FLASHBACK: Fox News On Gas Prices In 2008

Following GOP strategy, Fox News is again blaming the Obama administration for rising gasoline prices — a claim that has been repeatedly debunked by energy analysts. But back in the summer of 2008, when the average U.S. gasoline price hit a record high of $4.11, Fox said that “no President has the power to increase or to lower gas prices.”

In 2008, Fox’s coverage occasionally even mirrored the facts: expanding domestic oil drilling willnotsignificantlylowerprices, and the only way to reduce our vulnerability to gas price spikes is to use less oil. Perhaps there was more room for reality-based coverage at Fox when there wasn’t an incumbent president to defeat?

http://mediamatters.org/blog/201203050007

Obama Shifts to Speed Oil and Gas Drilling in U.S. – NYTimes.com

The president noted in his address that the Justice Department had formed a task force to look into potential market manipulation or excessive speculation in oil, and he repeated his call for a repeal of the $4 billion a year in tax incentives the oil industry receives.

Obama Shifts to Speed Oil and Gas Drilling in U.S. – NYTimes.com.

Tax Hike On Oil Profits Blocked – washingtonpost.com

From the Archives

Senate Republicans yesterday blocked a proposal to tax the windfall profits of the nation’s biggest oil companies and eliminate some of the firms’ tax breaks, rejecting Democratic claims that the measure would help assuage consumer anger over $4-a-gallon gasoline.

Tax Hike On Oil Profits Blocked – washingtonpost.com.

Why Gas Is So Expensive Today (Hint: It’s Not Libya) – Chris Peterson

Why Gas Is So Expensive Today (Hint: It’s Not Libya) – Chris Peterson.

The current spike in gas prices is not primarily a result of anything to do with the freedom fighters in the Arab world. Nor is it a result of OPEC’s production levels, which would suggest a far lower $/gallon than can be found on the open market.

Rather, the spikes are primarily a result of the speculative market on oil. This speculative market is driven by the practices of the biggest banks, who have special exemptions to treat commodities like a casino, who have zero incentive to appropriately hedge their bets, who do not provide the liquidity they were designed to provide, and who generally provide nothing of value to society except to push prices of things higher and higher so that very rich people will continue to invest with them.