Posted on 04/18/2006 8:09:46 AM PDT by ex-Texan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush said on Tuesday he is "concerned" about high gasoline prices, and pledged that the U.S. government will keep a close watch out for profiteering.
"I'm concerned about higher gasoline prices," Bush said at a Rose Garden news conference to name new staff appointments.
"The government has the responsibility to make sure that we watch very carefully and investigate possible price-gouging, and we will do just that," Bush said in unprompted remarks about energy prices.
U.S. crude oil futures hit a record of $70.88 a barrel on Tuesday on fears of supply disruptions in Iran stemming from its nuclear standoff with the West, as well as lingering outages in Nigeria.
U.S. retail gasoline prices rose 10 cents last week to average $2.78 a gallon, up 29 cents over the last three weeks and 55 cents higher than a year ago, the government said on Monday.
Bush said high crude oil prices, rising summer driving demand and a switch to new motor gasoline standards is keeping gasoline prices high.
"It's tight supply worldwide and we've got increasing demand from countries like India and China, which means that any disruption of supply ... (is) going to cause the price of crude to go up," Bush said.
More drivers will take to the road this summer, which will also boost demand, he said.
"At this time of year people are beginning to drive more, getting out on the highways, taking a little time off," Bush said. "That increasing demand is also part of the reason the price of gasoline is going up."
Yours does .. i've read your homepage and know exactly where your point of view is ... speculator!
Uh, where's my $50.00?
;^)
I prefer gas at a price that gives me some reason to hope that the Democrats won't take control of Congress and the White House.
If that's the case, you just established your demand for it, and are simply whining about the price you have to pay.
your = you're
As opposed to people who think they have a constitutional right to unlimited supplies of cheap gas, regardless of the actual economic facts.
Do tell, what is a "fair" price for gas? Bear in mind that a barrel of oil contains 42 gallons, so the current price of $70/barrel equates to $1.67/gallon, *before* transportation, refining, taxes, and overhead.
BINGO!!!!!
I'll be doing my part. Summer classes over the 'net, won't have to drive to school every day. That'll be nice for quite a few reasons, not the least are the high gas prices.
I'm a free trader who supports school vouchers. If more kids went to Catholic and other private schools, the economic ignorance of protectionists would decrease.
So you believe that supply and demand have nothing to do with the price of anything, and the only reason that everything isn't free is because the people who produce things are greedy?
Many on this site are opposed to Democrats like Bill and Hillary and equate liberals with lack of structure and regulations. Nothing could be further from the truth of course.
But these people are control freaks and authoritarians first and foremost. They call themselves conservatives on this site, but they favor "order" above all else.
Bush has in his power the ability to lift the ethanol blend mandate by executive order. He can delay it for one year, to give more time for new ethanol production to be ramped up. The same thing was done after Katrina.
Will he do it?
I believe this will happen regardless of whether the oil industry is run by John Galts, Alexander Hamiltons, or Ebenezer Scrooges.
I also believe that there are actions the Bush administration could have been taking for years to increase supply, (not control prices), but has refused to do so.
Is it safe to assume that you use or would prefer to use electricity in your home from a regulated electric utility or do you go out of your way to purchase it on a non-regulated free market? Just wondering. Free competitive markets are one thing. Oligopolistic market behavior is not the same thing.
You say that like it's a bad thing! LOL
I speculate, I invest, I trade. I love freedom. I love free market economics. I detest socialism, communism, authoritarianism, busybodyism, and anyone who would attempt to undermine liberty and self responsibility.
Oh, brother. This will make the 5,678th time the oil companies have been investigated by the fed for price gouging or price fixing. They've never come up with the slightest evidence of this at any other time, but the sheeple demand we go through the motions yet again.
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