Gas Prices Back Above $3, Networks Don't Question Obama Policies
Gas prices are "soaring" again, crossing the $3-a-gallon threshold on Dec. 23 for the first time since Oct. 17, 2008. Back then the benchmark was a relief as prices plunged from the highest price ever of $4.11.
Pump prices have been climbing all month, yet network reports downplayed the pain and suffering of consumers. Jim Axelrod of CBS called it "bad news" after reporting some positive economic news on Dec. 28, but concluded "The economy's not great, says economist Dan Greenhaus, but not terrible either."
Compare that to past media exaggeration of gas prices. NBC's Anne Thompson said that "no matter what kind of gas is sold, today it's now unbelievably expensive" on Aug. 31, 2005. That day the national average for gasoline was $2.62 - but the gas price signs shown in Thompson's report were much higher at $3.49.
That same night, ABC's Charles Gibson claimed that gas was approaching $4-a-gallon.
Conversely, as prices fell throughout the summer of 2007, the network news media ignored gas price declines emphasizing "skyrocketing," "soaring," and "painfully high" prices over the drop.
What's the difference between then and now? The president has changed from Bush to Obama, and with it the media's attitude toward gas prices has shifted.
The Heritage Foundation noted on Dec. 29 that the press pestered Bush about gas costs and the political consequences of high pump prices, but have yet to ask Obama the question. CBS suggested on April 26, 2006, that President Bush needed to "do something" about gas prices.
A few months later, on Aug. 21, 2006, Bush was asked at a press conference: "What do you say to people who are losing patience with gas prices at $3 a gallon? And how much of a political price do you think you're paying for that, right now?"
Heritage cited further examples of Democrats pressing the White House to "ease" prices (when prices were below $2-a-gallon), and Speaker Nancy Pelosi attacking the president for rising gas prices.
Under Obama, the networks haven't breathlessly exaggerated gasoline prices as they did under Bush or demanded to know what the president will do to "ease" prices.
Yes, holiday travel reports on ABC, CBS and NBC included some consumer complaints, but the December 2010 reports could not compare with the price hype of 2005, 2006 and 2007.
Yet according to Heritage Obama's policies will continue to make gasoline more expensive.
Heritage wrote: "Now this week, analysts including former president of Shell Oil, John Hofmeister, say Americans could be paying $5/gallon of gasoline by 2012. Investment banks are predicting a return to $100/barrel oil, and OPEC is refusing to raise production. All of this news would be less frightening if the White House were focusing on potential ways to lower energy prices. Instead, President Obama is admittedly fixated with raising them."
How does Obama plan to raise prices? With further EPA regulations of power plants and oil refineries, and more rules for natural resources on government properties and the 'de facto moratorium' on oil drilling.
Not one of the December 2010 network stories mentioning gas prices questioned the role of the Obama White House. The only consideration of government involvement in gas prices came in the form of a "Nightline" question for viewers on Dec. 23, 2010. Obama's name was absent from the question.
ABC's Terry Moran noted that gas prices had topped $3-a-gallon for the first time at Christmas and asked: "So tonight we wanted to ask you, has the U.S. done enough to keep gas prices reasonable? And will it affect your holiday plans?"
- Julia A. Seymour's blog
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Comments
The left wing media will
Submitted by MightyMouth on Thu, 12/30/2010 - 10:46am.
The left wing media will suppress or spin any news that makes their boy look bad. That's right I said "boy". Deal with it!
Have You Learned Nothing?
Submitted by IrateNate on Thu, 12/30/2010 - 10:58am.
No, Grasshopper, you cannot question The One. He is not like the whites, nor is he like the Republicans, and so his teachings are beyond any criticism. Those who dare question Him are racist, and what these people think matters not. Have you learned nothing over these past two years?
I just filled my car this
Submitted by Van Halen on Thu, 12/30/2010 - 11:04am.
I just filled my car this morning - over $50 and it's not a big car. On top of that the groceries are going up in price and in case the JournOList media need a reminder, the economy is FAR worse than it was under Bush. In other words, things are REALLY BAD.
Meanwhile, Obama frolicks on the golf course and in the surf while the rest of us are broke, unemployed, or on the battlefield.
It would be wrong to come
Submitted by Van Halen on Thu, 12/30/2010 - 11:08am.
It would be wrong to come here and complain without a solution. What to do? Contact your rep when they take their seats on Jan 5 and tell them to temporarily cut the taxes on the gas and grocery purchases. While they're at it, they can send up to Obama for his signature, bills that will
enact massive tax cuts
enact massive spending cuts
put a wall/drones/troops/cameras on the Mexican border
repeal Obamacare
defund PBS, FCC
and then they can haul in all these czars to explain their actions and why they are running wild when they are unelected and unaccountable.
