Kerry Says Gas Prices Help Bush's Friends

[Khephra]

SANTA FE, N.M. -- Sen. John Kerry said Monday that higher gas prices mean bigger profits for "this president's friends in the oil industry," as he argued that President Bush chose to help big energy companies instead of consumers.

"For most middle-class Americans, the Bush gas tax increase is a tax increase they can't afford," the Democratic presidential candidate said in prepared remarks.

"The money you're paying at the pump is going directly from your wallets straight into the hands of oil companies and oil producers," Kerry said.

snip.......

"Instead of standing up for you, George Bush has chosen secret meetings with the energy industry behind closed doors in the White House," Kerry said. "And after four years of empty rhetoric and inaction, the Republican-controlled Congress is ending another session without passing a good energy bill for America. At the end of the day, George Bush just couldn't get it done."


http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-kerry,0,1109736.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines

[proud patriot]

1. Good

:D

[demoman123]

10. Excellent.

A very good thing to say. If he says it enough, a lot of people will think of Dubya's rich friends in the oil bidness every time they pass a gas station sign listing prices for gasoline.

[CityHall]

2. Testing out new lines for Wednesday apparently

And it's about time they used this. I guess the polls showed Edwards' remarks about Haliburton didn't have any downside. Too bad they're afraid to use the 7-minute gap and the Bin Ladin airlift.

[opihimoimoi]

3. Wait till oil prices reach $$90 a barrel and Gas reaches $4.75 a gallon.

It favors only the oil companies and not Americans...

And yet, the Blindfolded Stepford Sheep vote for this GUY??

WTF???

America... Bush is NOT A GOOD PRESIDENT....He is the worst we ever had....

Look at the Numbers....

Clinton had a $2.000.000.000.000.00 SURPLUS....thats 2 TRILLION BUCKS

Under Bush.... we went Backwards... 2 Trillion added to our NAT DEBT

a 4 $Trillion turn around...Look at the Graphs..Math doesn't lie...

Bush is a LOSER trying to BS us that he is a winner. My ass he is...

[venus]

6. Yea but the $200k'ers aren't really hurt by high oil prices now

are they. Their deception was masterful. First hike prices so high that when they go down a few cents we're all supposed to be relieved and say Bush is doing good things for Merika. I'm totally sick.

[opihimoimoi]

13. The Fools think their wealth will insulate them from a Poorer America..

Toying with a collapse is what they are doing....

Dummy fuckers will ruin it for ALL OF US...including themselves...

The Level of Ignorance is stratospheric....

Damn.....

[Richardson08]

4. CNN showed some of Kerry's speech today in NM

oil is over $53 per barrel,it will cost 28% more to heat your home this winter,the only group making money is the big oil companies and * put * who represents big oil on the ticket

You make your choice

[phantom power]

5. One thing that bugs me a bit

about Kerry's handling of this issue, is that he's dodging the fact that energy isn't going to get less expensive when we transition to renewables.

He's absolutely right to say we need a serious domestic renewables program, but in his speeches, he also tends to imply that this is somehow going to make oil/gas prices go down again. That's not likely to happen, and I wish he wouldn't imply otherwise.

[coalition_unwilling]

8. Hmm, I wonder what traiditional economic theory would predict?

Based on my memories of micro-economics, new forms of energy supply (either renewable or non-renewable) would have the effect of shifting the demand curve for petrolium to the left on an x-y axis. Thus, even if the supply curve didn't move an inch, demand shifting to other forms of energy would have the effect of producing a lower equilibrium price for petrolium products.

For you traditional economists out there, am I mis-stating or over-simplifying something?

[phantom power]

9. the thing is...

1) Demand is increasing from Asia very rapidly. More rapidly than we can reduce *our* demand, even if we were taking the project seriously, which we currently aren't

2) Oil supply does appear to be plateauing world-wide.

