US Features
As US feels pain at pump, candidates get on soapbox
Apr 30, 2008, 12:13 GMT
Truckers drive by the U.S. Capitol during a rally to protest the high cost of fuel in Washington, D.C. USA 28 April 2008. The national average for a gallon of diesel fuel costs about $4.24. The truckers want Congress to issue an immediate cap on gasoline, diesel and heating oil prices. EPA/SHAWN THEW
Washington - Drivers across the United States are paying more to fill up their tanks as petrol prices continue to break records, but where Americans feel lighter pocketbooks, candidates see political fuel.
Gasoline costs averaged 3.61 dollars per gallon (about 95 cents per litre) across the country on Tuesday, and had broken 4 dollars per gallon in San Francisco and Chicago.
While those prices may still be low compared to much of the world, the increases have eaten more and more into Americans' budgets in a country that spans a continent, where wide-open spaces and sprawling suburbs leave many people with little choice but to drive to work, shop or do most anything.
The rising prices have upset truckers, who transport goods across the country and whose livelihoods are tied to the price of diesel fuel. A group of them drove to Washington Monday, with horns blaring to rally against the prices and urge politicians to take action.
But if action has seemed slow in coming, there was no shortage of words on the subject.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and presumptive Republican nominee John McCain have both advocated a temporary waiver of the federal sales tax on petrol. Such action would saving buyers 18.4 cents per gallon on petrol and 24.4 cents per gallon on diesel during the peak summer months, when holiday travelers typically drive up demand and prices.
Clinton's Democratic rival Barack Obama, however, has called the suggestion a 'gimmick' that would drain federal highway funds and said it was designed more as a political ploy than a real solution for hard-hit voters.
Clinton and McCain have also found rare consensus on other elements of their plans to soften the blow from higher energy prices, such as ceasing additions to the strategic petroleum reserve, which holds resources in the event of an emergency that disrupts supplies. The candidates say enough oil is already being stored, and further additions are helping to drive up prices.
They differ, however, on how to pay for the petrol tax break, with Clinton suggesting a new tax on oil companies to make up the difference in revenue, but McCain making no such suggestion.
While President George W Bush has declined to weigh in on the candidates' specific plans, he has offered up suggestions of his own, urging Congress to restrain rising fuel costs in part by allowing oil exploration in an Alaskan wildlife refuge and encouraging the building of new refineries.
'One of the main reasons for high gas prices is that global oil production is not keeping up with growing demand. Members of Congress have been vocal about foreign governments increasing their oil production, yet Congress has been just as vocal in opposition to efforts to expand our production here at home,' Bush told reporters Tuesday at the White House.
Bush urged Congress to consider legislation to allow oil drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge, known as ANWAR, as an intermediate step to reduce prices before new green technologies can push down demand for petrol and lower energy prices.
Congress has been grappling with the ANWAR issue for years, under pressure from oil firms to open up the land for oil exploration of its estimated 5 billion to 16 billion barrels of oil.
Environmentalists argue that the drilling would only provide a tiny fraction of US oil needs, and want efforts to focus instead on reducing consumption. Bush has backed ANWAR drilling since taking office in 2001.
Bush also urged the building of more nuclear power plants and oil refineries. He said the reluctance to do so sends mixed signals about the US desire to lower energy prices.
Congressional Democrats put down the Bush plan as impractical and unlikely to make real change, pointing to tax incentives for big oil companies they said have hurt consumers.
'The price goes through the roof - higher, higher, higher, higher, higher, higher. And what does the president do? He takes out the old saw of ANWAR,' Senator Charles Schumer, a Democrat from New York, said.
'ANWAR wouldn't produce a drop of oil in 10 years. And it's estimated that if they drilled in ANWAR, in 20 years, it would reduce the price 1 penny, and that's the president's answer to the oil crisis.'
Democrats instead suggested improving energy efficiency and legislation to prevent perceived price gouging.
© Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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Older Talkback
page: 1
According to Bush's press conference yesterday, it's all Congress's fault along with everything else that is going wrong with the world. Bush thinks he is the golden boy - no blame there!
Seems like a conspiracy theory of some kind.
The Bushes and the Saudis benefit from high gas prices.
'In general the U.S. population is comprised of spoiled brats that get their way and when they don't they whine, whine, whine.'
Gee lance, you obviously don't have a very high opinion of Americans. What country are you from you smart smart fellow?
????. Lance is a arab. I've seen his posts before. He's the one making all the wah, wah, wahs. Some kind of nutcake I think.
