Average Gas Prices in US hit $3.909 Last Week and Republicans Still Lie.

This morning President Obama called once again for the end of subsidies for oil companies in light of another round of reported record breaking quarterly profits for oil corporations. The president continues his calls to end the 4 billion per year government gas subsidies to the oil industry and to invest in clean energy. This comes as oil companies are reporting record profits and the cost per gallon of gasoline have reached nearly 4 dollars a gallon.

“While rising gas prices mean real pain for our families at the pump, they also mean bigger profits for oil companies,” he said. ‘When oil companies are making huge profits and you’re struggling at the pump, and we’re scouring the federal budget for spending we can afford to do without, these tax giveaways aren’t right.’’

But the Republican response counters that the cost of gasoline in the US is the responsibility of the president himself. This is an interesting position to take since they denied the power of the president to control consumer pricing during the Bush administration (the last time prices for gas were over $4/gallon). Their argument today holds that it is because of Obama’s policies that limit domestic oil production (drill baby drill) and unnecessary environmental regulations are driving up the price for consumers.

Unfortunately, once again, the Republican position is light on facts. They ignore the record breaking profits (over $30 billion for the top 5 oil companies) at a time when consumers are suffering. The statement that domestic oil production is down is flat out false. Drilling leases are being given out at a faster pace than under W Bush. The companies themselves are simply not drilling- an interesting way to drive up oil prices by cutting supply that is happening around the globe. Further, environmental regulations- even those that have proven ineffective in light of the BP blowout in the gulf- have remained unchanged under the Obama Administration.

But let us suppose that everything the Republicans are saying is true- go ahead and twist your brains into that reality distorting funk necessary to hold such positions. Even then, their position does nothing to bring relief to the consumer and only serves to advance their political agenda. They have offered no bill to deregulate. Other than using it as a rally cry they have not advanced any bill to increase domestic oil production. They have not demonstrated how increased domestic oil production would bring the price down. Contrary to the policies they ran on in 2010 to reduce spending they seem committed to maintaining a subsidy for companies that are reporting quarterly profits unmatched by any business in the history of the world. It would be hard to argue that a subsidy that is dwarfed by the profits of the recipient should be maintained.

There could probably be an intelligent debate about these subsidies. What was their purpose when they we instated and do they still serve to meet that goal would be serious topics of conversation. But as long as you have a right wing that would rather spread fiction and attack the opposition than stand on the strength of their position, that serious conversation will not happen.

Oil prices- history and differing opinions

I originally posted this on May 28, 2008

May Gas Prices for the past 8 years--
May 15, 2000-- $1.67/gal

Then we elected a Republican Oil Man to the White House in November of that year.
November 13th, 2000--- $1.70 /gal
May 14, 2001--- $1.88 /gal
September 10, 2001--- $1.69 /gal
October 15, 2001--- (people have blamed price on Sept. 11) $1.50 /gal
December 31, 2001--- (last lowest price) $1.28/ gal
May 13, 2002--- $1.58/gal
May 12, 2003--- $1.68/ gal
May 10, 2004--- $2.11/gal
January 10, 2005 (last time average was under $2.00) $1.99/ gal
May 9, 2005 $2.39/ gal
August 29, 2005 $2.80/ gal
September 5, 2005 (first time average is more than $3.00) $3.29/gal
May 15, 2006--- $3.15/ gal
September 11, 2006 (five years since september 11 attack) $2.85/ gal
May 14, 2007 $3.28/ gal
October 15, 2007 (last time average was under three dollars) $2.99/ gal
May 12, 2008 $3.94/ gal

$1.67 to 3.94 is a 236% increase. And people wonder why our economy is so bad off.

Either every calculation that this administration has made was completely off the mark, or they are not so incompetent as we might think. As a congressman Dick Cheney spoke vehemently about letting the market set the price for oil even to the extent of saying that if the market could bear $4.00 a gallon, than that is what the cost should be.

After 7.5 years in charge- they got their wish. And the oil companies are pocketing all of that money.

There was one particular response to this article and commentary today because the commenter mistook it for an article about gas prices today.

The obvious and most striking reality here is that, after 2.5 years in office gas prices have crept up to what they were under President W Bush. Republicans are calling for Obama's head now and they are gaining some steam in doing so. The reason they get any success with this tactic is two-fold. First, it has always been the left's position that government can and should do something about such situations (The right only holds this position when they accuse the left of not doing enough. As a result people on the left buy in to the notion that their elceted officials on the left are not doing enough. The people on the right appreciate the gamesmanship of their leaders. They seem to care very little or not at all about the integrity of their position.

The position of the right allows them to stand for their corporate interests by doing absolutely nothing and blocking action from the left while at the same time criticizing the left for not doing anything.

It might be interesting to track gas prices from May of 2008 to the present. I think the patterns will play out much the same- remember that gas prices peaked over $4/gallon under W in the summer/fall of 2008 and dropped off again below $3/gallon before the election. There is no election this year and I am willing to bet that the oil profiteers are banking on the fickle nature and short term memories of the American consumer. As a result we may not see the seasonal break next fall. This would allow them to push the price toward $5 or $6 by summer of 2012 and count on Republicans to blame Obama in that election.