Why don't high gasoline prices hurt Bush?

I remember back when Clinton was president, I kept hearing that if gas was above $1.50 (or some other figure) per gallon, Clinton could not be re-elected, or Gore elected. The rising price of gas was made to be a real liability for a sitting president, so much so that he could lose his job for it.

Now that gas is well above $2 dollars, you NEVER hear that liability bit regarding Bush. I never hear how high gas prices could hurt Bush. And Bush and Cheney and many in that cabal are all OIL men!!!

Of course we know the answer. Now that a Repug is president, the whore media will never bring it up. And all the Pug sheeple with their gas-guzzlers who would otherwise be screaming for the head of a Democratic president somehow find they can tolerate absurdly high gas prices when one of their own is in office.

Just had to vent that.

right now and that's with a Republican loaded poll.

Also-give it a few more months. And then take away the ss check from grandma. He should be mighty popular by then.

But really-damn it people-march in the streets or something-it takes no gas to do that-but they did just raise the bus fare to get there.

End the nightmare. Impeach Bush NOW. < sign suggestion

when asked "what do you think of Bush's overall domestic policies" he told them he thought * was the worst pres. we ever had....they hung-up on him....how's that for a skewed poll?

would mean cheap gas. You'd think they would be feeling pretty stupid by now.. It's called willful ignorance..

them after the election.

down at least 50 cents per gallon right before each election.

costs the bush*monkeys MONEY. Now they have ole shrubby* wag the war on terra finger and scare everybodies attention away from pressing domestic issues like price-gouging. No more "election-season discount" and the government picks up the tab for the die-version!

/madness

The company I work for has gas stations. Right before the elections, all the economic models went crazy. Retail prices were still relatively low (ever see gas prices lower in the summer than they were in the spring?), but the wholesale prices were up a lot. IMO, blatant market manipulation by the big oil companies, keeping retail prices at their stations low to re-elect the Chimp, but charging at wholesale prices reflecting what was really happening in the market.

Post election, $3 and higher come this summer

gas and how people are feeling about it. So far, the media has not tied the price of gas to BushCo. They are doing their corporate duty to protect Chimpy. I can tell you, from what I hear from my friends and acquaintances, people are pretty steamed about it. But you won't hear the main stream media report that, they are SO in the pocket of corporate America.

that is the cure all. lol

...that if Kerry were in office now as he should be, people would be screaming for his head over the gas prices? (Completely aside from the fact that prices might not be where they are today, if Kerry were in office....)

of the oil reserves to bring down the price. Then of course their old standby that Kerry has no energy plan, blah blah blah...

Even though that lowered prices, he said he would cut the fed gas tax. I don't reckon he can do that now, being that he gave the top 2% of income earners such a hefty cut, he could hardly afford to.

and that prices are so high in spite of the fact that we are in control of the largest deposits of oil on the planet. He will need another war real soon in order to distract the public.

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money, are they not?

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press lets on either...

As recently reported (by Palast? can't remember). The PNAC neocons wanted to steal the Iraq oil, sell off the assets, ramp up production and break OPEC. The oil companies said, "are you fucking kidding me, man? We, uh, like high prices." Guess which side won?

The population won't let them steal it. Make no mistake "oil wars" are for-fucking real.

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Give me a "T"

You are not here to point out "logic," you are here to harass people. For example, here you are calling us whiners:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=3428964#3429144

Why are you here, posting to a Democratic forum, if you love der Führer Bush so much?

By the way, PNAC is full of evil "jeenyuses." You should read their manifesto sometime, because they control your destiny here on Earth. If you support Bush and the PNAC agenda, you are a traitor to America!

Missed him!

With these momma's boys, verbal masturbation is an addiction! :D

... Bush** is both stupid and he has ulterior motives. His ulterior motives for the war in Iraq are not precisely known, but it is absolutely well known that he was planning to go into Iraq long before 911 even happened.