...bonehead, how do the Bush's benefit from high fuel prices???
By the way, go ask Hillary about her and Bill employing Sandy Berger to sell influence to AMOCO on oil deals in the middle east back in the 1990's.
Then ask her about Bill greenlighting oil mergers back in the 1990's.
Bush? He was only governor of Texas.
I hope oil goes higher. We won't get a solution unitl we truely need one.
America isn't dying......its already death!
Stock market suck
Real estate market suck
American women suck....wait! They suck really good!!
I always thought the Americans were a tough bunch. Nonsense, they are living in cloud cuckoo land and just love their little comforts. No hardship for THEM if they can make the rest of the world bear it.
What a lot of despicable wingers they are ! Being paid super salaries several times above those of other countries and pay minute taxes. These pathetic cry-babies called AMERICANS whinge and go bawling their little eyes out to their congressman just because petrol goes up a few cents !
What a nation of molly-coddled selfish people they are.
Petrol prices vary, but to give a rough example, here is a good enough guide.
UK
--
Petrol price per Imp.gallon = £5.36 ($10.56), or £1.18 ($2.32)per litre. Of which 63% is tax.
UK price = $8.84 per US gallon, or $2.32 per litre.
US
--
You pay say $3.6 per US gallon or $0.95 per litre.
You pay almost NO tax at around 12%.
THAT is a massive 2.5 times LESS than the UK and Europe !!! THEN you have the audacity to groan about it. You damned spoilt cry-babies.
With this CHEAP fuel in the US, it makes you the biggest contaminator of the atmosphere on earth at 50% of the total global emission.
If anybody is destroying the earth by CO2 emission, then the USA are doing an excellent job.
So any UN or worldwide campaign for halting global warming, can stop right in the US closet, before it starts trying to force the rest of the world into hardship, high costs and cutting their economies. YOU suffer first - you NEVER have, then WE will follow, if after you clear up your selfish mess it is still necessary.
I always thought the Americans were a tough bunch. Nonsense, they are living in cloud cuckoo land and just love their little comforts. No hardship for THEM if they can make the rest of the world bear it.
What a lot of despicable wingers they are ! Being paid super salaries several times above those of other countries and pay minute taxes. These pathetic cry-babies called AMERICANS whinge and go bawling their little eyes out to their congressman just because petrol goes up a few cents !
What a nation of molly-coddled selfish people they are.
Petrol prices vary, but to give a rough example, here is a good enough guide.
UK
--
Petrol price per Imp.gallon = £5.36 ($10.56), or £1.18 ($2.32)per litre. Of which 63% is tax.
UK price = $8.84 per US gallon, or $2.32 per litre.
US
--
You pay say $3.6 per US gallon or $0.95 per litre.
You pay almost NO tax at around 12%.
THAT is a massive 2.5 times LESS than the UK and Europe !!! THEN you have the audacity to groan about it. You damned spoilt cry-babies.
With this CHEAP fuel in the US, it makes you the biggest contaminator of the atmosphere on earth at 50% of the total global emission.
If anybody is destroying the earth by CO2 emission, then the USA are doing an excellent job.
So any UN or worldwide campaign for halting global warming, can stop right in the US closet, before it starts trying to force the rest of the world into hardship, high costs and cutting their economies. YOU suffer first - you NEVER have, then WE will follow, if after you clear up your selfish mess it is still necessary.
What a disgrace you Americans are. Wimping, winging and totally selfish.
The Bush syndrome went to war on Iraq, not because of that stupid myth that poor old Saddam had 'weapons of mass destruction' or that a few Muslim nut-heads blew up the Twin Towers and killed and crippled 1000`s of innocent Americans, but because the Bush`s sheer obsessive greed wanted the OIL reserves of that country.
The US gobbles up all the available world`s oil supplies at any cost in dollars or human lives, just so that the pampered, obese, unfit, under-taxed, highly paid, comfort loving citizens can continue to live a life of isolated luxury and low living cost at the expense of everybody else in the world.
You have sacrificed over 74,000 young Americans killed and 1.6 million crippled in this ludicrous crusade, a casualty toll which is still climbing every day, by engaging in this insane war. On top of these military figures, about 2 million Iraqi deaths and wounded can be added and God knows how many more, the list is endless.
Not satisfied with the huge loss of young American lives and wounded in Viet Nam, where after all this horrific Apocalypse a few chinks chased you back to the States on bicycles with your tails between your legs, you want another bashing. 8 million casualties in the Viet Nam war ?
