Is there an oil conspiracy before the elections?
Do you think it's a coincidence that gasoline and crude oil prices are falling just before the mid-term elections? Political pundits and commentators are busy trying to piece together the makings of a conspiracy.
According to a USA Today poll, a significantly large part of the public thinks the Bush administration is deliberately manipulating gas prices ahead of the elections. What are some of the signs? Bob Woodward's new book claims a Saudi prince told the president he could bring prices down by increasing production. The Energy Department is holding off oil purchases for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which relieves pressure on inventory. And there's the investment firm that is shifting its priorities, possibly forcing investors to dump speculative positions in gasoline.
Daniel Gross goes into more detail in his story for Slate.com, basically killing any notion that a president, prince and investment firm could lower prices. He says it was just "electoral good luck."
[Source: Slate.com]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Marcus 10:49AM (10/09/2006)
Wanna know why polls might show that people think there could be a "election day conspiracy?" Maybe it's because blogs and newspapers keep running postings like this one. The MSN portal seemingly runs one everyday and I think I remember a very prominent article recently in my hometown paper, the agenda-less and ever so fair and balance New York Times (in case you have no sense of sarcasm, I’m kidding in that description).
These postings/articles are all similar in that they have a provocative headline intimating a massive political conspiracy, several paragraphs outlining circumstantial evidence for why such a scenario would benefit the majority party, and a casual dismissal to close it out. Give us a break already.
However, I also noticed that you failed to list autobloggreen’s previous post on the same topic that draws the identical conclusions from just two weeks ago in the regular “Related” section. But then again, this post is written by the same person who wrote "Maybe Conservative Commentators Just Don't Get It," so it's not entirely inconceivable that there could be an agenda at play with this posting now with election day is just a few weeks off, is there?
Nah!
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MyGodBeatsYourGod 8:22PM (10/10/2006)
To balance out the Repub slant of the above comment:
Nobody should think that Bush, his family and his numerous corporate cronies, with all their ties to Big Oil producers and refiners, the binLadens and numerous Arab princes could possibly swing the price of a commodity (which is set be a handful of Sheiks and Bankers). Now say that again with all the dripping sarcasm one can muster.
Prices go up and we hear:
"World political instability"
"Changing blends"
"Tree huggers keep us from building refineries"
Prices go down we hear:
"Election w/ Republicans at risk"
So we are supposed to believe the propaganda of the former but disregard the rumours of the later? Right.
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dan 2:03PM (10/09/2006)
Boy, the leadership just can't get a break, can they. When prices are going up, they are attacked for not doing enough to protect the consumer, while cheering on Big Oil for making money--gasp!
Now that the market is making the overdue correction based on supply vs demand, they are accused of only "fixing" the problem becuase there's an election coming up!
Some folks are just looking for any reason to dump on those who may be politically opposed.
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Colin 2:09PM (10/09/2006)
Yes because gas prices are a tumbling its all that maniacal evil Bush-666 Devil MAN! But Wait! I thought since bush cannot run for re-election again, no more of his EVIL atrocities could happen again?! Oh I see, he's trying to plug his fellow GOP...
Ah Yeah, That's got to be it, silly rascally Bush-666 Devil... Wont He Ever See That Intelligent And Fairly Balanced News Story And Individuals Can See Past His Lies?
Nice Of You To Start Your Political Spewing So Close To Elections Mike...
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Marcus 2:56PM (10/09/2006)
I failed to link to the previous autobloggreen posting that I referenced in my comment. This was posted on ABG on 9/26: http://www.autobloggreen.com/2006/09/26/gas-prices-fall-as-fall-elections-draw-near-coincidence/
Conspiracy? Coincidence? Pattern?
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loikll 3:33PM (10/09/2006)
Geez, not only is there no conspiracy, it's not even "good luck" -- it's an utterly predictable and overdue correction to a bubble market fueled by way-premature "Peak oil" hype and a few bad breaks in the news cycle like that BP pipeline, Iran's shenanigans, and Nigeria's latest problems.
Saudi pumps more or less oil to maximize its profits -- no other motivation. A Saudi prince knows there will be no difference whatsoever in US oil consumption and realpolitics despite whether it's Republicans or Dems that conrol the House, gimme a break. That's just more evidence that Woodward's book is bullshit.
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Paul 5:18PM (10/09/2006)
Yep, total BS. I mean, OPEC just LOWERED output to try and drive oil prices back up, and now even closer to election time.
Look, anyone reading this site agrees that doing things to help the environment are good, but creating disinformation and FUD by hyping BS is a crude (albeit popular) tactic. There may be conspiracies at play, but oil price-fixing by the administration isn't one of them. Certainly, the only conspiracy I know if is the one by the media (you included, apparently) to try and propagate such fanatical claims. Stick to stories about great advances in "green" technologies and drop the political crap. Our major political parties are represented by blue and red...don't try and bring green into this.
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Marc 3:55PM (10/10/2006)
I cant believe how many Republicans are on this site. You really dont believe (posters 1-6) that a government whose members are primarily oil industry execs (starting at the top with Bush, Cheney and Rice); and whose primary goal is to get elected, even if it means lying, cheating and stealing elections; that this government could not rig prices to help with the upcoming election. Get you heads out of your Republican asses, and wake up to reality. A few people control everything. What a magical, special world you must live in. I know, there's no such thing as global warming, oil will last forever, killing a hundred thousand Iraqis will make us safer, 9-11 was Clinton's fault. When does the canonization of Bush begin in you warped minds?
And politics does belong on Auto sites. The world of autos exists on a far larger plane than how fast you Porsche goes, or how well your Bimmer handles. Autos are about jobs, trade, technological advances, environmental issues, safety, government policies, and so on.
Republicans are just so damed scared that we figured out their plan, and it won't work this time. People have wisened up to the lies and manipulatons of this administration. Watch oil jump right back up when the GOP loses its majority.
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Marcus 4:47PM (10/10/2006)
A) Yep, what I'm saying is that they can't do it and especially not in some covert fashion. Schmuck.
B) I'm not a Republican but poor journalism and blind partisanship offends me.
C) I don't like Porsches either. Actually, I think they're for people w/ small dicks and a bad need to compensate.
D) I agree that oil prices will rise - maybe not in early in 2007 but it will rise in the future, it's unavoidable. I read this blog because I think self-sustainable energy policy is the best way to ensure our national security.
E) I'll let partisan hacks like you have your pissing matches and holier than thou finger pointing and name calling - I just want to get the needle out of our arm. Check out www.setamericafree.org - then you'll know where I'm coming from.
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Marcus 10:17AM (10/11/2006)
I'll refer the right honorable gentleman/lady number nine to the answer I gave before (comment eight, portion "E")...
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Bushier than thou 7:00PM (10/11/2006)
Wow, it is hard to believe you fools think GW the other fools jerking him off would not be able to pull this off. They have invaded a nation for the oil within. Guess what, the failed to stop a nation that does have "weapons of mass destruction" and GW says they will do nothing. Hmmmm. Was Iraq about WMD?? I smell bullshit all around. But at least none of my relatives have had their limbs blown off for the jerk.
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