Hey, y'all remember Dan Lederman and John Thune and their SDGOP friends' braying about President Obama's clever strategy to win re-election by raising gas prices, right? Turns out that man in the White House can't even do that right:
Officials at AAA South Dakota said residents can look forward to [gasoline] prices diving even lower in the near future.
"Headed towards summer, it would start to bounce back and that's exactly what we're seeing so I'm cautiously optimistic that we've seen the worst of it and we're on our way downhill which is great news for the summer driving season," said Mark Madeja.
...Madeja said that the price of regular gasoline in South Dakota is $0.12 lower than one month ago.
The last time Sioux Falls had a summer spike in gas prices was in July 2008, where the regular gasoline was $4.04 per gallon [Ashley Kringen, "Residents Happy about Low Gas Prices," KDLT, 2012.04.28].
That last line points out the salient fact that President Obama or oil speculators or the Flying Spaghetti Monster blunted the gasoline price spike before it reached its historic high under President Bush.
So, Dan, John, GOP: gas prices up, you give Obama the blame. Gas prices down, you give Obama the credit, right? Right?!?
Or would you like to pretend to take the long view and continue to blame Obama for an overall upward gasoline price trend over the last three years? I might grant you that point and say that yes, President Obama did increase gasoline prices... by stopping the recession that killed global demand and caused gas prices to tank?
Or do you want to surrender to the Mitt Romney thesis that the President can't set the price at the pump and move on to other issues?
"Officials at AAA South Dakota said residents can look forward to [gasoline] prices diving even lower in the near future."
+ My mommy always told me never to count my money before the check clears the bank.
"'Headed towards summer, it would start to bounce back and that’s exactly what we're seeing so I’m cautiously optimistic that we've seen the worst of it and we're on our way downhill which is great news for the summer driving season,' said Mark Madeja. …Madeja said that the price of regular gasoline in South Dakota is $0.12 lower than one month ago."
+ Oh, how nice it would be if we could make things happen by wishing really really really hard for them to happen. Reminds me of a friend who sometimes prays so hard that you can see her whole body just vibrating with the tension. I wonder if maybe we could all pray like that for gas prices to go down, and cause them, by sheer force of our wishful thinking, to actually go down?
'Or would you like to pretend to take the long view and continue to blame Obama for an overall upward gasoline price trend over the last three years?"
+ I have never imagined that Obama had anything to do with gasoline prices. However, I have wondered if the oil companies and speculators might conspire to make gasoline prices go up (which I reckon they really could do), hoping that the American public would blame Obama and give the Republicans a better shot in November?
http://www.hcn.org/issues/44.6/on-the-fort-berthold-reservation-the-bakken-boom-brings-conflict
I trust Mr. Obama on this issue as much as I believe Mr. Howie is a nationally syndicated author.
i trust grudznick on this issue as much as i believe flatulence is aromatherapy.
Trust or not, I'm asking a policy question: are we taking presidential control of gasoline prices off the table or not?
I'll certainly side with Stan's mistrust of the oil companies and speculators, who by their very nature, unlike the President, have no interest beyond their own profit. I would also like to see the analysis that makes AAA's prognostication more than wishful thinking.
You have my permission to take it off the table. And trust me, my farts smell good.
The issue is BO blamed GWB for gas prices in 2008. To take it off the table, we need to also stipulate BO was ignorant or misleading.
Hardly more ignorant or misleading than Republicans who raise the issue now, or who pretend that they can use gas prices at the trough of the recession rather than the peak six months prior as the baseline for measuring changes in gas prices.
Larry Kurtz you are partially right. To the flatuleture it may be aromatherapy, it could also be serendipity, but probably would be better described as zemblanity.
The Blindman
Cory begs for seriousnessnism on the gasoline dealio, Bill; but the GOP will just move the goalposts anyway. The Dems just sent me a sneak preview of our new video.
Did y'all see that Thad Wasson called kurtz the "Jerry Rubin of the Internet" at Blogmore? Thank you, Thad: i wept openly....
"Zemblanity." Wow. Good one, Dithmer. Applicable to all unpleasant gas issues no doubt. Troy, I seem to recall GWB speaking out against oil commodity speculators as well. My hunch is, there are indeed things a president (...and Congress [...yeah, right]) can do to crack down on price fixing, but that they are reluctant to do it. http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/?id=4ca97acf-23fb-4d77-9d57-a8469df0ec17
Here is something for serious thought. Today is Willies 79th birthday. 420 will have more meaning today.
Another awesome comment at ip, Bill: you rock.
"Thanks to the startling rise in obesity, every year Americans consume at least a billion gallons more gas today than they would have if people were as trim as they were in 1960." The Atlantic.
I'd like to know where gas prices have dropped? Mitchell has been at $3.69 for weeks.