Two and a half years ago on August 8, 2005, while signing a new Energy Policy into law, Bush lied through his teeth, when he told the country that the "Energy Policy Act of 2005 is going to help every American who drives to work, every family that pays a power bill, and every small business owner hoping to expand."
According to an analysis of EIA data, when Bush took office in 2001, the average American family spent $3,300 on home heating, gasoline, and electricity combined.
In May 2001, the price of home heating oil was $0.76 per gallon. On February 25, 2008, the average residential heating oil price set a nominal high record at $3.46 per gallon.
The price of natural gas was $4.52 per thousand cubic feet in May 2001, and 6 years later, for the year-to-date through October 2007, the average price was $7.05, a 23.8% increase over the October 2006 price.
In 2001, the average cost of residential electricity was 8.62 cents per kilowatt-hour. The average price in November 2007 was 10.69 cents. The price of propane was $0.51 per gallon in May 2001, and on February 25, 2008, the average residential propane price reached an all-time high of $2.58 per gallon.
The Department of Energy estimates that heating oil costs would be up 26% this winter. In New Hampshire families are paying more than $3 a gallon, up from just over $1 in 2000. In Maine, one of the coldest states in the US, state officials have estimated that heating oil will cost more than $2,700 for the average household in 2008.
In November 2007, Senator Chuck Schumer released a report that showed New Yorkers would pay an estimated $830 million more this winter to heat their homes than last winter. His report included homeowners and renters who used gas, fuel oil, or electricity.
This year, Wisconsin experienced a 40% increase in home heating oil costs, according to the Wisconsin Public Service Commission.
A December 2007 poll commissioned by CreditCards.com found that in 2008, two out of 3 Americans plan to cut back spending on other things, as a result of higher energy costs, and nearly 25% said they would cut back significantly.
As many as 27 million Americans will have to borrow money for home heating, and 20 million will use credit cards to pay utility bills. The poll found that 27% of adults who earned between $20,000 and $30,000 a year, believed they would have to borrow money to pay their utilities during the winter of 2008.
The average family uses 1,429 gallons of gasoline a year. On January 20, 2001, the day Bush was sworn into office, the price of gas was $1.44 per gallon. On February 29, 2008, MSNBC reported that the average price of gas was $3.16 a gallon.
In 2001, a family buying 1,429 gallons of gas would have paid $2,057. In 2008, the same family will pay $4,515, providing the gas remains at $3.16 per gallon for the year.
Families living in rural communities are worse off because they must drive long distances to work, to shop, to drop off kids at school, and to access healthcare. Rural households drive 28,000 miles a year on average, or 15% more than urban families, and use 22% more fuel, according to Economic Research Service/USDA. This means families living in rural areas will pay $5,779 for gas in 2008.
The Department of Energy predicts that gas prices will peak this spring near $3.40 per gallon but some energy analysts say the cost could be as high as $4 this summer.
Trucking Industry
Among the hardest hit by rising energy costs, is the trucking industry, which includes hundreds of thousands of small businesses. Eighty percent of communities in the US get their goods solely by truck.
Lower grades and not being president of law review - like her opponent was.
Not passing the bar like her opponent did.
Riding on your husband's record and his political machine, or building your own, like her opponent did.
Claiming her husband’s years in office to appear to have more "experience" than your opponent who actually has more years as an elected official than you.
Lacking the character to congratulate your opponent when he wins
Lying about NAFTA to dodge responsibility for the fact that you championed it and turning it around to create the false impression that your opponent supports NAFTA
Disloyally identifying with the opposing party’s candidate as having "a lifetime of experience," in common with you and mis-characterizing the 20 years of experience of your fellow Democrat as "a speech."
Casting yourself as the feminine victim: they call on me first, the press is coddling my opponent, placing people in the audience to ask if you prefer diamonds or pearls, surrounding yourself with sympathetic women who want to know "how you do it," and then getting "victimized" by men who tell you to "iron their shirts," just in time for the New Hampshire primary . . . Characterizing your opponent as getting a free pass from the press when the press reported everything they even guessed about him, and the wrongs of everyone who came into contact with him, multiple times. while never mentioning the skeletons in your closet like: travel gate; renting out the Lincoln bedroom; removing papers from Vince Edwards’ residence after his suicide; non-disclosed tax returns; undisclosed donors to Bill’s foundation; undisclosed donors to Bill’s presidential library, besides Saudi royal family $10 million donation; undisclosed earmarks; cattle futures scandal; Whitewater . . .
Not encouraging your supporters - like your opponent did, when you loose. Instead running out of town, leaving your supporters to fend for themselves when you loose, but showing up to bask in glory when you win. Kind of like George Bush making his appearance on a naval ship to announce the victory, that never was . . .
Not taking responsibility for your actions - "I voted for it but I hoped it wouldn't pass . . ." Give me credit for my husband’s administration, but not the things that go wrong, like NAFTA.
If you want a woman in the White House who perpetuates every stereotype about women who want to run with the big dogs, but who don’t want to take the responsibility that goes with that status, then Hillary's the one.
by
Hargrove (9 articles, 3 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 15 comments)
on Wednesday, March 5, 2008 at 1:38:14 PM
Gloria Steinem once said, "There won't be true equality until there are incompetent women in high places." Condolezza Rice comes to mind, and Hillary. Neither has accomplished anything of note in public life, let alone anything worthy of their lofty ambitions. All one need do for confirmation is examine the trail of utterly useless legislation Hillary has sponsored since taking her Senate seat. It's exactly the sort of chaff one might expect of a Junior Senator. It is not the sort of legislation one might expect from a presidential candidate.
There are any number of brilliant, dedicated women qualified to assume the presidency. Unfortunately, Hillary Clinton is not one of them.
JP
by
JonmarkP (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 66 comments)
on Wednesday, March 5, 2008 at 3:21:37 PM
