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.