3) Renewables are generally more expensive than fossil fuels (wind power might be an exception, but even that will require upfront investment). So, the higher price-point of renewables does not produce any downward pressure on oil, relative to it's current price anyway. Some day, oil will become more expensive than renewables, and stay that way.

I think that all adds up to energy getting more expensive for the forseable future, regardless of what energy policy we adopt.

[coalition_unwilling]

17. Hmm. True, I hadn't considered the supply curve adequately (item #2)

It could be that even as alternative energy pushes the demand curve for petrolium back to the left on the x-y axis, shortages of supply may exert an equal or stronger countervailing force, shifting the uspply curve to the right.

In such a scenario, the equilibrium price for oil would end up higher, even with alternative energy sources coming online (your point, I take it). I think this illustrates why economics may be called an "inexact science" with imperfect predictive powers.

On edit: Also, I hadn't considered the global demand curve which can be influenced by emerging markets like China's.

Thanks for the considerate reply.

[demoman123]

11. None of this "trad economic theory" works in a monopolistic setting.

Big oil can set prices. Prices are not determined by supply and demand.

[coalition_unwilling]

12. Unfortunately, economic history does not bear you out

AFter the OPEC price hikes of the 70's, Americans increasingly turned to conservation, more energy efficient automobiles and (too briefly) alternative forms of energy like solar.

Standard economic theory predicted what would happen to OPEC, its monopolistic power to set prices only extends so far before the supply curve shifts so far to the right relative to the demand curve that the equilibrium price makes other energy strategies more appealing.

[phantom power]

18. One thing about the 70s: that shortage was artificial

OPEC was free to lift that embargo whenever they chose, which they eventually did.

I wonder if the lifting of the 70s embargos gave people a false impression that OPEC can just increase oil supply at will.

This time around, the shortages are much more "real": a combination of geology and ever-increasing worldwide demand.

[demoman123]

20. Artificial, yes. Just OPEC? No.

OPEC works in conjunction with big US and British oil companies to fix the price of oil.

There is still no natural shortage of oil and there will not be for many, many years. The Rumallah oil field in Iraq contains over 100 billion barrels, worth over $5 trillion USD at today's prices. And that is just a small part of Iraq's oil. And Iraq is only the beginning. There is also the Caspian basin.

Oil costs about $2 per barrel to get out of the ground in the Middle East. US and its Arab partners sell it--mainly to Europe and Japan--at anywhere from $20 to $50. Oil is the only commodity more profitable than cocaine.

These prices are indeed fixed at will. Kuwait is known as the "faucet," which the oil companies use, among other artificial devices, to raise and lower prices whenever they choose.

[demoman123]

19. AS IF!

LOL. Now I suppose you are going to claim that there are no such things as SUVs.

There is no such thing as "standard economic theory." There are only theories, ultimately based on different value systems.

[JetCityLiberal]

7. Keep hammering on the high oil prices and the economy

Kerry needs to keep hammering b*sh about the problems with high oil prices. High oil prices are a huge impact on the economy.

Yes, the b*sh buddies make out like fat cats when oil prices are high, but almost all other phases of the economy are impacted by oil. Our continued slow economy I feel should be attributed to high oil prices.

I think b*sh missed his chance this spring by not getting oil prices stabilized at least some. If those energy assholes had not been so greedy they could have cut their profits to say 50% and let the economy grow some.

I can't wait to vote b*sh out.

Kerry in my view continues to get stronger and stronger! Keep it up John.

JetCityLiberal

[opihimoimoi]

14. America is tired of Bushies BS and Kerry will kick ass Nov 2nd

[lovuian]

15. Yep

:bounce:

[sidpleasant]

16. I seem to recall Bush saying in 2000 ...

... something along the lines of "I can use my contacts in the energy industry to lower oil prices" or "I can persuade the producers to lower prices." Anybody else remember that? I'd love to see a commercial that opened with an old clip of Bush saying that followed by a shot of a gas pump with a $2.50+ price.