Gas Prices

Posted at 8:28am on Jun. 23, 2008 MI Morning Update: MIGOP Up with New Site - Max M. Fisher Dinner this Week - Gingrich: 3 Ways to Lower Gas Prices

By saul anuzis

134 Days until Election Day

June 23, 2008


MORNING UPDATE:

NEW GOP WEBSITE...we switched to a new, cleaner and more user friendly website that will help Republicans statewide get involved and be part of our effort.  Check it out.

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Posted at 9:04am on Jun. 19, 2008 Rep. Paul Kanjorski is like an ignorant kid who doesn't know anything about economics

I wonder how much a gallon of milk and a case of Depends are running these days for a suddenly endangered Member of Congress

By Jeff Emanuel

If you're like me and are on way too many email lists involving way too many people you don't know, chances are you've gotten a ridiculous forward (or six) like this one, which I received last Spring:

NO GAS...On May 15th 2007
Don't pump gas on may 15th
In April 1997, there was a "gas out" conducted nationwide in protest of gas prices. Gasoline prices dropped 30 cents a gallon overnight.

On May 15th 2007, all internet users are asked not to purchase gas in protest of the high gas prices. Gas is now over $3.00 a gallon in a lot of places.

There are 73,000,000+ American members currently on the internet network, and the average car takes about 30 to 50 dollars to fill up.

If all users did not go to the pump on the 15th, it would take
$2,292,000,000.00 (that's almost 3 BILLION) out of the oil companys[sic] pockets for just one day, so please do not go to the gas station on May 15th and lets try to put a dent in the Middle Eastern oil industry for at least one
day.

If you agree (and I cant see why you wouldn't) resend this to all your contact list. With it saying, "Don't pump gas on May 15th"

Remember Friend:
Don't Pump Gas on May 15th

Now, as any person with half a brain and a sixth-grade understanding of economics knows, as nice as this might sound, simple economics will tell you that it is an urban legend. Say that everybody doesn't pump gas on one day. If they still drive the same amount as any other day, the same amount of gas is needed; it's a "zero-sum game" - you'll just make up for that gas used by purchasing more on a different day. If you use the same number of gallons to drive, then you'll need to replace the same number of gallons; it doesn't matter one bit if you do it on one day or another - the same amount will be spent on the gas.

In fact, contrary to the nice idea floated in this email, if there was to be a shift in prices as a result of a day-long boycott on gas purchase that wasn't matched by a boycott in gas use, that shift would actually be upward, as there would be a greater need for gas, and therefore a greater willingness (out of necessity, not desire) to spend more on gasoline, rather than less.

Less demand or more supply is the only way to effectively lower prices; simply shifting the demand from one day to another will not accomplish that in the least. Creating more fuel efficiency, or recovering and refining more domestic oil, will increase the supply or decrease the demand and positively affect prices; a one-day boycott, as nice as it may sound, will not accomplish anything at all other than to cause a glut at the pump the next day.

As a result of this fact, the story told in the previous email is, quite simply, false.

Of course, Pennsylvania has a Congressman who either doesn't get that, or is so busy pandering to the stupid and ignorant in his district in hopes of saving his suddenly-endangered seat.

Read on.

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Posted at 11:09pm on Jun. 16, 2008 Democrats for Gas Tax Repeal

By Soren Dayton

This primary is so awesome. Today at a Barack Obama rally in Michigan, a group of Democrats who disagree with Obama on gas taxes circulated a petition urging him to support the repeal of the gas tax. They got some signatures.

And then some more.

And more.

Recall that Obama supports "gradually" higher gas prices:



Don't you love this primary?

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Posted at 8:09am on Jun. 16, 2008 Riding the bike everywhere I could for a month saved me... two lousy gallons?

By RightMichigan.com

Cross-posted on Right Michigan at www.RightMichigan.com.

Happy Monday everybody.  Unless you had to fill up the gas tank this weekend.  I love my car and I still figure I'll be one of the last guys on the open road if the Mad Max dystopia ever turns into a reality but I'm not embarrassed to admit that I've gotten a lot of work on the bicycle over the last month.

