The Summertime Blues
Not owning a car, gasoline prices don't affect me at all (I use the occassional Zipcar like this morning, but the customer doesn't pay extra for gas) but obviously this is a big deal financially for a lot of people, even though gas prices as a share of household income are down from where they were during the late 1970s price spike. Because presidents get both credit and blame for important things, even if the White House doesn't have a lot of control over them, Bush's approval ratings have a tendency to ebb and flow with gas prices. This is what makes the current atmosphere of gloom surrounding the GOP's political prospects interesting -- things are almost certain to get worse.
The summer months lead to higher gas prices, which is bad for Bush. They also feature hurricanes which are going to be bad for Bush. And our troops in Iraq tend to have more problems during the summer (the heat seems to degreade their operational effectiveness, perhaps because it makes body armor and helmets super-uncomfortable) which, of course, is bad for Bush. The tendency in politics is always to underrate the extent to which there's still time for things to change (persuadable voters tend to be fickle and not to pay attention very closely) but we can expect the current bleakness on the right to continue -- and even deepen -- for a while more.
Forget the body armor and the helmets, Matt... the heat drives the Iraqis wild, too. Remember that the U.S. hasn't been able to sustainably restore pre-Saddam electricity levels, so they don't have air conditioning.
Turn off the A/C in Phoenix, AZ for a summer and see what kind of craziness the locals resort to. :)
-- Bruno and The Professor: Dynamic Talk Radio
April 22, 2006 2:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, we've seen several elections now where the stars have aligned in the favor of democrats, then democrats lost.
I've been burnt often enough that I am doom and gloom about the chances of democrats until after the votes are officially tallied.
Even the early exit polls are part of the conspiracy.
April 22, 2006 2:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Of course gas prices affect you. Even if you aren't the one purchasing the gas for your Zipcar, they obviously have to incorporate the costs of gas into their prices, which means that they'll charge you more when gas costs them more. And anything that you buy that had to be shipped in a vehicle that runs on gas has its price influenced by the costs of shipping, which are going to be higher when gas prices are higher. So maybe gasoline prices don't affect you very much, and don't affect you directly, but it's ridiculous to say that they don't affect you at all.
April 22, 2006 4:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not having a car does not mean you aren't affected by high gas prices. The big picture is affected for everyone.
Shopping online is affected by high gas prices. Travel on a plane is affected by high gas prices. Buying wood at Home Depot is affected by high gas prices. Eating out with the family even if you walk to the restaurant is affected by high gas prices.
I realize that American consciousness is usually dictated by their pocketbook, but we really need to get with the program on this one. We are way too lazy to not nip this in the bud while we can.
Let
"Dissent: It's A Beautiful Thing."
April 23, 2006 7:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
Not owning a car, gasoline prices don't affect me at all
When's the last time you ate a piece of food that didn't arrive on a truck?
I thought so.
April 24, 2006 8:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
I agree with the above posters. Our entire economy is dependant on fossil fuels to an extent most people do not realise. It's not just the trucks. The fertilizers are made with petroleum in the process....( tractors..but also the very fertilizer itself) so all this stuff about saving money with bio-fuels is just plain silly since if oilprices keep climbing the price of making bio-fuels will climb right along with them. So, the price of food is linked (we'll begin to feel the pinch at the gocery store fairly soon) to the price of oil.
The next time you take a bite out of that hamburger and have to fork out 10 dollars for the privilege I suspect you will not be so quick to think that your not effected ! :)
April 24, 2006 10:21 PM | Reply | Permalink