White House: President Bush wasn't joking, no one told him about $4/gal gas predictions
Two days ago, we told you President Bush said he was unaware some analysts were predicting $4 for a gallon of gas in the U.S.. The day before Bush made those remarks, White House press secretary Dana Perino was actually asked about gas prices and she said "we're mindful of it." Yesterday, when asked if Bush was "joking around" when he said he did not know their was talk of $4 gas, the White House said that "the President's point was that neither his advisors nor Energy Department analysts are at this point forecasting $4-a-gallon gasoline."
But $4.00 gas is actually here today is some parts of the country. What does the White House have to say to that? "I think that the national average, as of earlier this week, was $3.15, according to the Energy Department and other surveys" says the White House. The EIA actually says $3.13 and "other surveys" must mean things like the AAA survey, which says $3.16. So, the White House uses multiple surveys for the average price of gas but only use a single, government source for predicting gas prices? That makes perfect sense because the EIA has been so incredibly accurate and its predictions have never changed (/sarcasm).
The price of a barrel of oil went over $103 recently and it's reasonable to think that, as a former oil man, the president knows $4 for a gallon of gas is very possible, even if he didn't see the predictions. Perhaps he was trying to defuse what might have been seen as an endorsement of the $4 prediction in the question, a number the EIA has not officially predicted. However, his appearing to have "no clue" on what analysts are predicting, as the CNN video below the fold says, is more disconcerting to some than the actual $4 predictions themselves.
[Source: The White House]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Dad 10:30PM (3/01/2008)
"his appearing to have "no clue" on what analysts are predicting, as the CNN video below the fold says, is more disconcerting to some than the actual $4 predictions themselves."
What is really disconcerting is your obsession with the price of a gallon of fuel. You need to move on. In Europe it can go for 2x as much. May I suggest that your view of what matters in a 24 hour day is a little too focused on the price of fuel. What good does it do me or you or anyone else to know that some "expert" predicts $4 a gallon gas? Nada! Move on. Thinking that fuel might go to $4 a gallon or not thinking it or not knowing it will not change what happens. Worry about something that matters and something that we can do something about. If your goal is to think Bush is a fool for not knowing what the “experts” think might happen is absurd. There is more in the world to worry about then what the “experts” think. “Experts” come and go. There are “experts” on every subject. Now, if the “experts” had something we could do about 4 or 5 or 6 dollar a gallon fuel, then that would be interesting. But making “expert” predictions that the Bush is unaware “important” of is simply “noise”. It is of no value.
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Dad 10:30PM (3/01/2008)
Remember when Bill Clinton did not know he had sex with Monica Lewinsky? He probably based that upon knowing what the “experts” thought was the meaning of sex.
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duh 1:43PM (3/02/2008)
Really. Go enroll yourself in an economics course... First; the best solution for high gas prices, is high gas prices. Second; the best thing for emerging "green" fuels (electric included) is high gasoline prices. Sounds like you just want to whine about something and make a case for how bad Bush is doing. Maybe you should go buy yourself an electric car, a bike, shoes, a bus pass, whatever and be part of the solution?
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ug 6:41PM (3/03/2008)
If I hear someone compare US gas prices to europe again I will want to punch someone in the mouth. US commuting distances are longer than europe, and the state of public transit in the US sucks. In other words, even if US drivers downsize their vehicles they are still trapped into driving longer distances than europeans in order to make a living. So the pain an american feels from higher gas prices is more severe than the average european.
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Lad 1:58AM (3/02/2008)
@Dad:
Spinning Bush's remark by stating no one can do anything about it won't work and smacks of a pro Big Oil agenda spoken by a K street lobbyist. Bush could have done something about $4 gasoline but he isn't the guy running the White House...that's Chaney and I don't think Chaney cares a wit about the American people and the hardship visited on the middle-class by high gasoline prices. As a future citizen of Dubai and having already transferred Halliburton the UAE, Chaney has completely lived up to who he really is...a robber baron stealing from the American treasury working from the inside.
How about dropping the oil subsidies and shifting the funding to solar energy development; how about supporting moving new battery technologies into mass production. How about a decent credit for buying electric cars for the buyers? We've got another ten months to suffer from the continuing damage inflected on the country by the failed Bush presidency and then we go to war against the greedy Washington lobbyists and their corrupt Congressional buddies and start weeding them out.
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jake 2:37AM (3/02/2008)
@Dad
Come on this is autobloggreen and gas prices obviously is something they would keep tabs on esp since it can effect the decision on the recent bill passed for tax incentives for plugins. Sure Europe's been having these expensive gas prices for a while, but this is the US not Europe. Regardless of whether or not we can do anything about it, the US keeps close tabs on gas prices and it directly affects the economy, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. I mean I heard about it on the news about every other day recently and it's effects on the stock market.
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Dad 7:25AM (3/02/2008)
Whatever. What you all fail to realize is that being President is not about one thing. When you get as busy as the President, you will understand that simple fact. But you all blog and do what makes you happy at the moment. Once you assume tremendous responsibilities, you will have to decide what takes up your day. Paying attention to things such as what the experts say about anything unless they are your experts is simply a luxury a busy person cannot afford. Being Pres is a 24X7 job. You have to pick what you deal with as there is only 24 hrs in a day. I suspect that really busy folks never spend time (wasting time) blogging. They are too busy.
Everybody parrots $4 dollar a gallon gas, yet other than telling me what the inevitable is seems a waste of my time. They don't know, do they?