The reason things did not turn out as he expected is that he is a fucking moron.

I promise you he's not going to be re-elected.

But it didn't appear to hurt him during the 2004 campaign.

And it's still fishy how none of the pundits bring up high oil prices while an oil man is in the White House.

His approval ratings are falling. You don't here about that because of the wall-to-wall news converge of Terri and now the Pope. Plus, I think that people are thinking the prices will go down sooner or later. If prices don't go down, Bush will be in big political trouble.

Teflon Ron has NOTHING on this simian. Gas could be 6 bucks a gallon and O'Lielly, Scar-burrow and that pubic-haired queen Brian Kilmeade wouldn't be able to pry their tongues away faster from Bush's anus to proclaim that "inflation-adjusted, this isn't THAT bad of an increase."

approval goes to 1%, what does he care?

after all, 50.8% of this country supposedly "voted" for that son of a bitch, right?

What exactly do moderates like yourself have against the left anyway?

I'm part of it, for God's sake! I may be a moderate on DU, but that translates to left-wing in the real world.

And people's opinion of the President goes up and down. If results are to be believed, 50.8% of people thought he would be better than Kerry would as president. That does not remotely imply that 57% of people could not, six months later, believe that he was not doing a very good job.

But hate the left? I'm just saying the truth! He *is* hurt by gas prices! In order to be liberal now you have to believe that Bush is the Prime Evil and Antichrist that has the American populace firmly in his sway, when in reality he's a barely accepted, rather unpopular, rather weak president?

Did you just transmute "Why do the facts hate America" to "Why do the facts hate the left?"

Right, I see. He's a bad president when it's CONVENIENT and people can now ACT like they never put him in office, but back when, Oh HORRORS, the prospect of homosexuals havin' a chance at gettin' hitched . . . your taxes getting raised . . . and the big bad BROWN Arab boogeymen attackin' Nebraska if'n that French-fried Lib Kerry gets in the White House - he was a GOOD president back then. He just happened to be a GOOD president at the right time (i.e. when Redmerica's personal predjudices and fears might have come true).

If this indeed hurts him, why is nobody doing anything ABOUT it? Where's the leadership from the opposing party? Where are the more rational Republicans (if there IS such a thing anymore) wondering why gas is going up despite a supposedly driving economy? Where . . . well, I don't need to tell you where the media is.

I mean, I just find it SO difficult to believe that not ONE of the 57% who happened to be included in the same set of people that sent this primate in office a second time didn't know this was coming. I can't believe NOT ONE of these people weren't just a bit weary of a * presidency that already admits no wrongdoing on anything, and now no longer has to answer to voters and no longer has to worry about impeachment.

It looks to me like 48% of America was weary of Bush. Your statement on NOT ONE is kind of ridiculous: "How come NOT ONE of the people who weren't weary of him then but don't like what he's done since weren't weary of him then and don't like what he's done since?"

but damn, I don't see * as merely being "barely accepted, rather unpopular, rather weak president". I see him as stealing our democracy out from under us, and leading this country, and maybe the world, deeper and deeper into disaster. He is a weak man, but not in terms of power. THAT's the scary thing.

He may be hurt by the gas prices, as far as polls go, but it won't affect a single thing he does. He will continue on his demolition derby, unfazed by the fact that people don't like it. And he will get just about everything he wants. He has proven it time and time again.

I think underestimating him is a very dangerous thing. He won't REALLY be hurt - he wasn't REALLY hurt by starting an unpopular, illegal war. He hasn't REALLY been hurt by turning the entire world against us. Not to mention the many other things he's fucked up. Any other president would have been impeached long ago.

What does it matter if he's hurt in the polls? It doesn't affect a single thing he does.

As long as Delay runs the House, he's NEVER going to be impeached.

