Was gasoline really .97 cents a gallon when Bush took office?

[kentuck]

I heard a caller say that this AM on C-SPAN. If that were true, then they are getting their little taxcut back in spades. Consider that most people will spend about $10 or more per week on gas. That is probably a conservative number, at least for truck drivers and those on the road for a living. But for analysis purposes, we will say $10 per week.

Since the present is about double that price, that would mean that the average person is spending over $500 more each year on gasoline. How much of that would go to the Treasury in taxes?? And furthermore, that means that every other product associated with energy will also go up in price. Just how much are Mr Bush's taxcuts benefitting the average person is a question that should be asked? The answer is, not very much.

[XanaDUer]

1. I heard that caller, too.

And even though he was not pro-Bush, I don't ever remember gas being that low where I lived when Bush took office. It was more around $1.29-$1.35/gallon.

:shrug:

[coloradodem2005]

2. It was about that in early 1998.

But I remember 2000-2001 as having high gas prices that rival the prices now. So I don't know what that person was smoking.

[thinkingwoman]

16. No, it dropped below a buck

in the summer of 2001 in Indiana. I started writing a column that summer and I remember writing about gas falling below a buck in one of them. I even included a picture of the sign at a local station with 99 cents listed for regular unleaded.

Seems like forever ago doesn't it?

[coloradodem2005]

17. Out in CO it was $1.75 in may 2001.

[thinkingwoman]

19. It was well above a buck

january through may or june of 2001 here too, and again around 9-11 and beyond of course. It dipped suddenly and briefly in the middle of the summer and that's why I took the picture and wrote the column. If I remember correctly, the dip didn't last long enough to still be in effect when my column was published (in a weekly newspaper) so that means it lasted 3-5 days at best.

[LiberalFighter]

31. What was the price of gas in the summer of 2000?

That was the year that O'Bannon utilized a little known law to reduce state gas taxes because of the gas price.

[thinkingwoman]

33. this is from deep memory

but I'm think around 1.25 or so for regular unleaded. I remember everyone around here complaining that the gas/oil companies were trying to influence the election by inflating gas prices for no good reason.

That's why when it finally dropped below a buck a year later, no matter how briefly, I took notice and included it in my column.

[Kazak]

3. I remember when it dipped below a buck most recently...

Can't confirm, but it seems like it was probably around that time.

[swinney]

22. 2000 and 83 cents in Lynchburg Va

That was low.

[bluestateguy]

4. Dependson where you are

Here in Central Texas gas is among the cheapest in the nation. I can remember in summer/fall of 1998 when gas was around .80 cents a gallon. By the summer of 2000, it was up as high as $1.45 in some places, but dropped to about $1.30 a few months later. Now, regular unleaded gas is anywhere from $1.45 to a $1.60.

[LouKYDem]

5. I actually remember...

I actually remember gas being about that price while I was traveling through rural Georgia around late 2000 or early 2001 (I don't remember which it was, it has been a while)... I was there a few months ago though and it was more like $1.50, I would imagine it is only higher now.

[CatWoman]

6. I live in Georgia

and I drive a 1998 Mazda pickup.

Bought it brand new -- at that time 10 bucks would fill my tank.

Now 15 bucks gives me less than 3/4 of a tank.

[BradCKY]

7. It was low

I got my license in 1998 and the lowest I ever remember paying (in Louisville, Kentucky) was 79 cents. Although it usually hovered around 85-90 cents then, it started going up in 1999 when OPEC decided to cut production.

[amazona]

8. it was here

And I had a place I found in Gulfport, Mississippi where it was as low as 82 cents a gallon, maybe it fell off a truck, I dunno. I did a great deal of driving in that time period, and it was a great time to be driving price-wise.

[bicentennial_baby]

9. It was around then

Late 90's-2000, gas up here in New England was cheap! In VT or NH, .85-.89/gal, .99 in W. MA

[masshole]

37. yeah.... remember when CT raised their Gas tax?

I live in MA but used to work in CT back then. The price per gallon was up to .40 cents MORE in CT than in MA.

Now the prices are almost the same, around $1.75 for regular.
MA didn't raise their taxes, so where is the difference going? MA retailers?

[madrchsod]

10. yes it was here in northern il

it was a dollar two years ago,during 95-6 it was 1.25 at it`s peak.

[American liberal]

11. I believe so

at the end of Clinton's reign, I was paying less than $1 for a gal. for regular unleaded. I could fill my tank for about $10.

When I filled my tank last week, it was $1.79 and cost $18.50 to fill the tank. and as OPEC cuts production, it'll get worse.

pshaw...

