Gas Prices? Trickery and Treachery and Romney Knows It!

While I know Mitt Romney's throwing everything he could lie about or imagine at President Obama last evening stifled a good debate, I think the President missed a few opportunities  He missed opportunities to slow the Romney "LIE" onslaught; via simply calling the man out as a liar. The nation knows Romney is a serial liar; he should have been called out accordingly. One quick example.

He stated gas prices have doubled under Obama. The statement is a flat-out lie.  While many authors have written about gas prices Bush V. Obama, some have craftily written about specific periods for comparison There have been times during the Obama Administration when gas prices were double that of "a" period in the Bush Years. Lets face Bush ad eight years in the white House.   Other writers craftily write of comparison between Bush's and Obama's first two years. Wow, how cheap an analogy and frankly one that should insult the reader. Did Clinton not pass an almost idyllic economy over Bush?. Now, did Bush do same with Obama?  The first two year comparison is sad and very typically conservative B/S.

Price comparison 2001 - 2008

This comparison works for me in two ways.First and frankly, it fits my progressive bias and knowledge that Romney's Gish Gallop technique was nothing ore than that: bullshit.  Gish Gallop?

WIKI:

Debates

Gish has been characterized as using a rapid-fire approach during a debate, presenting arguments and changing topics very quickly. Eugenie Scott, executive director of the National Center for Science Education, has dubbed this approach the "Gish Gallop," describing it as "where the creationist is allowed to run on for 45 minutes or an hour, spewing forth torrents of error that the evolutionist hasn't a prayer of refuting in the format of a debate"^[7] and criticized Gish for failing to answer objections raised by his opponents.^[8] The phrase "Gish Gallop" has come to be used as a pejorative to describe similar debate styles employed by proponents of other, usually fringe beliefs, such as homeopathy or the moon landing hoax.^[9][10]

Gish has also been criticised for using a standardized presentation during debates. While undertaking research for a debate with Gish, Michael Shermer noted that for several debates Gish's opening, assumptions about his opponent, slides and even jokes remained identical. In the debate itself, Shermer has written that while he stated he was not an atheist and willing to accept the existence of a divine creator, Gish's rebuttal concerned itself primarily with proving that Shermer was an atheist and therefore immoral.^[11] Massimo Pigliucci, who has debated Gish five times, said that he ignores evidence contrary to his religious beliefs.^[12] Others have accused Gish of stonewalling arguments with fabricated facts or figures.^[13]

Second,k the analysis is based on average tie frames I think that scope of comparison is far more valid than "Andrew Breitbart-like" and "Fox News-like"  data manipulation. 

American Bob Dot Com

Under what party did gasoline and oil prices reach their peak? Republican, of course.

3/14/2012 12:29pm by John Aravosis 

Republican Governor Bobby Jindal, not known for his analytical skills, is now claiming that gasoline and oil prices have reached their highest levels in years (if ever) under the Obama presidency.  Perhaps Jindal is too young to remember that, in fact, gas and oil prices were higher under – who? – Republican President George W. Bush.

Politico , quoting Jindal’s lie:

“The reality is, gasoline prices have doubled under this president, highest prices for oil and gasoline in a 150 years. People used to think it was because of incompetence from Obama administration on energy – I think it’s because of ideology. They’re pursuing a radical environmental ideology,” Jindal said on “Fox &Friends.”

In fact, the monthly average retail price of gasoline peaked at $4.26 a gallon in inflation-adjusted dollars less than four years ago, in June 2008. It then plummeted to $1.80 a gallon in the next six months during the global financial collapse. Oil isn’t near historic highs either.

Kudos to Politico’s MJ Lee for catching the lie.  In other words, gasoline prices reached their peak – wait for it – during the George W. Bush presidency, that would be the Republicans.  Note the chart below , red is gasoline prices under Bush, blue is gas prices under Obama.  Guess who wins?

 

And if you look back even further, it appears that George Bush’s peak gasoline price was tied for the highest ever  (adjusted for inflation, noted as the “real” price in the chart I link to ), and Bush’s tie wasn’t with Obama, it was with Jimmy Carter (in this table , Carter’s oil prices were slightly higher than Bush’s, which were higher than Obama’s) and Woodrow Wilson.

Oil prices were also higher under Bush  - again, red is Bush, blue Obama.

 

Keep in mind that Jindal, like Bush, is supposed to be an oil expert because his state, like Texas, produces oil.  Yes, well the one oil expert failed to realize that the other oil expert had some of the highest oil and gasoline prices in all of American history.

Romney may have actually borrowed the gas prices lie from the inimitable Bobby Jindahl.

An even more relevant look at gas prices. It does not take much to see that prices are somewhat cyclical.  And Obama policy has contributed to significant reductions in oil exports.  Factually, speaking the truly relevant point is congress will not pass laws that could impact the price of domestic gasoline. why? Big Oil want sot be able to sell gasoline to China. If gasoline exports to China were reduced, the price of a gallon of gasoline in the States would drop correspondingly.