See, this is why I'll never be a "bridge-builder". I can't sympathize or see the point of people who's party owns and runs everything but still portray themselves as victims of some fictional "liberal agenda". And as long as these individuals hold on to their immense power by any means necessary and their followers "go with the winner", Lancelot Link will never be held accountable for his misdeeds, nor will he be hurt by them.

That fat bastard Karl Rove said once that "The victor is always right. History ascribes to the victor qualities that may or may not actually have been there. And similarly to the defeated." Sadly, he just may be correct when it comes to how people will view the Simian in Charge in the future.

In 2000, 2002, and 2004.

the sun shine on his head. Everytime he is about to be held accountable, something unforseen happens that takes peoples minds off his misdeeds. Take for instance the Pope dying when he did. It is now all-Pope, all the time and no one is discussing Bolton for the UN or the memo leaks about ongoing torture. The very day that a news consortium was going to publish the results of their investigation into * stealing the 04 election in Florida, we had 911

if he's planning to release some of the strategic reserve he's been so steadily filling for 5 years.

what is it FOR, george?

Let the oil stocks soar!

but gasoline prices have not risen much because of Booosh's actions. (He does get some blame for making the Middle East riskier.)

In the main, gas prices have risen because of increased demand from US economic growth of around 4%, and of Chinese economic growth around 10%. India has been a factor, too.

More demand but not more oil. Price becomes the allocator.

This is a good chance, however, to beat Booosh with a stick for not having an energy policy that focuses on alternative sources of power.

Peace.

Most of the rise in gasoline prices are directly tied to Busholini actions. The primary cause, in fact, is the tanking of the dollar by this mis-administration. Their economic incompetence is directly to blame.

They let the dollar sink to produce more export business for the country, which helps create the short term illusion of GDP growth. It has dropped nearly 40% vis-a-vis the Euro. Oil exporters raise their prices in now weak dollars to maintain buying power.

But a weak dollar means inflation in import prices, particularly essentials like oil.

My belief is that punctuation is not necessary when the argument itself is strong.

Your beliefs regarding the underlying causes of high oil prices are unfortunately not supported in the least by historical correlations of dollar strength and oil price in inflation-adjusted dollars. Take a look at the relationship the last time the dollar was weak, such as 1989, when the dollar fell by around 15% on a trade-weighted basis, and 1994, when the US dollar fell by around 12%. The 1990 price spike, when it came, followed the perception that there was going to be a Gulf War.

Booosh is hoping that inflation and the psychology that attends a weak dollar will ease debt loads the sneaky way. Central bank maneuvers to prop currencies are at best stop-gap, and don't have a record of lasting success. Booosh has limited ability to affect dollar valuations; the Fed is the actual engine of change, and Booosh's main influence is psychological, not structural. Reckless spending by repugs has siphoned dollar purchases by foreigners; furthermore, the Fed's maintenance of a sustained period of low interest rates (which predates the Booosh administration) has made dollars unattractive to those looking for a return on their investment. Meanwhile, the moribund European economies have to pay a premium for their borrowings, because most of them are locked into a period of high unemployment and low to no growth. That's a principal reason the Euro is riding high. On a debt-to-GNP basis, many of the Europeans don't look much better than the US as budget managers. They have trouble aplenty coming soon with declining birth rates and aging populations all expecting cushy government checks in the mailbox until they die.

You must be actively avoiding reading anything about petroleum market economics, because it's not even a bone of contention that this bull market in oil has been driven by demand nearly equaling supply. Russia's production is falling, problems in the MidEast make traders nervous, and southeast Asian demand has skyrocketed. Econ 101.

Sorry, you'll do better convincing me with cold analysis and the wisdom of neutral market experts than with pin-the-tail-on-Booshbag. He's not smart enough to do half the stuff people here think.

Peace.

