DebateGate
General Category => 3DHS => Topic started by: fatman on March 01, 2008, 10:41:21 AM
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Seriously, wtf?
$4-a-gallon gas? Predictions surprise Bush
By Seattle Times news services
RON EDMONDS / AP
President Bush speaks Thursday during a news conference at the White House.
Related
WASHINGTON ? The bulletin reached President Bush toward the end of his news conference Thursday.
Peter Maer of CBS News Radio asked: "What's your advice to the average American who is hurting now, facing the prospect of $4-a-gallon gasoline, a lot of people facing ... "
"Wait, what did you just say?" the president interrupted. "You're predicting $4-a-gallon gasoline?"
Maer responded: "A number of analysts are predicting $4-a-gallon gasoline."
Bush's rejoinder: "Oh, yeah? That's interesting. I hadn't heard that."
The president, once known for his common-guy skills, sounded eerily like his father, who in 1992 seemed amazed to discover that supermarkets had bar-code scanners.
The $4-a-gallon forecasts were reported widely in newspapers and on TV in the past week. The White House press secretary took a question about $4 gas at her Wednesday media briefing. A poll last month found that nearly three-quarters of Americans expect $4-a-gallon gas.
The president, however, had difficulty grasping the possibility, even after Maer told him.
"You just said the price of gasoline may be up to $4 a gallon ? or some expert told you that," Bush repeated. "That creates a lot of uncertainty."
Bush's acknowledged unfamiliarity with the recent cost of gasoline produced some fumes at the pump.
At a Shell service station in San Mateo, Calif., the price of a gallon of regular had already reached $4.29, well above the California average of $3.42, as measured by AAA.
"Bush is out of touch with a lot of things we are facing today," said Marisa Cajbon, 33, who was filling her Toyota Sequoia SUV. "I have to buy gas. I need to work. I have two kids. I think it's unfortunate. I think it's a crime."
Bush also tried to put the best spin he could on months of bleak economic news. "I don't think we're headed to a recession, but no question we're in a slowdown," he said.
When NBC's David Gregory invited him to criticize Democratic presidential candidates for not knowing much about the expected new Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, Bush replied: "I don't know much about Medvedev, either."
Agence France-Presse's Olivier Knox asked Bush why he was going to the Olympics in China despite the country's human-rights record. "I'm a sports fan," the president said.
Bush waded into presidential politics, criticizing the Democratic contenders for their positions on free trade and taking particular aim at Sen. Barack Obama for his comments about the wisdom of meeting the new leader of Cuba.
Bush did not attack by name either Obama or his rival for the party's nomination, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. But there was no masking his disdain for the Democrats' positions on several campaign issues, including the war, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the political transition in Cuba.
While both Democratic candidates have called for renegotiating NAFTA, the president stood behind the pact.
"The idea of just unilaterally withdrawing from a trade treaty because of trying to score political points is not good policy," he said.
He reserved his harshest comments for Obama's recent statement that he would be willing to meet the new leader of Cuba, Raul Castro, "without preconditions."
Bush has refused to meet with foreign adversaries such as Kim Jong Il of North Korea and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran.
"What's lost by embracing a tyrant who puts his people in prison because of their political beliefs?" Bush said in reference to Castro. "What's lost is it will send the wrong message. It will send a discouraging message to those who wonder whether America will continue to work for the freedom of prisoners."
Bush went on: "I'm not suggesting there's never a time to talk, but I'm suggesting now is not the time ? not to talk with Raul Castro."
But "sitting down at the table, having your picture taken with a tyrant such as Raul Castro, for example, lends the status of the office and the status of our country to him," Bush said. "He gains a lot from it by saying, 'Look at me, I'm now recognized by the president of the United States.' "
Material from The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times and Chicago Tribune is included in this report.
Link: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2004250068_bush29.html (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2004250068_bush29.html)
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Oh brother...... ::)
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Oh brother what?
If all that you're capable of is an eyeroll, maybe you'd be of more assistance if you didn't reply at all.
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Gas here is 3.05. Two weeks ago it was 2.79. It may go up a bit as they switch to summer blend. I don't expect 4.00 gas for a while, if at all.
I'm surprised that station in Cali wasn't fined for gouging, being so much above the average and all.
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Elect a couple of oilmen, what do you get?