Weekly stops to my folks house for dinner or my brothers house for a Monday night free weights session (I'm ripped) only save six miles here, three-quarters of a mile there but between that and my extended ride on Saturday, to and from the Life Walk, Grand Rapids to Hudsonville, I've probably saved a good... no, less than a half-tank.  Wait, is that all?  And here I'd felt like I was making real progress and saving the environment.  Turns out all I've saved is what, thirty bucks?  Over the last month?  Now I've got this sudden, overwhelming compulsion to go cut down a tree or something to get even with Algore for tricking me.  Or to try to dig an oil well in my backyard.

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Posted at 12:38pm on Jun. 14, 2008 If only we could fuel the world with the horse manure Obama hoses on his townhall crowds

By Erick

Barack Obama today blamed the administration for higher gas prices.

Now, it isn’t an accident that gas prices are this high. It’s because Washington failed to deal with the challenge of alternative energy when it had the chance. Instead we’ve had an energy policy that’s been written by and for the big oil and gas companies.

Barack Obama failed to mention that he voted for that energy policy and John McCain voted against it.

Likewise, Obama told the crowd

While Senator McCain has spoken out on energy reform in the past, in this campaign, he isn’t offering any solutions to help Americans pay for high gas prices. Instead, he’s proposing a gas tax holiday that’s nothing more than a Washington stunt.

What Obama did not tell the crowd is that while John McCain wants lower prices, Barack Obama supports higher gas prices to force consumers to use less and seek alternatives.

At the same time though, Obama is opposed to real energy alternatives like nuclear energy and he opposed to expanded drilling for petroleum fuel sources. Well, let's let John McCain remind us of Senator Obama's real position:



So, to summarize: Obama tells people that the energy policy he supported and John McCain opposed was a bad policy. He also said John McCain is offering no solutions to lower gas prices, but failed to say that his position is to support higher gas prices.

No wonder people faint in his presence. The stench is overwhelming.

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Posted at 2:18am on Jun. 12, 2008 Dodging An Economic Bullet

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

So the majority party in the Senate believes that the best way to bring down gas prices is to impose a "windfall profits tax" on oil companies--this despite the fact that the tax will eventually be passed on to consumers. It also wants to legislate against "price-gouging," whatever that is. Good thing this feel-good/do-nothing bill went down to defeat. The reasons why that defeat was deserved can be found here. This is an old article, but as it turns out, it is still applicable.

Incidentally, when will we have a "windfall profits tax" imposed on farmers? It makes just as much sense as imposing such a tax on oil companies.

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Posted at 10:22am on Jun. 11, 2008 McConnell body slams Obama's support for "gradual[ly]" higher gas prices

By Soren Dayton

This morning on the Senate floor, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell drops the hammer on Barack Obama:

“Yesterday we heard the Democrat nominee for President suggest that rising gas prices aren’t the problem. Let me say that again: the Democrat nominee for President suggest that rising gas prices aren’t the problem. The problem, he suggested, is that they’ve gone up too fast. He said he would prefer a ‘gradual adjustment.’

I had somwhow missed that Obama supported higher gas prices. But it's true. Watch it:



Incidentally, I find it odd that Obama would say that "the President hasn't had an energy policy" when he voted for President Bush's energy bill.

McConnell's full statement after the jump.

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Posted at 11:28am on Jun. 9, 2008 Who Luvs Ya Baby? If You Live In The Heartland, It Ain't The Democrats

By haystack

Tacking on to Erick's earlier piece, it's worth noting this New York Times article which points out that it's rural America that is taking the worst hit from gas prices:

Gasoline prices reached a national average of $4 a gallon for the first time over the weekend, adding more strain to motorists across the country.

But the pain is not being felt uniformly. Across broad swaths of the South, Southwest and the upper Great Plains, the combination of low incomes, high gas prices and heavy dependence on pickup trucks and vans is putting an even tighter squeeze on family budgets.

There is an outstanding map that shows just how distinct the differences are between rural America and the rest of the country in terms of the percentage of income currently being spent on fuel. This is a MUST see graphic folks.

