Reality Check: How are gasoline prices in your area?

[chrisrobin]

Until recently, the gasoline price per gallon in the Chicago area went as high as $4.59. Currently, they have dropped to below $4.00 in some suburbs. As the prices climbed, Pres. Obama was getting the blame. He's incompetent. He's in over his head. We're not drilling enough. Not enough business experience. Blah-blah-blah. Now that the prices have been dropping, is there any member of the "loyal opposition" that is willing to give him credit?

When Pres. Obama took office, the Dow was at about 6,500. Currently, it is double that. I don't hear anyone from the Republicon side that is willing to give him one iota of credit. I wonder why? The Dow is at 13,000 whether it is acknowledged or not. Remember: this is he president that hates business.

Fellow JUBbers, how are gas prices in your neck of the woods on 4/24?

[Kulindahr]

Here in town, $4.19; right over at the beach, $4.49.

[opinterph]

When Pres. Obama took office, the Dow was at about 6,500. Currently, it is double that. I don't hear anyone from the Republicon side that is willing to give him one iota of credit. I wonder why? The Dow is at 13,000 whether it is acknowledged or not.

Excellent point. And that increase represents trillions of dollars in added wealth.

Gas price for regular grade is currently $3.65 in my neck of the woods.

[chrisrobin]

Excellent point. And that increase represents trillions of dollars in added wealth.

Gas price for regular grade is currently $3.65 in my neck of the woods.

How does that compare with 1/12 prices?

[andysayshi]

Excellent point. And that increase represents trillions of dollars in added wealth.

That's right. Unfortunately, 93% of the growth in US wealth since the GFC has gone to the richest 1% of US households. The remaining 7% has been thinly spread across the remaining 99% of Americans.

The US has never seen this kind of disparity in growth in its history.

[GiancarloC]

$4.15 (lowest - Arco sh*t, so $4.19 for 76, Chevron, etc)... meh... somebody is making a great deal of money... and unfortunately you have a certain right wing political party full of half wits supporting those oil companies and their precious profits.

[Kulindahr]

That's right. Unfortunately, 93% of the growth in US wealth since the GFC has gone to the richest 1% of US households. The remaining 7% has been thinly spread across the remaining 99% of Americans.

The US has never seen this kind of disparity in growth in its history.

And almost 80% has gone to the top 0.1%.

It's like having a thousand people in a room, and a guy walks in with a thousand dollars in cash. He hands eight hundred-dollars bills to one guy, and thirteen dollars to divide among a group of ninety-nine -- then throws seventeen dollars in pennies to the remaining nine hundred people.

[andysayshi]

For the record, here in Oz we're currently paying an average retail of AU$1.52 per litre, which is US$5.98 per gallon. Thats up about 40 cents per gallon since early February.

I know it doesn't help much, but try to remember that the US still has some of the cheapest gasoline prices on Earth. Currently in the UK the retail price is about US$8.50 per gallon!

[Kulindahr]

^ When just the gas to get to my conservation project and back runs me about $50 per week, there's not much comfort.

[andysayshi]

And almost 80% has gone to the top 0.1%.

It's fucking criminal. The GFC was the best thing that ever happened to the super-rich.

[andysayshi]

I know the feeling. My 65 litre tank (17 gallons) cost me $100 to fill for the first time the other day. A hundred bucks for a tank 'o gas! Insane.

[chrisrobin]

I was attempting to find out the rate of decrease if any, between January 2012 and now. My bad. I understand that overseas from the U.S., gas prices are higher. They always have been. I'm just astonished that when prices go up, certain people piss and moan, but when they go down, their silence is deafening.

[Thynight]

Salem, OR $3.89 a gallon.


That is the cheapest place in town though. Most places are over $4 for regular.

[opinterph]

How does that compare with 1/12 prices?

Gas Price Historical Price Charts - GasBuddy.com

[andysayshi]

Sorry to derail your thread a bit, Chris. It's certainly true that prices are trending downward in most States at the moment.

USA and Canada Current Average Gas Prices By City/State/Province - GasBuddy.com

[Orlandude]

Currently prices range from $3.89 to $4.05/gallon, depending on which county you're in. Some Florida counties impose an added county tax on gasoline.

[frankfrank]

$3.72 point nine yesterday for Regular here in western IL, which I understand is about 20 cents below the statewide average. A little bit of a price war going on in my town?

[jft245]

In my town just dropped from $3.91 to $3.87 for regular and the local operator said that it should drop up to 10 cents by the end of May. Interesting in my area is that the same owner/operator has three stations in a 10 mild radius and charges different prices at all three, $3.87 at one, $3.89 at another and $3.91 at the other, crazy.

