I'm surprised more DUers are not (apparently) reading the Kerry 'debunker' blog....
http://blog.johnkerry.com/dbunker/BUSH FICTION: George Bush and Dick Cheney will stand up to their big contributors in the oil industry.
FACT: John Kerry will provide real solutions to lower gas prices and fuel the American economy.
Making America Pay: The $24 Billion Bush-Cheney Gas TaxThe Bush Administration's failed policies have created record high prices for gas. Americans are paying 12% more for gas since former oil industry executives Bush and Cheney took office on the pledge that their ties to the oil industry would lead to lower gas prices. Instead of helping consumers who will pay $24 billion more for gas this year, Bush and Cheney are aiding oil companies' record profits and increasing American dependence on foreign countries.
Bush Gas Tax Hike Costs Americans $24 Billion More. * Economist David Rosenberg told CNN’s Lou Dobbs that “pain at the pump has wiped out more than $20 billion of the coming $40 billion in tax refund checks.” How? On January 5, consumers paid $1.51 for an average gallon of gas. As of today – less than three months later – they’re paying $1.75 per gallon, a 24 cent increase since January. According to the Wall Street Journal, “every penny increase in a gallon of gas costs consumers $1 billion a year.” That’s a $24 billion gas tax hike this year alone.
* But that’s not all: nationwide gas prices have risen 12% since 2000, and are expected to skyrocket upward to $1.83 a gallon this summer – a 17% increase since Bush took office.
* Guy Caruso, the administrator of the Energy Information Administration told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee that an average family will spend about $1,700 for gas in 2004. At today’s gas prices, this means that an average family will spend over $300 more for gas than they would have if prices were at the level they were the week Bush took office.
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/ftparea/wogirs/xls/pswrgvwnus.xls; AAA, http://www.fuelgaugereport.com/index.asp; Wall Street Journal, 3/24/04; Reuters, 3/9/04, via CNN Money; Energy Information Administration, http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/txt/ptb0522.html; Guy Caruso, Testimony before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, 3/4/04; Energy Information Administration data>