George Bush Is That Pain In Your Gas
the real reasons fuel prices are at an all-time high
2008-06-02
By Del Walters

Let’s face it, that giant sucking sound you’re hearing is the sound of your monthly paycheck being siphoned, dollar by dollar from your wallet into your gas tank. Who do you have to blame?  Start where the buck stops…at the White House.  George Bush, in this case, is literally that pain in your gas and bend over, it looks like an even bumpier ride ahead.  No one in Washington believes the White House is finished in trying to fix the economy they broke. If ever there was another argument for impeachment, other than Iraq, this is it. George W. Bush sold us out…one gallon at a time. 

Here are the facts.  George W. Bush is an oilman.  His father was an oilman and his father’s father, too. And oilmen, like them, are turning your pain at the pump into record profits. When oil company executives lined up for their quarterly grilling by Congress, not one congressman pointed an indicting finger up Pennsylvania Avenue towards the White House.  When the dog and pony show was over, the oil executives said ‘don’t blame them, blame the Arabs’.  The Arabs told the President it’s about supply and demand, and the President returned home hat in hand. In the meantime, the price at the pump keeps going up…and up…and up.

Somewhere in between Saudi Arabia, Congress, the White House and the pump, we’re getting hosed. Hearings look good for the cameras, but the numbers demand a closer look.  To begin with, the history of both gas and oil betrays the facts.

When Bill Clinton was President, a gallon of gas cost $1.20, and was actually going down in price.  When Bush raised his right hand and took the oath of office, a gallon of gas cost $1.61, but even then, his left hand was hard at work picking your pocket. One of the first things he did was to meet, in secret, with oil industry executives.  Now eight years later, the average price of a gallon of gas has soared to a record $3.85 per gallon and over $4.00 a gallon in some places.  Guess where the money is going?

Contrary to popular belief, oil prices were also going down when Bush was sworn in.  According to the Middle East Forum, oil prices dropped from $26.24 per Barrel in 2000 to $22.90 in 2001.  The landscape even remained unchanged following the September 11th terrorist attacks, even though 15 Middle Eastern men and Saudis were involved in those attacks.  How quickly times have changed.

Seven years later, on April 15th, 2008, the price for a barrel of oil soared to $114.  One month later oil topped $135 per barrel a six hundred percent increase.  Analysts are unanimous in their reasons why. They point to rising demand in emerging nations like China and India, and instability in the Middle East and other oil producing nations.   First, let’s talk about that ‘rising demand’.

The current argument, that increased demand is fueling the rapid rise of gas at the pump, doesn’t hold water.  For that to be true, China and India had to, all of a sudden have awakened and entered the industrial age on George Bush’s watch. The truth is, that awakening was well underway during the Clinton years and the administrations of every president since Richard Nixon.  In addition, why were oil prices going down then, and rising now?  Why didn’t the sleeping giant scenario give rise to stepped-up efforts to come up with alternative fuel sources then?  Why didn’t Detroit switch to hybrids sooner?  The truth is no one saw it coming, except the Bush administration. Not Detroit, not the airlines, no one.  Once again, it bears pointing out that during the first year of the Bush presidency, oil prices were flat.

That brings us to instability.

It is no secret Bush and his cronies were planning to invade Iraq even before the September 11th terrorist attacks.  Some argued he was getting even for his father, President George H. Bush, who stopped just short of continuing on to Bagdad during the first Gulf War.  Others argued the U.S. only wanted Iraq’s oil.   The Bush administration argued spreading democracy in the region would stabilize oil prices...and undertook shock and awe.  Keep in mind this is the same president who stated Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.  It is also the same president who said that we would be greeted as heroes, and the same president who declared mission accomplished on board an aircraft carrier five years, and four thousand deaths ago. So why is it such a stretch to argue a president, who misled the public about Iraq, might not be so truthful when it comes to sticking it to you at the gas pump?

The facts:
The Bush administration caused the instability that led to the rising gas prices by invading Iraq, and they’re at it again. Is it just a coincidence that when the White House finished with Iraq, they moved on to saber rattling against Mahmoud Admadinejad of Iran,  and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela? There is no shortage of dictators and madmen around the world, so why the obsession with oil producing nations? Get the picture? And where is the oil from Iraq that we were promised when we invaded Iraq in the first place? Shouldn’t the deaths of 4000 American servicemen and women translate into, at least, some comfort at the pump?  What about Kuwait… that other oil producing nation that needed our help?

Why does it appear as if the only people who seem to be getting rich in the Bush presidency, are either oilmen or industries tied to war?  Once again, the numbers are troubling.

According to CNN Money, fourth quarter profits for Exxon Mobil in December of 2000 were a paltry 2.71 billion dollars. Seven years later, according to the Huffington Post, Exxon Mobil posted fourth quarter profits of $11.7 billion dollars…a six hundred percent increase.   Year to date, thus far, the oil giant  is posting profits of $40.6 billion dollars, the largest annual profit by a U.S. company, EVER. That beat the old record of $39.5 billion dollars.  The old mark was also held by Exxon Mobil.

Sadly, the Bush administration isn’t finished.  There is one remaining problem…the dollar.  In January of 2000, the headlines roared that the dollar was headed to record gains against the Euro.  Eight years later, the dollar is at record lows. That $125 barrel of oil cost the same European investor approximately $80 dollars, if 1 Euro = $1.57US.  Loosely translated, the money you once had isn’t worth as much as it once was.  Those emerging nations, China, India, and even our allies, can now buy gas cheaper than we can. Their dollars go further than ours. Their money, too, is going right into the coffers of big oil, and big oil, once again, has the Bush administration to thank.

So let’s sum it all up. Eight years ago when you filled up your tank for the Memorial Day weekend, gas was lower, as was oil, and the dollar was soaring. Eight years later, people are trying to figure out where to go, how far to go, and whether to even go.  That is, everyone except the friends of George W. Bush. They’re getting rich…you’re getting hosed. A gallon of gas in Saudi Arabia currently cost 45cents.

Del Walters is an Emmy award-winning investigative reporter, filmmaker and author.