Conservative George Will Rips GOP's Politicization Of Gas Prices As 'Economic Nonsense'

[SunsetDreams]

Last edited Sun Feb 26, 2012, 04:37 PM - Edit history (1)

On ABC’s This Week, conservative commentator George Will rejected the “preposterous” GOP political strategy of trying to win elections by railing against “high gas prices.” As evidence, Will highlighted Rep. Allen West (R-FL), who said he was outraged that it costs him $70 a tank to fill his car. “He drives a Hummer!” Will noted, adding, “this is economic nonsense.” Watch it:

http://thinkprogress.org/green/2012/02/26/432611/george-will-gas-prices/


GOP Deceptions About Gas Prices

Well, here they go again. With nothing positive to campaign on, GOP strategists have decided to launch a messaging war against President Obama, blaming him for the high price of gasoline. According to the New York Times, the GOP argument is that when Obama took office in 2009, gas was $1.89 per gallon. Today, the price for that same gallon is $3.52. So it must be Obama's fault. Rick Santorum even says that the Democrats "want higher energy prices."

But as I teach my undergraduate students on their first day in class, it is easy to make statistics lie. And you can bet that as the GOP unleashes its attack dogs on the White House, they'll do just that. What they won't tell you, for example, is that under George W. Bush, the price of gasoline increased from $1.60 per gallon when he took office in January 2001 to $4.40 per gallon in July 2008, a jump of 275 percent.

Now it's true that when the economy crashed, the price of gasoline decreased temporarily, in part because the economic meltdown suppressed demand. When Obama took office in January, 2009, the economy was at its low point, and as a result the price of gas was at a low point as well. As the economy improved under Obama's direction, the price of gas returned to its pre-crash baseline.

So the GOP deceptions are based on conveniently forgetting that: (1) the low, 2009 price of gas was simply a reflection of the economic meltdown that they helped cause; (2) before the crash, gas was even more expensive under Bush than it is now; and (3) rising gas prices are a reflection of our economic rebound.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/aaron-belkin/gop-gas-prices_b_1286787.html

Fox News Resumes Perennial Gas Price Charade

As the employment outlook improves, Fox News is advising Republicans to focus on blaming President Obama for rising gasoline prices -- a claim with no relation to economic fact.


Fox News Talkers Converge On Highly Misleading Talking Point

Fox Blames Obama For Change In Gas Prices From January 2009 To Now. On at least six occasions in the past week, Fox News has pushed the talking point that gasoline prices have almost doubled (increasing 83% or 90% or 91%) since Obama took office in January 2009. The claim was also promoted this week by the Drudge Report and CNSNews, as well as the Senate Republican Conference. Fox falsely suggested that Obama's energy policies are to blame for the increase in prices, without explaining that prices were low in January 2009 because the recession slashed demand.

...

Gasoline Prices In Canada Have Followed Same Trend As U.S. The following chart shows that gasoline price trends are basically the same in Canada as in the U.S., underscoring the fact that prices are driven by the world oil market and not by Obama's policies. The difference between the two lines reflects the fact that the U.S. has relatively low gas taxes.

http://mediamatters.org/research/201202160012

[lpbk2713]

1. And Obama is the President of the US, not OPEC.

They could really GAF what Obama says or thinks.

[spanone]

2. 'they have the right to demand that lobsters grow on trees' now that's funny

george was on a roll....and right

[randome]

3. George Will for Vice-President...

...of White House grounds cleanup.

Seriously, is the pinched dude tiring of his mistress (the GOP)?

[mick063]

4. It won't be long until Geroge Will joins the Democratic party.

Both partys have moved to the right that much.

Will is much to intellectual for the bile spewed from FOX News. He makes a living from making legitimate arguments. He can find no legitmacy in the Republican Party. The only way he can sell his wares as a credible journalist is to either join the crazys or switch sides.
Which side do you think he will take?

George Will is constantly in a bad defensive position. He must be growing weary of it.

[ibegurpard]

5. please no

Let him start his own party... and take the conservadems with him.

[JHB]

6. Ick. No. Not unless he starts actively preaching that Reagan was wrong...

...and so has he for the last 40 years.

Will is one of the people who can never admit that he brought this about. He promoted it, maybe with a paper mask over it to cover over the pure ugliness of it, but promoted it nonetheless because his precious conservative dialectic needed these people to win power. He can't just disown it, and should not be allowed to if he tries.

[monmouth]

7. They laughed out loud at West. That was the highlight for me...n/t