy improved under Obama's direction, the price of gas returned to its pre-crash baseline.

So the GOP deceptions are based on conveniently forgetting that: (1) the low, 2009 price of gas was simply a reflection of the economic meltdown that they helped cause; (2) before the crash, gas was even more expensive under Bush than it is now; and (3) rising gas prices are a reflection of our economic rebound.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/aaron-belkin/gop-gas-prices_b_1286787.html

Fox News Resumes Perennial Gas Price Charade

As the employment outlook improves, Fox News is advising Republicans to focus on blaming President Obama for rising gasoline prices -- a claim with no relation to economic fact.


Fox News Talkers Converge On Highly Misleading Talking Point

Fox Blames Obama For Change In Gas Prices From January 2009 To Now. On at least six occasions in the past week, Fox News has pushed the talking point that gasoline prices have almost doubled (increasing 83% or 90% or 91%) since Obama took office in January 2009. The claim was also promoted this week by the Drudge Report and CNSNews, as well as the Senate Republican Conference. Fox falsely suggested that Obama's energy policies are to blame for the increase in prices, without explaining that prices were low in January 2009 because the recession slashed demand.

...

Gasoline Prices In Canada Have Followed Same Trend As U.S. The following chart shows that gasoline price trends are basically the same in Canada as in the U.S., underscoring the fact that prices are driven by the world oil market and not by Obama's policies. The difference between the two lines reflects the fact that the U.S. has relatively low gas taxes.

http://mediamatters.org/research/201202160012

[DJ13]

1. I suppose since the GOP is upset about high gas prices

They wouldnt object to Obama calling their bluff and seeking tighter regulations on commodity speculation, would they?

lol

[cbrer]

8. That might be the best move under the current paradigm.

President Obama will not be pointing out the free market fallacy of oil prices (commodities markets and oil companies controlled by corporate gluttons). Nor will he be attempting to cut oil company subsidies that artificially prop up the prices of oil and gas.

So lacking those strategies, he'll probably throw it back in their faces and make them put up or shut up. Not that they will...

How did American (global?) politics become so disconnected from reality? Oh, I forgot, American politics requires ACTIVE involvement by the (purportedly) true bosses.

*insert* "successful" before "American".

[Lugnut]

2. Here's what I noticed.

President Obama spoke of eliminating subsidies to the oil companies in his State of the Union address. I told my husband to watch where gas prices would go that week. The prices started going up the day after the State of the Union address and haven't stopped climbing. Coincidence? I don't know. You tell me.

[progress2k12nbynd]

3. I don't think tying this to the economy works...

Demand is at an all-time low, 1 war is over, and we're in the dead of winter. High demand, 2 wars, summer driving, and GWB were all blamed in summer 2008. What's the reasoning now?

[abowsh]

5. There isn't much a president can do to influence gas prices

Sure, they can do a few things that might have a small impact on gas prices (such as changing subsidies, tax rates, etc.), but these only account for a few cents, not the multi-dollar change in prices that we regularly see.

Speculation is the biggest player here. So in a sense, a president could have an impact. But the rise in gas prices are mostly based on increased demand and the threat of decreased supply (Iran threatening to withhold oil).

[SunsetDreams]

4. .

[Kurmudgeon]

6. I haven't noticed many liberals running oil corporations.

[SunsetDreams]

7. needs another look