YET, with ALL this death and destruction laid at your President`s feet,
just for a drop of oil, you greedy, selfish, uncaring, I`m alright Jack, brain-dead idiots, can only jump up and down in anger at a few cents rise in fuel prices !!
You already have the lowest fuel prices on earth - half that of most other counties, with almost no tax, yet you ignore the enormous sacrifice in blood and limbs of your own young people and that of other nations.
You load of selfish inconsiderate pigs.
As if the average american Joe had any perticipation or benefit from either the Vietnam and Iraqi war .It took a whole load of lies dished out to the US population and the rest of the world to initiate those wars .I'll gladly give credit to the mjority of the US population for stopping the first one .The White Hose and the Pentagon have since then learned their lesson wel:no more conscript army with drafted soldiers,no more free press pulishing pictures of american casualties,not even pictures of caskets containg the corpses of dead american soldiers,those are censured now .Only embedded journalsim is allowed,portraying the war as a video game wihout blod or gut spilled .
The only ones profiting from the present situation are the big oil companies .Hence a simple solution:tax their profits,rather even nationalize them and start using the immense profits for the good of your people,promoting more efficient cars and alternative energy sources .Even combustion engines can perform much better but there is no incentive to promote them .The days of free market are over since long time .You don't guide the production anymore .Before Bush came to power the Setroit car manufactors betted heavily on SUV cars .They were losing money heavily as a consequence .The first thing Bush did was offering all kind of advantages to those that would by SUV cars,the sales syrocketed .Of course Kyoto was wiped off the tale .It does not take a particular intelligent person to deduct that ignoring an urgent problem is not solving it .So now the consequences are revealing themselves .The war a,the outsourcing from your industries (and ous ) to cheap labourcountries like China ,the failur to address the enormous oil consumption,all these have added to the problem .Not one solution has been proposed during the two Bushterms,not a single one .I allways thought that to govern means to predict ?From the perspective of the american population Bush has failed miserably .From the perspective of the car industry and the oil lobby Bush was a golden ally.
Hello, Tonni from Belgium.
I love your comments, they are so interesting and articulate.
I have read your notes before and always find them sensible and full of good wisdom.
Not like that red-neck moron SP4 who appears to know everything about nothing.
I cannot understand how or why you know so much about the US if you are IN Belgium and if that is the case, why you care a toot.
OK, you are either an EU resident over there and do have a part to play, or you are actually IN Belgium and love winding them up by pulling the Yanks plonkers.
Qui l`enfer vent une vielle femme ou un homme noir comme le President ?
Les Americains seront une enorme plaisantene mondiale.
It's all quite simple.One needs good judgement to deal with the world .It's too easy to chose the lesser evil in any conflict,except that is not good enough a the choice between plague and cholera is never a good one .So we all need to think in constructive terms .As one poster mentioned the USA account for the bulk of theCO2 emissions ,partly thanks to their strange addiction for big cars SUV's and absence of any measure to regulate the industry .But of course it would be a waste of energy to stop there and start accusing the population in general for their faulty behaviour .Information regarding these urgent problems are hardly ever broadcast in the US media ,or in such a matter as to make people believe there is no agreement on the studies .And indeed there is no unanimity .But no unanimity in this case means that the studies made by the IPCC regarding global warming were watered down in such a way as to agree on the most benign scenario possible for these changes to occur .The pressure of big oil companies ,car manufacturers and major co2 emitting plants made that happen.these forces work behind the curtains.It should be no public scret that democracy is just the most effective and conevnient system allowing the big economical players to exercise political power without having to appear in charge .Nowhere in the world is this situation so advanced as in the USA .The first thing Bush dud when coming to power was to put the representatives of big industry in charge of the administration that profits them most .The FDA for example ws simply given to Monsanto ,the military industrial complex is another fine example,which was not installed by Bush ,it exists for decades now and is a perfectly oiled institution which has spread it's tentacles in international affairs,universities,think tanks,and of course the media in general .free thinking has all but collapsed since long .Slogans like 'my country,right or wrong' or America,love it or leave it' are but the most insane examples where ethical standards are wiped under the carpet and replace with hollow patriotic slogans meant to forge a nation of zombies .