What is amazing to me, at least, is the willingness of Democrats from Massachusetts to California to advocate bills (Energy and Cap and Trade, for example) that makes gas more expensive while simultaneously ignoring the plight of most American families – those living outside large cities and those without access to mass transportation.

Look closely at the map, then call your Democrat Political Heroes and thank them for the Pelosi Premium...not that they'll actually give a flip.

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Posted at 11:46am on Jun. 6, 2008 If you're going to go after Big Oil for gas-price gouging, shouldn't you, like, know the price of gas yourself?

Or is that simply too much to ask in the face of confronting (KnownFact) Pure Eeeeeeeeeevil?

By Jeff Emanuel

Kay Barnes says she wants to represent Missouri's 6th Congressional District, "not Exxon," in the United States Congress.

She even has on her web site a diatribe against her incumbent opponent, Republican Congressman Sam Graves, in which she accuses him of "ignor[ing] rising gas prices over the past seven years," while "vot[ing] time and time again to give billions in tax credits and giveaways to Big Oil."

Ms. Barnes sounds very, very concerned about the price Americans and 6th District Missourians are paying at the gas pump.

The problem? As you can see in the video below, she has no idea what that price is.

Perhaps Kay Barnes should learn what the actual price of gas in her district is before railing against those nefarious Big Oil companies who are supposedly gouging her would-be constituents.

Just a suggestion.

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Posted at 1:26am on Jun. 6, 2008 "The Gas Prices We Deserve"

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

There should be more people like George Will writing for our newspapers' editorial sections. Furthermore, there should be more people like George Will making policy instead of just opining about what policy should be, but I guess we have to take things one at a time.

Posted at 8:07am on May 23, 2008 Gas prices affect Michigan employment... so why do House Democrats want to raise them?

By RightMichigan.com

Cross-posted on Right Michigan at www.RightMichigan.com.

Those out there advocating a brand-spanking new gas tax hike, whether it's today, tomorrow or during the lame duck legislative session after the November general election should consider themselves officially on notice this morning that their actions have consequences as news outlets report some awfully serious automotive related news that's been and will be directly affected by the price at the pump.  The stories are a part of a news cycle chock full of stories about cars, car makers, the people who drive them and the people who pick on the people who drive on them.

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Posted at 2:06am on May 3, 2008 A Specter Is Haunting Tax Policy . . .

By Pejman Yousefzadeh

Barack Obama has come out against the "gas tax holiday" that is being pushed by Senators McCain and Clinton. Obama's reasoning is defensible; he believes that a temporary lowering of gas prices will increase demand--especially now that we are heading into the peak summer driving period--thus eventually further reducing supply and causing the price to spike. At the end of the day, Obama argues that a gas tax holiday is hardly a short term solution to the problem of high gas prices, let alone a long term solution.

Let's grant that for a moment. What then to make of this?

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's proposal for a windfall profits tax on oil companies could cost $15 billion a year at last year's profit levels, a campaign adviser said.

The plan would target profit from the biggest oil companies by taxing each barrel of oil costing more than $80, according to a fact sheet on the proposal. The tax would help pay for a $1,000 tax cut for working families, an expansion of the earned- income tax credit and assistance for people who can't afford their energy bills.

``The profits right now are so remarkable that one could trim them 10 percent or so, which would turn out to be somewhere in the $15 billion range,'' said Jason Grumet, an adviser to the Obama campaign.

This plan is ridiculous. As I have pointed out before--in incorporating the arguments of others--oil companies don't make as large of a profit as people think and they must contend with an exceedingly volatile pricing structure. What's more; the tax will be self-defeating. Surely, Obama must know that oil companies will only try to find ways to pass the costs of a windfall profits tax on to the consumer. With their lower-than-thought profit margins, this almost becomes a necessity.

Obama has gotten a lot of praise regarding his stance on gas tax and the proposed gas tax holiday. But where is the recognition that his plan for a windfall profits tax will in fact make things a lot worse for people when they have to purchase gas?

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