TOM BROKAW: Let's talk for a moment about consumer responsibility when it comes to the auto industries. As soon as gas prices dropped, consumers moved back to the larger cars once again. The SUVs are the big gas consumers. Why not take this opportunity to put a tax on gasoline, bump it back up to $4 a gallon where people were prepared to pay for that, and use that revenue for alternative energy and as a signal to the consumers: "Those days are gone. We're not going to have gasoline that you could just fill up your tank for 20 bucks anymore."NBC News, February 2012:
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Why now? In a tight economy with so many Americans living on the financial edge, why are they being asked to pay so much more for gas? . . .Hypocrites: not even misplaced environmentalism is more important to media cheerleaders than the President's re-election.
With Americans right now looking for any positive uptick in the economy, any reason to feel good about hiring or wages or industrial production, there's still one thing that could crush it all and ruin any hope for a real recovery right now, and that's the price of gas. Too much of our economy runs on it, too many families depend on it, and very few people can afford to pay even more for it right now. The problem is gas prices are going up, according to AAA, the national average for regular unleaded is up 13 cents in just the last month, averaging $3.51 a gallon across the country. And that's continuing the climb from last month, when we saw the highest gas prices on record for the month of January. NBC's John Yang starts us off tonight on why and what more we can expect. . .
JOHN YANG: Americans are feeling a big pain in the pump that's spreading to the rest of their lives. . . And it's not just family finances being squeezed. Analysts say that every 50 cent increase in gas prices takes almost $150 billion out of the rest of the economy. That's bad news during a struggling recovery.
(via Ed Driscoll)
2 comments:
>> And that's continuing the climb from last month, when we saw the highest gas prices on record for the month of January.
This strikes me as likely BS, since it's almost certainly just a statement of fixed dollars, not of PPP or inflation-adjusted numbers.
I'm still trying to figure out, though, that this is going to help President Downgrade's re-election. Any higher fuel prices just scream for a mention of the pipeline he blew off, which is an obvious GOP talking point.
And the taxpayers keep subsidizing oil companies and the oil companies profits keep rising and the majority of the taxpayers and citizens of the USA keep getting worked over and exploited by these greedy corporate people who are writing the legislation and legislators to get the government to increase their profits at the expense of the well-being of the people government is supposed to serve.
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