[Jack Springer]

Regular is $3.45.

However, what does the price of gas have to with Obama?

He himself said that he could do nothing about the price.

To quote common phase by Cowboy Bob and you . . . . EPIC FAIL.

[Mako247]

3.99 on the local indian reservation (no taxes) and arco/am/pms (cash price)
about 4.10 elsewhere

[chrisrobin]

Regular is $3.45.

However, what does the price of gas have to with Obama?

He himself said that he could do nothing about the price.

To quote common phase by Cowboy Bob and you . . . . EPIC FAIL.

Link between rising gas prices and Obama was in all the papers and on Fox . Why don't you ask your candidate? He's been making quite an issue over it. Where did the phrase, "Drill baby drill" come from? My point has been all along, that it has nothing to do with the president.

We need to invent a new word: lying about lying.
Let's discuss abortion!

EPIC FAIL

[chrisrobin]

Rising Gas Prices Give G.O.P. Issue to Attack Obama

By MICHAEL D. SHEAR
Published: February 18, 2012, NYT

“This debate is a debate we want to have,” Mr. Boehner told his conference on Wednesday, according to a Republican aide who was present. “It was reported this week that we’ll soon see $4-a-gallon gas prices. Maybe higher. Certainly, this summer will see the highest gas prices in years. Your constituents saw those reports, and they’ll be talking about it.”

But Mr. Boehner’s message to his members echoes the aggressive talk coming from the Republican campaign trail, where the men vying for the right to challenge Mr. Obama are increasingly blaming Mr. Obama’s administration for rising gas prices.

Let's not forget the FOX echo chamber!

[CowboyBob]

It's $3.74 and falling here.

Regular is $3.45.

However, what does the price of gas have to with Obama?

He himself said that he could do nothing about the price.

To quote common phase by Cowboy Bob and you . . . . EPIC FAIL.

EPIC FAIL of a reply Springer. Don't you even have the ability to make a simply reply without a snarky comment?

Pathetic.

[CowboyBob]

The right wing is unhappy the gas prices are dropping. It was their ace in the hole for Obama bashing altho the President doesn't have anything to do with the price of a barrel of oil. They latched on to gas prices and made it political.

"It's Obama's policies that did this".. they wailed ..."It's because he stopped the Keystone Pipeline"..... "drill baby drill" ..... facts are Obama DIDN'T stop the pipeline and Obama has approved more drilling than they give him credit for.

Chinless closeted homosexual Mitch McConnell said it all. They're doing their damnedest to try and make Obama a one term President even by sabotaging the economy.

Those fucking republicans are doing more damage to America than Osama bin Laden ever did. They're trying to turn the country into a plutocracy. Destroy from within.

[justdra]

I think the last time I checked it was about $3.86. Fortunately I only buy gas about every 2 to 3 weeks.

[Kulindahr]

The Shell station down the street dropped to $4.12 this morning. That means the Farmers' Co-Op will be $4.15 and Fred Meyer will be $4.09, and since all the other stations within forty minutes of driving are Shell stations owned by the same guy, they'll be $4.12 as well.
Oh -- except the one overlooking the beach, which won't change till their next truck comes in, when they'll still be at least twenty-five cents per gallon higher than the Shell price.

[Jack Springer]

Link between rising gas prices and Obama was in all the papers and on Fox . Why don't you ask your candidate? He's been making quite an issue over it. Where did the phrase, "Drill baby drill" come from? My point has been all along, that it has nothing to do with the president.

We need to invent a new word: lying about lying.
Let's discuss abortion!

EPIC FAIL

Strange.

Obama says he can do nothing about the price of gasoline.

That includes making it go up and making it go down.

Thread closed.

[GiancarloC]

Strange.

Obama says he can do nothing about the price of gasoline.

That includes making it go up and making it go down.

Thread closed.

That's nice. Maybe you should start telling your republican friends to stop blaming Obama for increasing the price of gas then?

[Kulindahr]

Strange.

Obama says he can do nothing about the price of gasoline.

That includes making it go up and making it go down.

Thread closed.

He can't do anything -- even people in the industry say the president can't do anything.

Under Obama, there's a record number of leases in the hands of oil companies -- and a record number of leases that aren't being drilled. So even if Obama could magically cause a thousand old wells in the U.S. to be gushers, it wouldn't change the price, because the oil companies have demonstrated (and continue to) that they only want to pump a certain amount of oil.


"Thread closed"? WTF is that supposed to mean?

[CowboyBob]

Strange.

Obama says he can do nothing about the price of gasoline.

That includes making it go up and making it go down.

Thread closed.

The only thing "strange" about this is your reply.

Are you now a moderator closing threads?