Now we could elect a military man. wonder what that might bring us...
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Gas in CA is notoriously expensive, especially in the Bay Area. Here in WA, near my home in Skagit county I'm paying $3.41 (filled up this morning). In Bellingham, where I work, the cost of gas is around $3.60-$3.70 a gallon, because of all the extra taxes that Whatcom county adds on. If the oil companies were smart they'd post a breakdown at the pump of the actual gas cost, and the added taxes. That might give some people pause.
I've never thought Bush was stupid, you don't get to be the President by being stupid, but how can he not have heard this?
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I've never thought Bush was stupid, you don't get to be the President by being stupid, but how can he not have heard this?
The prediction was on Drudge less than a week ago.
Perhaps he was busy or out of town. Seems he was in Africa lately.
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>> Oh brother...... ::)<<
Agreed.
Right, Bush is out of touch blah blah blah.... Are there any serious journalists left out there? Or are they all paid flunkys of the DNC?
Gas is $3.05 here too. What happened to cheap gas in Georgia? We used to always make sure to get gas in Georgia whenever we passed through back in the 90's.
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It normally is cheaper than surrounding states. Especially in the Atlanta Area.
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The prediction was on Drudge less than a week ago.
Perhaps he was busy or out of town. Seems he was in Africa lately.
The prediction has been out a lot longer than last week.
4/26/2007
Link: http://money.cnn.com/2007/04/26/news/economy/gas_prices/index.htm (http://money.cnn.com/2007/04/26/news/economy/gas_prices/index.htm)
6/2007
Link: http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2006/07/will_we_see_4ag.html (http://blogs.cars.com/kickingtires/2006/07/will_we_see_4ag.html)
3/2007
Link: http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Business/story?id=2997190 (http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Business/story?id=2997190)
12/27/2007
Link: http://laist.com/2007/12/27/4_a_gallon_for_2.php (http://laist.com/2007/12/27/4_a_gallon_for_2.php)
1/3/2008
Link: http://www.hybridcars.com/news2/4-gas-by-spring.html (http://www.hybridcars.com/news2/4-gas-by-spring.html)
Oh brother indeed. I guess all these blogs and news sites are "paid flunkys (sic) of the DNC.
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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Gasoline prices, already above $3 a gallon in some states, could charge higher this summer and hit $4 a gallon in some locations, according to one industry expert.
From your first link. I don't recall gas hitting $4 a gallon. Do you?
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I guess that's why the word "could" is there, it denotes a speculation, which may or may not come true. It doesn't refute the point that it's been speculated for over two years now that gas could hit $4 a gallon, nor does it explain Bush's surprise that such speculation existed.
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I caught my mistake.
From the article: The $4-a-gallon forecasts were reported widely in newspapers and on TV in the past week. The White House press secretary took a question about $4 gas at her Wednesday media briefing. A poll last month found that nearly three-quarters of Americans expect $4-a-gallon gas.
BT has a point about Bush being out of the country. I apologize for the mix-up.
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I'm more concerned with the price of tap water. I checked with our wholesaler recently and the raw cost to us will double in the next five years. Add waste, recycling and sewer and our utilities bills are going up big time. 10-15 a month makes a difference on the budget of a fixed income senior.
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I'm more concerned with the price of tap water. I checked with our wholesaler recently and the raw cost to us will double in the next five years. Add waste, recycling and sewer and our utilities bills are going up big time. 10-15 a month makes a difference on the budget of a fixed income senior.
Very true BT. Here, we don't have water worries so much as you guys, that drought you had last year was a doozie. Drinkable water is going to outpace gasoline at some point.
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Now we could elect a military man. wonder what that might bring us...
The last military man that we elected was Eisenhower, who brought us the beginning of Federal enforcement of civil rights courts decisions, an end to the Korean conflict, an era of peace and prosperity, and the warning (largely unheeded) about the conjunction of the defense and armament industries that lead to the "military-industrial complex".
That's not such a bad track record, in my mind at least.
The general elected before Eisenhower was Grant. His administration could be considered good or bad, depending on where you stood.
The general elected before Grant was Zachary Taylor, whose administration was cut short by his death. Although a Southerner, he didn't believe in secession, and vowed to personally lead an army if the South seceded. I'm speculating when I say that he may have forced the Civil War early.