This too
Submitted by DontFeedTheTrolls on Thu, 12/30/2010 - 3:33pm.
You (we) should add:
Drill, baby, drill!
give the go-ahead to build another 3 refineries, east, west and middle America
give the go-ahead for more nuke power
Oil's well.....
Submitted by Tomorama on Thu, 12/30/2010 - 11:25am.
It is because Obama is connected to Halliburton and Big oil...............
What's that, my bad, wrong President.
The high prices are actually a godsend as less people are driving and the emissions are lower and therefore we are saving the planet with these higher prices so says "name a bimbette" on any of the non-Fox stations ......
Carry on, no story here..................
where are the
Submitted by dmaley1714 on Thu, 12/30/2010 - 11:36am.
stories about people sleeping in their offices because gas was to expensive to commute, also not very many homeless stories during the blizzard. I guess the homeless problem is over.
High gas prices made one of
Submitted by MidAmerica on Thu, 12/30/2010 - 11:48am.
High gas prices made one of the legs to fall off of jimmuh carters Presidential chair and caused him to crash to the ground.
The unwashed masses may not be real informed on all issues of the day but no one has to tell them when they are hurting. Energy prices are the hub around which all other prices revolve. Give this economy a little seventies style inflation and obama may as well stay in Hawaii.
'Price Gouging'?
Submitted by Slyrr on Thu, 12/30/2010 - 12:01pm.
During all the Bush years, every time there was a rise in gas prices, Demorats caterwauled, raged, frothed and spat that it was Bush and Cheney lining the pockets of their 'Big Oil Buddies', and that it was price gouging.
Now Demorats are running the show, and they've made things worse than ever. Where are their cries and shouts now? They, and their media slaves are silent. Disgracefully and outrageously silent. The same behavior that they screamed was 'impeachable' under Bush, they and Obama have made 3x worse, but now they have nothing to say.
Why aren't they accusing themselves and their king Obama of 'price gouging', and of 'lining the pockets' of their Big Oil buddies? Having their one sock puppet say that they have 'their boot on the neck' of BP doesn't mask the fact that their policies have made things worse than ever.
Republicans have had veritable cargo planes of ammo handed to them on a silver platter by Obama, his Demorats and his crazed 'czars'. Their running of things has been a disaster. Gas prices are skyrocketing. Unemployement is skyrocketing. The enemies of America are on the march and Obama is doing nothing to stop them. Obama is disarming the US and grabbing his ankles for them. Obama has wasted trillions of dollars on pork, graft, bribes and corruption while taking lavish vacations and shopping sprees for himself and his busy-body food-nazi wife.
They are disgraces and should be cast out at once and never allowed back in the halls of power again.
Republicans - MAN UP and use the weapons the Democrats have handed to you! Shout every day from every rooftop you can find and expose their incompetence! Recognize the Nov. 2 mandate! For pity's sake, they've given you issue after issue that you can get ahead of and use to demolish their sick agenda - why, why, WHY aren't you using them?????
Slyrr---
Submitted by matthewdean on Thu, 12/30/2010 - 5:48pm.
Great post.
Your last six sentences were knockouts!
MD
Excellent post, with one minor correction
Submitted by Clutch1956 on Fri, 12/31/2010 - 12:06am.
You keep typing 'Demorat(s)', it is 'DemonRATs'. Otherwise, keep fighting the good fight!
The lame street media are
Submitted by Barack_must_go..... on Thu, 12/30/2010 - 12:10pm.
The lame street media are just waiting for the Ass Clown to return from his adopted home before the propaganda machine revs into high gear over rising gas prices.
They will not however point to the failed policies of the Obama socialist regime. Instead they will only highlight the need for " green energy " initiatives as our only solution.
Meanwhile all the commercials will be coordinated through the corrupt unions, to just happen to be for the Chevy Volt, with a huge taxpayer subsidized rebate along with GE built electrical charging stations located throughout the country.
Obama completely ignores the fact that millions of Americans own gasoline powered cars and will never be able to afford an electric or hybrid vehicle, nor would they want to.
Electric cars can only go less than 100 miles, even after all this time, making them obsolite or the prized possesion of some misguided, flaming, , liberal, juicebox before they even get off the ground.
We need a real American in our White House, not the Ass Clown we find ourselves stuck with today to get this country back on track.
We have the oil reserves, yet Obama stands in our way. We have safe nuclear power, which if utilized will create tens of thousands of jobs, greatly reduce our dependence on Barack's family in the Middle East to fuel our energy needs, while drastically reducing pollution as an added bonus, yet Obama stands in our way.