Right now the situation is more critical than ever before as democracy is reduced to a hollow shell in the USA ,the things that matter in any society are hardly even debated in the elections by republicans .They focus on personal qualities of the candidates that are very easy to create and manipulate like 'leadership',etc,etc.It only takes a fewhollow words repeated ad nauseam to forge 'the perfect candidate' this way .Even the democrats ,the only party with something close to a program,feels compelled to participate in this game.A perfect example of that was given by Hillary Clinton stating she would 'obliterate ' Iran if ever a nuclear attacks was launched from it on Israel .As if there was ever such a plan .So the candidates are creating doomsday scenarios just to make themselves appear more firm ,fimness being of course an attribute every candidate likes to posses .Remember the debates where candidates are accused of 'flipfloppin' by their opponents ?Another example of influencing the voters by appearing 'firm' versus an 'undecisive' opponent .In other words every candidate wants to be portrayed like some 'John Wayne' movie character .After all those were the values that 'forged' america (in the movies and media only of course ) .Everybody want to be part of that .Doesn't it feel good ,when you lack decent education,living standards,health care to part of something unique ?A nation built on the sprit of the frontier ,leadership,etc,etc,.We are only mising the image of the cowboy riding into the sunset at the end of the movie .
Perhaps time to catch up with real world issues now like health care and the fight against global warming .Except for Al Gore nobody took this issue serious .Mudslinging from the conservative media and think tanks was the only answer .Same with Michael Moore when he confronted the USA wit sick health care ,again character assassination was used against him as only tactic .Is it so easy to fool you into befouling those that love you most and are pointing at urgent problems ?
The price of crude oil could soar to $200 a barrel in as little as six months, as supply continues to struggle to meet demand, a report has warned.
With benchmark US light crude passing the $122 mark for the first time on Tuesday, the warning comes from Goldman Sachs energy strategist Argun Murti.
Surging demand was increasingly likely to create a 'super-spike' past $200 in six months to two years' time, he said.
Oil prices have now risen 25% in the last four months and by 400% from 2001.
Mr Murti correctly predicted three years ago - when oil was about $55 a barrel - that it would pass $100, which it reached for the first time in January of this year.
'red-neck moron SP4 who appears to know everything about nothing'
Whoever said that, hit the nail right on the head!.
We don't care what jealous Europeans think.
Have you ever seen a peron so obsessed with America?
I mean, here is a guy living overseas, and can just ramble on with a diatribe about the USA! I mean...jesus!
Face it: we got ourselves here. We buy big cars, we don't produce oil and gas even when we know where it is (ANWR) and do not take reasonable measures to get it.
Take some responsibility for your actions.
Let there be no misunderstanding.There is no jealousy.Only those of you that never came to Europe can think your living standards compare to ours .Unfortunately only your very richest have a better life .Only because they payno tax and leave the lower classes to rot .There is a myth that if you fail to become rich it is just because you are stupid .Conclusion from such idiotic reasoning hence can only be that 99 percent of your population isstupid .That is a conclusion to be rejectedof course .With decent education access to better jobs would be a fact for all.with decent health care standards people would net get ruined for life when disease strikesthem or part of their family .These things are universal rights and an achievement for every civilization worthy of that name .I cannot understand that some people still don't know that the average standards of living are incomparably higher in Europe than in the USA.Hence part of the explanation for your high crime rates ,the other being obsolete gun laws .
Whenever workers demand higher salaries the very same people claiming that everybody has equal opportunities then start lamenting that these demands are outrageous .Ha ha.....
Oil prices have gone down and when the war is over they'll go down further.
All you overeducated Einsteins with your over blown theories can just sit back and say to yourselves......' I'm a geek '
The reason gas cost's so much is because W is an oil man and even though the U.S.A has enough oil reserves to go into 2020 without a hitch they refuse to use them. We of course will produce more as time goes by and still we will not use it.
That is the big mystery. So Wah wah wah yourselves and eat a mudskipper.
If the terrorist al quaeda asses can't learn to live with other religions and want to chop everyones head off all the time then....we're going to have these crisis' forever.
I still don't get it and you won't either, though you want to pretend
you do you don't. So don't come down on the complainers.
If you have all the answers then become a politician and do something about it.
page: 1
lanceApr 30th, 2008 - 13:41:13
The U.S. population has a choice:
(a) Buy SUVs and cry like a baby.
(b) By efficient cars (like the Toyota Prius Hybrid) and be sensible.
So far they have chosen (a) and are crying like a baby. wah, wah, wah. In general the U.S. population is comprised of spoiled brats that get their way and when they don't they whine, whine, whine.
Best to just ignore type-(a) people and let them run up the price of gas. $5/gallon here we come! $6 around the corner. The sky is the limit!
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