On April 28 I noted what I argued was a case of fuzzy gas math on the part of a Washington Post reporter who uncritically relayed the gas price woes of a Raleigh, N.C., high school senior. Today blogger William Schaeffer, also a NewsBusters fan, pointed out a recent case of a suspicious gas budget claim, this time as reported in the Boston Globe. Schaeffer blogged about it here.
The May 6 Globe story, by reporter Jenn Abelson, kicked off with the lament of Dodge Ram owner Douglas Chrystall, who, Abelson noted, had just paid "$75 to fill his black Dodge Ram pickup truck for the third time in a week."
But after looking up the average gas price in Boston and the fuel economy of a Dodge Ram, Schaeffer crunched the numbers and estimated that Chrystall would have to be "driving around 961 miles a week" or nearly "50,000 miles a year."
"[B]asically the story from the Boston Globe is that consumers that drive over three times the yearly national average are facing a financial burden," Schaeffer concluded, adding sarcastically, "sounds like NEWS to me."
It is plausible that Chrystall only uses the highest available or premium grade of gasoline, but of course it would seem one would cut back if possible on premium gasoline with gas prices so high.
But even if Chrystall can only buy premium gasoline, if you assume $4-a-gallon for premium gasoline, by my calculations, Chrystall has got to be driving around 872 miles-a-week, or just shy of 45,340 miles-a-year. That's still well above the roughly 12,000 miles the average American vehicle is driven each year, and Schaeffer's point still applies.
—Ken Shepherd is Managing Editor of NewsBusters
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That's no problem
May 8, 2008 - 18:21 ET by Poker PlayerI know people who commute 80 miles one way, or 800 miles per week.... toss in a few beer and chips runs and you are there.
Yeah my dad back in the old
May 8, 2008 - 18:27 ET by taterYeah my dad back in the old days before gas was this high used to travel about that far for work...so it is possible. He even had a Dodge Ram too...those trucks seem to last a while.
"They need to have a course in college called common sense and everyone should take it. Problem is there isn't too many people that could pass or teach it." -my grandfather
Diesel is the real economy killer
May 8, 2008 - 18:44 ET by 10ksnookerDiesel goes for $4.39 in SW FL. A 400 gallon big rig fill up is $1800. They average 6 miles per gallon. That is going to hurt everything. It's only a matter of time.
"Diesel goes for $4.39 in
May 9, 2008 - 02:43 ET by ckc1227"Diesel goes for $4.39 in SW FL. A 400 gallon big rig fill up is $1800.
They average 6 miles per gallon. That is going to hurt everything. It's
only a matter of time."
And these are exactly the people a gas tax holiday would benefit the most, and those benefits would trickle down to the rest of us. But for 3-4 months only, it would only be temporary relief.
High cost of fuel will
May 9, 2008 - 03:03 ET by NL207High cost of fuel will simply drive a switch back to rail transport.
The rail system can move a train from Chicago to New York in a day or a little more. One train can haul 280 trailers. It will use about 10,000 gallons of fuel. The mileage is about 790. The trucks will use about 135 gallons each, or 37,800 gallons of diesel. The trucks also use 280 drivers. The train uses 3 guys.
Maybe people that drive
May 8, 2008 - 19:57 ET by motherbeltMaybe people that drive almost 1000 miles per week should consider that when choosing a vehicle.....even at $2 a gallon, that ain't cheap!
Think a gallon of gas is expensive?
May 8, 2008 - 18:24 ET by LionKingThe following is from an email I received (enjoy):
This makes one think, and also puts things
in perspective.
Diet Snapple 16 oz $1..29 ... $10.32 per
gallon
Lipton Ice Tea 16 oz $1.19 ..........$9.52 per
gallon
Gatorade 20 oz $1.59 ..... $10.17 per
gallon
Ocean Spray 16 oz $1.25 ......... $10.00 per
gallon
Brake Fluid 12 oz $3.15 ...... $33.60 per
gallon
Vick's Nyquil 6 oz $8.35 ... $178.13 per
gallon
Pepto Bismol 4 oz $3.85 .. $123.20 per
gallon
Whiteout 7 oz $1.39 ....... . $25.42 per
gallon
Scope 1.5 oz $0.99 .....$84.48 per gallon
And this is the
REAL KICKER...
Evian water 9 oz $1.49..$21.19 per gallon! $21.19 for
WATER and the buyers don't even know the source
Someone calculated the cost of the ink
at...............