Whenever someone mentions high gas prices take a moment to bash the pResident and his bad policies. Most of America hasn't made the connection.

sure as hell didn't bring down the price of gas like a lot of fools thought it would.

i got the line the repugs are telling themselves to not be pissed about the gas prices. it is paying for our war. not the 87b in tax dollars, but the gas price increase?

go figure

gotta remember the church is going to come up with a story for bush on everything and preach to the flock, so no one awakens

Too many people here, and apparently in the party leadership, expect the media to do it. That is not the media's role. Only if the Democrats begin attacking Bush directly will the media cover that point of view.

The Repubes would never let a Democratic president rest on this issue. They'd be hounding him night and day. The press would cover their attacks ad nauseum. Democrats, on the other hand, say nothing and are shocked that the media doesn't attack Bush.

We need to learn to fight.

....where are our boys?....missing in action again?....

....remember when Lott, McConnell and Hatch were wringing their hands daily on TV over the imaginary destruction of our economy when Clinton proposed a nickel increase in the gas tax?....

....where are our 'hand-wringers' on TV lamenting daily how bushco is actually destroying our economy with the price of oil?....

You are not permitted to ruin the unacknowledgeable paranoiac's "nostalgia" trip we've all made through the late Fifties, Sixties, and now early Seventies with Dubya by admitting you've noticed it.

Who cares whether Iraq is a war run very closely in the image of a previous Gulf of Tonkin-to-fall of Saigon war? Who cares whether everything looks like an Oil Crisis and a rerun of Stagflation? And a little whiff of Watergate-type scandal and corruption is in the air... Oh, don't notice that the Administration is out to fight a second round with Iran's mullahs now, and another dirty CIA warlet is being setup to fight a bunch of Castro allies in Latin America.

'I've seen that movie before.' - George Walker Bush, 2001

I hope this teflon is torn off, but more than wanting to see this sneering idiot go down in flames, first things first. Let's go after this repuke congress and hope all his non policies take them down hard, I hope people take their revenge out on them give us a democratic majority, then watch the fun begin.
I can stand the pain until then....I hope.

just like it screwed up your order at the Burger King drive-thru last week.

All hail the mighty power of the Clenis! :sarcasm:

than Schiavo intervention did.

the rises and falls earlier in this admin have numbed us to the next blow. We are shut down and resigned to our fate. We try to get by by just ducking the blows and laying low.

They have to.....

:shrug:

I hear that the oil companies are so tickled with the administration that they are considering naming another tanker after Condoleezza.

Check the situation in Europe, 1 liter costs approximately 1,5 dollar. The US price is nowhere near that. I don't hear any Europeans whine about high gas prices.

sure, our prices are low, but how does it compare pre-tax?

and think what euros get for their tax money: MASS TRANSIT. we don't get shit. we don't even get our roads fixed.

I have heard this from a lot of conservatives.

Maybe because the stupid assholes bungled their war for oil like they've bungled everything else. They can't pump the oil out of Iraq because the resistance keeps blowing up the pipelines. Remember there wasn't going to be any resistance--they would welcome Busholini with flowers! The oil revenues were going to pay for the war!

Conservatives are such nitwits.

Gore came right out and virtually begged for higher gas prices through taxation in order to limit consumption. It is pretty hard to stand on the high ground and bash those responsible for the current prices when the numbnutz gave away the issue four years ago.

would mean that the govt would be getting the revenue and we would have been influenced sooner (without a war for oil, perhaps?) to drive down consumption through consumer demand for more fuel efficiency.

Actually, like what goes on in Europe...Ever drive over there? The vehicles are way more fuel efficient than the monsters we drive.

Wait until gas hits $3-4/gal. and the SUVs here will disapear. I was in Europe about 4 years ago, and only saw a handful of SUVs the entire time. There is some good to come from higher prices, I just don't think Gore should have advocated higher prices. It is much easier to raise the CAFE standards to a level that would eliminate SUVs than to tell people you want to tax them more.

We haven't even SEEN higher prices yet. Wait until the dollar tumbles further and OPEC has to charge more dollars to get the same price as before.