[JayHawk]

That's right. Unfortunately, 93% of the growth in US wealth since the GFC has gone to the richest 1% of US households. The remaining 7% has been thinly spread across the remaining 99% of Americans.

The US has never seen this kind of disparity in growth in its history.

I don't doubt your staement but must ask if you have some sort of proof to this statement. This is often ask in CEP when blatant and end all types of statements are made with no proof. Is that simply your opinion or quantifiable?

[JayHawk]

I see the normal Jack Springer gang bang. Congrats all. i hope you used a condom.

No President is ever given credit for improving the economy and all Presidents are given blame for shitty economic items such as gas prices of which they have ZERO control. Even the oft cited "release from strategic reserve" is a ridiculous concept in the sheer vast consumption we as Americans enjoy. The reserve could not make a dent on prices when compared to the scale of use.

So them's the sour grapes you get to suck when prices go down. Here is a tissue.

BTW my gas prices have been excellent really. About 3.71 on average. You mentioned Chicago so I will point out on my recent five state trip I purposefully fueled in Missouri and then Indiana because Illinois has ridiculous taxes added. Every month I travel to St Louis for work and typically fill up the work vehicle in Ilinois. Middle of Missouri price 3.61.. Middle of nowhere Illinois (By Ofallon) it is 4.11. That is state sponsored rape IMHO. SO I don't buy their gas for my own vehicles.

[Kulindahr]

I don't doubt your staement but must ask if you have some sort of proof to this statement. This is often ask in CEP when blatant and end all types of statements are made with no proof. Is that simply your opinion or quantifiable?

Just read the article he linked.

[JayHawk]

Just read the article he linked.

My browser didnt show me a quote until I wnet back and moused over at your behest... thanks.

That does show that indeed the rich are getting richer. It also demonstrates that in comparing three different downturns this is the most wealth heading to the 1% BUT I do not see where it demonstrates or where anyone demonstrates that this is the most ever in recorded US history. But maybe I am reading it wrong.

It was an easy statement to make since I have yet to see a study that demonstrates that through the rich robber barons of our past and using inflation balanced earnings as to whether or not the 1% currently are enjoying a greater monopolization of the wealth.

[opinterph]

... some sort of proof

Can’t vouch for the underlying data, but here’s an illustration provided by the deputy editor at Business Insider:

Plutocracy Reborn - Business Insider

[White Eagle]

10 lowest gas prices in Corpus Christi
Price Station Area Time
3.62 Valero
4/25/2012
3.62 Coastal
4/25/2012 5:48:53 AM
3.63 Diamond Shamrock
4/25/2012 11:45:02 AM
3.63 Valero
4/25/2012 8:09:43 AM
3.63 Valero
4/25/2012 5:48:53 AM
3.63 H-E-B
4/24/2012 8:38:47 PM
3.63 John's Market
4/24/2012 7:52:26 PM
3.63 CK Mart
4/24/2012 7:51:21 PM
3.63 Valero
4/24/2012 5:27:36 PM
3.63 Valero
4/24/2012 4:29:21 PM

looking at just Valero

3.62 to 4.79 higher price further you get out of town.

Exxon 3.89 -3.92

[opinterph]

... here’s an illustration

And here’s some contradictory evidence ...

Historical wealth distribution in the United States

(based upon: Who Rules America: Wealth, Income, and Power)

[andysayshi]

I don't doubt your staement but must ask if you have some sort of proof to this statement. This is often ask in CEP when blatant and end all types of statements are made with no proof. Is that simply your opinion or quantifiable?

As Kulindahr mentioned, the statement is echoing that made in the linked article:

The most fundamental characteristic of the U.S. economy today is the divide between the 1 percent and the 99 percent.

It was not ever thus. In the recovery that followed the downturn of the early 1990s, the wealthiest 1 percent captured 45 percent of the nation’s income growth. In the recovery that followed the dot-com bust 10 years ago, Saez noted, 65 percent of the income growth went to the top 1 percent. This time around, it’s reached 93 percent — a level so high it shakes the foundations of the entire American project.

I'll concede that perhaps my statement is over-emphatic - I'm just taking the word of the article.

Thanks kindly for the other links, Opinterph, which make for interesting comparison. I'll point out that both the supportive and conflicting studies you posted only provide data up to 2007 - pre GFC. The data from the highly respected Emmanuel Saez referenced in the original link is some of the first to make this kind of analysis with data up to 2010, which is why it made quite a bit of noise in the media last month when it was released. Saez explains in his report that analysis cannot be made until the IRS releases statistics, which typically happens with a 2 year lag.

