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."
Compared to government gouging, the oil companies are on welfare! The gas tax is a whopping 43 cents per gallon!!!!
If the Washington politicians were really concerned about gas gouging, they'd take a good, long look in the frigging mirror!
The politicians are bringing in big bucks for vote buying, and no one is even noticing!
The Government has the responsibility to protect our borders too. I guess we can expect about the same effort towards price gouging.
Right you are.
Price controls are far better than bankrupting the average american worker who is paying a fortune to drive to work.
There is no end in sight.
God forbid there is another major hurricane this season gas prices will be through the roof.
Wrong. The declining dollar is causing oil prices to rise.
The only thing we can do to support the dollar is raise interest rates, cut consumption of foreign goods or federal spending. Won't happen in an election year.
BUMP
Maybe they could watch for illegals instead.
To be sure they would want to help out US consumers.
"We're going to watch for price gouging." ....is right up there with "Islam is a religion of peace."
Uh...people are surprised that oil prices are rising? Nobody expected this to happen? Nobody saw it coming? How many times were Bush's energy bills blocked by Democrats and a handful of Republican Senators? Haven't we been reading about Iran for five or six years now? Didn't we read about the need for more refineries? How about those brownouts first in California and now in Texas. Have't people heard about all the different blends needed for each and every state? Do we really have to go through the gouging song and dance EVERY time prices rise? Do we have to condemn all oil executives? Sure, why not, blame Bush. Lately I sure feel like I'm reading the Democratic Underground.
What happens on calm days? What if you get a calm month? And why doesn't everyone with beach front have one of these on the end of their boat dock?
Auction Arctic and offshore drilling leases to independent drillers every day the price of a bbl of crude stays above the "peg" set by the law. Do it like Treasury Note auctions. Speculators don't want to get left holding the bag when the glut hits and will price in this future likelihood. The price will stabilize. If the price collapses, subsidize the drillers to keep them going until demand firms back up. Amend to GI bill to give soldiers an incentive to roughneck up north and off shore instead of building schools that'll get demolished the day after we leave crazy land. The government should provide the infrastructure to get the product to market.
Can we truly rely upon waves continuing to head towards the shoreline? [/sarcasm]
~ Blue Jays ~
Wow, Bush is trying to incorporate as many aspects of the Nixon Administration as possible.
He sure did. He made 'ol blow hard O'Reilly look like a dumbass in economics. Even my 16 year old daughter said Cavuto really taught him a thing or two.
Price controls won't work. You won't be able to get gas at all. Building new refineries, breaking up oil companies if they are colluding, and stopping boutique blends right now will work.
Pass an Executive Order to begin drilling in ANWR, effective immediately.
".. the U.S. government will keep a close watch out for profiteering."
You mean "making a profit"? Apparently that's illegal now, huh?
Wonder what the comments on this thread would be if Clinton said this?
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