(you won't believe it.....but it is
true........)
$5,200 a gal. (five thousand two hundred dollars)
Brake Fluid
May 8, 2008 - 18:48 ET by Jerry MackThe only thing that I have to use on your list is brake fluid. I can not remember the last time that I purchased any.
I do have to buy gas for my car.
Ya I but only have to refill
May 8, 2008 - 19:16 ET by mandrakeYa I but only have to refill the ink in my printer about once every 6 months. And people give me Scope for free..I don't why..go figure?
Actually that Whiteout
May 8, 2008 - 22:33 ET by kimschwould be 0.7 ounce for $1.39 at a per gallon price of $159.57
I haven't seen a 7 ounce container of whiteout, that's really large for whiteout...
kimsch
No news here
May 8, 2008 - 18:29 ET by ThisnThatThe Boston Globe is famous for picking out the one person out of a million who represents the most extreme case, and then writing the story as though that person represents our entire society. No news here -- move along.
___________________________________
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it is in English, thank a Soldier. - My barber
Burden
May 8, 2008 - 18:31 ET by Jerry MackWhether you drive 100 miles or 1000 miles a week you still have to pay for it. The encreasing gas prices are and will remain the largest drag on the economy. The more money that you put in the gas tank means less that you have to spend on everything else.
Next time you go to the gas station see if you can find the alternative fuel pump.
It's not so much the
May 8, 2008 - 20:04 ET by NetizenCainIt's not so much the economic impact that the cost of gasoline has on the man; it's the amount he drives when compared to an average American. The paper attempted to portray him as an example of the 'devastation ' of high gas prices on Americans and they chose a poor example... one that represents a worse-case scenario in order to highlight their points.
"Next time you go to the
May 9, 2008 - 02:55 ET by ckc1227"Next time you go to the gas station see if you can find the alternative fuel pump."
Well, why would I be able to? They're gas stations. They sell gas. I can't catch a plane at one either.
Maybe they should start selling replacement solar panels and replacement windmill turbines for all those windmill powered and solar powered cars running around today.
They Bend the Facts
May 8, 2008 - 19:47 ET by thoridflyWay to ferret out the truth, Schaeffer.
Being inherent liars, the MSM are always going to push the numbers and bend the facts.
With Democrats and liberals, if you dig into the details you are always going to find the Devil ... in abundance.
"If the good men are silent only the wicked are heard." - Edmund Burke
Say he does a lot of driving.....
May 8, 2008 - 22:04 ET by pbthinkerSo I would ask him who he voted for, last election. Chances are, Boston Globe and all, he's a democrat. SO who has blocked every attempt to drill for oil, build a refinery, build a nuclear power plant, who? If you said Democrats, you'd be correct. Now, since they have a plan, they obviously have passed some legislation to make us more energy independent. No, you say? Hey, I remember the big fight over cafe standards for automobiles, doesn't that count. You say an airplane holds 14,000 gallons and they're paying $7.00 per gallon for it. Whew!!! Sounds like our congressmen are going to have to stay in D.C. a lot next year, since none of us will be able to afford a flight.
When will the media hold these people responsible?
Democrats: Stuck on Stupid since 2000.
My two cents
May 8, 2008 - 23:18 ET by David N MOI drive 75 miles one way to work, up I44 to Lambert Field, St. Louis, mo. To do so my last car purchased is an $8000 Bonneville, big, comfortable and gets danged close to 30 mpg when i don't push it. It had 68,000 miles on it when i bought it and it will have 250,000 before the transmission goes out and i scrap it. I've made this cycle three times. My point is choosing to commute that far is a trade off in economy. your house is cheaper (with acreage) while your commute is more expensive. To live conservatively don't buy a new house and don't buy a new car.
If doubling the price of gas puts you over the edge then you are already way too close to the edge.
That ain't fuzzy math - THIS IS
May 9, 2008 - 00:21 ET by Captain RepusAccording to Hillary, the gas tax holiday, 3 months without 18 cents fed tax, would cost the highway fund $8 billion dollars in lost revenue (which she would make up by a windfall tax profit on 'big oil'.
If that is true, and since all the 'big oil' companies claim they make only 9 cents per gallon profit, then the total profit of all the 'big oil' companies should be no more than $16 billion dollars a year.
Either Hillary doesn't know what she is talking about, 'big oil', which is cranking out about $120 billion a year in profit, is lying through their fangs, or the oil companies have a side business of selling crack cocaine or printing money.