It's well past time the American people tell him, and his wife, to shut up and sit down.Those ( the honest ones anyway ) that voted for his sorry ass didn't realize what they were buying into at the time. now that they've seen his TRUE COLORS, they want to make an exchange, better yet get a full refund of all their money, jobs and future he has stolen.
Barack Obama, change that'll kill you and your family dead, but only if you keep your mouths shut and let him....
Barack_Must_Go.....
Peggy Joseph could not be
Submitted by Two Dogs on Thu, 12/30/2010 - 12:25pm.
Peggy Joseph could not be reached for comment.
Gas prices soared in 2000 - under Clinton, as well. MSM?
Submitted by Gary Hall on Thu, 12/30/2010 - 12:57pm.
I remember well this conversation back during the Bush years. MSM was going after Bush/Cheney for rising gas prices.. yet had left Clinton/Gore alone when:
.. the national average price of unleaded regular gasoline in the US climbed from $0.95/gal in Feb of 1999, to $161.7 in June of 2000 -- a whopping 62.5% increase. MSM yawned - they had Gore to elect in Nov. 2000.
(;~> gary
PS - a great piece today, as well as Julia's here, by Larry Elder: $5 Gas Predicted Under Obama -- What, No Pitchforks?
I folks cant see
Submitted by Boudin on Thu, 12/30/2010 - 4:49pm.
That the liberal media is simply the propaganda wing of a tyrannical government, then we are in real trouble. Great info Gary
Its a Problem
Submitted by TEXASQUINN on Thu, 12/30/2010 - 12:58pm.
I work as an industrial real estate broker and what people do not realize is, is that 60% of a product's cost is in transportation. As oil rises so do the cost of our products and if manufactuers do not cut price, they cut jobs. The manufactuers typically do not cut costs, since making the product is relatively cheap to make,(depending on the product) the retailer typically raises prices and cuts jobs. High gas prices will be prolong this recession even longer. The EPA regulations will be the nail in the coffin for the economy on top of everything else. How this administration hates the prosperity of America!!!
While Ears panders to his environmental lobbies...
Submitted by Mary Louise Turner on Thu, 12/30/2010 - 1:36pm.
While "Ears" panders to his environmental lobbies, and the MBM turns the other way, the American economy teeters on the edge of the cliff! If gas hits $5 a gallon in 2012 (or even earlier), the country could fall into flat spin! Be afraid, be very afraid!
While I share your over all
Submitted by bassndude on Thu, 12/30/2010 - 1:43pm.
While I share your over all view of the situation here, we must place some trust into the new Congress and hope the Tea Party candidates that won have enough integrity to avoid the corruption and stand for real conservative improvements.
New drilling on federal lands, the selling of federal lands, including areas of national parks and turn these over to private citizens and businesses.
Save a SeAL, club a liberal/troll!!
I am not blaming Obama for the gas prices they have been higher
Submitted by Funbowhunter on Thu, 12/30/2010 - 2:16pm.
I know I will get gruff for this, but the prices are actually due to a lack of competition and state/oil company collusion on price fixing. Ever wonder why the prices are exactly the same at all stations in a given area? There is a reason, and this happened in the 80's.
http://livingfortruth.wordpress.com/2010/04/08/big-oil/
I should not have to defend myself on what I believe, however read some of the other blogs I have written to see where I stand.
Oil prices are a
Submitted by MidAmerica on Thu, 12/30/2010 - 2:29pm.
Oil prices are a relationship of supply and demand.
IF our government wanted lower energy costs it could be done. We have vast energy reserves locked up by government policy. We went through the same nonsense in the seventies. Carter told us we were running out of energy and that we should lower our thermostats and put on a sweater. ....and then along came Reagan who was laughed at by 'experts' for saying we had plenty of energy. He was right.
But now we find ourselves back in the same hole we were in during the seventies where our government lies to us and the media misleads us about how we should utilize our energy reserves.
A stranglehold on energy production and use has been a Liberal goal for many many decades. I't the mother lode of power for the government.
A Contradiction
Submitted by ckc1227 on Thu, 12/30/2010 - 2:46pm.
If there is no competition, how can there be stationS in a given area?
As for prices being the same in a given area, a mile from my house, there is a station charging $3.00/gallon; a quarter of a mile from that station is another charging $2.97/gallon; right across the street from that station is another charging $3.07/gallon(Exxon, of course). Guess which one I buy gas from?
As for not blaming Obama, of course he shares in the blame. It's because of him and others like him that we can't increase domestic oil drilling. Did you miss where he banned offshore oil drilling for 7 more years? It is his fault, and pretty much every other democrat's fault as well.
I understand that BUT
Submitted by Funbowhunter on Thu, 12/30/2010 - 3:40pm.
