Politics and the Price of Gas

[Melissa G]

The weasels must be sure of our votes here in Austin 'cuz we are still in the $2.30's. I wonder what a map of gas prices would look like nationally and how it would correlate to seats R's need to KEEP!




Politics and the Price of Gas
GRANVILLE, Ohio -- The price of gas is an ongoing story on the Ramble. As we've driven from district to district, we've kept a close eye out to see how low gas will go.
Last night, exiting off of Route 16 we saw the first signs for sub-$2 gas. Three stations offered fuel for $1.98 or $1.99 per gallon. By the time we reached our hotel -- in Newark, Ohio -- the cost was back up to $2.19.

snip
The politics of gas are fascinating in these congressional districts as Democrats in nearly every one are hammering their Republican opponents for accepting donations from oil and gas companies. Despite the drop in the cost of a gallon of gas, most Democrats insist they are not concerned that it will blunt one of their key issues in the fall campaign.

Cincinatti City Councilman John Cranley (D), who is challenging Rep. Steve Chabot (R) in the fall, said the declining price at the pump made little difference to his call for a new energy policy. "The government should not be subsidizing the most proiftbale corporations in the history of the world," he said.

In the midst of the back and forth on gas prices comes a new poll from Gallup that shows large numbers of the American public are skeptical about the timing of the cost cuts. Forty-two percent of the sample said that the Bush Administration had "deliberately manipulated the price of gasoline so that it would decrease before this fall's elections," while 53 percent said the price drop had nothing to do with the President.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2006/09/more_gas.html

[RedHaze]

1. Hmmmmmmm

You got to wonder though. It is quite the coincidence.

[JimDandy]

2. No doubt the price is being manipulated.

Utah, which has the highest gas prices in the nation (around $3/gallon,) is also the reddest state in the nation. The prices here are unchanged. Undoubtedly the GOP is confident of across the board congressional victories here -- hence no need to reduce gas prices.

[Melissa G]

4. There was a poll on another thread that said folks believed

the price was being manipulated for the elections. I'm glad to hear some of the folks are waking up from the kool-aid!

edit for link to that discussion...Consumers skeptical of dropping gas prices
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2530167

[JimDandy]

6. Thanks for the link Melissa. n/t

[Awsi Dooger]

3. Could be an interesting state-to-state study

Whether Bush's approval rating bumps more in the states where gas prices have decreased most dramatically. The West is definitely not seeing the typical price decline, for whatever reason. I checked the gas price sites in many western states and they are 20-50 cents above the national average.

I'm in Las Vegas and the closest station to me is $2.98. Six weeks ago we were 3 cents below the national average, now more than 30 cents above that average. I can find low $2.70s if I drive a few miles but it's certainly not dropping at the rate of other states. Contrast that to a year ago, when this city was significantly below the prices in the southeast, post Katrina.

[Melissa G]

5. they say capitalism is a good thing for consumers

but these mega monopolies price fix and then try to lower prices to keep their puppets in place so they can continue to reap record profits!