[Zinfandel]

12. What state was he calling from...yeah, it was much cheaper than the $2.39

in California & Hawaii as it is now. It was $1.19 here in Jan 2001

Fucking wake up!

Of course Bush, who IS big oil is going to let OIL companies charge what they want, invade other countries and steal their oil, have no restrictions on polluting, cut regulations for the oil companies, give them huge tax breaks, give them corporate welfare (our taxes pay for their oil explorations and oil companie reap the profit) so they can charge us even higher prices.

This is no fucking joke this is the fascist republican ideology...corporations first, they are the republican party...there is no limit to their greed...they are finanacing Bush to keep him in office...because it's a wise investment...BushCo will give them whatever they want and fuck the people and the workers, we are truly just peasants in their eyes.

Fucking wake up!

http://secularhumanism.org/library/fi/britt_23_2.htm

[izzie]

13. Their must be a chart for this some place.

I do think they have taken it out of the Cost of Living rates last year or when Bush came in. Some one must know some thing about this?In other words it is not figured in on how mush it cost you to live any more. This would of course keep all COLA's down each year and Make the govt. look better.

[starroute]

14. The recent lows were November 2001 and July 1999

Here are some Houston prices as low as 93 cents a gallon from November 2001: http://www.click2houston.com/station/1389227/detail.html

Here are some Michigan figures of averages over the last several years: http://www.autoclubgroup.com/michigan/autos/fuel_gauge.asp

And here are figures for 2001 broken down by month, state, and grade of gas. They show amounts under $1.00 for Regular in Georgia and just slightly over in a few other states: http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ohim/mmfr/nov01/mfr51101.htm

[unblock]

15. sounds right for new jersey

nj has a major port for the eastern seaboard AND refineries, so gas is cheap cheap cheap here.

[camero]

18. When I stopped driving a truck

It costs about $500-$600 to get from the east coast to the west coast.
And fuel was around $1 a gallon in 99'. When the fuel crisis in 2000 was on that cost went up to about $800. It's even higher now.

Wonder why your food bill is higher? That's part of it.

[ThomWV]

20. More Like $150 a Month

In 2000, with gas at a buck a gallon I was spending $150 a month on gas. Now days with my wife not working any more (laid off women in her 50's without professional degrees don't find jobs in this country) and me driving a diesel truck - with great fuel economy considering what it is, my monthly cost is still about a hundred and a half. Its just that now I'm using half as much fuel. And the SOB did it to us in just three short years .......

[kentuck]

21. I thank everyone for their response.

This hits right at the heart of America and this flim-flam man is doing his damndest to pull it over the eyes of America. God pity those poor souls that buy into what he is selling. If it were only them, I wouldn't give a shit. Because they asked for it. But the core of the matter is that it affects people that did not support George W Bush and have been hurt by those policies also. Cut off their unemployment, winter's almost over, and by the time they wake up, the election will be over. Good luck America.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

23. Here's a good website with multiple sources...

<http://www.nacsonline.com/NR/exeres/0000318ffeshvdpsahcctpeg/GeneralUse_OneCallout.asp?NRMODE=Published&NRORIGINALURL=%2fNACS%2fResource%2fPRToolkit%2fCampaigns%2fprtk_gp2004_OnlineResources%2ehtm&NRNODEGUID=%7b47373BC1-A07B-490E-8828-844F7E2371B6%7d&NRQUERYTERMINATOR=1&cookie%5Ftest=1>

[Libby2]

24. Off topic

But I was listening to the calls too.
Does anyone remember what the woman said NASCAR stands for?

I thought she said "Non Athletic Sports Competition A?? Rednecks"

TIA

[BonjourUSA]

25. Your gas is still too cheap

its price is the best way for energy saving.

The world can't still continue to admit for a long time that an American uses for example up to twice more energy than an European.

[BradCKY]

26. Unlike Europe

America doesn't have good mass transit like many cities there, so if our gas prices continue to spike it will RUIN the economy. Therefore its not too cheap, but way too expensive.

[BonjourUSA]

27. we thought and said the same in 1974-75

when our energy became expensive because the "oil crisis"

[nolabels]

28. It's $2.39 for super most of the places I go to locally

They are talkin $3.00+ around Christmas, thank goodness my work is close by now.

[kentuck]

29. The Arabs are putting the squeeze on the American gas pumps?

As payback for Bush's of invasion of Iraq? This could be the winter of America's discontent? Especially if these oil prices stay high - it will hurt many poorer families. Maybe we will get to see their compassionate conservatism in action? Much like it was on display at Christmas when they refused to extend unemployment for the longer term unemployed??