You have to understand that in the late 70's there were a WHOLE LOT MORE independents that were making their own little refineries and charging 25 cents less than all of the big oil companies at the time. The big oil companies got together with state governments to put a stop to it. Here in Wisconsin there is a law that in a given town or geographical area, prices cannot vary more than a cent or two. A LAW. The "reasoning" is to keep supplies stable, that raises my BS meter pretty high. The real reason is to keep profits high to STARVE competition, which is exactly what happened in the early 80's when the independents could no longer compete with the big oil companies. Remember the stories of water in the fuel of "cheap" gas stations? Who do you think put those stories out? And for what purpose?
Read my blog for more information.
There was MORE big oil competition back then too. Connoco was in competition with Phillips, they had not merged, Exxon was in competition with Mobile, they had not merged.
Did you read Palin's book? She had to fight Exxon by threatening to take away their rights to leases they were locking up in Alaska if they did not start producing. They were sitting on the leases so that supply would not meet demand, therefore making an artificial lack of supply. You don't think they are doing that elsewhere? Also, do you think the costs for producing that oil are the same all over the globe?
But, but, but
Submitted by Tomorama on Thu, 12/30/2010 - 3:38pm.
You do realize that he MAIN point here is the Lemocrats got all wee wee'd up about this and so did the LSM, the only difference now is the president and the sound of "crickets" you are hearing speaks volumes on both the Lemocrats and the LSM.
The Republicans should also be shoving this up their collective backsides, but then, they always like snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
Where are all those sob stories about hardship and people deeciding between eating and going to work and all the stories of how high prices KILL all other facets of our economy and the FACTS that Oblunder doesn't want to drill or use coal or act like a president..................
Why are prices rising
Submitted by jeffinsac on Thu, 12/30/2010 - 2:47pm.
What the media has also failed to mention is the gas prices rising now are a direct response to the Obama administration to print money like there is no tomorrow and devaluing the dollar because of it. Because oil is traded in dollars this is the reason prices are no closing in a $100 a barrel, yet the media does not want to connect the dots with this.
This is what I hate most about the Democrats
Submitted by Phryj1 on Thu, 12/30/2010 - 3:11pm.
The absolutely insane commitment to unrealistic environmentalist ideals. No drilling in ANWR (a chunk of land that has nothing of value to even protect), no offshore drilling, no deep sea drilling (which we wouldn't even need if the other 2 options weren't off the table), no matter how much economic harm is caused by high gas prices. They are relentlessly driving up costs of living, with no relief in sight, because of their eco-crusade to try to get us to stop using fossil fuels, even though there is no viable alternative on the horizon. We wouldn't be dependent on foreign oil if we were actually allowed to drill for our own, but thanks to these self-righteous environmental zealots, we are completely at the mercy of hostile foreign interests who woule like nothing more than to utterly destroy our economy. The Democrats will NEVER stand up for the interests of the American people, they are solely devoted to advancing the leftist agenda. You need look no further than the Dems fiscally disastrous energy policy to see proof of that.
Progressives seem to be completely averse to facts and logic. Apparently, reality has a conservative bias.
Actually, reality "does" have
Submitted by mostlymoderate on Thu, 12/30/2010 - 9:05pm.
Actually, reality "does" have a conservative bias. Think about homosexuality. Does nature make it seem like a man was supposed to put his penis in another mans behind? Logically biased toward the conservative view. Think about the 2nd Amendment. Could "Right To Bear Arms" possibly be misinterpreted??? Only in liberalville. Again, reality has a bias of being conservative. Think about gays in the military. Does that make any sense at all? Nope, again, reality is biased in favor of conservatism. Abortion: the "reality" is that it is a killing of a human being. Simple, right? Nope, not to a liberals completely skewed logic.
Go down the list of issues and they are all logically biased toward conservatives:
1) illegal aliens
2) welfare programs
3) national security
etc. etc. etc. Liberals make no sense on any of the above.
Lamestream media wont do anything as
Submitted by Hologram5 on Thu, 12/30/2010 - 3:33pm.
they are his whipping boys. They do anything he and his boy holder tell them to. Tyranny is alive and well in DC...
Hypocrisy
Submitted by RealVet on Thu, 12/30/2010 - 5:21pm.
So much for Bush's "Oil Buddies". Liberal MSM - what a bunch of absolute hypocrite bastards.
How long before there is a nationwide consensus that our backs are at the f...ing wall?
That would be racist. Obama
Submitted by mostlymoderate on Thu, 12/30/2010 - 8:36pm.
That would be racist. Obama is half black and there are not too many countries in the world that have ever been successful with a black man as leader so you would be affirming a very bad fact. That fact is racist, even if true.
Now go do what you are supposed to do and be an illiterate American and think about football or what Miley is going to wear tomorrow night. Don't let the "news" effect you. Go watch "Chuck".