Why would the $.18 the feds
May 9, 2008 - 00:33 ET by general companyWhy would the $.18 the feds take even bother the oil Co?
I have heard folks say that Big Oil will have to make up that revenue, why? BTW their is that stuff called plastic.
"Television is a freak show" Bernie Goldberg
"Why would the $.18 the
May 9, 2008 - 03:13 ET by ckc1227"Why would the $.18 the feds take even bother the oil Co? I have heard folks say that Big Oil will have to make up that revenue, why?"
They wouldn't, unless they were forced to pick up the tab like Hillary wants to do. Yeah, that's a good move, Hillary. We already don't have enough gas here, so let's encourage the oil companies to supply us with even less gas.
And the loss of highway funds/highway jobs due to cutting the tax for 3-4 months is a canard too. Government has been raking in record profits right along with the oil companies IN ADDITION to what they take in at the pump from drivers. Any shortages they suffer would be of their own doing.
If anyone deserves a windfall profits tax, it's "Big Government". I just wish someone would make that suggestion to the current candidates during one of the 200 interviews they do each week.
»→ Tax holiday
May 9, 2008 - 03:17 ET by Cool ArrowIf anybody thinks a tax holiday is going to help America, There's a bridge in Minnesota I'd like to sell them.
♣ a seal
It is not as if I think
May 9, 2008 - 09:29 ET by general companyIt is not as if I think the .18 cents would help. But I do not understand how these folks can suggest such a thing and then talk about more taxes.
But to me, if the Gov wants a "Tax Holiday" that means to me anyway, that they no longer collect the revenue. Has anyone suggested that Big Oil pick up the tab?
Here in La we pay 38 cents per gal tax. Now I have heard it said that the oil Co only make 5-9 cents a gallon. How is it the Gov feels they have a right to bigger profits then the folks that produce the product. Not sure about you, but I wonder how many other items the Gov makes out on. It bothers me. And what bothers me more is some on the left feel that they (Gov) are entitled to more. The Gov is more responsible for the price of gas today then any other entity, but yet they feel no obligation to correct their wrongs, but instead continue to point fingers at others. Bothers me a lot,
"Television is a freak show" Bernie Goldberg
Some of the comments here
May 9, 2008 - 08:51 ET by SmartypantsSome of the comments here appear to indicate a misunderstanding of the point of this posting. The issue is not that gas costs have gone up. The issue is that the media is intentionally overstating the impact to fit its agenda. Using this guy, who is obviously at the extreme (assuming he is telling the truth), is an example of media manipulation of an issue. Sure, it hurts people when gas costs $3.50 a gallon vs. $2.00, that's a given. But why represent the problem by using the worst case example? What does this guy, who must drive over 800 miles a week, have to do with the average American? The average American does not drive 800 miles a week. In fact, the average American drives far less than half of that distance. 15,000 miles a year is about 289 miles a week. If someone is driving 289 miles per week and averages 20 mpg (which is reasonable), they're using about 15 gallons of gas a week. So, if gas costs an extra $2.00/gallon, it's costing the average person about $30 more a week. Certainly that has an impact, but in those terms it does not seem like the end of the world. People blow $30 a week on Starbucks and/or bottled water--easy (granted not everybody, but lots of us do). The point is that the media expresses things at the extreme for the purpose of drawing attention and making things to be even worse than they are. As someone mentioned earlier, if this gas increase pushes someone over the edge, they're living too close to it anyway--well said.
comments
May 9, 2008 - 20:21 ET by David N MONo I think everyone 'gets it' It is just so blatently spun that they'd rather talk around it.
I have a neighbor who wants to buy another car that gets better milage... never mind the differential cost of trading one car for another over the next few years will hurt him far more than the fuel price increase.
(...just noticed you quoted me at the end of your post :))
I don't know why people are
May 9, 2008 - 15:05 ET by CooltomI don't know why people are pooh-poohing the 18.5 cent tax holiday. Most people would cross the street if one gas station sold gas for 2 cents less then the other one on the corner.
My work car has a 10 gallon tank so the measly $30 I save amounts to nearly a full tank for free. If you gave someone a coupon for a free fillup or a station advertized a "buy nine gallons -- get one free" sale there would be lines to the nearest state border.
$30 bucks is $30 bucks. I gladly take yours if you don't want it. Of course gas prices will rise to swallow up the tax savings -- but they would still be 18.5 cents less then without the tax break. I'd rather spend $3.85 than $4.00 anyday.