And then there is Washington, and that speaks for itself.
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I never worry about the price of water
the stuff that goes with it usually overshadow it
waste,sewerage & recycling
water is cheaper than the rest of the bill
but I always find it intersting that even today thee most basic thing (water)is still worried about
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The general elected before Eisenhower was Grant. His administration could be considered good or bad, depending on where you stood.
The general elected before Grant was Zachary Taylor, whose administration was cut short by his death. Although a Southerner, he didn't believe in secession, and vowed to personally lead an army if the South seceded. I'm speculating when I say that he may have forced the Civil War early.
And then there is Washington, and that speaks for itself.
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McCain is not a general.
Garfield, Arthur, Harrison, and Roosevelt were all officers in the Army. FDR was an officer in the Navy, think.
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Garfield and Arthur were Civil War generals, not career military as I recall. I think Hayes is in there somewhere too. I forgot all about Harrison, but as he was only President for a month he's kind of a non-issue. TR wasn't exactly career military either.
FDR was Secretary of the Navy from 1913 to 1920, including WWI. An interesting side note is that Winston Churchill served as First Lord of the Admiralty in WWI.
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FDR was an officer in the Navy, think.
So were JFK and Jimmy Carter. One had the balls to risk WWIII to stand up to the Soviets over Cuba and one blinked while simultaneously wetting himself in a similar situation.
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There are a lot of Presidents with military service, or who served in the defense/war dept. Nixon, Truman, Hayes and Taft are just a couple off of the top of my head, in addition to those already listed. And Bush sr. It used to be the norm a lot more than it has been the past few elections.
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Hell, even the Bushbaby was in the military, sort of, when he wasn't skipping out.
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>>Hell, even the Bushbaby was in the military, sort of, when he wasn't skipping out.<<
Keep repeating a lie long enough ....
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One had the balls to risk WWIII to stand up to the Soviets over Cuba and one blinked while simultaneously wetting himself in a similar situation.
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And that explains why Fidel Castro took over Florida?
What the bloody hell are you gibbering about?
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Keep repeating a lie long enough ....
Prove any part of it was a lie.
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Sorry, it's a lie. I'm not going to rehash the same old nonsense when we both know you're committed to the lie and no amount of evidence up to this point has changed your mind.
I know it's a lie. Anybody who's paid attention to the story knows it's a lie. Or anybody who's honest knows it's a lie, I should say. It's been proven wrong by members ere countless times.
So wallow in that old chestnut if it fuels your hate. I know it's bullshit, and that's enough.
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Wrong, boy-o.
He skipped a required physical, then asked for an early out to work on some guy's political campaign.
Didn't say he went AWOL (though technically, skipping a required physical would qualify) or deserted, or dodged the draft. Just said he was in the military when he wasn't skipping out, in case you missed it. Which, naturally, with your reflexive desire to disagree with me, you did.
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Oh brother...... ::)
So, the "president" isn't considered out of touch with reality if he doesn't know a gallon of gas is about to cost folks $4 a gallon?
What world are you living in anyway?
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I've never thought Bush was stupid, you don't get to be the President by being stupid, but how can he not have heard this?
He's barely high-functioning.
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How often do you think a president fills up the tank? Maybe when he is in Texas at the ranch, if then.
This is a pissy topic from pissy people.
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How often do you think a president fills up the tank? Maybe when he is in Texas at the ranch, if then.
This is a pissy topic from pissy people.
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I would bet that not only has Juniorbush nor filled up his own tank in a dozen years, that he has never been in a car at a gaspump in a dozen years. And when the time comes to pay, he's not there, either.
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I would bet that not only has Juniorbush nor filled up his own tank in a dozen years, that he has never been in a car at a gaspump in a dozen years. And when the time comes to pay, he's not there, either.
I wouldn't be surprised if he filled it up in Crawford occasionally. Pre-Sheehan
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I wouldn't be surprised if he filled it up in Crawford occasionally. Pre-Sheehan
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Perhaps, perhaps not. My guess is some flunky does all this for him. His old man reacted with alarm when he saw them scanning food in a NH supermarket during a primary.
The Bushes are sheltered shrubs indeed.
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The Bushes are sheltered shrubs indeed.
Probably no more out of place than you paying retail.
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(http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/uc/20080305/spo080304.gif)