[NNN0LHI]

35. Them Venezuelan "Arabs" don't appear to be cooperating either

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N07236366.htm

Chavez talks peace but warns U.S. over oil supplies


CARACAS, Venezuela, March 7 (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez urged his foes on Sunday to peacefully seek a referendum against him and he warned Washington to stop backing anti-government protests he said could affect oil supplies to the United States.

In a rambling five-hour broadcast that mixed threats with appeals, the left-wing leader said he regretted the deaths of at least eight people in the recent street protests by opponents demanding that he submit to a recall vote.

He once again accused U.S. President George W. Bush's government of financing efforts to oust him and recalled that Venezuela, the world's No. 5 oil exporter, was traditionally a leading supplier of oil to the U.S. market.

"So what is it this (U.S.) government is trying to do? Destabilize its secure (oil) supplier?" Chavez asked during his weekly "Hello President" television and radio show.

more

[The Whiskey Priest]

30. Yes, lower in some states.

and we had jobs with which to pay that price.

[TankLV]

32. Gotta pay for his re-SELECTION somehow.

Then there's the ever-present tax cuts for just the very wealthy to give it all back.

Whatta country.

[BiggJawn]

34. I remember being alarmed when it hit $1.06.

Yes, chilruns, we did have buck-a-gallon gas. Never forget that.

After months of having it hover around 2 bucks a gallon, they could drop it to $1.35 and we'd think happy days were here again, wouldn't we?

$28 dollars a week just to drive to work and get my groceries. No public transport available. Too far to walk.

[solinvictus]

36. 1999

I remember coming here, Chattanooga, from Birmingham, AL and filling up with $.89/gallon regular unleaded. In 2001, it was about $1.20-$1.40/gallon. Now, we're seeing it creep to upwards of $1.75/gallon for 87 octane. Yes, I believe this is because Bush is an oil man. The same thing happened on his old man's watch with the Exxon Valdez spill and the first Gulf War.

[LibDemAlways]

38. I remember attending a friend's Christmas party in Dec. 2000,

and stopping for gas on the way. I clearly remember being astounded that the price had dropped below $1.00. It was .99.
Yesterday in the same area I paid $2.33.

[ThomWV]

39. OK, A Lesson From An Old Fart

I started driving at 14, back in 1961. In those days gas was typically around twenty cents a gallon. By the time I was a late-teenager with my own car, which is the say the mid to late 60's gas ran between $0.28 and $0.35 a gallon everywhere. The least expensive gas I ever bought cost me $0.17 a gallon and I bought it in Bethesda, MD of all places. That was in the winter of '65. Gas had made it to the infamous oil embargo by OPEC when it was unavailable at less than a dollar a gallon (even though the price of crude peaked at a higher level than it is today). Gas prices shot up to a buck during the embargo, but dropped back to the sixty cent range afterward. The general price increase up to a buck took place through Bush I and then came the volitile years. Despite the OPEC activity the price of fuel had generally risen gradually, right up until the Clinton years. It was then that the war between the oil companys and the body politic began. During the Clinton years the price of fuel varried by 100% at least. It was, at times at or below a dollar a gallon and at other times it was above two dollars. Demand changes can not account for that fluxuation, and neithe can supply constraints. The fluxuation in cost can only be accounted for by manipulation somewhere between the well head and the pump. The "Arabs" were still pumping as much and in fact their level of output was increasing. The rate of increase of demand was generally constant at about 3% growth per year. Refinery capacity did not drecrease but utilization rates did in fact increase (indicating more efficient use of resources that one would have expected to result in lower prices - in your dreams) up to the point where they were in the high 90% rate for most of the Clinton administration's time in power. Under Bush II refinery utilization rates have rarely held in the low 90% range and in fact rarely got to 90% during this past winter.

[BillZBubb]

40. According to the historical data at the DOE site, no

The average U.S. price for a gallon of regular was $1.45 in January of 2001--per DOE data. Higher in certain regions and in cities, of course.

The current average U.S. price per gallon is $1.69. Again this is the average. It's higher in certain regions and cities.

<http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/wrgp/mogas_history.html>

Unless gas prices really soar from here (and they might), we really don't have a major issue comparing this way. The differential isn't that great because of a price spurt in 2000.

A better method is to compare the average per gallon price over Clinton's years with the Bush years. That would be much more significant. Over Clinton's terms the U.S. average price per gallon was $1.16. Over Bush*'s reign, $1.41.

[RichardRay]

41. Not according to this chart (interesting inflation adjusted info)

Gas Price History - TX, USA, Inflation Adjusted to 1979 Dollars