Given the current sad state of the economy, when the price of something goes down, that's a good thing because you can buy more of it without breaking the bank, right?
That's not what the host of the MSNBC program Up With Chris Hayes said on Saturday, when he claimed that “the price of energy is too low” and “the massive, extractive energy boom happening in America right now” is getting in the way of promoting renewable power sources.
Oil & Gas Prices
By Randy Hall | December 10, 2012 | 9:12 PM EST
By Seton Motley | December 4, 2012 | 8:40 AM EST
To paraphrase the estimable Yogi Berra - it’s like deja vu all over, and over, and over, and over again.
The Jurassic Press media is enraptured with a certain story.
By Randy Hall | November 30, 2012 | 9:44 PM EST
With the “fiscal cliff” looming over Washington, D.C., CNNMoney correspondent Steve Hargreaves has proposed that one of the tax increases that should be on the table is a hike on the cost of the gasoline you buy to keep the family car running.
“Currently at 18.4 cents a gallon, the federal gas tax is used primarily to build and repair roads, bridges and other transportation infrastructure,” he stated in an article posted Wednesday on the CNN site. “The tax raises about $32 billion a year.”
By Liz Thatcher | November 2, 2012 | 10:19 AM EDT
Up or down, the media often hype changing gas prices, in spite of a long track record of incorrect predictions. But the most recent forecast stands to benefit media favorite: President Barack Obama.
In recent months, all three broadcast news networks and the USA Today have offered predictions ahead of the presidential election, saying prices would be much lower by late November: after the election.
By Julia A. Seymour | November 2, 2012 | 10:05 AM EDT
Presidential elections have been won or lost due to the economy. Herbert Hoover lost to Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Jimmy Carter lost to Ronald Reagan. This election season is no different as polls, including a recent one from NBC News/Wall Street Journal, continue to show the economy is the top concern of voters.
But the network news media often skew economic coverage in favor of liberal candidates and against conservatives. In September 2012, President Barack Obama continued to face a barrage of poor economic news including a GDP downgrade to 1.3 percent, an unemployment rate still above 8 percent and “record” high gas prices. But media coverage of economic issues from that month did not accurately reflect that turmoil. When President George W. Bush sought re-election in 2004, during the exact same time period, broadcast coverage criticized him on the economy despite a GDP of 3.3 percent, an unemployment rate of just 5.4 percent and gas prices a low $1.82.
By Tom Blumer | October 27, 2012 | 4:09 PM EDT
The latest and possibly last (we can hope) preelection poll from partnership between the Associated Press and GfK Roper International purportedly tells us that most of us "now express prejudice toward blacks" whether we "recognize those feelings or not."
That's the conclusion communicated by AP reporter Sonya Ross and wire service deputy director of polling Jennifer Agiesta. In case we don't get the point, the item's accompanying photograph at the AP national site, Yahoo News and likely elsewhere is of Barack Obama, who despite the recognized and unrecognized racism of most Americans managed to carry 53% of the vote in 2008. Contrary to the report's headline, the AP pair admit that the AP-GfK poll results alone (done online, to add insult to injury) don't prove the point they're trying to make; other bizarre tests are also involved.
By Noel Sheppard | September 28, 2012 | 2:07 PM EDT
By Noel Sheppard | September 11, 2012 | 5:15 PM EDT
CNBC's Joe Kernen on Monday called New York Times columnist Paul Krugman a communist.
Kernen expressed the same sentiments for economist and Huffington Post contributor Dean Baker (video follows with transcript and commentary):
As Gas Prices Spike, Bloomberg Cites Hurricane Isaac, Worries Over Obama, Fails to Recognize 'Hurricane Hugo' (Chavez)
By Tom Blumer | August 30, 2012 | 2:12 PM EDT Gas prices have risen to a nationwide average of $3.80 per gallon, per gasbuddy.com early this afternoon, and an Ohio average of over $3.90.
Is Asjylyn Loder at Bloomberg worried about the effects on drivers' pocketbooks and travel plans over Labor Day? Don't be silly. Loder is worried about its impact on Dear Leader's presidential reelection prospects, and avoids the implications of the ten-year rule of another Dear Leader, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, on the current situation. Her first three paragraphs in graphic form, plus a few more on Venezuela, follow the jump:
By Noel Sheppard | August 25, 2012 | 9:44 AM EDT
"It would be better if energy prices went up."
So amazingly said Politico's Evan Thomas on PBS's Inside Washington Friday (video follows with transcript and commentary):
AP's Fahey Worries That High Gas Prices Might 'Put Pressure' on Obama Re-elect Effort, Ignores Govt.-Caused Reasons For Run-up
By Tom Blumer | August 11, 2012 | 7:56 AM EDT Friday afternoon, the Associated Press's Jonathan Fahey couldn't get four paragraphs into his report on higher gas prices nationwide without starting to fret about their impact on President Obama's re-election effort.
He also wanted readers to understand without any doubt that President Obama and the by inference his government bear absolutely no responsibility for the recent run-up to a national average of $3.67 a gallon nationwide with statewide averages in California and Illinois topping $4, and conveniently used one interviewed driver as a prop to begin making his quite transparent political point. Later in the report, he inadvertently cited a reason why the government is contributing to higher prices at the pump. I'll cite yet another among many additional government-induced factors later in the post.
AP Report on West Coast Gas Prices Moving to $4 a Gallon Ignores How They're Already There or Really Close Elsewhere
By Tom Blumer | August 10, 2012 | 8:48 AM EDT Last time I checked the Associated Press was a national news service.
So in a story about how a refinery fire in California will likely cause West Coast gas prices to hit $4 a gallon, why did reporter Jason Dearen ignore the fact that prices are already at $4 a gallon in many parts of the country already?