Does anyone else think that Bush has something to do with these high gas prices?
399975
Mtn Biker, you conveniently left out that Exxon had sales of 330B last year.  Figure 90M into that and it would have almost zero affect (maybe 1/10th of a cent) on gas prices.\n\nI don't really care if you want to put the blame on Bush.  It's the fad these days anyway.  Others have pointed out the supply/demand nature of crude oil, which sets gas prices.  You might argue he could indirectly affect gas prices, but he doesn't affect them directly.  It can be argued both ways, so read up and make your own opinion.\n\nI'd like to point out that an Exxon boycott would do just about nothing because Exxon would end up selling their gas to the other suppliers that weren't being boycotted.  A selective boycott shifts the demand, not decreases it, which is what is needed to lower prices.\n\nThe mythbuster on that urban legend is here: http://www.snopes.com/politics/gasoline/gasout.asp
138081
Bush is just a fag who likes to bomb other countries and take over them. He likes to accuse people of having weapons of mass descruction, and only helped Florida in their time of need because his brother runs the state... :P\n\nAnd plus, the cost of the war in Iraq is running us about 244 billion dollars, and is increasing about 1,000 dollars every SECOND! Do you think you would be able to afford to help some people in tragedy if you were wasting all your money shooting people?!\n\nI dunno. Maybe Bush isn't doing anything because he got mad at the traffic during Marti Gras. Hey, you never know...
1133947
He's a basically good guy who's in over his head.  I feel the same way about Carter as prez.  \n\nBTW - Bush has made a lot of mistakes, but the gas prices aren't his fault.  Basic economics.  Supply is down + demand (world-wide) is up = high prices.
548514
bacause BUSH OWNS THE OIL IN TEXAS...I think we should be looking at how much the gas "went up" over the world...I bet it hasn't and we are the only ones who are dealing with this...It is NOT the oil companies from iraq or overseas...it is from right here in the USA!!
611020
As much as I don't like Bush, there isn't much he can do if we want to keep a free market economy.\n\nThe main reason prices are so high is the number of Americans who have bought huge gas guzzling cars.  If you or anyone you know drives an SUV or something similar, there's a big part of your answer.  The US government could levy heftier taxes on people who buy these cars.  And it can raise fuel efficiency standards, which free-marketeers, like the Wall Street Journal, deride as "telling Americans what kind of cars to buy."\n\nDemand is also higher than a decade ago because India, China and other large countries are industrializing at a very fast pace.  There are about 2 billion people in China and India alone.  The factories where they work use fossil fuels.  The cars they want to drive use fossil fuels.  The US government can't control this.\n\nSo demand is through the roof right now.\n\nAnd supply has been crimped by three main factors:\n\n* Speculators are driving up crude oil prices.  The price of crude -- which the US government cannot control -- is the biggest factor in the current price in creases.\n\n* There has been almost no investment in US refinery capacity in about 25 years.  Katrina didn't help.  This means gasoline is in relatively short supply.\n\n* The US Government, in an effort to alleviate foreign oil demand, has mandated the use of additives in fuel to "get more bang for the barrel."  Unfortunately the ethanol they've mandated is in short supply and we have a tarrif on imported ethanol, artificially raising its price.  The gov't could eliminate the tarrif.  The the tarrif is protecting farm states (where the corn is grown to produce the ethanol) as much as big oil.\n\nSo there's little the gov't can do in a short period of time to solve this problem (and I'm not a fan of this administration, so that's hard for me to admit).\n\nBut Americans can do lots more to conserve the stuff, thus driving down the price:\n* Stop buying big gas guzzling cars.\n* Consider walking, biking or public transport.\n* Push for a sensible energy strategy.  Last fall the government talked about tax incentives to big oil to do more drilling.  Now we want to tax their winfall profits.  We should have a policy that gives incentives to deliver tangible alternative, ideally renewable, sources.   Push your congressmen and senators.\n* Push your local communities to add bike lanes and other facilities for bikers (even if you can't cycle, maybe your neighbors can).\n* Push for public transportation.  I live in LA where public transport has been quashed by the rich of the Westside who refuse to allow a subway from downtown and the valley to the beaches because they're afraid of "the wrong kind of people."  But your town might be more open.