Americans are obsessed with the price of a gallon of gas like cheap gas is our right as citizens of the USA. Clinton gave us 1 dollar a gallon gas, SUVS and a Monica. It is time to move on. The world has changed. China and India are consuming tremendous amounts of fuel. The price of fuel will go even higher and there is nothing you can do about it (well, use less.)Get used to it.
If you think that gas should be cheaper and that we live in a world of conspiracy, may I suggest you move to Europe. How you will explain the cost of fuel in an area of the world that does not have Bush/Cheney will be amusing. Your heads are in the sand, pull them out.
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Wally 7:48AM (3/02/2008)
Look at the big picture...the current president has "no clue" on alot of things....hopefully the next president will have "a clue"...and that'll be a "change".
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rar 8:05AM (3/02/2008)
Dad, If anyone has their head in the sand it is you. First of all a large part of the higher gas in Europe is the higher taxes. You also forgot a few things about Bill: great economy, budget surplus to name a few. So what is worse, one dollar a gallon gas, SUVS, a Monica, great economy, budget surplus or 3.50+ a gallon gas, a trillion dollar war that we did not need to get into, the highest budget deficet ever, a falling economy and no Monica. Maybe my memory is going bad but I sure remember things were a whole lot better when Bill was around.
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Tony Belding 9:13AM (3/02/2008)
Maybe my memory is going bad, but I sure remember an eight year long nightmare when Bill was around. Ruby Ridge. Mount Carmel. Whitewater. Vince Foster. And the 1994 AWB, arguably the most hated law in America.
I'll admit, Bill Clinton had a record-setting presidency: The only president ever impeached on grounds of personal malfeasance. Most number of convictions and guilty please by friends and associates. Most number of cabinet officials to come under criminal investigation. Most number of witnesses to flee the country or refuse to testify. Most number of witnesses to die suddenly.
And of course. . . First president to be held in contempt of court. That's one for the history books.
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Golden Boy 9:25AM (3/02/2008)
Wouldn't it be wise to know how to spell "Cheney" before going into dark conspiracies about him?
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rar 10:02AM (3/02/2008)
Tony, I don't think Bill had anything to do with Ruby Ridge. As for Whitewater, Mr. Star spent 60 million of our money over six or eight years and came up with a big fat zero. How many people have been killed in Iraq (not jut Americans)? Rember, this was started from misinformation (a lie). There was never any WMD. I was not saying Bill was a saint, but neither is George. I was pointing out the economic difference between their terms as President.
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Rick 9:25PM (3/02/2008)
None of his advisors told him this factual event was taking place? That is, the cost of gas hitting $4. Yet, some of his advisors warned against non-existent WMDs. See the trend?
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Lad 11:29AM (3/02/2008)
By God you are right, I did spell the Vice President's name wrong. It's spelled "DEVIL." with an "e" Forgive me!
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Lascelles Linton 3:35PM (3/02/2008)
Dad,
The price of energy is important and worth mentioning here. I don't understand that criticism at all. To tell you the truth, I don't think the story should have gotten as much play as it did and when I wrote about it the first time, I went with the fact he flip flopped on what he said about oil company taxes and talked less about the $4 comment.
I don't think he is a fool. To the contrary actually because, as I say in the article, he probably knows about the $4 prediction or could predict it without reading the predictions. He looked like he was hamming it up to me. What I teased out of the White House response shows they don't read one survey too. As I have said before, I think Bush has a done a lot when it comes to green transport. CAFE, biofuels, he might even endorse the fringe "all cars can use ethanol" people.
I am sorry you missed that. I thought it was a unique, interesting position that did not insult the man's capacity and showed he was trying to do something good.
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superdart 3:05PM (3/03/2008)
Just to nit-pick: Many "experts" feel the only way Bill was able to balance the budget was due to the tax increase that Bush Sr. allowed in his presidency. George gets the bad rap, Bill takes the credit.
I am also not naive (enough) to believe that one person controls the economy. Last time I checked our current economic woes are due to our own love of overpriced homes, over-sized SUVs and overburdening personal debt.
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Owain Ozymandias Buck 8:46AM (3/03/2008)
The reason $4 gas is something that the president needs to know about is that it will pinch the economy even further. Ever higher gas prices are a concern, as our automotive industry obviously can't shift production fast enough when folks start wanting to buy smaller, super efficient models. I don't know what that price point is that is the tipping point, but it can hurt not only our wallets, but our domestic industry. Somebody on his staff dropped the ball. Even if they want to spin it, a big price hike is something that he needs to know about.
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L.Wood 9:55AM (3/03/2008)
Why should President Bush give a damn what a gallon of gas costs? The American people have elected people who refuse to expand our domestic oil and gas supplies, so the American people are getting exactly what they have been voting for - $4.00 a gallon gasoline with nowhere to go but up. My advise is either elect people willing to expand our energy sources or just shut up and drive.
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tark 3:45PM (3/04/2008)
ug- gas prices in europe are higher because of the extra taxes to 1-BUILD PUBLIC TRANSIT,2-DISCOURAGE LONG COMMUTES
superdart- the economy is in trouble because of goverment debt, also the cause of falling dollar/rising oil (same thing since oil is priced in dollars)
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Joel Stoldt 2:20AM (3/04/2008)
"But $4.00 gas is actually here today is some parts of the country" Where, Hawaii?, Guam?, its $2.98 in Michigan today. Also you might wanna read this: http://www.kiplinger.com/businessresource/forecast/archive/Oil_Prices_Correction_in_Cards_080303.html
Wow Lascelles, with your talents for providing misinformation, I'm surprised you aren't actually working for the Bush administration.
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