In 2010, average real income per family grew by 2.3% but the
gains were very uneven. Top 1% incomes grew by 11.6% while bottom 99% incomes grew only by 0.2%. Hence, the top 1% captured 93% of the income gains in the first year of recovery. Such an uneven recovery can help explain the recent public demonstrations against inequality. It is likely that this uneven recovery has continued in 2011 as the stock market has continued to recover. National Accounts statistics show that corporate profits and dividends distributed have grown strongly in 2011 while wage and salary accruals have only grown only modestly. Unemployment and non-employment have remained high in 2011.

[Kulindahr]

As Kulindahr mentioned, the statement is echoing that made in the linked article:


I'll concede that perhaps my statement is over-emphatic - I'm just taking the word of the article.

Thanks kindly for the other links, Opinterph, which make for interesting comparison. I'll point out that both the supportive and conflicting studies you posted only provide data up to 2007 - pre GFC. The data from the highly respected Emmanuel Saez referenced in the original link is some of the first to make this kind of analysis with data up to 2010, which is why it made quite a bit of noise in the media last month when it was released. Saez explains in his report that analysis cannot be made until the IRS releases statistics, which typically happens with a 2 year lag.

I'll add that there's a difference between the amount of wealth held and incomes received. I'll also point out that the graph of wealth held shows very different numbers than other recent analyses of that figure; for the portion of the wealth held by the top 1% I've read anything between twenty and eighty -- a gap that has to mean that different methods are being used to measure wealth (one big difference is that some include the value of homes while others don't).

[Spiff]

I guess I can't complain too much. I still have my left nut. At least until my next tank.

[TX-Beau]

Austin TX. $3.49 - Exxon, where I always go anyway, because we all use my Grandpa's Exxon account, because my Grandpa was an Exxon exec, and they give him a discount - just like they do all of their execs past and present. Ain't that a bitch.

And Texas usually has comparatively cheap gas anyway. Ahhh life in the Republic of Exxon/Mobil

[frankfrank]

Strange.

Obama says he can do nothing about the price of gasoline.

That includes making it go up and making it go down.

Thread closed.

There is video out there of Bill O'Reilly on Fox News saying boldly that the President CANNOT affect gas prices, and if anybody says otherwise, that's pure Bull. Of course, he had to defend Bush at the time.

Now with "their guy" not being in office, they will lie and go entirely the other way.

[andysayshi]

That would be this 2008 clip:




Fast forward to a new President, and the Fox narrative is surprisingly different:

[chrisrobin]

Fox News?

It gets worse. Only six months left!



Thanks for posting this, andysayshi. You've proven my point.

[Kulindahr]

The first test of a system of thought is internal consistency.

FOX News -- epic fail.

[JB3]

I was attempting to find out the rate of decrease if any, between January 2012 and now. My bad. I understand that overseas from the U.S., gas prices are higher. They always have been. I'm just astonished that when prices go up, certain people piss and moan, but when they go down, their silence is deafening.

You're not hearing much, because prices are still relatively high. Around my parts (suburbs of Chicago) its been stuck at $4.13 for the last two weeks. It topped out at $4.39 or so. That's what, a quarter difference? If I fill up 10 gallons, that's only $2 difference. Not big enough to make a difference at all.

[Jack Springer]

I see the normal Jack Springer gang bang. Congrats all. i hope you used a condom.

No President is ever given credit for improving the economy and all Presidents are given blame for shitty economic items such as gas prices of which they have ZERO control. Even the oft cited "release from strategic reserve" is a ridiculous concept in the sheer vast consumption we as Americans enjoy. The reserve could not make a dent on prices when compared to the scale of use.

So them's the sour grapes you get to suck when prices go down. Here is a tissue.

BTW my gas prices have been excellent really. About 3.71 on average. You mentioned Chicago so I will point out on my recent five state trip I purposefully fueled in Missouri and then Indiana because Illinois has ridiculous taxes added. Every month I travel to St Louis for work and typically fill up the work vehicle in Ilinois. Middle of Missouri price 3.61.. Middle of nowhere Illinois (By Ofallon) it is 4.11. That is state sponsored rape IMHO. SO I don't buy their gas for my own vehicles.

I doubled up on the guys -- need to careful -- no liberal STDs for me.

Thanks for buying in Missouri JayHawk -- we need the tax revenue.

The local price this morning is $3.37.

[Kulindahr]

Local price today: still $4.19 at Shell.

[chance1]

Bought gas last Saturday AM

89 octane - $4.19 per gallon

fill up cost me almost $65

boo

[MisterMajestic]

Lowest so far is $3.49 @ some gas station named Murphy...I'm one of those people that sticks to one Gas fuel/station..I drive an SUV and I only use BP...BP has dropped to $3.60 this week...

And YES I still used BP when they fucked up The Gulf...