464879
Why would he want to? He's making millions off high gas prices, its not in his interest to make them lower.\n\nHe gets paid $200,000 a year by the government to be President, but last year he made over $2 Million from oil companies.  Where do you think his interests are?
355639
yes, and we are far behind other countries in mass transit. I used 10 percent Ethanol 10 years ago. Paid less for it than Gas. The oil companies took it off the market. If HisBushyness had any clue what was going on in America he could fix the problem with one executive order. That will not happen. He will not cut off the hand that feeds him. If he puts price caps in place and the supply goes up then the price will go down and that would stop his cash flow from the wealthy oil corporations who own Congress.
479376
No.  The 80's gas shortage was caused by the Presidential order by President Carter to ration gas.  When the free market was tampered with it got screwed up because people panicked and tried to stock up on gas.  Look what happens here very carefully.  When the hurricane hit LA last year, gas prices in that area rose sharply.  Gas in the New Orleans area was selling at a premium price.  Now, if you were a gasoline dealer, and you could sell your truck of fuel in Texas for say 3000 dollars, or in New Orleans for 5000 dollars where would you sell it?  If you said New Orleans, go to the head of the class.  The price has the job of regulating consumption.  In this instance, it sent the fuel to the area it was needed most, that is the highest bidder.  Subsequently, prices rose in other areas as a result of this, and people react by buying less fuel, which increases supply, then prices come back down again.  Also, you have developing countries using gasoline at rates never before seen.  We also have a government that restricts oil exploration.  Mexico can drill for oil in the gulf of Mexico, but the USA can't, because a few special interest groups say it would be bad for the environment.  You can thank many of those groups for a good bit of the high cost.  The best thing you can do to lower prices is not buy any gas.
464151
It's not the oil thats so high. It's Cheney. He's being like any other republican. GREEDY. I'm saying this cause I am one. He's the reason gas is so high.
502628
Not that I am for this--But dear it wouldn't matter and why you ask---well here is an article--this is starting to open up a new can of worms--please understand--Anyone in the world could have all the oil in the world..and it really wouldn't matter at this point...\n\n$3-a-gallon gas: Blame Washington, not Big Oil\nWhat's driving up gas prices? It's not just higher crude costs; it's new regulations.\nNelson D. Schwartz\nMay 3, 2006: 2:20 PM EDT\n\n\n(FORTUNE Magazine) - With gas prices roaring past $3 a gallon and consumer fury rising even faster, Congress and the White House are engaged in a Kabuki-like ritual: pointing fingers at each other over who's to blame, while furiously attacking Big Oil for reaping gargantuan profits - as drivers get hosed at the pump.\n\nIf the politicians really want to figure out who's responsible for the latest round of price increases, though, they'd be better off looking in the mirror. That's because the rise isn't only due to higher crude costs. It's also fallout from some little-noticed provisions in the energy bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bush last summer.\n\nBuried in the 551-page energy bill - which was supposed to ease energy shortages, not worsen them - were new regulations governing what additives go into gasoline and how it's refined. Corn-based ethanol is replacing the petroleum-derived additive MTBE, but Congress timed this logistically tricky switchover to occur just as demand for gasoline peaked ahead of the summer driving season - right about now.\n\nThe end result is an extra strain on the refining and distribution system when it can least afford it.\n\n"It's too late now, but Congress has consistently failed to sequence regulatory requirements in a responsible fashion," says Bob Slaughter, president of the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association.\n\nAdds Larry Goldstein of the Petroleum Industry Research Foundation: "The gasoline crisis is made in the U.S.A., not in Iran or Venezuela or Nigeria. At least half the increase in gasoline prices is due to unintended consequences of the energy bill, but no one in Washington wants to admit that."\n\nIndeed, while crude prices have risen 21% since the end of 2005, gasoline is up 37% - a sign of just how stretched the system is. Congress's mistake, says Goldstein, was setting the new law to go into effect 270 days after it was signed - May 5 - rather than waiting until fall, when gas demand is typically on the downswing.\n\nNow the big question is, How high can gas go? Well, perhaps the only good thing that can be said about paying three bucks per gallon is that it seems to be slowing consumption - which should, in turn, reduce prices. Over a four-week period in April, says oil analyst Jamal Qureshi of consulting firm PFC Energy, U.S. gasoline demand dropped by half a percent, to just over nine million barrels a day. That may not sound like much, but it's a reversal from the 1.7% average annual increase in gas consumption the U.S. has experienced over the past decade. If $3 is indeed the tipping point at which consumers change their behavior and alter their driving habits, it's the one silver lining in an otherwise very dark cloud for drivers.\n\nThe wildcard in this scenario, of course, is the increasing risk of a military confrontation with Iran. If that happens, says Qureshi, "all bets are off." Given that crude oil accounts for 55% of the cost of each gallon of gas (refining accounts for 22%, taxes for 19%, and distribution and marketing for 4%), an upward spike in crude oil would push gas up even if the bottlenecks caused by the energy bill ease this summer.\n\nThat's why Red Cavaney, president of the American Petroleum Institute, says the answer in the short term is conservation. Washington is indeed being turned upside down when it's left to Cavaney, Big Oil's chief lobbyist, to talk conservat
189399
Oh...Bush will  rush where theres  oil (doesn't he love it so much that he destroyed a nation to get it..not to mention jeopardize the lives of his own countrymen)  moreover he too dumb to see that its boilin  unless Rice is there to guide... even ice cold water wouldn't help the good Ole' gas filled cowboy
348889
supposedly it's because of "weapons of mass destruction." but we all know it's because of the oil. the shitty part is now bush has had us over there 3 years, and the fuckin gas prices are still pushing $3 and probably $4 in summer.
423907
It was for the oil... But, it's also Bush's fault that gas prices are so high.  President Bush is an evil genius but, he's also a complete moron.\n\nscience_rebel: Oil is only one word....
1009474
THEY HAVE THE SAME MAN CONTROLLING THEIR MONEY, AND THEY ARE GETTING RICHER TOGETHER AS GAS PRICES RISE.  BUSH IS PROBABLY HIDING HIMBSOMEWHERE.  AFTER ALL, HE DID TAKE THE SAUDIS TO TEXAS TO SEE WHERE THEY WANTED THE OIL PIPES TO RUN.
1007359
Ever since Bush has taken office (and especially post 9/11), gas prices have gone up drastically and oil companies have been posting record profits.  Recently even, the prices of oil per barrel have gone down while the price at the pump continued to go up, and oil companies kept reporting record revenue.  Their most profitable reported revenues (by far over previous), have all been under the Bush administration (whose family has been in the oil business for years and have good personal relations with the Saudi gov.)  I think it's obvious he's using the presidency for personal gain, maybe even revenge.  By the way, I'm an independent, and vote for who I think is the best choice, and even voted for his Dad in '92, but I think it's ridiculous Clinton had to go through what he did for lying about a personal life choice and Bush is getting off with lying that has cost people their lives and made him money.
598226
The bastards are messing with us!  They are simply raising the prices to fatten up their wallets.  Their profits have raised by 30% and they keep changing the reasons for prices going up.  We never get a straight answer.  First its "a pipe broke and needs to be repaired so oil has gone up", then its "everyones using too much gas in their suvs", then its "we're negotiating to lower prices", um, excuse me but doesnt Bush OWN a refinery?
359449
I don't understand why people think that Bush (or any other president at any other time) is responsible for the price of oil or gas.  Things like wars, production, supply, and demand dictate the price of gas.  Not any given world leader.  \n\nTo blame one man or administration from ANY country for high gas prices is silly.  Believe it or not, our presidents have our best interests in minds (mostly) - the last thing they want to do is piss us off.